Orchard Brae Connect Newsletter

Following on from a very different, and I’m sure at many times very difficult, year for us all, here we are at the start of another school year. We would like to offer a very big and warm welcome to all the new families who have joined Orchard Brae School, whether that be in the nursery, Primary 1 or throughout the other school years. We would also like to extend a warm welcome and our support to Elaine Thomson in her new position as Head Teacher. 

Before we look ahead, I’m sure that you would like to join me in giving the wonderful staff at Orchard Brae School a very big thank you for all they have done in keeping us, and our children going last year and for making learning so much fun. They worked tirelessly in carrying out the many additional tasks that the COVID risk assessment procedures asked of them, often going above and beyond the call of duty. I was often quite jealous when I heard just how varied and exciting my daughter’s school day had been!  

After a rather slow start last year, primarily due to home schooling, Orchard Brae Connect (the Parent Council) held online workshops on Makaton signing, Sensory Processing and one from Sleep Scotland. We also held our first ever online coffee morning which was almost as good as our face to face ones!! Thank you to all of you who attended these events. 

We hope to hold more online events this year; if you haven’t ever tried one we would be delighted if you could join us. They are very informal and everyone is always very welcome. If you have any suggestions for topics for the workshops please just let us know, but as a start to the year there will be an online Postural Management training course on Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th September from 12:30 – 14:30pm, please see the attached flyer for more details. 

Orchard Brae Connect met regularly online throughout last year but managed to have their last meeting face to face outside in the school playground. This gave us the chance to say a very fond farewell to Caroline and to give her our joint leaving gifts from Connect and Friends. We presented her with four apple trees, two of which have already been planted by a few of the children at school, and two of which we hope Caroline might find a place for in her garden at home. We also gave her a plaque to go along side Caroline’s trees at school and a framed picture that you can see her holding in the photo below. We would like to thank Caroline from the bottom of our hearts for all that she has done since Orchard Brae School opened in 2017. We’re sure that you will all agree that she has been an absolutely incredible Head Teacher and that we will miss her very much. We would like to wish her a very happy, and very well deserved, retirement.  

Looking ahead we will be holding our AGM on Wednesday 15th September at 6:45pm, at which point the Committee Members for the next school year will be elected. We would be delighted to welcome any new members, so if you would like to get involved please just let us know. I will be stepping down as Chair after four years, but am positive that someone will be found to fill this very enjoyable and rewarding role. I would like to thank all the Connect members for their huge help and support, it has always been a real team affair! 

With best wishes from all of the Orchard Brae Connect committee.

Rebecca