Category Archives: Ochiltree

Music Autumn 2023

This term we have focused on making choices in Music. Lammermuir joined Hopetoun for some fun for Hairy Scary Castle, first choosing spooky sounds from switches for Halloween and then using symbols to select animals to sing about for Old McDonald’s Farm. Pentland also made musical choices with instruments and symbols and appreciated movement and relaxation.

In Lomond the children greatly enjoyed coming together, singing nursery rhymes and  playing along with instruments. Sometimes this could be up tempo or more relaxed, depending on the needs of the day.
Glendevon focused on our regular routines, structure, and exploring instruments, including playing along on wooden instruments and dancing to a percussion track by Moondog – an American improvisational composer and performer.
Duntarvie worked towards their SQAs by playing different ranges of instruments for different moods and textures, such as tuned instruments in A minor or wooden instruments. This is to work towards a project in 2024 with Ochiltree, who followed similar lessons.
All the classes enjoyed some Song Massage with All the Leaves and then All the Snow as we got to December. The children had a great time moving to some Christmas songs and playing along to Jingle Bells. In case things felt too busy, we also had some sensory music time, taking some time to relax while exploring instruments to gentle music with subdued lighting and festive lights.

Ochiltree Term 2

Another year and another term over just like that!

What another wonderful term with the children of Ochiltree. We have been a busy bunch being involved with whole school events, Asdan challenges, Learning for Sustainability activities and having lots of fun!

We are so glad we invited our friends to join us for our St Andrews Day Ceilidh and we had a blast! We have continued to go outside in all weathers to make use of the Drive Deck, the playground and also the environment – nothing puts this lot off!

We are continuing to develop our independent skills during cooking activities, class jobs and our communication challenges throughout our school day and we have been lucky to add horseriding to the list too!

From all in Ochiltree have a fantastic Christmas and New Year and we look forward to seeing you all again next year!

 

 

 

 

World Food Day

This week in Beatlie we recognised World Food Day by making sensory bottles with the focus ‘Water is Life, Water is Food. Leave No One Behind’

World Food Day takes place annually on 16 October and promotes awareness of hunger and action for the future of food, people, and the planet.

Take a look at how much fun we all had making the bottles and how great they all look now they are finished.

 

#WorldFoodDay

#ZeroHunger

#FoodSecurity

#SustainableAgriculture

#EndHunger

#NutritionForAll

#GlobalFoodChallenge

Music Term 1

This term we have had fun settling into our new space in Music. Some of the lessons, the1-1  and small group sessions have taken place in the new GP room while other lessons have been taking place in the classrooms.

Lammermuir have sociably been joining Hopetoun in their classroom and have had fun choosing nursery rhymes to sing together. Lomond and Glendevon had more relaxed afternoon lessons to meet the children’s needs at that time of the day.

Pentland used the giant scrunchie to sing about The Great Big Turnip at the Bottom of the field and it became a big favourite. Tommy and Matthew found it hilarious when the different characters shouted for help and that the mouse had the biggest muscles.

All of the Primary classes also enjoyed the The Wheels on the Bus. This turned into something bigger, with everyone taking turns choosing  the different things that are on the bus from a range of choices on cards. The result was like a different remix of the song each time as the order kept changing.

As we approached Scarecrow Festival time, all of the Primary classes of course enjoyed singing the old favourite Dingle Dangle Scarecrow.

In Secondary, the groups focused on playing tuned percussion instruments to rock backing tracks and there has been lots of interaction and engagement, which bodes well as we head into a musical project together. More will be revealed in due course!

Ochiltree Term 1

October already!!!

We cannot believe how quickly the first term has passed – and how much we have squeezed into the time we have had!

Of course much of it was getting to know our new school and environment- and we are loving it. We have been so lucky to get to experience so much outside with the weather on our side. The children are experiencing all the wonderful playground resources as well as the natural environment and of course the bikes and wheelchair track. We have also been busy doing some Autumn gardening and hopefully we will have lovely blooms in the spring to bring some colour to our class garden areas.

Moving inside and we have been trying out all the lovely new equipment and areas around the school – a favourite being the multi-sensory!

We have all been working hard on our life skills and Asdan qualifications through fun and meaningful activities. We are enjoying lots of interaction with the senior class and utilising our secondary area for getting together for snack, dinner and cross class activities.

