Year 5 - Smart School Council
The Year 5 members of Miss Kachwalla’s school council convened a meeting to discuss the latest issues brought up at the last council discussion. The children participated in group discussions before sharing their thoughts and ideas to the councillors, who recorded them. Year 5 proposed sensible improvements to school life at St Barnabas, such as new clubs and alternative uses of the school grounds. These ideas will go forward and be considered by the council.
Year 6 - Debt Awareness: Enterprise
This week, Year 6 had a visit from the Debt Aware team. The theme of this module was enterprise. The children learned what it meant to be an enterprising person and the qualities needed to start a business. They discussed costs, diversifying, profit and loss for businesses and what business owners need to consider when starting a new business or buying property. They also learned what it means to be an entrepreneur and that sometimes it can take a lot failure before someone creates a successful business.
Year 3- Class Worship- Do We Learn More From Winning or Losing?
Today in class worship, we explored a news story about the recent Men’s FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, where Manchester City and Chelsea competed. We used this event to reflect on the question: "Do we learn more from winning or losing?" Under our theme "More Than a Winner," we focused on the Christian value of Faith and read from 1 Corinthians 9:24–25, which compares life and faith to running a challenging race. We discussed how, while only one team can walk away with the physical trophy, the true value of any competition lies in giving our absolute best, developing self-control, and building an honest character. During our group discussions, the children shared that we learn more from losing, but it's great to win too. We noted that while winning is thrilling, losing often teaches us the most valuable lessons about effort, resilience, and how we can improve next time. We even reflected on an inspiring quote from footballer Mohamed Salah, who shared that he always looks at his weaknesses and works on them to become a better person and player. To close our worship, we sang the historic hymn "Abide With Me" as a moment of unity and reflection, and said a final prayer asking for the strength to persevere, to value our shared efforts, and to always choose kindness and integrity.
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Year 3- Music- Exploring Polyrhythms
This morning in music, the class moved on to polyrhythms. Since the children are now comfortable with the hits and rhythms they have been practising, this lesson introduced the concept of polyrhythms. The class was split into different sections, with each group playing a completely distinct rhythm at the same time. As they got more comfortable with layering these patterns, more complex rhythms were introduced to challenge them. This session was a great way to push the children who have already exceeded their regular lesson plans for this half term.
Year 6 Junior Jam - Music
This week was Y6's final week learning how to play African drums. Today, the children learned more about the cultural differences between ourselves and African countries and also watched videos of the drums being played. They were then tasked with composing their own rhythms and some children performed for the rest of the class.
Year 5 - Money Matters
Debt Aware: Money Matters visited Year 5 today to talk about banking, including the names of high street banks and building societies as well as their role in providing loans and deposit accounts. The children learned about the growth of online banking and the decline of cash as a payment method. Different types of saving accounts were discussed as well as the role of interest.
Year 6 - How is light reflected?
Today during science, Year 6 explored how light is reflected and absorbed. The children investigated how different surfaces affect the way light behaves, identifying which materials reflect light well and which materials absorb light. The children also discussed how this is seen in everyday life, such as in mirrors, clothing and other common objects.
Year 3- R.E- Exploring Religions and their values.
Today in R.E., Year 3 explored four religions, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, by looking closely at their unique places of worship, such as the Gurdwara, Mandir, Vihara, and Mosque, as well as the core rules that guide their followers. The children were incredibly inquisitive throughout the session, asking lots of questions as they discovered the many striking similarities these faiths share, such as the commitment to charity and a deep respect for community and life. The lesson concluded with a thoughtful discussion on why all religions have rules in the first place, helping the students understand that these guidelines aren't just restrictions, but are designed to provide moral guidance, encourage peace and harmony, and help believers practise spiritual discipline.
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Year 5 - Science
We learned how levers and pulleys allow you to lift objects more easily before making our own simple and compound pulley systems. By using cereal boxes, pencils, string and paper clips, we discovered that adding more wheels to our pulley system reduced the effort to lift a weight. The children then extrapolated this information to other pulley systems with more wheels. I owe thanks to all the children who brought in cereal boxes and to Mr Fairbanks who allowed us to use his washers.
Year 1: Bird Watching
The children began their exciting day at Brockholes Nature Reserve by taking part in a bird watching activity. They explored the wetlands and carefully looked for birds that enjoy living near water, such as ducks and swans. The children used their observation skills to spot different birds and enjoyed learning about the habitats and features of wetland wildlife.
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Year 1: Plant Hunt
The children then took part in a plant hunt around the nature reserve, where they explored the different plants and wildlife living in the area. As they searched, they discovered lots of slugs and snails hiding amongst the plants and enjoyed observing them closely. During their plant watch activity, the children identified a range of wild plants including cowslip, foxglove, rosebay willowherb, daisies, nettles, reeds and holly, helping them to learn more about the variety of plants found in natural habitats.
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Year 1: Minibeast Hunt
The children explored the Viking Woods during their minibeast hunt and discovered the remains of Thor’s hammer hidden amongst the trees. They learnt about woodland habitats and discussed why woods are important places for animals to find food, shelter and safety. The children talked about the different animals that live in the woods, including deer, foxes, squirrels, hedgehogs, mice, rabbits, birds, badgers and moles. During the minibeast hunt, they learnt that invertebrates are animals without bones and that insects always have six legs. They also discovered that centipedes and millipedes have many legs. As they searched carefully through the woodland, the children found a variety of minibeasts including woodlice, slugs, beetles, spiders and a millipede.