End of Year Awards and Celebration
We ended the year with pride at our annual awards ceremony, celebrating our children who have achieved great things and have been living life in all its fullness. It’s important to recognise that all of our children across school have been on an incredible journey this year and each and everyone one of them should be immensely proud of their accomplishments and the commitments they have shown to our school family. A huge well done to Our award winners this year: Reception - Star of the Year: Coban, Progress Award: Ronan, Children’s Champion: Poppy Y1 - Star of the Year: Marnie-May, Progress Award: Freddie, Children’s Champion: Albie Y2 - Star of the Year: Phoebe, Progress Award: Teddy, Children’s Champion: Joey Y3 - Star of the Year: Harry, Progress Award: Alice, Children’s Champion: Elijah Y4 Star of the Year: Finley, Progress Award: Lana, Children’s Champion: Emily Y5 - Star of the Year: Desmond, Progress Award: Miles, Children’s Champion: Olivia For our specialised awards this year, congratulations to Lottie on her acceptance of the Sharon Kay Kindness Award and Elijah for receiving the Planet Protector Award. What incredible achievements. We then excitedly announced the new roles and responsibilities for the upcoming Year 6 class. Please join us in saying well done to our new Heads, Deputies, Sports Leaders and Play Leaders for next year! Head girl: Olivia Deputy girls: Darcy and Sofia Head boy: Arlo Deputy boys: Desmond and James Sports leaders: Daisy, Alice, Eliza, Charlie, Carted, Ted. Play leaders - Alfie, Alexis, Nevaeh, Elliot, Leo, Peyton, Carmen, Miles, Layla, Heidi, Sonny, Harriet, Eliza, Daisy, Olivia. Lillie, Darcy, Sofia, James, Jack, Luke and Desmond - with more yet to be confirmed! We would also like to say a huge congratulations to our Netball team who came 2nd in the DPSSA Netball, and of course to the Overall Winners for DPSSA Witton Athletics - well done on representing our school amazingly well and your contributions to sports in school. Go Team Barnys! Lastly, we said an emotional Goodbye and Good luck to Miss Kachwalla, a valued and loved member of our school family, who is sadly relocating and leaving this year. It was clear to see what a wonderful impact Miss Kachwalla has had on our school and we thank her for the dedication, love and support she has provided to our children over the last few years. She leaves with a special place in all our hearts, but we know she will continue to shine in her next venture. Thank you Miss Kachwalla, we will miss you dearly!
Year 6 - Careers Day
Today, Year 6 celebrated the RotaKids Careers Day, with the children dressing up as the careers they aspire to have in the future. It was fantastic to see such a wide range of ambitions, from athletes and teachers to doctors, engineers, police officers and many more! Throughout the day, the children explored the importance of setting goals, working hard and showing resilience to achieve their dreams. The children discussed the skills, qualities and determination needed for different careers before creating informative and creative posters showcasing their chosen profession and the steps they can take to make their aspirations a reality. It was an inspiring day that encouraged the children to think positively about their futures and reminded them that, with dedication and perseverance, they can achieve great things.
Year 5 - PE
In PE, we further developed our rounders skills by practising hitting the ball from a stationary position while focusing on power and accuracy. Batters attempted to carefully aim their shot to exploit gaps in the fielding team while looking at the ball and adopting an appropriate body position. The fielding team focused on being ready to catch or block the ball, working as a team to stop their opponents.
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RotaKids Careers Day Whole School Worship
Today our Whole School Worship was a little bit different as it was our RotaKids Careers Dress Up Day. All of the children and staff were dressed in their own clothes, showing what they want to be when they grow up. Mrs Ham started by asking the teachers to parade in their outfits. We had an astronaut, a singer, a doctor, a vet, a paddle coach and a baker. The children followed on and each class showed off their outfits too and there was such a range of career choices with lots of vets, hairdresser and footballers. After the parade, Mrs Ham selected the most unusual outfits and asked the children to guess what the children would like to be when they grow up. We had everything from DJ Jenson to King Jonas. It was a super Worship and we hope that today helps to broadens the children’s horizons, sparks curiosity, and helps them to link their skills to future opportunities.
Future Leaders: Year 3 Take on Careers Day
Today was the whole-school Careers Day led by our RotaKids, and our Year 3 classroom was absolutely buzzing with inspiration! The children looked fantastic dressed up as their future selves, either stepping into their parents' roles or showcasing their own big dreams for when they grow up. It was wonderful to see just how much ambition our Year 3s showed during this school event. The future looks incredibly bright with such a talented group, including doctors, nurses, vets, teachers, hairdressers, actors, pilots, basketball players, architects, and engineers. We are so proud of our Year 3 students for dreaming big and aiming high.
