Team Oaklands will be participating in Lothian Disability Sports Spring Swimming Gala.

Maddie Shanley and Cameron Orr will be representing Oaklands in this event. We wish them luck.

All class sections have been updated now, go and check what we did in February. Remember to have a look at them!

• NURSERY
• CLASS 1 ST CRISPIN’S
• CLASS 1
• CLASS 2
• CLASS 3
• CLASS 4
• S1/S2
• S3
• SENIORS
• EXPRESSIVE ARTS
• MUSIC

Sainsburys vouchers are back again, with the chance to help us get active with some new sports equipment and experiences. If you, your family and friends shop in Sainsburys please send us your ACTIVE KIDS VOUCHERS.

3 ways to collect……………

Sainsurys Local – you’ll get one voucher for every £5 you spend.

Sainsburys Supermarkets – you will be given one voucher for every £10 you spend at the till.

Online – you’ll receive equivalent for every £10 you spend. But they’ll all be printed on one piece of paper up to a maximum value of 50 vouchers.

So let’s jump into action and get collecting!

Many Thanks.

On the 2nd of March Oaklands School celebrated World Book Day by performing a bedtime sensory story based on Can’t-Dance-Cameron – not only to pupils and staff, but also to visiting parents, carers, pupils from Blackhall Primary and to our special guest, the author of the book Emily Dodd! Oh, and most of the audience – including the head, depute head and the author herself were wearing pyjamas.

After the Class 3 and S3 pupils performed Can’t-Dance-Cameron and danced a ceilidh, at the end of the end of the story, Emily treated the audience to a poem with Blackhall pupils (all wearing onesies) guessing the title and riddle of the poem – The Puffin. Then Ms Dodd went to the conference room where coffee, tea and delicious Rocky Road by S1-S2 and gorgeous scones made by the Seniors were served. Emily signed copies of three of her books.

Whilst Emily signed her books, an S3 pupil went round to classes with a collecting tin as pupils, staff and visitors wore their pyjamas for £1 to raise money for the Scottish Book Trust, which helps readers access books, and supports writers of all ages. The trust also runs the Bookbug programme, attended by some of the Oaklands pupils at the local library. Over £61 pounds (and counting) was raised to benefit the trust.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On the 8^th of February over 80 pupils from 8 Additional Support Needs Schools participated in the Active Schools Dance Festival held at Oaklands School.

It was great fun and fantastic to see such a range of dance styles on show. It was evident that all performers had put a tremendous amount of effort into preparing their dance routine. There was some great use of props, from parachutes to umbrellas and the music that the children and young people had chosen complemented their performances. Oaklands opened and closed the show with some spectacular wheelchair dancing.

It was fantastic to see so many of our schools represented and it was clear to see the enjoyment that our young people got from performing in front of a very appreciative audience.

Well done to all.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our latest Parent Council Minutes are  now available in the section PARENT COUNCIL.

We invite you to read it. You will find really interesting information in this document.

Oaklands Parent Council Minutes 22 February 2017

Pupils from across the school will be experiencing a range of activities related to the Rights of the Child as part of our work towards achieving Rights Respecting School – Level 2 award. The activities planned are as follow:

• International School Dinner Day – Wednesday 8^th of March. Pupils will have the opportunity to sample foods from different cultures.

• Rights Respecting Schools Assembly – Friday 10^th of March. Pupils will take part in Rights Related Games and A Rights Hunt in the Wood

Activities to be done in classes

Pupils will make flags and flag placemats to use for the Assembly and for the lunch.

Supplementary activities

1. What’s in the bag? – A feely bag with objects representing the different articles.
2. Den building – build a home
3. Food sensory bag – food items from different countries and smells
4. Water play – what do we do with water – washing up, making a drink, washing, washing hands (hygiene), watering the garden, tooth brushing etc.
5. Water role play – go and collect water from outside. There will be buckets set up in playgrounds, pupils should go to the “well 1” and find it is empty and then go to “well 2” and collect the water in a cup and then make the “long” journey home.
6. Rights Games in gym session
7. Parents/carers will be asked to get involved by sending in a favourite item from home – toy, music, smell, photo etc. as part of our work on identity. A letter will follow soon.
8. There will be a welcome board set up at the front door saying hello in a range of different languages as well as a Powerpoint display of flags that will run for that week

We hope to have a great week and hope everyone can join in for some part of our work towards obtaining our Level 2 Award.

