We have had great fun in Hopetoun this term as we have settled in to our new class. We have enjoyed lots of different activities like gardening, going on the wheelchair bike and art. We have been exploring new foods during our messy play food group and some of us got messier than others! We are looking forward to seeing what the winter term will bring.
What a busy first term we have had in Ochiltree, we’ve really enjoyed making the most of the last of the sunny weather!
We particularly enjoyed our beach themed sensory sessions out in the garden which has now been swapped for a lovely cosy Autumn sensory session which we’re enjoying just as much. We’ve been busy focusing on our health and wellbeing through our weekly health group looking after our bodies and we have been keeping fit and healthy through our cross class PE groups where we have been exploring music and movement, team games and ball skills.
We’re looking forward to next term where will begin working on our ASDAN challenges so we’ve got lots more exciting things to come!
Team Ochiltree wish you all a healthy October break.
Our athletes in Hopetoun, Lomond, Pentland and Glendevon have been working hard, training towards our first ever MATP Challenge Event on Monday 1st December. They can’t wait to showcase their unique achievements to family and friends (more details will be shared closer to the time, but I am excited to see everyone supporting their athlete with posters, banners or maybe even personalised t-shirts!).
What is MATP?
The Special Olympics Motor Activity Training Programme (MATP) is a unique programme specifically designed for athletes of all ages with Profound and Multiple, Physical and Intellectual Disabilities and/or Complex Support Needs.
It focuses on developing individual skills and abilities rather than direct competition, ensuring each athlete can achieve personal bests and celebrate their achievements.
MATP enables our athletes to increase physical activity, improve motor skills, build confidence, increase participation in sport activities and foster a positive self-image.
Lomond Athletes
Pentland Athletes
Glendevon Athletes
Wow – our first term together is almost complete!
The last few weeks have gone by in a flash, with so many fun and varied activities both in school and out in the community.
We’ve been working hard in class on our targets, and coming together for groups exploring our senses, enjoying music, story and song, and learning about looking after our bodies as we grow up too.
Keeping active has been very important both in and out of school as well as increasing our independence and developing skills in communication, and growing in confidence. Cross class PE groups have been lots of fun, working together with friends and adults from across the secondary school, and learning new skills. Some pupils have also been back on the Innowalk, and quite literally making great strides in progress here!
We’ve also contributed to whole school celebrations and events including Global Goals Week and Fairtrade Fortnight. We’ve been cooking up a range of healthy snacks, meals, and tasty treats in the pupil kitchen, and enjoying trying hard with some messy, bold art creations too.
Many of our pupils have been very happy to welcome back our clown doctor friends as well as our fabulous music therapists, Ellie and Sophie – who have led some really lovely sessions with our pupils – and our dance therapist, Charan.
We’ve definitely made good use of our busses this term, and have also enjoyed some lovely walks in this lovely Autumnal sunshine. We’ve enjoyed collecting items to explore as well as visiting local shops, cafes, the library, and attending a range of community groups including Musically Active Dudes, the Young Adults’ social group at Broxburn United Sports Club, and Gentle Exercise classes in Polbeth. These are brilliant opportunities to develop our life skills and meet new peers and adults too. One pupil has been particularly delighted to get back to his much loved gym visits too, and is working exceptionally hard!
I look forward to what’s in store in the times ahead with our fabulous Duntarvie stars!
Thanks to everyone for a brilliant start to the school year!
We have had a busy start to our year in nursery. We have been to Space with our topic where we shared interactive stories, used our sensory tuff tray and made some space themed goodies during cooking activities. In art we made some flying saucers and decorated our own planets using a salad spinner.
We went for an autumn walk to collect some pinecones, fallen leaves and twigs to use in class as part of our autumn theme. In cooking we made some muffins and some shortbread biscuits which we cut into pumpkin shapes. We also explored our sensory tray with some scented oranges and cinnamon sticks.
