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This week we have a couple of different recipes for waffles for you to try making at home. What will you put on yours – bacon, maple syrup, jam or maybe something else? Have a go and why don’t you let us know what your favourite toppings are.
We would love to see how you get on with you Home Economics activities so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
The Autism Outreach Service are going to be presenting two new workshops for staff that are now available to book on Eventbrite.
The workshops are twilight sessions presented online on Teams. The links for booking for each workshop is available below.
We hope you will be able to join us and we look forward to seeing you there.
Autism and Mindfulness
Presented by Karen Inglis, Laura May and Jan McKechnie.
Tuesday 20th April 2021 (16.00 – 18.00)
Attendees will understand the theories behind mindfulness and the overall benefits it can have for themselves as well as children with Autism. This course will explore a range of practical ways to implement mindfulness and the positive affect it can have on wellbeing, emotional regulation and self- belief.
For the Eventbrite booking link for Autism and Mindfulness please click here.
Autism – Using Visuals at Home
Presented by Hayley McFarlane and Tricia Bruce
Thursday 29th April 2021 (16.00 – 17.30)
We will be discussing and demonstrating how visuals can be used in the home to effectively support Autistic children and young people. We will go through a range of different visual structures, templates and resources. The focus on the workshop will be to support you in understanding what visuals may be helpful for you to provide to parents to support them at home.
For the Eventbrite booking link for Autism – Using Visuals at Home please click here.
This week we are continuing to explore and create artwork using flour. If you don’t have flour at hand, it can be substituted with other food items such as semolina, cornflour or cous cous. As always, the process is the main focus rather than the outcome and we would be delighted to see any photos from school or home!
Remember to warm up your hands and eyes beforehand using some of the exercises we’ve practised before! This activity has been split into three levels focusing of different skills and levels of ability. Choose the one that is right for your learner but feel free the experiment and explore!
Stage 1: At this stage we are looking for the pupils to show a simple response or reaction as the explore flour art. With hand over hand support from an adult, explore the flour and how it falls as it is sprinkled onto a surface. Try sprinkling it in different ways, such as with your hands, a sieve or a spoon. How do you have to move your hands to sprinkle the flour? Does it work best if you move from side to side or up and down? Get creative and see if you can find the best way to sprinkle flour and even if there are any other objects to sprinkle with!
Stage 2: With appropriate support, sprinkle the flour onto a suitable surface – it doesn’t have to be inside, maybe you can find somewhere outside that works well for you. Once you have sprinkled your flour onto the surface, make a simple pattern in the flour. You could use your hands or other objects to make your pattern. You can even get creative and try sprinkling the flour into a pattern!
Stage 3: For this stage you will need a clean surface and a variety of different objects. You could try kitchen utensils, things you have found in nature, toys or even just odds and ends such as string.
First you will need to make sure that your workspace in clean. This activity works really well with contrasting colours so think about using dark coloured paper or even a baking tray for your surface. Arrange some objects onto your surface to create a picture or pattern. Once you are happy with your layout, you can sprinkle your flour over the objects using a sieve, a spoon or even your hands. Carefully remove the objects from your surface to see the contrast and the pattern you have created!
As an alternative or extension activity, you could use glue to create a picture or pattern on paper and sprinkle with flour. Again, think about using contrasting colours for your background to make your flour pattern stand out.
If you can take some pictures of your floury explorations to share that would be wonderful so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
This week we are making Vegetable Chow Mein to celebrate Chinese New Year and we have a few different recipes for you to try. You don’t have to stick to the vegetables in the recipes, you can be creative and try something new or use vegetable that your family like or whatever you have in the fridge!
You also might enjoy watching this short video on the Story Of The Sugelan Dragon before you start.
We would love to see how you get on with you Home Economics activities so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
This week is Children’s Mental Health Week, led by the charity Place2Be. This year’s theme is Express Yourself and is ideal for all of our learners. There are lots of lovely ideas for creativity and self expression with links on their website such as the art ideas below. Every activity has stories and music in addition to the art ideas so there really is something for everyone.
The sample below is from the Colour Project. Click on the links for more information and a sample of what is on offer:
Our colleagues at the Educational Psychology Service have recently launched their Digital Hub. This is available online and is well worth a look for supporting both you and your children. These are tough times for everyone so it’s important to care for yourself too. One of my personal favourites is the Circle of Control, a reminder to try not to waste time and energy thinking about about things I cannot control or change.
Explore the Educational Psychology Hub further here:
Finally, for staff there’s an opportunity to engage in free training around supporting the mental health of our children and young people. Please follow this link:
Our PE specialists have been working hard, supported by our Young Leaders from Howes Hoose. Have you had a look in the PE classroom yet?
