Another very special celebration video of the end of term and the start of the summer.
Happy holidays from everyone at Orchard Brae school and Nurseries.
To see all the out-takes leave the video running!!
The pupils from Howes Hoose successfully completed their final expedition for their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. They spent 2 days at Wiston Lodge set in the beautiful countryside beside Biggar, staying in log cabins which were warm and comfortable. Just what they needed after spending lots of time outdoors in the lovely Scottish Summer weather! There was also a kitchen cabin where the young people prepared their own breakfast and packed lunches, and this cabin was used to chill in their PJs with a hot chocolate before bed.
All the pupils participated fully in all the activities despite the cold and damp weather. They cooked a meal for themselves outside on the first night and walked over 4 kilometres through the hills the following day. Thankfully the torrential rain forecast passed by and, although not sunny, it was dry. Everyone, especially Al, our D of E Assessor, was pleased with the way the pupils all worked as a team, helping each other over fences and gates, guarding against cows and generally keeping each other going. It was a brilliant trip.
Pupils and staff also enjoyed some outdoor activity around the Lodge, walking the trails and practising their route finding skills using the landmarks we’d seen. The second day saw us treated to a cooked dinner, with breakfast in the Lodge at the end of our stay.
The completion of the expedition, added to the other sections of the Duke of Edinburgh programme –fundraising, volunteering and learning a physical skill – means that all the “Howes Hoose Heroes” have now achieved the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. Huge congratulations to them all and a special thank you to the PSA staff and Toby from D of E who supported them throughout the training and expeditions.
Last night a group of pupils from across the school performed their piece, Seasons’ Change in the Lemon Tree Studio as part of Aberdeen Performing Arts ‘Light The Blue’ festival.
The pupils (along with some friends who unfortunately couldn’t make the performance) and staff members have worked extremely hard throughout a series of workshops in school, where we worked collaboratively with Kate from Aberdeen Performing Arts, class teacher Jessica and Emmeline our music therapist, in order to create our final performance.
There has been lots of fun along the way as everyone fully engaged their senses to develop a piece of drama which allowed the cast members and audience to move through the seasons. We used a wide range of stimuli and there were lots of surprises along the way.
All of the pupils were a true credit to themselves and the school in last night’s performance and the audience’s participation was fantastic. We are so proud of everyone involved and would like to thank them all for all their hard work and effort in performing a truly magical and unique performance.
Summer in the City Guide 2019
This year’s Summer in the City Guide of events for children and young people, is now available online at the following link:
Click to access SITC%202019.pdf
The decision was made not to print the guide again this year, it is only available as a pdf copy. This has allowed the creation of an interactive diary section and use colours and photographs with additional clarity, more so than previous versions allowing for easy viewing on computer screens, phones and tablets.
After a very busy week at the senior residential trip to Bendrigg, one of our pupil’s from Howes Hoose managed to find the energy to walk 5 miles for the Aberdeen Kilt Walk! He collected his sponsor money for AFC Community Trust that runs his football sessions on a Saturday morning and he managed to raise almost £500!
What an amazing effort and a huge well done on raising such a fantastic amount.
Room 14 have been looking at various stories and songs this month and then doing a variety of activities connected to these stories.
This week we were listening to road safety songs and considering how to cross the road safely. We followed this up with some science exploring cars moving down ramps. We also coloured some pictures of our favourite cars.
We have looked at the Story of St George, using CBeebies to support our understanding. We explored riding horses and saving people from dragons.
We have also been reading stories relating to summer such as ‘Jaspers Beanstalk’ written by Nick Butterworth, and ‘Little Grey Rabbit’s May Day’ written by Alison Uttley.
Follow us, Room 8, into an amazing journey through our world of rights along with Handa, from “Handa’s surprise” by Eileen Browne.
In the story, Handa, a girl from Kenya, took a surprise bowl of fruits on a journey to her friend Akeyo. Different animals pinched the fruits without Handa’s permission. There were many interesting animals and fruits to find out about, making the journey really fun. As Handa’s journey was about to end, a goat bumped into a tangerine tree, and filled up her empty bowl with tangerines. When she arrived at Akeyo’s village, that was a happy surprise for both Handa and Akeyo. Handa was amazed by the loss of the other fruits, and the presence of tangerines. There was a happy ending because Akeyo’s favourite fruit is tangerine and Handa brought them to him.
What made this story so wonderful was the beautiful describing words. It also introduced the theme of friendship and its importance, which is another positive asset to this story. The surprise at the end of the story added a comical twist that brought the happiness.
Altogether, this was a really engaging and entertaining book that was wonderful to listen to and made us smile. Furthermore, the book has given us the opportunity to learn about children’s rights, to explore and taste the fruits from Handa’s basket, and to speak about our uniqueness and importance.
However, our journey is not finished yet, so be ready for other adventures along with Handa and her friend, Akeyo.
In Howes Hoose, our work with Daniel from Aberdeen City Council Parks Department has continued. As part of our SQA Personal Achievement Award we are working on a Community Activity. With support and guidance from Daniel, we are working to develop our school garden and grounds. We’ve been extremely busy and have planted 3600 seeds! We have planted peas, beans, pumpkins, radishes and cornflowers. We look forward to seeing them brighten things up and tasting our wares when they are ready!
Monday the 22nd of April was Earth Day. Class 6 took part in a scavenger hunt to see how many different items we could find when we were out in the community, relating to caring for the environment. We also managed to find a few in school too!
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!)
