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The Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) is Scotland’s education framework for ALL learners; its main aim is to enable children and young people to develop the four capacities; successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. In Orchard Brae School each learner is enabled to become as independent as possible, developing skills for life, learning, leisure and where appropriate work. Our curriculum offer is personalised to each pupil throughout their learning journey, as we maintain a focus on positive future destinations.
Our learners in P1 – S3 work within Broad General Education (BGE) at a level and pace that is suited to their individualised needs. Personalised targets focus core skill development within Literacy and Communication, Numeracy and Health and Well Being. The ethos and life of the school community is structured to enable pupils to learn and practise life skills as part of their daily routines. Through interdisciplinary approaches and specialist courses, we offer real life learning contexts, deepening and practicing knowledge and skills within Expressive Arts, RME, Science, PE, Technologies and Social Studies. Interdisciplinary learning, through ‘Our world’ contexts over a 5 year cycle, facilitates pupils’ exploration, experience and learning which is practiced within community contexts, ensuring confidence and success is generalised and secure. Family learning is a vital part of our pupils’ success and, along with our termly learning challenges, we offer a range of workshops, activity nights and holiday schemes for families. Achievement and success is recognised and celebrated.
The Primary One pupils at Ashgrove, would like to say a massive thank you to Friends of Orchard Brae. They very generously bought us some new equipment for our playground. We have all had a great time playing with them and our playground looks amazing now. Thank you Friends of Orchard Brae.
In RME we have been learning about the Hindu festival of Diwali. We listened to the story of Rama and Sita, sang some Diwali songs and learned about rangoli patterns and diya lamps. Some classes dyed rice to make rangoli patterns, others made Happy Diwali cards and others made diya lanterns. Happy Diwali to all!!
In Room 5 we celebrated the festival of Diwali with lots of different activities. We learnt the story of Rama and Sita through a sensory story which we all took part in every day for a week. It was exciting to experience being in the forest and seeing the scary, 10 headed demon Ravana. We also enjoyed mark making with rangoli paint and painting diva lanterns for our families.
“How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers is about a boy who really wants to catch a star. He tries different creative ways to reach the stars but learns that sometimes you need to think differently to make your dreams come true. It’s a sweet and imaginative story about perseverance and finding your own way to shine.
Transforming “How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers into a sensory story for our children in Room 6 was an absolute delight. We used simple yet effective elements to engage their senses and make the story come alive in a whole new way.
Sun – Yellow Cellophane:
We brought the sun to life by using bright yellow cellophane. The children could feel its warmth and vibrant colour, creating a tangible connection to the story’s sunny setting.
Window – Curtains:
For scenes involving windows, we hung curtains that the children could open and close. This simple interactive element allowed them to participate actively in the narrative, enhancing their engagement.
Up and Down – Opposite Words:
To explore the concept of “up” and “down,” we incorporated simple visuals and movements. For “up,” we raised props or stretched our arms high; for “down,” we lowered or crouched low. This interactive play with opposite words added a dynamic layer to the storytelling.
Seagulls – Feathers:
When seagulls appeared in the story, we handed out feathers for the children to hold. Feeling the softness of the feathers helped them connect with the seagull characters, creating a memorable sensory experience.
Sea – Feeling the water, shells, and sand:
For scenes by the sea, we created a sensory station with water for the children to dip their hands into, shells to touch, and sand to feel. This hands-on experience brought the beach setting to life, fully immersing them in the story.
Rocket from cardboard:
The rocket in the story was crafted from cardboard, turning a simple prop into a tangible representation of the boy’s adventure. The children could touch and explore the rocket, fostering a connection to the story’s imaginative elements.
Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed this sensory adaptation of “How to Catch a Star.” The combination of visual, tactile, and interactive elements transformed the storytelling experience into a multisensory journey, making the narrative more accessible and engaging for each child. The joy and excitement on their faces reflected the success of this sensory exploration, turning a beloved book into a truly unforgettable experience.
All of the boys in room 8 have been working hard on their targets this term. Some children are becoming more familiar with activity boards while playing with bubbles, making art or playing music. Others have been working on recognising their photographs. Mark making skills are being developed, number recognition is being worked on and following instructions is being worked on by copying an adult in PE and dance sessions.
