Letter To Parents and Carers – August 2022

Dear Parent/Carer

Welcome back to the new session at Orchard Brae and a special welcome to all the new families that join us this year.

After a two-year break, it was great to see all the pupils enjoy a more social lunchtime as they all came together in the hall.  I was amazed and delighted to see them all having a positive experience with their peers.

The transport since we started has become slicker but we will continue to look at ways to improve this, including looking at the external layout for buses and taxis.  I will keep you posted with all developments.

Our Orchard Brae @ Ashgrove campus has enjoyed a good start to the year.  The seniors have had a great time and are well settled thanks to the warm welcome of the existing staff and pupils.  More improvements to the outdoor and indoor environments will be happening there over the year but again I will keep you posted.

The opening of the swimming pool continues to be delayed despite efforts during the summer to resolve this.  I am aware that many of you are concerned about this but I want to reassure you that the team here at OB are working with central officers to get the pool back up and running. Our parent council, OB Connect, also continues to collaborate with us in this matter and have been proactively seeking solutions to help resolve this, my thanks to them for their ongoing support.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our newly appointed teachers Sarah Little (Rm 5), Sharon Reid (Rm 12) and Dawna Reid (NCCT) are new to OB and we have Nicola Cruikshank (Rm 14), Tania Morrice (Rm 3) and Sam Wildi (Rm 15), who enjoyed it here so much, they decided to stay. 

There have been a few changes in the Senior Leadership Team, I have listed these below.

Clare Russell – Head of Secondary – no change

Karen Gebbie-Smith – Head of Primary (Mon/Tues/Wed)

Naomi Farrimond – Head of Primary (Wed pm/Thurs/Fri) and PT Secondary (Mon/Tues/Wed am)

Lesley Parker – Head of ELC – no change

Lorraine McLean – PT PEF (Mon/Tues/Wed am) and PT Secondary (Wed pm/Thurs/Fri)

Amy Dunnett – PT Primary – no change

Heather Liebenberg – PT ELC – no change

Our annual family barbeque organised and run by the Friends of Orchard Brae will take place this weekend from 11-2pm.  We look forward to welcoming everyone to enjoy some exciting activities, stalls and a burger (or 2!).

Many thanks

Elaine