What a busy term we have had, Christmas seems like a long time ago now! We have been very busy with lots of different activities since then. Our topic has been Looking After My Body- Hygiene and everyone has been involved in this through learning about our bodies and how to look after them. We have also taken part in lots of different activities for things like Red Nose Day, Numeracy Day and World Book Day as well as having visits from Happy Hoofbeats therapy ponies and live music now. Some of the pupils have also been to visit the Yard in Edinburgh and have been swimming at Bathgate pool. Hydrotherapy has also continued this term. We are looking forward to another busy term after the holidays. Have a lovely Easter and fingers crossed the sun continues to shine.
Another fun and very busy term in Duntarvie !
There’s been a big emphasis on keeping our bodies moving this term and learning new skills as we do so. Everyone has either been out at swimming to Bathgate Xcite, or in the hydrotherapy pool this term, and some of us have been at both. Being in the water is so beneficial for our bodies and you can see from the photos how happy it makes us!
In the senior phase, we’ve been out in the community lots, working towards our “Sport and Leisure” ASDAN awards with Louise, with some fabulous experiences including polybat, bowling and golf. It’s been brilliant to hear all how our young people have been developing skills and understanding more and more about these games each time.
As part of our “Hobbies and Interests SQA”, we’ve had the chance to enjoy some of our favourite experiences while achieving our awards. One pupil has even been out at the gym! Another has been raising his game on the Xbox, while another has been knitting some gorgeous scrunchies, and one pupil has been acting as school librarian!
Our S6 pupils have also been expressing their bodies regularly out at Musically Active Dudes with Marcia and John, meeting up with some old friends from Beatlie and making some new connections too. Social group has also been a great opportunity to do this, and we’ve had plenty of dancing here too, as well as a visit from Potter Around and Callum from Cool Creatures. Our S6 pupils have also been working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Awards both out in the community and at school too.
In school, Charan from Dance Namaste has been keeping many of our Duntarvie pupils’ bodies both active and relaxed. We’ve shown some super engaged interaction with Charan. One of our pupils has also been using the Innowalk regularly, which has been a brand new experience, and she’s doing so well with it!
Some of us have been attending PE groups with friends from different classes, and those who haven’t yet, soon will. Again, some lovely progression of skills here.
Cafe Duntarvie has kept the staff of Beatlie well fed this term, as part of our school Enterprise project and another SQA award. We’ve been learning about taking orders, preparing food, delivering orders and handling money. We’re very popular with all the adults currently, and it’s been a great chance to work on our communication skills and interacting with the whole school community!
Celebrations across the school have been a big part of this term too – we had a ball during celebrations for world book day, science week and comic relief. It’s so lovely to come together as a school on special days!
Other highlights have included getting the chance to meet and care for the theraponies and build up confidence around them, Paracise, fun with our wonderful Clown Doctors, being involved in the cross schools Growing Together project, choir, and various cross class communication groups to name but a few …
Easter week is also shaping up to be a fun one, with a big egg hunt and cosy movie afternoon on the cards, with our friends from Ochiltree!
We wish all our families a restful, and enjoyable Easter break.
Love Team Duntarvie!x
We have loved settling into our new ELC this term. You can see from the smiling faces in the photos that our children have been enjoying exploring the different areas of the school, both indoors and in the playground. The children have been working extremely hard on important skills like playing and developing their independence using switches, benches and walkers. So far we have shared the Very Hungry Caterpillar story and made lots of butterfly pictures, made our own scarecrow for our first cafe in the new school and have enjoyed lots of sensory art work using items such as shells, pine cones and twigs. We hope everyone has a lovely holiday and a well earned rest.
Well folks, it’s nearly the end of another term as well as the end of the school year and our time in the old Beatlie School campus!
It’s been another fun and busy term with lots of activities and we have put together a short video of our 2 favourites…
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy summer 🌞, hopefully we’ll see lots of you at the Beatlie Bash on Friday 🥳 and then it’ll be time for lots of new adventures in our amazing new school! 😊
Team Pentland 💚
