Sport Relief 2020

Many thanks to Amanda, Salvi, Sam and Scott for organising fun activities for us all to join in with to support Sport Relief 2020. We kicked off the morning with a select band signing up to Run a Mile. Thanks to Room 19 for braving the cold throughout our challenge, the spectators that cheered us on from the warmth of the classrooms and those that came out for playtime, supporting with cheers as we ran our loops. Each of us did 5 loops of the playground in total.

At lunchtime we enjoyed dance sessions with Sam. We all had lots of fun!

Finally, the whole school joined in for the afternoon to Walk a Mile with a Smile. We were grateful that the sun came out and warmed up the playground nicely for us. We also had some special visitors – the sumos!

Our day was just for fun, but we also received generous donations towards Sport Relief, raising a total of £165! Well done to everyone for taking part!

Clothing Exchange

Room 16 have been doing a great job, supporting the Clothing Exchange scheme. Pupils are regularly tidying up the area, washing, sorting and folding new clothing. It’s good to see an increase in sizes available too. Please keep sending items in if they’re in good condition and no longer of use to your child. Do also feel free to pop in and browse any time or let us know via the home school diary if you’d like the class team to have a look on your behalf.

Friends of Orchard Brae Fun Run: 28th April 2020

Many thanks to the brother of one of our pupils who has asked if he can fundraise individually through sponsorship for the 5k Fun Run for Friends of Orchard Brae. If anyone else wishes to raise money through the Fun Run or any other sponsored activity in future, sponsor forms can be obtained via the Friends of Orchard Brae by contacting school, or a sponsorship page can be set up at: https://wonderful.org/charity/friendsoforchardbrae

Lisa Thomson (Chairperson of the Friends) is the normal point of contact for any fundraising. Clare Russell can also be contacted regarding the Fun Run.

Full information regarding the Fun Run can be found here: https://scottishrunningguide.com/race/fun-run-for-friends-of-orchard-brae

or check out the Friends of Orchard Brae Facebook page.

Please remember, all participants must be over 12 years of age to enter, and must be accompanied by an adult at all times if under 16. Donations are optional – the event is free to run for everyone!

If we have wheelchair users who wish to participate, an adapted course that avoids the rooty / muddy trail section will be available.

Making Music In Room 3

The pupils from Room 3 have been enjoying making music both at music therapy and in class. The pupils have all been exploring music in ways specific to them. This has involved playing hand-held percussion instruments, singing, playing the piano and also walking on the floor piano! The pupils have been engaging in a variety of pupil led and specific ways in music therapy and these have been reiterated in class during a variety of activities! Emmeline is looking forward to continuing making music with Room 3!

 

Support Orchard Brae via your local Coop!

If you shop with Co-op, please consider choosing us as your cause to support when you shop.  Join here…

https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/41483

 

Story Time in Room 3

The pupils in Room 3 love story time!  Our stories are always brought to life with props, smells and sound effects which help bring the words and ideas to life.  You never know what might happen during story time in Room 3… monsters might come to chase us, Katie Morag could take us on a journey to deliver the mail, a pirate ship to jump aboard for an adventure or even up into the night sky in a rocket to visit the moon with Baby Bear.  Items go flying, the room descends into darkness and there can be very loud or quiet noises – our senses are well and truly awoken and the engagement is fantastic.

During stories we have the chance to practise some of what we learn through our targets or other curricular areas – a really good chance to generalise our skills.  We always leave gaps so that the pupils can join in with signs and vocalisations.  It is really helpful to repeat the same stories so that we become familiar with them and can begin to anticipate what is coming next.  Sometimes we find that things which can be tricky in other contexts i.e. particular textures we aren’t sure of or having to pass on something to a friend which we would rather keep ourselves is much easier to cope with or work on during all the fun of story time.

 

The children’s active participation in story time has developed so much, we are really proud of them.  They are joining in not only during their own turns but also paying so much more attention to their peers, lots of careful watching and listening.

 

We are looking forward to sharing some favourite stories from home with each other and getting to know some new ones while working through our context of ‘All About Me’ and answering the question ‘Who am I and who am I within my class?’.

Assemblies In Drum Department

The pupils in Drum have been meeting every Monday morning for assembly.  We sit together in a circle and are becoming used to the routine.  We start by saying hello before singing favourite songs the classes bring.  We then explore a theme or story before finishing our assembly and saying goodbye.

