Image of Year 6 - Expressing our views of Jesus
11 May

Year 6 - Expressing our views of Jesus

Today during our RE session, the children focused on expressing their own views and understanding of Jesus. They explored how Jesus can represent guidance, hope, love and faith in people’s lives. Using creativity and reflection, the children designed and created their own crosses to symbolise their personal interpretations of Jesus and what He means to them. The children thoughtfully selected different images and symbols to include in their designs, such as lighthouses to represent guidance and safety, pathways to symbolise direction and following the right path, gates to show welcome and new beginnings and flowers and elements of nature to reflect beauty, growth, peace and creation. The activity encouraged the children to think deeply about their beliefs and express their ideas in a meaningful and imaginative way.

Image of Year 3- English- Prediction and Discovery
11 May

Year 3- English- Prediction and Discovery

Today, our classroom was transformed into a mysterious moonlit garden, complete with a nighttime insect soundscape and dimmed lights to help us immerse ourselves in our new story, It Fell from the Sky. The children discovered a display of pebbles, moss, and flowers surrounding a "mystery object", a glimmering crystal orb that appeared to have landed in the centre of the room. After exploring the display and the book's front cover, the children practised their grammar skills by using 'a ' or 'an ' to describe the "extraordinary wonder". To finish the session, they used these clues to write their own predictions about what this object is and where it might have come from.

Image of 🌟 Good Luck, Year 6! 🌟
11 May

🌟 Good Luck, Year 6! 🌟

A massive well done to our incredible Year 6 pupils who have officially kicked off their SATs week! 🚀 We are so proud of the effort and determination you’ve shown throughout your preparations. This morning, it was wonderful to see everyone enjoying a relaxing breakfast together, fueling up and sharing some smiles before the hard work began. You tackled the first two tests today with such confidence and enthusiasm—keep that positive energy going! ✨ A Quick Reminder... While we want you to do your best, always remember: SATs do not measure everything. > They don’t measure your kindness, your creativity, your athletic talents, or the amazing person you are becoming. You’ve got this, Year 6! Get some rest tonight, and we’ll see you tomorrow for round two. 💪📚✨ #Year6 #SATsWeek #ProudSchool #Determination #GoodLuck

Image of Reception: Class Worship for Mental Health Week
11 May

Reception: Class Worship for Mental Health Week

Today in Reception, Mrs Wilkinson led a special Class Worship to launch Mental Health Awareness Week. We began by exploring the concept of mental health together, which led to a heartwarming discussion with our talk partners about the people who fill our hearts with love. The room was buzzing with affection as Poppy shared her love for Mummy and Daddy, Mason spoke about his Grandad, Bowen mentioned his brother, and Eva told us all about her Nanny. Moving from love to laughter, we explored the things that bring us pure joy. It was wonderful to hear such a variety of answers: Luna finds happiness in spending time with her family, Jackson loves a good tickle, and Eryna’s face lit up talking about trips to the play centre. We also took a moment to reflect on our "cheer-up" strategies—those special activities we turn to when we need a little boost. For Coban, that meant getting creative with writing; for Phoebe, it was all about the rhythm of dance; and Erin shared her passion for gymnastics. To wrap up our session, we put our words into action! We finished our worship by dancing together, filling the room with energy and big smiles. It was a truly joyful and uplifting way to start the week, reminding us all of the simple things that keep our minds and hearts healthy.

Image of Celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday
8 May

Celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday

Today, we celebrated the 100th birthday of David Attenborough during a special worship. We talked about how many of us recognised his voice from nature documentaries we had watched before. Mrs Ham read the book Little People, BIG DREAMS: David Attenborough to help us learn more about his life and the important work he has done to care for our planet. We also watched a special Newsround celebration about David Attenborough’s 100th birthday. During worship, we enjoyed watching a video created by Cidari which showcased all the different ways Cidari schools, including St Barnabas, have been helping to care for the Earth. The video included examples such as using reusable containers, switching off lights, using less electricity, litter picking, bird watching, wearing green and blue for Earth Day, taking part in Travel Tracker and sorting rubbish into the correct bins. We loved watching the video and spotting our own faces on the screen. To finish our worship, the whole school sang “Happy Birthday” to Sir David Attenborough to celebrate his amazing contribution to protecting and caring for our world.