Articles we are working on (from UNCRC website):

https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/special-schools-convention/

Special school practice linked to UNCRC articles:

Article 12: every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously. This right applies at all times, for example during immigration proceedings, housing decisions or the child’s day-to-day home life.
Self and peer assessment in lessons, displays of pupil work, outcomes from school council and other pupil led groups are all examples of Article 12. In addition, for children with communication difficulties all of the strategies and specialist equipment that may be used as part of unaided and aided Alternative Augmentative Communication are also ways of giving pupils a voice. And here the staff play a crucial role in often being the advocates for children- helping their voice to be heard in lessons, at play time, at lunch time and at annual EHCP meetings.

Article 23: a child with a disability has the right to live a full and decent life with dignity and, as far as possible, independence and to play an active part in the community. Governments must do all they can to provide support to disabled children and their families.
Schools are not only supporting disabled children and young people now and in the present but they are helping to empower them and their families for the future. The Convention is for everyone under the age of eighteen but of course human rights are for life!

Article 28: every child has the right to an education. Primary education must be free and different forms of secondary education must be available to every child. Discipline in schools must respect children’s dignity and their rights. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this.
Restorative justice, positive behaviour management and peer mediation are just some of the ways that schools will be helping Article 28 to be realised for their pupils. Policies like the intimate care and behaviour management policies will reflect this too by showing how the child’s dignity is being respected.

Article 31: every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural activities.
There will be an endless list here of what a school is doing to help children access this right. All the specialist support and equipment provided for play, any designated areas within the school that are used for quiet times and reflection and of course all the events, activities and trips that take place both within and outside the school. Some of these may also link to other Articles of the UNCRC- for example, a ‘healthy eating’ day to Article 24, e safety week to Articles 16 & 17 and anti-bullying week to Articles 2 and 19.

We are also looking at:

Article 7: Every child has the right to be registerd at birth, to have a name and mationality, and, as far as possible, to know and be cared for by their parents.

CHILD FRIENDLY: I HAVE A RIGHT TO A NAME AND TO BELONG TO A COUNTRY.

This links in to learning all about me topics – identity etc. Flags, items in from home etc.

Article 24: Every child has the right to the best possible health. Governments must provide good quality health care, clean water, nutritious food, and a clean environment and education on health and well-being so that children can stay healthy. Richer countries msut help poorer countries to achieve this.

CHILD FRIENDLY: I HAVE THE RIGHT TO GOOD QUALITY HEALTH CARE, TO CLEAN WATER AND GOOD FOOD

This links in with International School Meals Day, our H&W programme in general, work with nurses, hygiene work across the school and the activities related to water in the suggested activities bank above.

Thank you to the guests that joined us for our Scottish Assembly Last Friday.

There was a huge variety of presentations from every class in the school as you can see from the programme below:

Oaklands’ Scottish Assembly presentations:

• St Crispin’s – Taking a tour of the Cities of Scotland
• Class 1 – Performance of ‘3 Craws’
• Class 2 – Showing off class-produced tartans
• Class 3 – ‘Ye Cannae Shove Your Granny off a Bus’
• Class 4 – History of Scottish flag (in 1 minute);
• S1 – S2 – Showing off of home-made bagpipes
• S3 – Performance of ‘Jeely Piece,’
• Seniors – ‘There Was a Wee Lassie Who Swallowed a Midgie’
• Secondary Dance Group performing a modern dance

Our Nursery pupils were out participating in their Holyrood Challenge and were unable to make it on the day but they did provide us with some delicious shortbread squirrels and hedgehogs!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The 17th of January 10 of our pupils headed of to Edinburgh’s Jack Kane Centre to participate in the Active Schools Boccia Festival. We joined 12 others schools from Lothian Region to experience this Paralympic sport.

Boccia is a precision target game that requires individuals or teams to score points by throwing their coloured balls onto the court and position them closer to the Jack ball than their opponents. We got the chance to participate in 8 skills stations, all tailored to teach us new skills and techniques. Everyone had a fantastic day!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.