Category: Family Learning

Family Learning

Autism Outreach Service – More Resources to Download!

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Below you will find some more visual resources that can be used at home or school.

Remember, if you would like some of the resources to use at home with your child or young person but are unable to print out and make them up yourself, then we can help you with this.

Just contact Dahni, our team member for resources, at:

DaNewcombe@aberdeencity.gov.uk

It would be helpful if you could give Dahni the following information when you email her:

  • Your Name
  • Child’s name, class and school
  • Whether they are currently supported by the Autism Outreach Service
  • The resource that you are looking for

Dahni will get in touch to let you know that she has received your request and then email you back when the resources are ready and arrange to get them out to you!

Please note that we can only provide this service for children and young people who are attending, or will be attending, an Aberdeen City Council educational placement.

The symbols used are Boardmaker from Mayer-Johnson.

 

ACTIVITIES TO DO WHEN OUT AND ABOUT!

I CAN DO IT MYSELF BOARDS!

 

WRITTEN SCHEDULES!

 

REMINDER CARDS!

At School

At School (Lanyard)

When out shopping

 

Autism Outreach Service – Presentation: An Autism Appropriate Environment

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This autism appropriate environment presentation is one that has been delivered to education staff in the past as a twilight workshop, presented by Tricia Bruce, a member of the Autism Outreach Team. Under the current circumstances, our team thought it would be useful for staff to have access to it online, to help contribute towards CPD.

The presentation will guide you in…

  • understanding the importance of structure and routine
  • understanding the part that sensory differences play in the classroom
  • minimising distractions

and

  • the use of ABC charts with some examples

We hope you enjoy!

 

Expressive Arts – Week Beginning 8th June

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Our Expressive Arts team have been busy creating more videos for you to enjoy at home throughout the week.

They include an art activity from Diane for you to copy which links in with this week’s Primary Department story of the week ‘Hamish The Highland Cow’ and drumming from Keith.  There is also information about Sam’s online dance classes and don’t forget that Emmeline’s musical activities will be posted daily.

And finally, find out what Keith and Emmeline are up to this week with the Trash Band – see if you can spot Lauren and Jeff from Northsound 1’s breakfast show!

If you would like to share how you have got on with our activities, please send any photos via your child’s teacher, the Orchard Brae School Facebook Messenger page or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.  Downloading videos from the Orchard Brae School Facebook Messenger page appears to be working again (fingers crossed!) however if you are having any issues, please send them using a free transfer site such as Dropbox or WeTransfer.

Art: Artist Study – Steven Brown

Drumming: Session 10 – Notation Continued

Dance: Online Classes

Sam is holding two online dance classes this week on Wednesday 6th May and Friday 8th May at 1pm.

Both of these classes will be taking place through his YouTube channel.  You can join in by searching Sam Stephen on YouTube or you can subscribe to his channel by following the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWqBDh0VNpocZvdW29VlfPg/

Trash Band: The Airport

We hope you enjoyed last week’s After Show Party.  Find out how Keith and Emmeline plan to relax after all the excitement.

Primary Department Activities – Week Beginning 8th June

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Here are some fun activities for you to try at home this week.

If you would like to share how you have got on with our activities, please send any photos via your child’s teacher, the Orchard Brae School Facebook Messenger page or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.  Downloading videos from the Orchard Brae School Facebook Messenger page appears to be working again (fingers crossed!) however if you are having any issues, please send them using a free transfer site such as Dropbox or WeTransfer.

Story Of The Week: ‘Hamish The Highland Cow’ By Natalie Russell

This week’s story is all about Hamish the very hairy Highland Cow who hates having baths and doesn’t like getting his hair cut!

Click below to watch and listen to the story on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02IDS8Bp0-E

However, one of our teacher’s, Jessica, has also made a lovely video of her reading this story, which is a favourite in her classroom!

The book study below has some great activities for you to try at home based on the story.

Links and additional documents to support the activities can be found below.

Activity 1: Messy Play

https://www.learning4kids.net/2012/05/02/how-to-make-gloop/

Activity 2: Farm Games

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?bbc=i-went-to-visit-a-farm

Activity 4: Make A Picture

Activity 5: Milk Experiments

https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/magic-milk-a-classic-science-experiment-for-kids/

Science: Minibeasts

This week we are going to continue looking at animals known as minibeasts, which you can find in your garden or local area.   Here is some interesting information about minibeasts.  The download links can be found below each activity.

