Please find details of the Aberdeen City schools telephone information service for parents/guardians. This is the Schools Information Line. The main...
Thank you for celebrating with us the Autism Acceptance Week. We have received entries from:
Glashieburn School,
Walker Road School,
Brimmond School,
Bramble Brae School,
Stoneywood School,
Orchard Brae School,
and Lochside Academy.
Our Jury (Senior Pupils at Orchard Brae School) had been presented with a difficult task to select 3 pieces of work. After careful consideration and discussions they made final decision and we are delighted to announce the Winners of the competition!
1st place – an individual piece of art from Glashieburn school
2nd place- an individual piece of art from Lochside Academy
3rd place- a group piece of art from Stoneywood School
Well done!!!
We have a prize for the 1st place and certificates and they will be shared with schools 😊
Aberdeen City Council are offering free period products around the city and are now offering reusable products including menstrual cups and reusable pads in addition to disposable products. If you would like to access these, please visit one of the venues listed or contact Mhairi Wilson (Specialist Nurse, Orchard Brae).
One of our main aims is to support families across the city through creating safe space where like-minded parents/cares could meet, have a chat and feel understood. In order to make it happen we have been liaising with schools and setting up Parent Support Groups in 5 primary schools (Stoneywood, Fernilea, Kaimhill, Glashieburn and Woodside). All groups are led by AOR staff and they meet monthly. Parents make suggestions what they would like to discuss and if they would like to have guests (SALT, OT, School Nurse, SW, charities). We are looking at setting up more similar groups in different schools in the future.
If you would like to join one of the groups and meet parents, have chat and enjoy a cuppa, please get in touch with Alex Polanska.
Soundplay Projects (www.soundplayprojects.com) work across sculpture, installation, music and sound art to make inclusive and accessible audio-visual artworks and music. Come along and play, communicate and express yourself with movement, rhythm, sound and light. This event is open to all and is especially suitable for families who have children with additional support needs.
Saturday 12–Sunday 13 November Art Gallery, free (last admission 30 mins before closing)
Soundplay Projects (www.soundplayprojects.com) work across sculpture, installation, music and sound art to make inclusive and accessible audio-visual artworks and music. Come along and play, communicate and express yourself with movement, rhythm, sound and light. This event is open to all and is especially suitable for families who have children with additional support needs
Soundplay Lab (Learning Space, ground floor) Expect a noisy exploration of light and sound where a cardboard box can make otherworldly sounds, or a bike wheel generates techno beats! Explore and control different devices at your own pace, use your voice to activate psychedelic animations and build amazing instruments with playdoh, tinfoil and fruit.
Drop-in sessions will take place on:
Saturday at 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:15pm, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm and Sunday at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm
No need to book . Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Signwave Installation (Seminar Room, top floor) Play with ambient sound and LED light to create hypnotic music with Signwave, an interactive plywood sculpture. Supported by Aberdeen City Council Creative Funding
Visiting Aberdeen Art Gallery
By local bus Lots of local buses stop on Union street and the Gallery is a short walk along Belmont Street. The closest bus stops are outside His Majesty’s Theatre, on Blackfriars Street and Schoolhill. https://www.firstgroup.com/aberdeen/plan-journey/journey-planner/
Parking
There are 4 blue badge on-street car parking spaces outside Aberdeen Art Gallery.
Are you ready for our Big Pasta Creativity Challenge Day on Friday? There will be lots of fun activities posted on the Whole School Events google classroom and you can join in the fun at home and school.
If you cannot access the google classroom, please contact your child’s class teacher for support.
And to get you ready for the big day, why not have a go at the pasta rap song by following the link below!
Numeracy is all around us. It helps us to understand the world and process our environment. Colours, patterns, shape, size and texture are all related to numeracy and play can support our early understanding of these concepts. As our pupils develop, we focus on functional numeracy, learning about time through our daily routine, money in practical situations such as knowing we have to pay in the shop, measurement in HE and outdoor learning. Numeracy skills are developed across the curriculum.
There are lots of things you can do at home to support your child’s numeracy development. Why not some of these activities? For Primary / early Secondary learner here are some ideas. Follow the link below for more:
At this time in the academic year the big transitions in the child or young person’s school life such as from one class to another, or from one educational setting to another, are being discussed, planned and implemented.
Transitions can be scary for everyone but for a child or young person with an ASC the fears, worry stress and anxiety can be even more heightened. ASC can have a big impact on the way a person experiences transitions.
It is important to recognise that transitions happen all day, every day: from room to room, activity to activity, teacher to teacher. Children and young people with an ASC may often need support with these smaller day to day transitions just as much as the larger transitions of moving school. Establishing the best way to support smaller transitions can often help the bigger ones go more smoothly.
The Autism Outreach Team have put together a transition presentation for staff to give them advice, guidance, practical tips and resources on making the process of school transitions go as smoothly as possible.
The presentation is available below to read and go through as a stand alone resource however, the Team will be available for a question and answer session on the In-Service Day on May 4th from 1pm till 3pm on an online Teams meet.
If would like to join in the Teams Q&A online discussion then just email Karen, Laura or Jan and they will send you the link.
Orchard Brae Connect are delighted to be hosting a Parent Workshop in conjunction with Alyson O’Brien from Sleep Scotland. This will take place online on Tuesday 8th June between 10-11 am.
In this session Alyson will talk about why we sleep, what happens when we don’t sleep, why we wake through the night and general ideas on how we can get a better nights sleep. Although Alyson might not be able to discuss specific individual sleep issues, it would be useful for her if you are able to briefly describe your child’s sleep problems, to allow her to focus on any common themes, only if you are happy to do so of course.
Please note that this event is only open to parents and carers of pupils attending Orchard Brae School and nurseries.
If you are interested in attending this event please email rebecca.j.duncan@gmail.com by Monday 17th May
The NHS Grampian CAMHS Early Intervention team have developed a series of webinars to support parents to support themselves and their children during a time when they know anxiety is likely to be increased.
CAMHS Grampian – a mental health service for under 18’s based in Aberdeen and Moray.
The videos are linked below.
Episode1: Welcome and meet the team
Episode2: Body tools for anxiety
Episode3: Thinking toolsfor anxiety
Episode4: Managing anxious behaviours
Episode5: Talking to your child about anxiety
Episode6: Understanding the adolescent brain and impact on teen mental health during the Covid-19 lockdown
Episode7: Looking after your mental health and wellbeing
Episode8: Resources you may find helpful
Episode9: Supporting your child on the return to school following lockdown
Supporting Families experiencing anxiety on the return to school
