Celebrating World Kidney Day

We were asked by some of our parents to help raise awareness of World Kidney Day on the 14th March.  Kidney disease affects approximately 850 million people worldwide and the campaign Move4Kidneys highlights the importance of exercise in helping us keep our kidneys healthy.

We decided to get involved at Orchard Brae by hosting a special Move4Kidneys disco on Tuesday with Kev from SoundLightSensory, encouraging everyone to develop their awareness of kidney health by getting active and having fun.

Active Schools ASN Easter Camp

The Active Schools ASN Easter Camp will be running throughout the Easter holidays. It is free for Orchard Brae pupils to attend and £5 for other Aberdeen City pupils.
Register your place at: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ASNEasterCamp/
or for more information email: OrchardBrae@sportaberdeen.co.uk

Active Schools Dance Competition

On Thursday 28th of February our Dance Team took part in the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Active Schools Dance Competition at Mackie Academy. They had a wonderful evening,enjoying all the support from all those taking part and watching the event. They may not have won however they were acknowledged by the judges for their musicality and enthusiasm.

Duke of Edinburgh Awards Ceremony

On Tuesday we were delighted to see our first ever Duke of Edinburgh Award winners receive their Certificates at the Aberdeen City Award Ceremony. These young adults have now all left school however it was a pleasure to catch up with them and see how the confidence gained by completing their Bronze Award has supported them as they have moved on from school life.

We have another group of 6 S5 and S6 pupils working hard to complete their Bronze Award this year, culminating in their Excursion section at Whiston Lodge. They are all making excellent progress with their Skills and Volunteering Sections and enjoying all the practice sessions that will support them to complete their Excursion.

A Musical Visit

Yesterday afternoon, we were extremely fortunate to have had a visit from Mary Raunikar Page and her harp.  We had a great time listening to her play the harp and there was lots of fun as we all had the opportunity to explore the instrument and make our own music.

Our Eco Achievements

Over the last year everyone at Orchard Brae has working very hard on developing our Eco awareness as part of our Eco Schools journey and we have participated in a range of activities based around the topics of Litter, Waste Minimisation and Food and the Environment.

We conducted litter picks in the local area as well as in the school grounds, planted seeds and bulbs and cared for the plants, and made soup from our bumper crop of tatties grown in the school garden. The work that classes put into the Rag Bag scheme and Orchard Brae Fashion Boutique was recognised with a nomination for the Aberdeen City Council EcoCity Waste and Recycling Champions Award and while we were not the winners of the categories, we were rewarded with a certificate for our hard work and effort.

We are absolutely delighted that all of our hard work and effort has been recognised and we have reached the gold standard and been awarded our first Green Flag!

The Green Flag Award is presented to nurseries and schools which have demonstrated a commitment to Eco-Schools Scotland programme and usually takes place over two years. We are so proud that our Eco work has managed to get our first Green flag awarded in just one year!

We have been truly amazed by the comments we received from the Eco-School Scotland Team who noted that our action plan and evidence ‘was innovative and engaging’, ‘demonstrated a true commitment to improve the environment’ and ‘our dedication to embedding sustainability within the curriculum’.  They also highlighted aspects of our work as ‘examples of good practice’ which may be used as future case studies to support other schools.

A huge well done to all the students and staff for their on-going work and effort in enabling us to achieve our first Green Flag in one year.