Maths Week 2021

Last week it was Maths Week across Scotland. We asked classes to share work that they had been doing in Maths and Numeracy. Thank you to our Primary colleagues for sharing some of the lovely learning they engaged in.

Room 3 shared some of the work they’re doing across the curriculum, linking maths to early literacy skills and daily routine: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JTPDvjQdOriDlqpK9OhsCArSnjucNP8rArHW6wRXDxc/edit?usp=sharing

Room 4 are exploring colour through their interdisciplinary learning.

One of our pupils in Room 6 is working on number recognition and counting.

Health And Wellbeing In Room 6

Pupils in Room 6 have been having fun participating in a range of Health & Wellbeing activities. We have been exploring the countryside, having foot spas for relaxation, and making jelly!!! One of our class also had a birthday last week so we had a party for her!!!

LIVE PE: Wednesday 24th Feb at 2 pm

We have big news this week! Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will have a LIVE PE lesson. To join us all you need to do is to check the ‘PE at Home’ class on Wednesday at 2 pm and there will be a link for the ‘Meet’.

You will need: comfy clothes and a willingness to have fun!

Amanda and Salvi look forward to seeing you!

The PE at home classroom on Google is updated weekly and the team are doing a great job in providing a range of activities to suit pupils of all abilities. These include Dance, Boccia, Orienteering, Scavenger Hunts (this week’s is a lovely sensory, texture hunt) and our regular PE with Salvi and Amanda, ably supported by our own Young Leaders in school.

Please ask your child’s class teacher for a link if you are not in the PE at Home classroom.

Countdown To Christmas

Orchard Brae Advent Calendar: Days 21 and 22

We hope that you enjoy the latest installment of the Orchard Brae Advent Calendar.

For Day 21, Room 4 are delighted to share how Diane, our art specialist, helped them to make the own Christmas tree decorations.

For Day 22, Room 6 bring you a sensory exploration of a Christmas light switch on.

A Busy Time In Room 6

Storytime

Room 6 have a “story of the month” which we listen to after lunch. Last month’s story was The Gruffalo. Here we are colouring our Gruffalos, cutting them out and showing them to each other!

Get Well Soon!

We made “Hope you’re feeling better” cards for a special friend. We collected things at Outdoor Education and then chose what we wanted to put on our pictures. Then we wrote our names on our pictures and sent them to her.

Hallowe’en In Room 6

Room 6 had a great time during the week of Hallowe’en!

Early in the week we made our own pumpkin – we scraped out the seeds, drew a number 6 on one side and a face on the other, cut them both out and then put our pumpkin in the school “pumpkin patch”.

On the Friday we had a Hallowe’en party!! We dressed up and played Hallowe’en games. We played dookin’ for apples and bagel on a string. No-one wanted to stop bagel on a string – maybe because the bagel had biscoff on it!!

Health & Wellbeing In Room 6

One of the things we have been focusing on this term has been making sure we are all feeling happy with all our classmates and teachers. So far we have done Yoga, gone for lovely walks, done some dance sessions, played outside and enjoyed chilling out at choice time. A special highlight of our day is our relaxation sessions just before we prepare to go home.

Aberdeen Reads: Join the Summer Reading Challenge

Aberdeen City Libraries have announced an exciting new reading challenge for the summer. Starting tomorrow (27th June) and running until 29th August, everyone is welcome to register as an individual or family / group. Register for the challenge online: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=aw-pJD2_E02ip4k2nOs16xSlCSTRm75Nn6t-EpSexzdUN0kySlJWRlpJUEdRSEdZUlhLRTczUDZDTSQlQCN0PWcu

There are 9 reading related challenges and you can choose those that appeal. Full details of all the challenges are on the Aberdeen Reads website:

Click to access Aberdeen%20Reads%20final%20form.pdf

 

There is something for everyone!

 

Some ideas of how you might use the challenge are:

 

Places

Read some of your favourite stories that are set in other countries (real or imaginary). Two of my personal favourites are:

Where The Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak), a lovely picture book for younger readers, and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (C S Lewis) for older readers.

 

Get Creative

Across the school we’ve seen lovely photos of our children and young people engaging in Life Skills and Arts & Crafts during our period of remote learning. Why not challenge yourself to bake or cook something new? You might find a no-cook recipe that will encourage even greater independence. Try a new craft project and make something useful, or use some of your old junk to create something inspired by a book. Lots of exciting crafty projects can be done using recycled materials and this helps our environment.

 

Ec0-Friendly

Use recycled materials to create a favourite character or a scene from one of your books. One young man from Room 14 did this previously, creating his favourite scene from Harry Potter.

 

Cover Versions

Some of our Secondary pupils enjoy the Harry Potter books. These are magical stories to escape into and are very enjoyable to read aloud. Why not compare the film and the book to find out which you like best? Horrid Henry is always a favourite and episodes can be watched on TV. Do you like the TV episode or the story best? Popular with many of our younger pupils is Disney Cars or any other Disney movie. Again, see what you like best – the film or the book. There are also lots of E-comics on the library website, including Disney.

 

Favourite Place

Try reading in different places and find out what your favourite place to read is. I like to read in the garden, particularly on a fine day.

 

Let us know how you get on and feel free to share with your teachers the stories that you have enjoyed.

 

 

 

Online Learning Survey

We’ve now been learning remotely for more weeks than we care to remember! This week is particularly exciting with the launch of our Google Classrooms (GSuite) and it’s great to see so many families getting involved with this.

As always, our aim is to support our children and young people as best we can, and we have a Leadership Group working together to focus on how do this as we move towards ‘blending learning’ from August. In order to support their work we’d really appreciate your thoughts on what we have offered so far, any issues or difficulties you’ve experienced, and what you would like to see as we move forward.

All feedback is welcome so please take a few minutes to share your views if you have not already done so. Thank you.

https://forms.gle/oparbBDTDzYbex8Z7