Careers Day in Year 4
Today we took part in ‘Careers Day’ and Year 4 put every effort into dressing up in their best outfits. We had everything from artists to acrobats. As part of our day, we discussed how lucky we are to have so many career options available to us and how important our education is in relation to this. What a super day we have all had!
Year 1 DT: Wacky Windmills
Year 1 made their wacky windmills today and they look absolutely fantastic. They followed their designs carefully and took their time when colouring to make sure they looked amazing. It was impressive to see how quick they were able to put the base together using the cups, plates and tape. Then, they did need some help with the pinwheel, however they really enjoyed testing that out and seeing how fast their windmills span. Well done Year 1!
River Ribble Trust Visit Year 4
Today we had a visitor in Year 4. Cody from The River Ribble Trust came to talk to us about rivers as part of this half term's geography unit. The workshop aimed to bring freshwater science by encouraging the children to expand their knowledge of their local rivers, to promote the value of the Ribble’s natural heritage and improve its condition for people and wildlife. We learnt that the River Ribble is 73 miles in length and the Trust looks after lots of habitats all around it. The types of habitats included moorland which is like a giant sponge, farmland : creating fences, helping with storage and woodlands. Next we played a true or false game called ‘ Something smells fishy’ where Cody asked questions such as ‘Do seals visit the river?’. The children were surprised that seals do actually visit when trying to catch fish. Following this the children went outside and recreated rivers and labelled their key features which they were amazing at after learning about this is one of their geography lessons. Finally the last grand activity was the ‘Leaky Dam’ activity where the children worked in groups using clay, cardboard, moss and twigs to create their very own dams. Once the clay is dry we can then try out how successful their creations are by pouring water into them. The children absolutely loved this and we would like to say a special thank you to Corey for coming to do the workshop at St Barnabas.
Year 6 - PSHE
Today in Year 6, the children continued exploring their Growing and Changing unit in PSHE. Throughout the session, the children discussed a range of real-life scenarios they may encounter as they get older, including body image, physical and emotional changes, the influence of social media and building positive self-esteem. The children worked collaboratively to explore these situations, discussing and modelling appropriate responses while considering healthy ways to manage challenges they may face in the future. It was fantastic to see such thoughtful conversations, mature attitudes and respectful discussions as the children developed the knowledge and confidence to make positive choices and support both themselves and others.
Year 3- English- Preparing to Write a Diary Entry as Sheila the Elephant
In today's English lesson, the children began by focusing on sentence accuracy, where they practised using adverbs of time, place, and cause before writing their own sentences using these skills. They then recapped their main vehicle text, looking at the illustrations and discussing how the keeper looked after Sheila the elephant during the war, while exploring Sheila's feelings about the aeroplanes and the keeper's return. After exploring and learning new vocabulary from the text the children read an example text titled The Elephant's Diary: A Visitor from the Past. This "WAGOLL" (What a Good One Looks Like) helped them understand their upcoming writing purpose: to write a reflective diary entry in the first person from Sheila's perspective. Finally, the children applied what they had learnt by writing their own sentences in the first person as Sheila, combining their new vocabulary with the adverbs of time, place, or cause practised at the start of the lesson.
Summer Rocksteady Concert
🎸 What an incredible morning! 🎤 A huge congratulations to all our amazing rockstars for their brilliant Summer Rocksteady concert today! It has been an absolute joy to watch their confidence grow so much over the course of the year. They took to the stage like true professionals and totally rocked the house! 🌟 A massive thank you to all the parents and carers for your endless support and for cheering them on today. Your encouragement makes all the difference! 🙌 Finally, a HUGE shoutout and thank you to Jess for her fantastic music tuition. Your dedication, energy, and talent have truly brought out the very best in our young musicians. 🥁🎹 We are so proud of everyone involved! Keep rocking! 🎶👏 All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/rocksteady-summer-concert
Year 3- Class Worship- What makes something popular?
In our class worship today, we looked at this week's theme of squishy dumpling toys and discussing how material possessions compare to the things that money cannot buy . The children discussed some of the things they feel are no longer popular. They shared a few great examples of trends that have passed their peak, including '6 7' , darwen ducks, 21, labubu and the cave game, which is actually an excellent piece of gaming history knowledge, as that was the original name for Minecraft before it officially launched! These examples captured how quickly crazes can come and go, tying back to our reflection that popularity is often temporary and our interests naturally change over time. It served as a wonderful reminder for the class that while following the latest trends can be fun, the things that truly matter like being a good friend and caring for others are the ones that last.