Category: Literacy and Communication

Developing literacy and communication is a central focus of our school’s work.  We aim to enable all of our pupils to be effective communicators at their own individual level, starting with a positive and consistent affirmation.  With the support of Speech and Language therapists, we baseline our pupils skills using APEC bands and use targets to guide our focus on communication development.  We use an inclusive communication approach; our youngsters are supported through accessible low/high tech communication strategies and resources such as Eye Gaze, PODD and PIXON boards.  It is vital that our school community can communicate with one another, therefore Makaton is our chosen additional language.  We have a clear focus on developing literacy for all pupils.  Each BGE class plans a book study each term.  We have a focus on functional and environmental print.  Senior phase pupils are encouraged to generalise their literacy skills into work placements and through leadership roles.  Literacy and communication skills are required across all areas of the curriculum, therefore we practice and apply skills throughout the school day in many contexts and encourage the same within the home.

A Busy Term in Room 15

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This has been a busy term in Room 15, with lots of new experiences!

We have lots of fun with messy learning in Room 15. In our Secondary Department, all S1-S3 pupils complete the ASDAN New Horizons course – we have begun with building our communication of key information about ourselves.  We have hidden under blankets and revealed ourselves when our name is called (activating a switch talker to announce “I’m here!”), we have practiced our Makaton signs for our names (and those of our friends) and (best of all!) located our photos in sensory resources and written our names in mixed media.

We’ve also introduced bucket time to Room 15. This activity looks to build focused attention – and it seems we’re more focused the messier it gets!  We have used bucket time to build our spontaneous communication too – ready, steady and … “go!”

We have been using intensive interaction to build our communication skills in a variety of different contexts – we’re speaking and using more signs since the start of the year already!

We have been working a lot on life skills, particularly road safety. We use our eyes and ears to look out for traffic, and use our communication devices to say when to stop and when to go.

We have also begun to explore using talking mats to share our thoughts about our day – what we liked, what we didn’t like, and what we’re not sure about. On the whole, we’re liking our school day!

Room 5 Visit The Library

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Room 5 had a busy morning, visiting our local library at Northfield.

When we arrived, we spent some time exploring the library.  We really liked the computers and colouring in table!  We then met the librarian who gave us a library card for our class and we chose some books to take back to school.

We can’t wait for our next visit to the library.

Makaton Word Of The Fortnight – GO

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We have a new Makaton Word Of The Fortnight – GO!

Below you will find a short video clip demonstrating how to sign GO as well as an activity sheet with ideas for ways to incorporate the sign into a range of everyday tasks and games.

This has also been posted on the Orchard Brae School Makaton Support Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/orchardbraeschoolaberdeenmakatonsupport/

Happy signing 👐

Makaton Word Of The Fortnight – STOP

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We have a new Makaton Word Of The Fortnight – STOP!

Below you will find a short video clip demonstrating how to sign STOP as well as an activity sheet with ideas for ways to incorporate the sign into a range of everyday tasks and games.

This has also been posted on the Orchard Brae School Makaton Support Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/orchardbraeschoolaberdeenmakatonsupport/

Happy signing 👐

Our First Week In Room 3

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This week the pupils in Room 3 came back to school and some of our pupils celebrated their first day of Primary One.

We explored the story ‘First Day at Bug School’ and the children engaged so well as we moved through the different classes that the bugs attend!  We started the story and went through the grass (Pom Poms helped set the scene!) then listened to the ‘tiny school bell ring’ which took us into bug school.  We started by doing the register where we hid under the cloths before pulling them off our heads just like we do in our class!  In Spider science class we loved watching the water fall down the spout (there was quite a lot of splashing too!), in Ladybird maths class we spun the spinner before listening to/feeling on body counting to the same number, in PE class we worked hard to push the huge gym ball off our trays and it was so much fun to watch it bounce across the classroom and music class with the Crickets was a huge hit too!  Almost as much fun as a day at Orchard Brae.

We are super impressed with how quickly the children have settled into the school routine for the first time/after the long holidays and are very excited for all the learning ahead of us in Room 3 this year.

Exploring The Secret Garden With M & M Theatrical Productions

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We had a very special performance in school this morning thanks to M & M Theatrical Productions.

They enchanted us with their adaptation of the classic children’s novel ‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett and we loved having the opportunity to experience the wonder of a live theatre performance.  After the show, some of the students also had the opportunity to meet the cast and explore the set.

Thank you M & M for putting on this wonderful show for us.

 

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Looking Back And Moving Forward With Room 8

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The beginning of summer is upon us! As we head into the final stretches of the school year, everyone should take time to reflect on the highs and lows of the year. What worked? What flopped? How can you improve for next year? What from your old job will you bring to your new one? What must you definitely leave behind?

However, when we take time to reflect on our year and take stock of how we’ve grown and changed, we are more able to acknowledge the gifts of this passage and harvest our own learning for the future.

Let’s find out together our best moments.

Makaton Choir Workshop

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On Tuesday, our Makaton Choir hosted some very special guests in school as part of a choir workshop organised by our Emmeline, our music therapist.

The two choirs that visited us were ‘The Kitty Choir’ from Kittybrewster Primary School and ‘Singing Hands’, an Aberdeen based BSL signing (British Sign Language)  choir.  We all had a wonderful afternoon sharing our different approaches to choir.

The Orchard Brae Makaton Choir performed “Happy” and “Summer Holiday”, Singing Hands performed “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” and “Give Me Sunshine” and The Kitty Choir performed “Sing”.

The three choirs then collaborated and sang our Makaton signed version of “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” alongside the BSL version.  It was very interesting to see the differences and similarities between Makaton and BSL.  We then rounded of the afternoon by all learning the Makaton signs for “Shotgun!”

Everyone had a wonderful afternoon and Scott, the hearing dog was a big hit with all of the pupils!  It was wonderful to have the opportunity to share our learning and learn from others too.

‘Aberdeen Reads’ Summer Challenge

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Aberdeen City Libraries are launching a new initiative called ‘Aberdeen Reads’ over the summer holidays. The challenge runs right over the summer and replaces the reading challenge which has been promoted over recent years. 

There are incentives to read at least 6 minutes every day, mini-challenges and an invitation for the whole family to join in.  There are also a range of events taking place at libraries across the city (places must be booked in advance).

Further  information can be found using the link below:

https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/libraries-and-archives/aberdeen-reads

 

 

Word Of The Fortnight-NO/DON’T

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We have a new Makaton Word of the fortnight and our new focus is…NO/DON’T.

Negatives (words like ‘don’t’ and ‘no’) are an important part of language and our students benefit from these being modelled when learning to use negatives themselves. However, we do recognise that they can be tricky when used as part of behaviour management. Using ‘stop’ is often more effective in stopping unwanted behaviour. NO/DON’T can be used for lots of negatives or negations such as no, can’t, won’t, don’t, never and without.

As well as a sheet of activity ideas there is also an information sheet to support the implementation of this core word.

A video demonstrating the Makaton sign can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkRI2C7IKA

Happy signing. 🖐🤚