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Reception-PSHE- The Well-being Wheel
In PSHE we set up five areas of the well-being wheel in class. We had ‘be active’ where we set up a dance party area. We had a ‘give to others’ station where the children could draw a picture for someone and put it in an envelope and give it to someone special. In our ‘Mindfulness’ area we had binoculars and magnifying glasses so the children could look at the finer details of things. We demonstrated ‘being creative’ by working together to make tall constructions. We ‘connected with others’ by telling each other something we liked about them in the ‘chatty corner’.
Year 6 Junior Jam - Computing
This week in Computing, year 6 learned about vocal stems and song remixes. They learned that a vocal stem is the isolated singing of a song, without the music behind it. Their task for this lesson was to remix a song on the 'GarageBand' app, by taking a vocal stem and changing the genre. They used live loops to add the music, and changed the tempo and the key so that they complimented the vocal stem.
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Year 1 Geography: Darwen Heritage Centre
Year 1 enjoyed exploring Darwen Heritage Centre. The volunteers gave us lots of information about Darwen Tower, Whitehall Park, Sunnyhurst Woods and Bold Venture Park. One volunteer was even a student at St Barnabas when he was younger! The children were shocked to hear that at one time, Darwen did not have any schools. When schools were created, children only came to school for five years then went to work. We loved seeing the models of Darwen Tower and India Mill.
Year 1 Geography: Fun at Bold Venture Park
To celebrate the end of our long 8km walk, we had lots of fun playing at Bold Venture Park. The children took turns kindly and helped each other on the swings. We could also spot the lion statues that we had seen previously in Darwen Heritage Centre.
Tag Rugby Festival
Some of our Year 6 children had a fantastic time tonight visiting Blackburn Rugby Club for an action-packed session of tag rugby! It was wonderful to watch them master the basics, from perfecting their lateral passes to understanding the strategic flow of the game. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the matches, where the children showed off their newfound skills and sprinted across the line to score some brilliant tries. A huge thank you to the club for hosting us and helping our children discover a new passion for the game! Thanks to our parents and carers for transporting and supporting!
Year 1 Geography: Exploring Darwen
As part of our Geography unit, Year 1 explored our local area in Darwen. We visited many places such as India Mill, Darwen Town Hall, Darwen Heritage Centre, Darwen Leisure Centre and Bold Venture Park. It was a long 8km walk and the children enjoyed seeing different areas in their town.
Whole School Worship - One Way Giving
In this whole school collective worship, we developed our understanding of one way giving. Our Year 6 heads and deputies began by sharing what each class did for our Hop, Skip and Jump event. Jacqui, a representative from East Lancs Hospice came to award us with participation certificates and to reveal that we raised a fantastic £357 during our event. Thank you to all our children and parents for your support. Mrs Ham then shared this week’s One Way Giving kindness kite. Three of our KS2 children volunteered to read the sections of the kite and we learned that the Bible says we should give in secret and God will reward us. After this, we watched a cartoon of the event when Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Canaan. He secretly asked the servants to fill the jars with water and turned it into wine. The master of ceremonies tasted the wine and approved it to be a very good wine thinking it was provided by the groom. The groom received the praise, and only the servants and God knew that Jesus had performed this miracle. This was a great example of one way giving. Finally, Mrs Ham and Mr Bloomfield put up our new Widgit symbols, with the help of our children, on our Big Frieze to help the children understand God’s Big Story.
Online Safety: Managing Exam Stress
Exam periods can place significant pressure on young people, affecting their confidence, focus and overall wellbeing. Our latest #WakeUpWednesday guide explores realistic and supportive strategies to help manage this pressure. It highlights practical approaches, including: • Organising workload and reducing overwhelm • Using active and creative revision techniques • Creating calm, focused study environments • Using technology, including AI, in a thoughtful way The guide also emphasises the importance of maintaining balance, motivation and positive wellbeing during exam preparation. Download the guide here:https://vist.ly/428mn #Education #Wellbeing #Safeguarding #TeachingAndLearning #WakeUpWednesday
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Ocean Awareness with the Marine Conservation Society
Today, we were joined by Lorna from the Marine Conservation Society for a brilliant session. The children explored the wonders of our Ocean while learning about serious challenges such as climate change, overfishing, and ocean pollution. A particularly memorable moment was learning that sea turtles often mistake floating plastic bags for jellyfish, their favourite food, highlighting the dangers of litter. Lorna inspired the children to think creatively about waste, showing them how to repurpose plastic items, such as turning old milk gallons into birds or bird feeders. The children loved sharing their favourite things about the sea, and to help us keep learning, Lorna mentioned that there are plenty of fantastic free resources available on their website to explore at home or in class.
Year 5 - RE
We started by discussing the children’s knowledge of what funerals are and why we have them. This is a sensitive topic and the children showed great maturity and sensitivity in sharing their experiences in an open, respectful manner. We then analysed Christian prayers spoken in funerals and considered what they tell us about Christian beliefs around God, Jesus and heaven.
Year 6 - Athletics
This week in PE, Year 6 have been developing their athletics skills and demonstrating fantastic enthusiasm throughout. The children explored effective baton changes in relay running, focusing on timing, communication and smooth transitions to improve overall performance. The children also practised their chest push technique, concentrating on control, balance and generating power, as well as refining their javelin throwing skills with an emphasis on accuracy, distance and safe technique. It has been wonderful to see such great effort, determination and teamwork from all children, with many showing increased confidence and supporting one another to improve. Well done, Year 6!
Times Table Rockstar Champions
A huge well done to our Times table Rockstar champions, who battled it out to take first place in their classes! An incredible 121 children took part, achieving a fantastic total of over 181,000 correct answers, a truly brilliant effort by everyone involved. A special congratulations goes to our winners: Piper-Jo – Year 3 Lottie – Year 4 Charlie – Year 5 Charlie – Year 6 What an amazing achievement, we are so proud of you all!