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-t-10435-minibeasts-and-their-micro-habitats-powerpoint

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t2-s-1165-insects-photo-powerpoint

Now that you know a bit more about minibeasts, why don’t you try these activities?

Minibeast Interactive Game:

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-t-5145-minibeasts-what-am-i-interactive-powerpoint-game

Sorting Activity:

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-t-5064-minibeasts-legs-or-no-legs-sorting-activity

Description Game:

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-t-19367-minibeast-description-cards

Classification Game:

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-t-12808-minibeast-classification-game

Minibeast Hunt:

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/T-T-019-Minibeast-hunt-sheet

Challenges:

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/cfe-t-2546706-active-homework-grid-minibeasts-themed-home-learning-challenges

Make Your Own Minibeast Hotel:

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-tp-523-the-cautious-caterpillar-codys-minibeast-hotel-activity-sheet

Be Resilient!

Education Scotland, in conjunction with Aberdeen City Council, produced a Resilience Alphabet full of fun think, say, do activities designed to promote resilience and develop coping strategies.  There are a series of activities for each letter of the alphabet, so pick a letter and give it a go!

https://education.gov.scot/improvement/scotland-learns/health-and-wellbeing-activities/resilience-alphabet/

Learning Grid: Life Skills

Here is a learning grid for Life Skills.  It contains 16 activity ideas for you to help develop and promote your child’s independence in a range of household and life skills tasks.

These activities are only suggestions and we would recommend that, where appropriate, you adapt these activities to meet your child’s ability level.

Learning Grid: Get Active!

Here is a learning grid for Getting Active!  It contains 16 activity ideas for you to help promote physical activity both in and out of the home on a daily basis.

These activity are only suggestions and we would recommend completing one activity each day.  However, we would love to see what other creative ways you and your family are using to Get Active daily!

Links to YouTube Channels and websites can be found below.

Oti Mabuse Official YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/mosetsanagape

Joe Wicks – Body Coach YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1

Cosmic Kids Yoga: https://www.cosmickids.com/

Cosmic Kids Yoga YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

Learning Station YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLearningStation

Bumble Bee Physio: https://www.facebook.com/bumblebeephysio/

imoves.com also have lots of fun exercise activities for you to try at home.  Here are some of the challenges and the links to access them:

Mountain Bike Challenge: https://imoves.com/home-learning/723

Exercise And Health: https://imoves.com/home-learning/1272

Wellness Warrior – Fruit And Veg Dance: https://imoves.com/home-learning/1332

Positions And Directions: https://imoves.com/home-learning/1334

Samba Carnival: https://imoves.com/home-learning/1340

Disco: https://imoves.com/home-learning/1346

Balance Challenge: https://imoves.com/home-learning/964

Strong Core: https://imoves.com/home-learning/1393

Music With Emmeline – Monday 8th June

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Here are today’s musical activities from Emmeline.

Vocal Warm-Up – Hoot Like an Owl

This week’s vocal warm-up is going to be hooting like an owl and making a ‘hoo, hoo’ sound. Before we begin our ‘hooting’ we are going to gently stretch our necks today because Owls can turn their necks very far round!

What Makes You Beautiful: Part 1 – Chorus

This week’s Makaton song is going to be ‘What Makes you beautiful’ by One Direction. We know this is a favourite of many of our pupils at Orchard Brae School. Today we are going to begin learning the chorus of the song. The chorus is quite long in ‘What Makes you Beautiful’ so today we will learn the first half of the chorus. Here are the words.

Baby, you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell
You don’t know, oh oh
You don’t know you’re beautiful

A Busy Week In Primary

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All the staff at Orchard Brae are missing seeing all our pupils every day and we are always eager to see and hear what you’ve been up to.  We love seeing what everyone has been busy doing while they are at home and we have some wonderful photos and videos to share with you this week.

If you would like to share what you have been up to at home, please send any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, the Orchard Brae School Facebook Messenger page or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.  Downloading videos from the Orchard Brae School Facebook Messenger page appears to be working again (fingers crossed!) however if you are having any issues, please send them using a free transfer site such as Dropbox or WeTransfer.

