Secondary Futures Event

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We would like to thank everyone that attended the Secondary Futures Event this week. It was a successful evening with a wide range of partners attending – some who support pupils through work experience at Senior Phase, and others who support our young people on leaving school. The evening was relaxed with plenty of time to chat and find out about services following a talk from Elaine Thomson, Head of Secondary, on the senior curriculum.

Room 8 Explore ‘Grandpa’s Handkerchief’

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Room 8 have just started looking at a new story, ‘Grandpa’s Handkerchief’.  The story is about a sociable and kindly Grandpa who plays with his grand-children every day – thus providing us with  a fun way to learn the days of the week.

Red, blue, yellow, green… Grandpa’s handkerchiefs are useful in so many ways!  For waving to trains, making a sailing boat, bandaging a knee, or reminding Grandpa about a special birthday!

Each day focuses on a different activity.  Monday is about trains singing and dancing. Tuesday is about playing at the park. Wednesday we are going to be pirates with hats and swords. Thursday is party with a very exciting and unusual cake. Friday is baking. Saturday is football and Sunday is gardening.

The class are going to be working on this story over the next three weeks as we learn the different songs and actions to accompany each exciting day with ‘Grandpa’s Handkerchief’.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in Room 19

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Room 19 are working on their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award this year. So far, we have chosen our physical activity and are working on basketball, table tennis and yoga.

For our skills section we are fundraising through our sandwich enterprise. We are also volunteering by helping out in classes with younger pupils and supporting an older gentleman in his home and garden.

In outdoor education, we have learned how to use fire sticks to light the gas for cooking with the trangia stove, all in preparation for our residential expedition next year.

Gearing up for the Christmas Fair

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Room 12 have been busy making gingerbread playdough to sell at our Christmas Fair on Saturday!

We mixed the ingredients, worked it together and put in into recycled jars which we have decorated with sparkly netting, gingerbread men ribbon and pretty tags.

We enjoyed smelling and handling the ingredients.

We hope you will visit our stall to see our finished product!

At the sale, we are also selling tickets for our raffle to win the doll, wicker basket bed, bedding and clothes. There will also be separate dolls clothes to buy. All proceeds from the playdough, doll raffle and doll clothes to the Friends of Orchard Brae!

Tuesday Music Group – Cancelled

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Unfortunately there will be no Tuesday Night Music Group at Orchard Brae Tonight.

Apologies for the inconvenience and we look forward to seeing you all next week.

Shoebox Appeal

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A huge thank you to everyone who sent in items for the Shoebox Appeal.  We filled an amazing 100 boxes which will go to people who would otherwise have had no gifts for Christmas. David, from the Rotary, came to pick the boxes up last week. He also wished to pass on thanks from the Rotary and to let everyone know what a huge difference this will make to the lives of those who have less than we do. This was a great learning experience for the pupils from shopping for items, collecting and sorting the items donated, decorating and packing the boxes. But the lesson of giving to others was the most important thing achieved.

From all the Howes Hoose Staff and pupils

Christmas Enterprise: Making Dog Biscuits

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This week Class 15 have been busy working on their class enterprise project, making dog biscuits for the school Christmas fayre.

Before making our biscuits we all engaged in a dog themed bucket time – the (toy) dog from the bucket amused us all with its mischief, and watching the tennis balls splat onto the floor was entertaining.  Our turn-taking game saw us each choose a dog to “buy”, activating a switch talker to share a “woof woof” and exchanging money for our chosen toy dog.

After bucket time, we moved on to making our biscuits.  We used a switch operated blender to grind oats, peeled and mashed bananas and mixed these together with peanut butter – the classroom smelt delicious (and the individual ingredients tasted rather fine too!).  We used cookie cutters to make the biscuit shapes, choosing which shape we preferred.  Some of us worked on developing fine motor skills, others on developing independence in everyday tasks, and some of us gathered evidence to go towards our ASDAN folders as we work on our enterprise unit.

Our finished products will be available at the school Christmas fayre.

National Junior Championship Swimming at Tollcross

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Four members of Howes Hoose represented the school at the National Junior Championships for swimmers with a learning disability. These championships took place at the Tollcross Aquatics Centre in Glasgow. We had competitors in different races, including 25 metre backstroke, 50 metre breaststroke, and 25 metre breaststroke. We were also delighted to bump into our old PE teacher, there with pupils from his new school. Well done to everyone that competed!