On Monday Room 18 and some friends from Room 16 and 19 watched Scotland play Samoa in the Rugby World Cup. The World Cup is being held in Japan. We learned about Japan in Drama with Sam. Scotland scored lots of tries and won the match! We enjoyed watching the game.

 

Norma Buist Swimming Gala

Our senior pupils had a fantastic day at the swimming gala! We are very proud of them all for working hard to achieve the times required to represent Orchard Brae at the gala, and for swimming their best during their events.

They returned to school with a number of achievements. For some, it was their first gala and they swam brilliantly, doing their very best for the occasion. Another pupil, also at their first gala, attempted to compete but found the water was too cold … maybe next year.

Those fortunate enough to win medals came away with quite a haul between them:

Bronze Medal for 25 m Backstroke for a pupil competing in their first gala;

Gold Medal 25 m Backstroke for one of our more accomplished swimmers;

Gold Medal 25 m Front Crawl for a youngster at their first gala;

3 Gold Medals for 25 m Front Crawl, Backstroke and Breaststroke, again for a more experienced competitor;

and finally, 3 Gold Medals for 50 m Front Crawl, Backstroke and Breaststroke for an advanced swimmer.

Congratulations to each and every one of our swimmers for going to the gala and competing at a high level! You were all stars!

 

 

Musical Fun with Drake Music and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

On Wednesday 4th September the staff and pupils of Room 16 attended a music composing workshop run by Drake Music and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

We arrived in the hall and took our seats as 2 cellists played a smooth and relaxing melody.  A third musician played various instruments and handed them out to pupils to join in.  My favourite moment was when he started playing a trombone and one very shy pupil simply grinned and said “Wow!”

The pupils (and staff) had the opportunity to play various percussion and wind instruments.  Pupils were given a sense of control as the cellos and trombone would repeat the sounds they had made.  You will see lots of big grins in the photos.

 

 

Settling in: Room 16

We have been settling in to the new classroom, with familiar faces and new faces. In PSE we talked about what we like to do with our friends and made a poster to decorate the classroom walls.

 

Potted Sports

Everyone enjoyed the Potted Sports organised by our PE Department on Wednesday. Thank you to everyone involved for the hard work that went into this, including our Howes Hoose pupils who supported at the stations. We all had a great time moving around in our class groups, finishing up with a running ‘marathon’ for any Secondary pupils wishing to participate. They were well supported by those opting to spectate.

Kitchen Skills in Room 16

This term we have been practicing using round bladed knifes more accurately.  We’ve made faces and animals with fruit so far.

Rag Bag Reward for Room 16

As a reward raising our first £1000 through ragbag for the school fund, the class had a day trip.  We went bowling then for lunch, followed by a short walk along the prom.  As we ate one pupil signed “It’s nice here!”  A great day out for all.  Well done Room 16!

Remember if you have clothes or bedding to be recycled, there is a Ragbag container in school reception.  Many thanks for your continued support in our textile recycling fundraiser.

Room 16: Working Towards the John Muir Award

In Room 16 we have been working on our John Muir Award all year. This focuses on Outdoor Education.

In order to achieve our Bronze Award, we have to do 4 days work in our chosen outdoor space.  We chose our playground, as we felt it was a bit bare and it was readily accessible to us.

Our plan was to blur the boundaries between the indoor and outdoor spaces.  Here’s what we’ve done so far:

  • Learned about the Scotsman John Muir and his work protecting natural spaces in North America.
  • Explored our playground in different seasons and from different perspectives.
  • Planted lots of bulbs, seeds and seedlings in science lessons.

 

  • Planted flowers.
  • Experimented with flowers in science lessons

 

  • Used natural and recycled materials in craft projects.

 

  • Been for lots of walks in the local community, to the shops, duck pond, parks and outdoor fitness area.
  • Fed the birds (ducks, robins and sparrows) at the local duck pond.
  • Decorated milk bottle plant pots for house plants in our classroom, which the pupils look after.

  • Made a sound sculpture with pots and pans in the playground, for pupils to play with.
  • Hung up a large thermometer in the playground for everyone to use.

But we are not quite finished yet.  We are in the process of making some more interactive and noisy sculptures for the playground.

We would like everyone to be able to enjoy using the outdoor spaces in school more, so here’s hoping for some dry weather!

Curling Festival: Room 16

We went to the ASN Curling festival at Curl Aberdeen.  It was cold standing on the ice and we all wore cosy jackets.  The coaches gave us different challenges to do. We all liked knocking down the skittles.  It was great to do real curling after using the indoor curling stones in the classroom. Here are some of our thoughts on the Curling Festival:

“It was great man.”

“It was good but very cold.”

“I liked the cup of tea.”

Ragbag Collection

The pupils in Room 16 have been working hard on our Ragbag project for 18 months now.  We are delighted to confirm that we have raised approximately £900 for the school fund (that’s more than 2 tonnes of clothing that have been saved from landfill!).

Rag bag is a Scottish textile and clothing recycling scheme.  Items are graded according to their quality at their premises in Falkirk.  Wearable items are sent to developing countries as 2nd hand clothing, items which may have been torn or damaged recycled and become carpet underlay or industrial cleaning cloths or even mattress lining.  Either way they are kept from landfill.

There are 3 collection schemes, 1: send bags home, 2: inside collection bin (at school front office) and 3: external collection bin.  We are proud to say that we have all 3 schemes in operation.

We collect clothes, pairs of shoes, belts and bags.

So this Spring, as you clear out your winter wardrobe, feel free to fill a bag of rags for us!