Working Hard

You’ve continued to impress us with your hard work at home, whether it be making your mark with pens or paint…

…listening to your favourite story…

…exploring technology and having a natter…

…exploring with your senses…

…creating artwork from nature…

…or even visiting the seaside and making sea creatures from last week’s story ‘A Hole At The Bottom Of The Sea’!!

Out And About

It’s been great seeing where you’ve been visiting when you’ve been out and about in your local communities and all the fun things you’ve been up to.

Life Skills

It’s been a busy week for you all, exploring and developing your life skills.  We were really impressed with how you’ve been helping around the house and one pupil had a busy time helping his family move house – hopefully he wasn’t really doing the driving!

Getting Active

It’s been another busy week, where you’ve all been getting active.  The weather hasn’t been quite as nice as last week but you’ve still managed to do some exercise.

Although I think it was a bit much for some of us!!

And Always Remember…

Remember to have fun and keep making some wonderful memories with those you love.

We can’t wait to see what you get up to next week!

Music With Emmeline – Friday 5th June

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Here are today’s musical activities from Emmeline.

Musical Story: Kipper by Mick Inkpen

This week’s musical story is going to be ‘Kipper’ by Mick Inkpen. Emmeline is going to read the story and add in some sound effects to accompany it while Kipper tries to find a better place to sleep. Can you make your own sound effects at home to accompany the story?

Dance Monkey: Part 5 – Whole Song

We hope you have enjoyed learning Dance Monkey this week and are looking forward to putting it all together today. Once we have tried it be sure to sing it along with the Tones and I version! Have fun!

Music With Emmeline – Thursday 4th June

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Here are today’s musical activities from Emmeline.

Familiar Song: Ten Fat Sausages

Today’s song is 10 Fat Sausages. When Emmeline is playing the song she is going to make a different pop sound and bang sound. Do you have anything at home that could make a pop and a bang sound or maybe you could make them yourselves with a pop with your mouth and a bang with your hands.
Emmeline has also printed out some sausages to help with counting down, perhaps you could print or draw some sausages at home.

Dance Monkey: Part 4 – Verse 3

We are going to learn the second verse of Dance Monkey today. It’s now time to learn the last verse of Dance Monkey before we put the whole song together tomorrow! Here are the words for it;

I said oh my god I see you walking by
Take my hands, my dear, and look me in my eyes
Just like a monkey I’ve been dancing my whole life
But you just beg to see me dance just one more time.

Music With Emmeline – Wednesday 3rd June

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Here are today’s musical activities from Emmeline.

Familiar Soundscape: The City

Today’s soundscape has a city theme. We have provided this picture of a city as a visual stimulus but perhaps you would like to close your eyes and imagine your own city or look out of your window. A city can be very busy so if this feels overwhelming you could imagine yourself as something still within the city, perhaps the tree or you are sitting on a bench. Do you have anything at home that reminds you of the sounds you might find in a the city?

Please relax, listen to the music, look at the picture, imagine your own city and take deep breaths.

Dance Monkey: Part 3 – Verse 2

We are going to learn the second verse of Dance Monkey today. Here are the words;

Ooh I see you, see you, see you every time
And oh my I, I, I like your style
You, you make me, make me, make me wanna cry
And now I beg to see you dance just one more time

Autism Outreach Service – Transition Resources

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Schools and staff across Aberdeen City are in the process of planning and preparing for the return of their pupils to school in August.  This will be exciting news for a lot of our pupils but it may also be a time of apprehension for some of them too. To help support the transition from home back to school we thought it would be helpful to post some general transition resources and advice for use by both parents and teaching staff.

 

Elsa-support has a social story on going ‘Back to school’ after coronavirus and some back to school wellbeing question worksheets.

‘The Rainbow Classroom’ has produced two video social stories: ‘Going back to school’ and ‘What will school be like now?’

This is another social story on going back to school.

The following are links to pages on the Autism Toolbox and the National Autistic Society websites that relate to transition advice and resources.

The Reachout ASC website has a free collection of resources you can download.

The Autism Education Trust Transition Booklet has advice and practical strategies to support transitions. They also have a ‘Tools for Teachers Covid-19 Edition’ booklet which is free to download if you are registered with them.

The following links are visual transition supports from Communication Friendly Environments.

‘Guidance for teachers on transitioning autistic pupils back to school’ is a booklet that has been written and produced by the One Stop Shop Aberdeen and the Triple A’s Aberdeen. The Triple A’s are an entirely autism led peer support charity for people on the autistic spectrum.