Our Disney topic has continued to bring to life a variety of magical tales.
For Halloween week we explored “baddies” with the story of “101 Dalmatians”. We danced to Cruella DeVil, found our photos hiding in the old DeVil house, made Dalmatian art, dressed up for our soft-start choices and had a pumpkin themed sensory play with red lentils (and communication boards!). Our numeracy activity counted “Ten Little Monsters” and our spooky Halloween bucket featured a chance to make our own magic potion, and alongside the fun of seeing the bubbles when we combined ingredients it was also great to see how much more confident the class were to transition for a turn-taking activity.
We then moved on to “superheroes”, and who better than “The Incredibles” to animate the theme?! We all enjoyed playing with superhero masks as our signifier for story time, so when we got to art we each had a chance to make our own superhero masks. We sang superhero songs and looked out for our superhero selves flying across the interactive board.
Last week we explored the theme of “Princesses” with the story “Aladdin”. We danced to songs from the film for our listening activities, spotted our photos flying across the interactive board on a magic carpet, counted Princesses for numeracy, for bucket time we were invited for a magic carpet ride, and in art we designed our own magic carpets. Our messy play communication activity saw our princess picture on the tray with some amazing cornflake hair!
We have had a busy Term 1 in room 8 and are excited to get going with term 2. In Term 1 we were getting used to the new things. For some children the room was new. For others it was staff that were new and the children had some peers they hadn’t been in a class with before. Everyone has settled into room 8 very well! We have been exploring our topic of Disney/showtime and have been making a start on working on our targets.
The children have adjusted well to the routine we have developed in room 8. They enjoy the outdoor area just outside room 8 that has a slide and a see saw to play with, as well as a scooter and a trike. The children have been enjoying the usual activities we are able to have across the school week such as swimming and PE.
In Term 2 we will be continuing the topic of Disney/Showtime until we hit December where winter festivities will take over!
Last week, we had a fantastic time with the show MESS by Tenterhooks. The story was fun and full of surprises. Imagine a bunch of cleaners dancing and singing about how good they are at cleaning. But then, one cleaner finds a pink glove when all the others are yellow. This tiny mix-up leads to a big, fun mess!
The head cleaner gets caught up in the mess and turns into a colourful, messy creature. Everyone starts having a great time, dancing, and celebrating the joy of a little chaos.
What was cool about MESS was that it wasn’t just something to watch – it was an experience. The show gave us moments to think, feel, and join in. Sometimes, the cleaners would show us how to use props like buttons or gloves.
Show Highlights:
No speaking, just action
Cool sounds and music
Neat lights with mirrors and LEDs
Awesome group singing
Interactive props for the audience: Big Mack button, rubber glove, vibrating speaker
Oh, and the best part? We could take the pink glove to the classroom! It’s like a small gift to remember the fun we had.
Thanks to everyone who made this show happen. It was a day to remember!
We’ve had a busy start to the year in Room 9! We started the term with lots of time to explore our new class and friends, using the story “The Pigeon HAS to go to School” as our story focus for the start of term. As part of this we have been able to build relationships and establish routines, including lots of movement activities throughout the day and diverse communication opportunities. We’ve had lots of fun with our daily communication games, water play and messy play have supported some fab interactions!
Since then we’ve started to explore our Disney theme for the term, starting with “Toy Story”. We’ve added sound effects to our own rocket launch, created space art, played along to music from the film, spotted our photos in “space” on the interactive board, sung space themed songs, and more. In numeracy we counted “Ten Little Aliens” as we read the story of the same name. A particular favourite was our space themed bucket time where we were able to launch a rocket for stage three – we’re loving bucket time at the moment in Room 9!
Last week we explored “Finding Nemo” (with lots of water play and a very wet bucket time!), this week we’re looking at “The Lion King”. We’ll be continuing to explore a different Disney story every week or two.
In Room 5 we have lots of fun riding our bikes around the playground. Cycling trikes is really good for us to learn the reciprocal movement of our legs which helps with our coordination and balance. It also strengthens our leg muscles. At Orchard Brae we also have a trike which wheelchairs can be fastened onto so all the children can take part in cycling activities.
