Category: News

Aberdeen Performing Arts Events

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Aberdeen Performing Arts have upcoming performances which are suitable for those with additional support needs. For more information please follow the links below.

Happiness Collectors

The world’s supplies of happiness are running low and we need your help to top them up! Happiness Collectors is a fusion of physical theatre and audio-immersive storytelling for family audiences. A 20-minute performance experienced through headphones (provided by us), suitable for family audiences aged 5+. No booking necessary – arrive early to secure your spot.

More info here: www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/whats-on/the-happiness-collectors

Access note: This performance is unamplified with all sound coming through wireless headphones. We’ve had great responses from young people with additional support needs who have enjoyed the freedom of taking off the headphones and experiencing the fun, physical nature of the performance.

Light The Way (Promenade Event)

Saturday 18th June
16:30 – 16:45

Bon Accord Centre Roof Garden

An exciting series of multi-artform, pop-up performances created especially for #LTB22. Find out from young people across Aberdeen what Light The Way means to them. Watch the participants light the way and see their ideas come to life!  

More info here: www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/whats-on/light-the-way-outdoor-promenade-event

Access note: This performance features dance, theatre and music – with a few songs signed in Makaton and a dance performance featuring disabled performers.

The rest of our programme can be viewed here: www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/light-the-blue.

Drake Music

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Abi Sinar, a musician with Drake Music, has been working with students at Orchard Brae for the last two years, even throughout lockdowns, in developing the North East Digital Orchestra project. The ultimate goal of the project is to create a digital orchestra for school leavers and young adults, enabling them to develop their musical skills and create new music using a range of inclusive music technologies.

Pupils who have been involved in the project have been supported by Abi to develop their musical skills using a variety of accessible instruments and have created this video for you to enjoy, where they play Ode To Joy as well as their own additional compositions to the song.

Many thanks to Abi for her support and in making the film. If you would like to find out more about Drake Music and their work, please follow the link below:

https://drakemusicscotland.org/

Take A Break

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Take a Break Scotland are pleased to announce that they are now open for applications!

Take a Break provides grants to unpaid carers of disabled children and young people, who have complex additional support needs, or serious or life-threatening health conditions.

Applications are open until 5:00pm on Monday 20 June 2022.

If you have concerns about travelling either in the UK or overseas, there are options on how you can use your grant if awarded.

Visit their website: https://takeabreakscotland.org.uk for more information and how to apply online.

Holiday Weekend

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Just a reminder that all Orchard Brae establishments will be closed on Monday 2nd May for the May Day holiday and Tuesday 3rd May for in-Service Training. The Nursery based at Ashgrove Children’s Centre will also be closed on Thursday 5th May for local elections polling. This does not affect the main school or Nursery at Howes Road which will be open as normal.

Head Teacher’s Easter Blog

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HT Easter Blog

It’s the Easter holidays already, wow, that was a fast term and again another busy term for our Orchard Brae community.  This term has brought it challenges with COVID having an impact on our staff, even I couldn’t escape it, but there is light to be seen and with the new term will come less restrictions.

We hope to resume our educational trips in the community and at long last get back into the water.  Our school will be opened back up to the community and we can welcome parents and visitors back in, it will be great to see you all in person again. 

We have a few ideas for events in the summer term and we will keep you informed of all the dates and our plans. 

Our building is almost fence free and our plans to revitalise the outdoor space are well underway, thanks to our fantastic outdoor learning team Roddy and Sharon.  The arrival of our all-terrain bikes was a great to see and once the weather gets a little bit warmer, we will be out in full force getting maximum use out of them.

After the holidays we will be sending out a questionnaire to gather our school communities’ thoughts on the changes we have made to some processes and what you would like to see change/develop moving forward.  All ideas welcomed!

Congratulations to Naomi Farrimond who officially took up the post of PT Secondary this term.   

Important Dates

  • Term ends – Friday 1 April 2022
  • Term starts – Monday 18 April 2022
  • May Day holiday – Monday 2 May 2022
  • In-service day – Tuesday 3 May 2022
  • Polling Day – Thursday 5th May (Orchard Brae @ Ashgrove, closed to all pupils)
  • Queen’s Platinum Jubilee- Friday 3 June 2022
  • Term ends – Friday 1 July 2022

Parents/Carers evening will be in June but no date has been set yet – more information to follow after the holidays.

Fairtrade Week

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There has been lots of fun going on in school this week as pupils and staff have been busy exploring Fairtrade.

Classes took part in a Fairtrade scavenger hunt around the school, and explored Fairtrade products through a variety of sensory activities as well as arts and crafts and cooking.

It’s been wonderful to see how engaged everyone was in their learning and we enjoyed sharing our learning in this afternoon’s whole school assembly.

For those of you who were unable to join us, you can view our assembly PowerPoint below.

We hope that you have all enjoyed our Fairtrade week. Thank you to all the staff who made this possible and to all the pupils for their enthusiasm – who would have guessed that pancake day would fall in Fairtrade week!?!?

Have a great weekend and hopefully the songs don’t stick in your head too much!

Letter To Parents and Carers – 25th February 2022

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Dear Parents and Carers,

I wanted to give you a quick update on a few things.  Firstly, the lifting of COVID restrictions and their implication on school life.  We anticipate that further guidance will come out from the Scottish Government re mask wearing and social distancing.  As of Monday 28th, we will be removing the need for staff to wear their masks outside, we continue to wear masks inside as we cannot socially distance the adults in the classroom safely.  I will ensure that you are updated with any other changes to our risk assessment and ensure it can be accessed on our web page.

Swimming Pool – my hope is to re-open the swimming pool after the Easter holidays.  As you will all be aware this will be a great step forward, but it does still require some careful planning, as we will have to limit the number of staff in changing areas due to mask wearing and social distancing rules.  Classes will have to be split in half to access, meaning that your child/young person will have a fortnightly slot to begin with.  Your class teacher will be in touch with more details closer to the holidays.

Orchard Brae Holiday Club – all parents and carers of pupils attending the school should have received an information poster and return for our holiday club.  This will run for the first week of the Easter holidays from 9.30-12.30.  Places are limited and you cannot be guaranteed a place, but the information will help us to organise future clubs and holiday access to activities.

Buildings – Our building is undergoing a transformation on the outside.  The removal of some of the slate from our building has started which means that we will soon be rid of all the Heras fencing.  We do also have plans to create our little garden areas outside each class which allows us to remove the temporary fencing as well.

Finally, we have received word that our report/letter from the latest HMIe visit will be published on the March 1st.  Once it goes live you will find access to it via this link on the Education Scotland website at www.education.gov.scot.  I would like to thank all of you for your continued support in making Orchard Brae the best it can be and hope to have a thank you gathering in the summer term to celebrate our wonderful community.

Kind regards

Elaine

Parental Contact Details

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Following Friday’s early closure due to bad weather, can parents please ensure that the school office have your most up-to-date contact details. If you have changed your contact number or email address, please notify the school admin team or email orchardbraeschool@aberdeencity.gov.uk