We will continue to keep you updated in all we do through our Learners Journals but don’t forget to check Twitter and the Blog for whole school updates.

We wish you a happy holiday and look forward to continuing into the next term with new challenges ahead.

Ochiltree Class of 22/23

Ochiltree Class of 22/23 have had a very busy, fun and challenging year and all the children have given it their all to be confident individuals, responsible citizens, effective contributors and successful learners.

For our last term we continued the theme of working hard and playing hard. For the walking month of May we went on our daily walks enjoying different sensory experiences of the different areas we visited. We also physically challenged ourselves to walk in/on different areas we would have avoided!

We were able to complete our Asdan, SQA and Duke of Edinburgh work of which I am sure we will get positive feedback for.

Our cross class activities were brilliant this year and all enjoyed each others company and interacting with each other for all the different activities such as assembly or outdoor play.

We have had lots of health and wellbeing activities from bike riding to mindfulness, gardening to rebound and boys/girls group for personal care. Some of the pupils also participated in a health group which was amazing! showing their resilience and bravery for accepting medical routines.

We have continued to have an effective whole school and community approach to Learning for Sustainability weaving together global citizenship, sustainable development education and outdoor learning to create coherent, rewarding and transformative learning experiences such as Earth Day, Fairtrade Tuck, gardening, outdoor numeracy activities, forest trails, walks and Eco activities.

We will be saying goodbye to our friend Duncan who will be moving on with best wishes from us all. We will all be saying goodbye to our building but look forward to new beginnings.

Have a fantastic holiday and see you all again for 2023/24!

Share The Love

This week Beatlie have been using their imagination and hope for the future and both experienced and participated in the campaign #SharetheLove for Climate Change.

Please have a look at our children at work and share the message to help Save our Planet for our future children.

 

Ochiltree Term 2

Ochiltree News Update – December 2022

What a year we are having so far! Very busy, busy, busy learning and having fun, fun, fun!

So what have we been up to……..

SQA: Luca and Duncan have been enjoying lots of different experiences working toward achieving new SQA qualifications including bowling, archery, cycling, looking after your home and adult relationships. Of course the boys love all the activities and could not say what is their favourite as they have been fantastic at trying out everything.

ASDAN: Everyone has been learning new skills and attributes through activities leading to their ASDAN qualifications – it is easy to say that Gordon and his music is everyone’s favourite – they have been loving listening and joining in with different genres throughout the session – maybe we will have a rock band by the end of the year! Alex and Fletcher have had challenges that they have worked hard on and are showing progression in communication skills, physical skills, interaction and independence in school and while out and about in the local community. Mollie has been an explorer of different textures. She has had fun with her friends exploring sensory baskets of rough and smooth material, hard and soft materials and also messy play with lots of different dry materials. Mollie is also being challenged to move her body in different ways – this is being supported through her Rebound, Horse riding and movement tasks in the class – she is very motivated by her keyboard!

Stanley keeps us on our toes – he knows what is happening and on what day and will soon tell us if we are not right! Stanley has been a real star in his walker and is so motivated to use it on a daily basis – he likes to go and have a chat with different people around the school as well as doing his recycling! Stanley has also been enjoying horse riding and getting out to the shops and library.

We love mixing with Duntarvie for lots of different activities especially for outdoor play where there are more of us to join in playing games, lots of us are trying out new things this year and having lots of fun! Thursday is our big mix up day for music, IT and PE/Floor Exercise and what can I say there is a bunch of superstars in the secondary department – We are blown away at the resilience and motivation to try and to build on skills to help them with future physical barriers. Another group we have been having is our boys and girls groups – what a bunch of independent superstars we have and the tolerance of all during this lovely happy relaxing activity – foot care, hand care and haircuts – what next?

Our big project this term has been Upcycling and what a job we have done! We held an open day for other schools to come along to upcycle old toys etc in exchange for a new toy to donate to the toy appeal – Alex and Fletcher went round each class once a week with their trolley to collect for the toy appeal and the food bank and were kept busy! Alex, Duncan, Fletcher and Aria also upcycled jigsaws to make different home accessories which are beautiful!

I could go on and on at how amazing these children are so let me just finish by saying Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all and look forward to a new term and new challenges that lie ahead.