Image of Reception - Celebrating David Attenborough
8 May

Reception - Celebrating David Attenborough

Today we have been celebrating David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday. We have been reflecting on his amazing work alongside God’s creatures and his contributions to our planet. In class, we created birthday cards and decorated birthday cakes with his favourite things. Happy Birthday Sir David!

Image of Smart School Councillors Raise £163 for 'The Brain Tumour Research'.
8 May

Smart School Councillors Raise £163 for 'The Brain Tumour Research'.

A huge thank you to all the parents and children for your incredible support at our recent bake sale; thanks to your generosity, we successfully raised £163.00 for ' The Brain Tumour Charity'. Our Smart School Councillors did a fantastic job organising the event and helping with the baking, resulting in an impressive spread of 180 biscuits and 100 fairy cakes. These funds will make a huge difference, allowing us to pay for 10 DNA preservation tubes and provide much-needed comfort to a child following their diagnosis by sending them a Brainy Bag and a cuddly bear. We are so proud of our students hard work and grateful to our wonderful community for helping us provide this vital support.

Image of Celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday in Year 4
8 May

Celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday in Year 4

Today we took part in a very special Picture News Worship where we celebrated Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday! We found out so many amazing facts and when we looked ourselves we loved these examples; 1. He is older than sliced bread 2. He almost never became a TV presenter 3. More than 50 species are named after him 4. He once collected fossils and salamanders as a child 5. His gorilla moment became television history 6. He doesn't like rats 7. His brother was a Hollywood heavyweight 8. He never learned to drive We then listened to a special message from Sir David Attenborough and other schools had sent him some very special messages and cards. They designed these on special recycled card to work towards protecting our planet. Next we were asked to think about three things. One example was “ Why do we think Sir David has become such such a popular advocate for the natural world?” The children came up with some very thoughtful and interesting responses. Finally, a special guest visited the worship. It was Steve Backshall and he talked passionately about how Sir David has inspired him on how to look at the natural world. Year 4 loved taking part in this very special worship today and we send our best birthday wishes to Sir David Attenborough.

Image of Year 3- Class Worship- Exploring 'The Kind Stranger
7 May

Year 3- Class Worship- Exploring 'The Kind Stranger

In class today, we took part in a 'God’s Big Story' collective worship session focused on the parable of The Kind Stranger (The Good Samaritan). We joined Iain the storyteller to revisit this famous parable and listened to Bishop Philip, who challenged us to look beyond the surface of the story. The children explored the different "layers" of Jesus' words, discussing what it truly means to be a neighbour and how we can show compassion to everyone, even those who are different from us. It was a thoughtful session that encouraged the class to think about how they can put kindness into action in their own lives.

Image of Year 4 - RE: Symbols of Faith
7 May

Year 4 - RE: Symbols of Faith

In RE this week, the children explored some typical religious features from different places of worship. Initially, nine pictures of religious features and symbols from churches, mosques and synagogues were displayed around the room and the children walked around the room, writing their best ideas around the pictures. The children then learned some information about each feature/symbol, including what it is called and its link to scripture. The children then had to match the symbols with their names and their links to scripture.

Image of Year 4 - Class Worship: Is It Ever Right To Lie?
7 May

Year 4 - Class Worship: Is It Ever Right To Lie?

A philosophical debate helped us to answer a very widely contested question in our class worship during polling week. Stephen Fry introduced the story of King Lawrence the Lion who introduced a law against telling lies of any kind. Within the story, there were examples of lies that hurt others and lies that protect others. There were also quotes from famous philosophers who have argued both sides. Then it was over to the children. In groups, the children used their talk tokens to take turns in putting forward their ideas. We focussed on the skill of summarising and so each group had a note taker who summarised the main points discussed in their groups when presenting to the rest of the class. We then considered what Jesus would say about lying. The majority of the class agreed that telling a lie can sometimes be a good thing if it spares someone being hurt.

Image of Year 2 - Science - Plants and Growth
7 May

Year 2 - Science - Plants and Growth

Year 2 have been checking on the progress of plants grown in different conditions. We know that plants need soil, the right amount of water, sunlight and the correct temperature to grow healthily.