100 Years of Blackburn Diocese
In order to celebrate 100 years of Blackburn diocese, we took part in a whole-school virtual assembly that focused on the many successes and achievements of the diocese over the past century. Bishop Philip welcomed schools from across the diocese and shared an engaging story about the travels of the Wise Men, linking these to themes of faith, journey and community. The children greatly enjoyed seeing and feeling connected to other schools within the diocese and were excited to take part in a shared celebration. The assembly provided a valuable opportunity for pupils to reflect on their place within the wider diocesan family, strengthening their sense of belonging and understanding of our shared faith. The event was engaging, inclusive, meaningful and it helped bring the history and mission of the diocese to life for the whole school community. We are looking forward to taking part in a variety of centenary 'All for Jesus' activities and worships over the year.
Friday Celebration Worship
What a brilliant first week back! We are so proud of all the children for settling back into school so sensibly, even with the excitement of the snow. We started by celebrating our values awards winners: Elara in Reception, Max in Year 1, Vienna in Year 2, Mila in Year 3, Lottie in Year 4, Carmen in Year 5 and Luca in Year 6. These children are always doing the right thing and working hard, well done! We also celebrated Olivia and Jacob in Year 4 who were awarded their pen licenses this week. A huge well done to all of our house teams this week for earning lots of value points. Darwen Tower came in 4th place, Whitehall Park came in 3rd place, River Darwen came in 2nd place and India Mill in 1st place. We had lots of Sports Awards this week. Well done to Callie for 25m in backstroke, Ralphi was awarded a swimming medal for 5m and a football certificate for courage against older players, Elijah was awarded a 200m swimming certificate, James was awarded a 100m swimming certificate, Renee was awarded a 5m swimming certificate and Carmen won a student of the year trophy in kickboxing and a swimming certificate for 100m and 50m. Additionally, Phoebe was awarded the Olivia doll from Rainbows for excellent colouring, Thea was awarded a gymnastics certificate for backwards and forwards on the bars, Reggie won player of the week in football for scoring 10 goals and finally Scarlett won player of the match in netball. Well done everyone! Our Year 5 and 6 football team also shared that they lost to St Paul’s 2-1 in their most recent football game, but still placed 5th out of 13 schools. This is a brilliant placement! Also, well done to Year 1 and 2 who the best attendance in Key Stage 1 and Year 4 in Key Stage 2. Mrs Ham also reminded us of our upcoming events: Let’s Go Sing, Stay and Play, NSPCC Speak Out and our visit from Harold the Giraffe. Finally, Charlie, Lilly and James said some beautiful prayers to end our worship. Have a restful weekend and please stay safe in the turbulent weather conditions.
KS2 DPSSA Football League
A huge well done to our St.Barnabas football team, who have competed brilliantly over the past few weeks. Finishing 5th out of 13 schools in a very competitive league is a fantastic achievement and they should be hugely proud of themselves. A huge thank you to Me Bloomfield for his coaching and to the parents and carers who came along to support!
Year 6 - Geography
Today in Geography, the children began the lesson with a diagnostic question exploring why people might choose to live in London. Using talk tokens, they practised their oracy skills by sharing ideas, listening carefully to one another and building on responses within their groups. This supported thoughtful discussion and helped pupils justify their opinions. The lesson then moved on to exploring how human activity has shaped and changed the landscape. The children examined key concepts such as urbanisation, agriculture and erosion management, considering both the positive and negative impacts humans can have on the environment. They used examples to deepen their understanding and made links to real-life locations, developing their geographical vocabulary and critical thinking skills throughout the session.
Gifted and Talented Gymnastics Club
Our Gifted and Talented Key Steps Gymnastics club started last night and the children loved their first session. Our specialist coaches went through parts of the routine covering both body management and floor exercise. We can’t wait to see how the children progress over the next few weeks and establish their routines.
Year 1 Maths - Identifying 3D Shapes
In our maths session this morning we were looking at recognising and naming 3D shapes. The children first learnt a new song which focused on cylinders ,cones, cube and sphere which they absolutely loved! Next we used the 3D shapes to work on identifying how many vertices, faces and edges each of the shapes had. The children worked extremely hard to develop their understanding especially with the sphere and cylinders which were super tricky!
Reception Maths - Subitising Pairs
This week in Maths, we have been revisiting our subitising skills to 5. We have moved onto looking at different frames and arrangements to help us subitise quickly, e.g. fingers on our hand, spots on a dice and numicon pieces. The children then took turns to play a game of 'pairs' where they had to turn over different cards to see if they could subitise and find a matching pair. They were brilliant at spotting the equal amounts!
Worship with Rev Matt- Courage
This morning, we were delighted to welcome Rev. Matt for our whole school worship. We spent time exploring our current Christian value of Courage, using the story of Epiphany as our inspiration. Through the journey of the Wise Men, we discussed how they demonstrated incredible bravery. It wasn't just the long journey that required strength, but their decision to listen to God’s warning and defy King Herod’s orders. They showed us that courage often means doing what is right, even when it feels difficult or uncertain. We reflected on how God can provide us with the inner strength to face our fears. And how courage isn't something we have to find alone; we can encourage and support each other to be brave in our daily lives. Like the Wise Men, we can choose to do the right thing, even when faced with pressure.
Year 5 Art
Year 5 started their new art topic on mixed media portraits, this week. They used a photo of themselves to produce a self portrait comprised entirely of text. They also painted a watercolour wash background for their portrait.
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Year 3- NSPCC Assembly: Speak Out, Stay Safe
Today, the children participated in an NSPCC virtual assembly centered on the vital message "Speak out, Stay safe." Through interactive activities, including whispering, pointing, and cheering their right to be safe, they learned to identify different types of abuse and, most importantly, understood that abuse is never a child’s fault. The session empowered the children to recognise their right to protection and identified "trusted adults" they can turn to for help. Finally, they were taught how to contact Childline on 0800 1111, ensuring they know exactly how to access free, confidential support whenever they might need it.
Year 4 PSHE -Speak out.Stay safe
Today we learned all about the NSPCC Speak out. Stay safe campaign which aims to help children to understand abuse in all its forms. During the assembly we focused on worries. These worries may include neglect, moving schools, sexual abuse, bullying, someone being poorly or dying. Some of these worries are classed as different types of abuse. This includes neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and bullying. We can put our worries into a worry bag and share our problems to lighten the load. Who can we share our worries with.? A trusted adult, a family member, a sports coach or Childline. These are all safe trusted adults. There are so many ways children can speak out but contacting Childline may be one of them. Childline is a free support service especially for children either online or over the phone. The children listened really well throughout the whole session, showing respect and valuing differences in opinions.
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Year 6 - NSPCC Speak out stay safe
Today, our Year 6 children watched and actively participated in the NSPCC Speak Out, Stay Safe virtual assembly. The session helped the children to understand the importance of speaking out if they feel worried or unsafe and reminded them that there are trusted adults and organisations who can help. The children engaged well throughout and were encouraged to ask questions and reflect on how to keep themselves and others safe. They are looking forward to learning more shortly in their NSPCC workshop.