Music Therapy
This Summer there will a series of Arts Clubs being run by Keith Emmeline and Sam.
To book these please go to www.eventbrite.co.uk and search for Orchard Brae Summer school
or click on the image below.
On Tuesday, our Makaton Choir hosted some very special guests in school as part of a choir workshop organised by our Emmeline, our music therapist.
The two choirs that visited us were ‘The Kitty Choir’ from Kittybrewster Primary School and ‘Singing Hands’, an Aberdeen based BSL signing (British Sign Language) choir. We all had a wonderful afternoon sharing our different approaches to choir.
The Orchard Brae Makaton Choir performed “Happy” and “Summer Holiday”, Singing Hands performed “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” and “Give Me Sunshine” and The Kitty Choir performed “Sing”.
The three choirs then collaborated and sang our Makaton signed version of “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” alongside the BSL version. It was very interesting to see the differences and similarities between Makaton and BSL. We then rounded of the afternoon by all learning the Makaton signs for “Shotgun!”
Everyone had a wonderful afternoon and Scott, the hearing dog was a big hit with all of the pupils! It was wonderful to have the opportunity to share our learning and learn from others too.
We are very excited about the upcoming Choir Workshop afternoon organised by Emmeline, our Music Therapist. The afternoon will focus on how different groups approach being a choir and will feature:
– Orchard Brae Makaton Choir
– Singing Hands, a local BSL Signing Group and
– The Kitty Choir from Kittybrewster Primary School
**NB – Consent forms will be sent home with the pupils involved in the workshop afternoon**
One pupil had a lovely time in music therapy with Emmeline this week. He enjoyed turn-taking and copying on the piano as well as singing well-known nursery rhymes, especially ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’. There was also lots of fun as he started making up his own songs with a lot of “Achoos!” and “Uh-Ohs!”
Good luck with the rest of your course Nadine and we hope to see you again in the future!
Our amazing Makaton Choir, dancers and drummers had great fun entertaining the whole school with their favourite songs as a fundraiser for Comic Relief.
We are also raising money through our World Book Day Book and DVD trolley and all the money received will be donated to Comic Relief. Total raised so far is £240.
The students and staff in Howes Hoose have also been busy selling red noses around the school. They have raised an amazing £90 and they have donated a further £50 from their soup making enterprise. A huge well done to everyone in Howes Hoose for their total of £140! (Photos to follow!)
To celebrate World Music Therapy Day 2019 our talented Music Therapist Emmeline has posted an amazing video on Facebook sharing all the wonderful Music Therapy that goes on at Orchard Brae. Click on the link to see the Video and enjoy!
Yesterday afternoon, we were extremely fortunate to have had a visit from Mary Raunikar Page and her harp. We had a great time listening to her play the harp and there was lots of fun as we all had the opportunity to explore the instrument and make our own music.
Today we were very lucky to receive a Lawman Piano which had been gifted to the school to help support all the amazing development and engagement work that takes place with our Music Therapist Emmeline. The Lawman Panio was created by Gordon Bell Pianos in conjuction with Passell designers to celebrate Aberdeen footballer Denis Law receiving the Freedom of Aberdeen City in 2018. The Panio has been on a tour of all the Football clubs that Dennis Law played for and on it’s return was auctioned off for charity. We are delighted to have been selected as it’s permanent home where we are sure it will be used by all of the pupils in school.
One of our Senior pupils really enjoyed the opportunity to make music on this amazing piano, which is fabulously decorated, including its light show and Dennis Law’s signature.
Our Music Therapist Emmeline has been working with pupils across the whole school. You can see all the happy faces as everyone loves their sessions with Emmeline.
