Room 14 Staff Team
Teacher:
EYP:
PSA:
Orchard Brae Advent Calendar: Day 21
We’ve reached the last day of term and today’s advent treat comes from Room 14. Join them as they explore how they can use music to express themselves, including theme music composed by Sean.
This month room 14 have been learning about remembrance day and created a wall of Poppies to remember those who fell in conflict.
They cut apples in half and used these to print the Poppy shapes.
We think it looks great!
Room 14 have been enjoying creating music with Drake Music Scotland using technology. We have been learning skills in taking turns and working together as well as mastering different musical technologies including Garageband, Thumbjam and Soundbeam.
Wembley here we come!
The boys of Room 14 have settled back to school well but our classroom was a wee bit boring.
So what to do?
Create some art and make the class our own. Here are some pictures of the boys creating their very own coats of arms to decorate the class and make it their own.
They have also been busy picking, planting and watering the tatties in the polytunnel so tasty tattie treats are on the way!
This week some of the pupils have explored the potatoes we grew at school and have experienced making potato salad or paprika wedges with them.
They used all of their senses to and some pupils were able to use skills such as cutting and stirring.
What happened if you mix music, pasta, and a huge drum?
Turns out, pasta can dance!
Room 14 found out during our Pasta Extravaganza.
We attached loudspeakers to the underside of a large drum covered in pasta and used the computer to create music. The boys all did really well and enjoyed feeling the vibrations through the drum and watching the pasta dance.
Well done!
Room 14 have been exploring a variety of technologies and software this term. We looked through photos of work we have done and uploaded them to a Padlet. Here is a photograph of the Padlet we created.
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.
Burns Celebrations to start the week
We’ve had another busy week of remote learning. Starting on Monday with our whole school Burns Day Celebration, the week was started with great enthusiasm!
Daily Circle Time
To keep our routine going, many classes continue to do daily circle time. Some of our learners have their own circle time packs at home to support the familiar routine, others use the class slides to provide structure. It’s great to receive feedback on how our learners are getting on: ‘He thoroughly enjoys circle time.’
For one young man, circle time is also an opportunity to practise his bench sitting.
Personal Independence and Life Skills
We continue to develop independence in personal care. Staff take time to support us in doing things for ourselves. Handwashing is very important during a pandemic!
We’ve been cooking and baking. There was some delicious French Onion Soup on offer this week and beautiful golden shortbread. Look out Masterchef, here we come!
Expressive Arts
We enjoyed art, PE, drumming and music through Makaton Choir. A very detailed drawing was done to decorate a drum for a music session with Keith – the drawing is of a hunter being chased by an African lady that is protecting the animals!
We also took time to relax, both indoors and out.
Working Hard
We worked hard on a range of learning activities and tasks, some online and some more practical.
One of our senior pupils made an amazing cat house as part of her SQA work. I think you’ll agree, this is for one very lucky cat!
Assembly
Finally, to round off the week we had an Assembly. We talked about mental health and the theme ‘Express Yourself’. Staff shared the ways that they express themselves and show that they’re unique. The slides are available to view in the Google Assembly classroom for anyone that was unable to join us. Our challenge for the next assembly on 12th February is to share a photo of us doing something that we enjoy – anything goes!
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for both staff and pupils in our Secondary Department. With a new round of remote learning we’ve slipped back into things a little easier. We’ve got lots of activities on offer within our Google Classrooms and we’re seeing more pupils engaging with this. Circle time and stories are proving popular and it’s great to see our young people getting involved in helping around the home.
Although we have some sessions ‘live’, such as Makaton Choir (every Monday at 2 pm) and Assembly (1:30 pm on Friday 29th January), other activities are in the form of pre-recorded video or materials that can be accessed at a time of your convenience. We do appreciate that family life is busy, everyone juggling remote learner(s) with other commitments, so we invite you dip in and out when it suits your schedule.
Here are a few photos from our remote learning over the last couple of weeks. If you’d like your child to be featured, please let the class teacher know that you’re happy for your photographs to be shared.
We’re learning in everything we do. Please ask your class teachers if you need any further support.
