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.

Birdwatch Week in our afternoon nursery at Howes Road

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We learned all about birds during Birdwatch Week. We started by making pictures of birds with colourful feathers and we listened to a sensory story called ‘Learning to Fly’ – we had such fun with the bird puppet it made us laugh and we touched a little egg in a nest. Most of us loved exploring the texture of birdseed and then we made mixed it with lard to make birdcakes. We had a bus outing to Hazlehead Woods where we collected twigs to make nest pictures,  listened to the birds while exploring the woods and set out the birdcakes for the birds.

Exploring vegetables and soup making in the morning nursery at Ashgrove

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The morning children at Ashgrove have been very busy learning about vegetables. They went on a shopping trip to select and purchase the ingredients required for making soup. Once back at Nursery they had the opportunity to explore and cut the vegetables in our interest table. Some children were particularly engaged and interested. They were able to make and taste the soup during snack. To extend their interest and learning they were given the opportunity to make lovely pictures using the vegetables.

Celebrating World Book Day

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Yesterday was World Book Day and there was lots of fun as pupils shared their favourite books in class and some classes visited the book shop in town to spend their World Book Day tokens.  We were also fortunate to have received some lovely book donations which will enhance our school library and any books that we no longer use will be donated to Books2Africa to share our love of reading and books around the world.

Storytelling With Ailie

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This week we have been extremely lucky to have had Ailie Finlay from Flotsam And Jetsam join us in school.  Ailie is a fantastic multi-sensory storyteller based in Edinburgh and she has been working with five different classes across the school as part of the Aberdeen City Arts Across Learning Festival.

She has thoroughly entertained us over the last three days with her wonderful tales and we all had an amazing time exploring storytelling with her.

Thank you so much Ailie for coming to work with us and we hope to see you again soon.

 

Owl Babies With Room 8

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Room 8 pupils have been enjoying their Book study – ‘Owl babies” by Martin Waddell, a wonderful book to share with young children to help tackle anxieties and fears about temporary separation.

First, we read the story and described in simple words the personality of each baby owl. Also, we listened to a relaxing music having as a theme ‘Forest at night sounds – owls and crickets, rustling leaves and wind’. They touched all four characters – the owl mother and her three babies, counted them, and called their names, Sarah, Percy and Bill.

Secondly, we made cute pieces of art, showing all three owl babies on the same brunch. We used our fingerprints to symbolize the owls.

Our third step was to design an owl nest. We went to the pond to see the ducks and it was a great opportunity to collect the materials for the owl nest.

At the end, we explored  our characters and we spoke about emotions, happiness and sadness. This gave us the idea to use ‘happy’ colours drawing owls using pastel chalk.

We all have had an amazing time studying ‘Owl Babies’. Well done, room 8!

 

Exploring Elmer In Room 9

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The pupils in Room 9 are continuing to enjoy listening to, looking at and doing work from our Book Study of Elmer by David McKee. Our herd of Elmer’s has expanded. Some of our pupils enjoy playing with these wonderful models they made – the Elmer’s are lined up, placed in order, grouped altogether and observed.

We have also experimented with water and ink, noting what happens when the two combine. The pupils in Room 9 together made a lovely piece of modern art based from this science experiment.

 

 

Children’s Author visit

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On the 7th of November, we were lucky to have the amazing children’s author, Phil Earle, visit us at Orchard Brae as part of the Scottish Book Trust 20th anniversary tour.

We had a wonderful time hearing about where Phil finds his inspiration (his family, wrestlers and front doors have been big influences) and we even got to hear him read two of his books to us along with a wee bit of dressing up in between!!

Phil has since written a wonderful blog for the Scottish Book Trust about working with pupils with additional support needs. There are some great photos of his visit to Orchard Brae included in the blog and he confirms what we all know about our students – that they are passionate and enthusiastic and this shines throughout everything they do!

Well done to all the students who participated with such enthusiasm and thank you Phil and the Scottish Book Trust for an amazing experience that they will never forget!