There are different activities each week to suit all ages and abilities. Here are a couple of activities demonstrated by the Young Leaders: throwing from a seated position and throwing from a standing position.
If you do try out any of our PE at Home videos, please share your feedback with Salvi and Amanda by commenting on their links, sharing photographs or videos. They are keen to know what you are enjoying in order that they can provide activities to meet your needs, assess our pupils’ learning, and at Secondary level, use activities towards our National Qualifications and ASDAN awards.
This week we have two new art activities for you to try.
Activity 1: Climate Coalition Show The Love
You might remember that last year we made green hearts with recycled materials instead of the usual red valentines hearts! They looked so good that they were going to be exhibited at a big event in the Shaftesbury Theatre in London! Then………lockdown😒
There have been lots of disappointments for us recently with our artwork. But undeterred we keep showing the love! The green hearts are to show the love for our planet and I will be interested to see what you come up with! I don’t know what you have to work with but I know you will have some great ideas.
Have a look at showthelove.org.uk for some more ideas and inspiration but here are a few ideas to get you started.
Experiment with card, collage and paint.
Make some green rice crispy hearts:
You will need – 150g rice crispies, 100g unsalted butter, 100g marshmallows, Green food colouring (or blue and yellow mixed!), a Heart shaped cookie cutter.
Directions – Melt the butter and marshmallows in a pan over a low heat. Add the food colouring and stir. Add crispies and stir. On a greased and lined baking tray shape the mixture into hearts using a cookie cutter or your fingers. Yum !
Make an Andy Goldsworthy inspired sculpture with green leaves.
Take some photos of frozen grass.
Make some green salt dough make a heart.
Blend some newspaper with food colouring. Add some seeds and make a flower bomb!
Look at green foods.
What is still green outside? You could try making a heart out of moss or lichen.
Take some photos ! Send some pictures of your work and we can forward them to the climate coalition so they can see how creative the Orchard Brae pupils are!
Activity 2: Flour Art
This is a transient piece of art using flour and it can also be seen as a sensory therapeutic activity.
As always, the process is the main focus rather than the outcome but I’d be glad to see any photos from school or home!
Remember to warm up hands and eyes beforehand using some of the exercises we’ve practised before! This activity has been split into three levels focusing of different skills and levels of ability. Choose the one that is right for your learner but feel free the experiment and explore!
Stage 1: With hand over hand support from an adult, explore the flour with your hands. Make marks in it using your fingers, hold it in your hand, squeeze and squash it, push it with your fingers or an object.
Stage 2: With appropriate support, make a variety of marks in flour using a range of objects.
Stage 3: With appropriate support and using a range of objects, make an image using flour which shows a variety of qualities of line, e.g. wavy, hatched, broken, spiral etc. How can you demonstrate choice and decision making during the activity?
Extension: You could always try and make these activities a bit more challenging. Can you add another texture to the flour, e.g. pulses or pasta? How does the texture change? Is it still easy to make marks in these?
If you can take some pictures of your floury explorations to share that would be wonderful so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
We would love to see how you get on with you Home Economics activities so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
Welcome to the Orchard Brae Big Burns Day Celebrations!
Today, Monday 25th January, is known as Burns Day in Scotland because we celebrate the birthday of the famous Scottish poet, Robert ‘Rabbie’ Burns.
To help you celebrate, we have lots of fun-filled activities and events planned for our pupils and families to take part in throughout the day.
In the morning, there activities for you to try at home, such as making shortbread, some Scottish stories, music and dance to enjoy as well as a flag inspired art activity. These will be available on the Whole School Activities Google Classroom and also posted here on the website. The timetable below has some suggested times, but feel free to take part at a time that suits you and your family best.
In the afternoon, we have a series of live events that you and your family can join in with, hosted by Keith, our drumming instructor and Emmeline, our music therapist. This includes drumming, a ceilidh and a Scottish themed Makaton choir before the grand finale of Auld Lang Syne. Links to these live events will be posted in the Whole School Activities Google Classroom, so check your gw email and make sure you accept the invitation to join! Please contact your class teacher if you don’t have an invitation to join the classroom and they can share the class code with you.
Have a wonderful day and here is a wee video from the Senior Leadership Team to start off your Burns Day celebrations!
We would love to see how you get on with you Burns Day activities so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
Why don’t you have a go at making some shortbread to enjoy as part of your Burns Day celebrations. Here are a few different recipes for you to choose from.
We would love to see how you get on with you Burns Day activities so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
