Christmas Celebration with Active Schools: Thursday 14th December, 4-6 pm

Active Schools & Sport Aberdeen are hosting a Young Carers and Care Experienced event. Although many brothers and sisters of our Orchard Brae youngsters may not consider themselves to be “Young Carers” we recognise the support that they give in everyday life and would encourage them to attend this fun event. Please register in advance.

AUTISM ACCEPTANCE WEEK COMPETITION        

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 😊

Reusable Period Products

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).

See the latest video for more information: https://youtube.com/shorts/KDOYq2n12SI?feature=share

Parent Support Groups

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.

Why not visit the art gallery this weekend…..

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. 

https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/whats-aberdeen-art-galleries-and-museums/soundplay-north-east

https://www.madeinscotlandshowcase.com/shows/soundplay-dome/

Soundplay North East

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.

The nearest car park is the NCP at Harriet Street, the Bon Accord shopping centre or Denburn.
https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/roads-transport-and-parking/parking/find-car-park

Access

  • Guide dogs, hearing dogs and other recognised assistance dogs welcome 
  • Lift to all floors and level access to all spaces 
  • Changing Places Toilet on Level 2 
  • Power-assisted wheelchairs welcome 
  • Large print labels, magnifiers and portable stools are available 
  • Induction hearing loops at the Welcome Desk, ground-floor café servery, Cowdray Hall and Learning Space. Portable hearing system also available.  
  • Quiet Time is on a Monday afternoon 
  • Our staff have taken part in Dementia Friends training 
  • We are part of the Breastfeeding Welcome scheme

Big Pasta Creativity Challenge Day – Friday 18th June

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!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J5484fQ7KE

National Numeracy Day: 19th May 2021

19th May is National Numeracy Day. There are events throughout the day on the National Numeracy website:

https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/numeracyday

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:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EIwt0gKHQ-0tJ7N1p1J9XeYrV3OBIUOx0KXplmkf5zQ/edit?usp=sharing

For our Senior Phase learners:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSl3vrEw2_6rLo8diWVck-jzCk2OMK5RZ81ZAe6isXMGMf1dWo2qD-xW6I0En-8f9Tq6ReYeie3tIdI/pub

We’d love to see how you use numeracy at home. Please share any photographs or comments by e-mail to: gw19russellclare@ab-ed.org

Autism Outreach Service – Transitions Presentation and online Q&A

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.

KInglis@aberdeencity.gov.uk

LauMay@aberdeencity.gov.uk

JaMcKechnie@aberddencity.gov.uk

We look forward to seeing you there.