Category: Core Curriculum

This is an introductory paragraph about Core Curriculum at Orchard Brae.

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

 

 

Fun And Games In Room 9

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This term the pupils in Room 9 have been learning to play Boccia and Curling. Recently, Curling has been very popular and was the 1st choice of our pupils today. We have discovered that the Room 9 pupils and staff are very competitive!

 

 

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. 🖐🤚

Baking With Room 4

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The children in Room 4 have been very busy making fruit scones in home economics.

They were supported to measure out the different ingredients using the scales and we all enjoyed taking turns at mixing the ingredients with a spoon.

 

Technology With Room 11

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Technology is fun!

All children in Room 11 have been participating in language and numeracy lessons and have been encouraged to use technology. Some children in our class use switch to operate a range of educational programmes, some use touch screen to navigate pages and the other ones are really good at using eye gaze to wider their experiences and develop communication skills.

We all like our sessions as they are fun!

 

Card Games In Room 10

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The children in class 10 have been learning to identify cards in a pack and how to work together as a team in a game. We are then going to work on learning a card game to play with our friends and families.

 

 

Moving our bodies in Morning Nursery (Howes Road)

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We are learning about how to move our bodies indoors, outside and in the hydrotherapy pool. We are developing our abilities to climb, jump, spin, roll and pedal. We enjoy exploring the natural environment and the toys in the garden.

Poetry Inspired Art in Room 13

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One of the pupils in Room 13 found a poem, The Owl, by Alfred Lord Tennyson. As he was reading it and showing interest, the class followed up with some additional learning around owls. They have used mixed media to create some lovely art work. This has included natural materials and textures such as bark.