Last week we explored Burns Night.  We dressed up in tartan, had a little taste of shortbread and oatcakes, sang Scottish songs and had a wee ceilidh!

This week we learnt about Chinese New Year and tried on some clothes, looked at artefacts, did some movement and then did a dragon dance.  We opened up some fortune cookies and shared what they told us!  Our youngest pupils in the school are in Drum and there is lots of learning in a busier environment where it is less predictable and noisier than our classrooms.  On top of that we get out of our seats to dance and are learning to return to them so well.

 

We have a great time learning together and there’s lots more assembly fun ahead!

Orchard Brae Clothing Exchange

Thanks to everyone that has sent in items for our Clothing Exchange. Please remember that you’re welcome to pop in and browse any time. It’s a great way to save money and help the planet by passing things on that our children and young people have grown out of.

We’ve got clothing in a wider range of sizes now. All sizes of clothing are welcome as our pupils go from age 3-18.

Room 3 – What is Christmas?

Three weeks ago, Room 3 started exploring the question ‘What is Christmas?’ as part of our Winter Festivals theme and as you will see from the photographs…we have certainly tried our hardest to answer it!  We have been building on our prior learning and have used means of learning which are motivating to help us discover more about Christmas.

We have participated in many music sessions where we have used Christmas props and have been practising our Makaton signing – we look forward to performing some of the Christmas songs to an audience at the show tomorrow.

Exploration of a wide range of objects has happened through Sensology sessions as well as focussed turn taking games as we continue to develop our awareness of each other – Christmas pass the parcel was a lot of fun and we did so well at sharing what we found inside with our friends.  We have explored exchanging money as part of a Christmas counting song where we bought mince pies at the bakers shop.

During free play we have explored a wide range of Christmas items and found some of them very interesting.  One boy found it great fun to knock bells off his standing frame, meanwhile another young lady was delighted to find a chocolate coin hiding in the Christmas exploration bowl as you will see from her selfie!  There have been many Christmas activities set up including festive playdough which we made together and our favourite exploration tubes which we have been motivated to request through vocalising or move towards by crawling or in our equipment.

There are so many lovely Christmas stories and poems and we particularly enjoyed learning about the ‘Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bell’ – there was much hilarity as she swallowed bows, parcels, a sack and even a sleigh which we made fly across the classroom!  We learnt about the Christmas story and joined up with friends in Rm 2 and 8 for this – we took on different roles, dressed up and acted the story out.

We have loved exploring Ian Bean’s online Advent Calendar with a daily activity we could do using the switch or eye gaze machines.  The Christmas tree lights have been a real motivator to press the switch for too.

A real highlight was the sensory 12 days of Christmas…unfortunately there was so much fun and hilarity that it was tricky to get still photos but the classroom was very animated as we anticipated each item coming back – one boy was beyond excited about the 5 gold rings which he shook with gusto each time!  There were lights flying, crackers cracking, tooters tooting, Christmas puddings and a beautiful dancing snowflake which sparkled on the tree.

We have been busy doing lots of crafts including using the salad spinners to make pictures for each season – this is definitely one of our favourite art techniques!  We posed to take a picture for our Christmas cards and have done lots of crafts in art with Diane too.  The room smelt amazing when we made jam to take home as a little Christmas gift.

We all looked fantastic today for our Christmas party before going to visit Santa and having a wee sing song with him.

Is it any wonder everyone is tired?!  Yet another busy term in Room 3 with so much hard work.  Enjoy your well deserved holiday and we look forward to what 2020 has to bring.

 

Uniform Exchange: Save money and help the environment!

We are pleased to announce that we now have a Uniform Exchange in the front reception area of Orchard Brae. We have a small stock of clothing at present including footwear, trousers, school sweatshirts and polo shirts. We also have some bodysuits in smaller sizes. Free sanitary products will be available at all times.

You are welcome to come in and browse at any time, taking what you need for your child.

Donations of clothing (footwear, outdoor jackets or trousers, school uniform) are welcome and can be sent in with your child – please pop a note into the diary so that we know they are for the Uniform Exchange. Our pupils are aged 3 – 18, so all sizes are welcome including adult sizes.

Let’s help ourselves by saving money and passing on clothes that our children have outgrown, and help the environment too by re-using good clothing.