Category: Primary

 

Broad General Education

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.

Marble Runs In Room 8

  By , , ,

Marble runs are great for open-ended building. They’re an example of using Science, Technology, and Math. And, they’re a lot of fun, both for the kids and the adults.

The boys and girls in Room 8 discovered so many benefits of building their two marble runs.

Everyone in Room 8 sloped, bent, twisted, turned to make building a marble run challenging, but it was fun.  So, engineering or building something is one of the benefits.

So many questions as ‘Will it work if I ….?’ The benefits are problem solving and trial and error.

Everyone from the box and the other people building the marble run. Next benefit – following directions.

It took a LONG time to build a big marble run. It can also take time to make something new work or figure out how to successfully connect different pieces. There’s not a lot of instant gratification with a marble run. So, the patience was the key.

Building a marble run wasn’t easy. But, sticking with the process and not giving up helped build patience and perseverance.

Marble runs are open-ended activities. There are lots of ways to build and construct marble runs, so the possibilities are endless. Being creative, wewere building two marble runs.

We needed everyone participating while building our successful marble run. So, we have been cooperative.

Weincorporated a lot of Math naturally when we were building our marble run. For example, counting how many pieces are needed to complete the marble run. Predicting which one will be fastest or estimating how long it will take to complete the marble run.

Precision and care were needed when we were connecting pieces of a marble run. So, building a marble run helped us to develop our hand-eye coordination.

All the colours, shapes, and different types of pieces, combined with constructing a marble run that’s long, tall, superfast, had many starting points, gave plenty of opportunities for children to use their imagination.

Home Economics: Developing Independence

  By , , , , ,

Liz and Grace have had a busy start to the session, working with many pupils across the school. In our primary classes pupils focus on experiencing foods with opportunities to handle, taste and talk about a variety of foods. Hygiene is also a very important part of the routine at all times.

In Secondary, pupils continue working on routine and hygiene, experiencing different foods. As they progress, skills and independence are developed. Pupils at Senior Phase make a range of snacks and meals, some showing great aptitude and skill. We use our skills in literacy and numeracy to follow recipes and practise measurement. We are very adept at cutting and chopping. We’ve enjoyed fruit pancakes and have made apple crumble, enjoying the seasonal produce available.

Making Friends In Room 4

  By ,

Children and adults in Room 4 have been getting to know each other through fun activities and games!

We have been learning through the much loved book “The very hungry caterpillar”. We have had a lot of fun doing sensory activities, fine motor skill activities, music and art!

World First Aid Day

  By , , ,

Today is World First Aid Day and the pupils in Room 5 have been very busy learning about first aid and helping others.

We are very boisterous and full of fun at Orchard Brae and sometimes we have bumps and falls when we are playing.  We had fun learning some first aid to treat our bumps.  We also celebrated World First Aid Day and found a free British Red cross App that our Mums and Dads can download so they know what to do if we have an accident. 

Here’s the link for the app: https://www.redcross.org.uk/first-aid/first-aid-apps

We also made a video showing some of the First Aid skills we learned. We hope you like it

Welcome To Room 10

  By ,

The children in Class 10 are settling in after their long break.  There are lots of new people in the room for us all to get to know and so we are taking things easy and doing some relaxing activities. We have done some big painting onto boards and windows.  We have done some very friendly activities, such as playing games and taking turns.

Outdoor Education update from Alan and Sharon

  By , , , ,

As the weather gets cooler, classes have been making a bug hotel in the new sensory garden.  We have been exploring different plants and textures to make a place where insects can keep warm over the winter.  We have used grasses, thistle down and a variety of plants to create a cosy environment for our tiny guests to stay in over the colder months.

We have also been setting up tasks for pupils to help keep our playground tidy, like raking the sandpit.  These jobs are great experience and provide a fantastic opportunity to be involved in real work.

We have also been establishing bird feeders outside class and in the new sensory garden.

A Happy Return To School In Room 11

  By ,

We can’t believe it has been almost a month since we returned to school. But we are very happy to be able to see our friends and teachers. We, in Room 11, have welcomed three new pupils who have brought to our class laugh and mischievousness.

All children have been happily participating in activities in class and learning new routines. We have been having lots of fun completing number activities, enjoying art and online music sessions.

Fantastic Fun In Room 3

  By ,

The boys and girls in Room 3 have made a fantastic start to the school year.  We have welcomed some new Primary One pupils into the class as well as some old friendships being re-established.  All of the children have been extremely enthusiastic about trying new activities as well as familiarising themselves with some they have not done for a while.  Everyone is adapting so well to new routines and beginning to get to know their friends in class.   These photos show just some of the fun we have been having!

Settling In To Room 7

  By ,

The boys in Room 7 have been enjoying getting to know each other and settling in to our new classroom and outdoor space. We have been doing lots of art activities and have had fun exploring the feel of paint, glue, felt, wool and paper. We also looked at our reflections in a mirror to make little self portraits.