Bee Stinger Netball Final
We are incredibly proud of our netball squad tonight! šš They left absolutely everything on the court in the Bee Stinger Netball Final. While we have proudly taken home the trophy for the last three years, unfortunately, tonight just wasnāt our night. A massive congratulations to Feniscowles on a well-played match and a deserved win! šš We couldnāt do what we do without our amazing staff. A special thank you to Mrs Gardner for her brilliant coaching, and to Miss Kachwalla for her wonderful support this evening. š Finally, a huge thank you to all our amazing parents for showing up and cheering the team on. Your continued support means the world to us! Heads held high, Team B! You played with so much heart and we couldn't be prouder. We will be back stronger next time and have the rest of the netball league to look forward to. šŖ š
Whole School- Be the Change: Our Kindness Workshop
This morning, Years 1-6 took part in an inspiring 'Kindness Workshop' delivered by Krish, centred on Mahatma Gandhiās famous quote: "Be the change you want to see in the world." The children explored the three pillars of kindness, being friendly, generous, and considerate, and brainstormed simple everyday actions like smiling, sharing, hugging, complimenting, etc. We looked at powerful, real-life examples from 52 Lives, a charity founded by Jamie in 2013, including Clare from Australia and Andrea from Romania, whose Ā£5,000 operation goal was doubled to Ā£10,000 by kind strangers. This sparked a wonderful discussion about how fortunate we are to have the NHS in our country compared to places where healthcare is very expensive. After watching a video of a young boy comforting an upset football fan after Portugal beat France, the children learned that kindness is actually scientifically proven to make us happier, give us healthier hearts, slow down ageing, and help us live longer. Best of all, kindness is contagious; a single act can spread to 125 people! During the workshop, the children had the opportunity to share kind words with their peers in pairs. They mentioned that giving and receiving compliments felt anywhere from a bit "weird" to really "joyful". At the end of the workshop, the children had a quiz with a series of questions. Arlo, Jack, Molly, Beau, Sophia, Phoebe, Elijah, Eden, Isaac, James, Desmond, Chay, Declan, and Archie did a brilliant job answering the questions, showing great listening skills, and everyone demonstrated our 4 school rules exceptionally well. Afterwards, the children went back into their classrooms to complete their kindness activities. They had a fantastic time making chatterboxes, bracelets, letters, poems, and posters. Lots of kindness has been shared today, and we will definitely continue to share it. We must remember that kindness doesn't cost anything, so we should all use it more.
Year 1: Making Kindness Cards and Bracelets
Year 1 loved learning more about kindness from 52 Lives. They learnt about empathy, friendliness and generosity. In class, they designed cards and bracelets for each other to spread kindness. It was lovely to see them all making things for their friends and the smiles on their faces when they received a card.
Year 5 - RE
Our new topic in RE concerns the role that women played in the Bible. The first lesson was about Jochebed, the mother of Moses who saw that her baby was special and risked her own safety to save him despite the Pharaohās wish. We connected this story to important women of the modern world, such as artists, scientists, politicians and sports people.
Collective Worship- St Barnabas
This morning, we welcomed everyone back to school by singing We All Need Encouragement as we gathered for worship. We joined worship with Lisa and schools from the Diocese, where we reflected on the lives of saints and the difference they made through their faith. We even got a special mention as we are only one of two schools from the diocese named after St Barnabas and this week it is his special Feast Day! We learned about Saint Barnabas and how he played an important role in Godās big story. Barnabas was part of the very first Christian community and was known for being kind, patient, respectful, and generous. We heard from Bishop Joe that Barnabas was originally called Joseph, but his name was changed to Barnabas, meaning āson of encouragement.ā He travelled with Paul to many countries, sharing the word of God. We thought about how we can be more like Barnabas in our own lives and took time to encourage the person sitting next to us. Lisa then led us in a prayer, asking God to help us be good encouragers who use kind and thoughtful words. We ended our worship by singing The School Rules Song. What a wonderful way to begin the week together!
Year 1 Phonics
Year 1 have had a longer phonics session today to help them prepare for the upcoming Phonics Screening Check. We played two games. The first game focused on words including split digraphs. The children had to pick a word, read it, write it and draw a picture to match. They were extremely pleased when they could read some trickier words like āice cubeā and āfireplaceā. Then we played another game focusing on trigraphs. Similar to the popular game Headbandz, the children had to pick up a short sentence and put it on their headband. Partner A had to read the sentence and help sound it out so that Partner B could write the sentence on the whiteboard. The children all worked really well together and tried very hard.
Reception: Muddy Monday
What a difference a rainy morning makes! The Reception class children were bracing themselves for a very soggy afternoon, but right on cue, the clouds parted, the rain stopped, and the sunshine burst through just in time for our Muddy Monday session at Whitehall Park. The children had an absolute blast making the most of the fresh air and the damp ground (which made for some top-tier mud squelching!).
Wraparound Care is coming to St Barnabas!
š Exciting News! On-Site Wraparound Care is Coming to St Barnabas! š We are delighted to announce that starting in September 2026, we will be offering our own on-site wraparound care service, exclusively for our children! We have partnered with Progressive (formerly Progressive Sports) to deliver high-quality, activity-focused care right here on school grounds. Progressive is the perfect fit because: They provide a strong sports element, creative, wellness, and discovery activitiesāall popular choices from our parent survey! We will be working closely with them to ensure their provision meets the same high expectations for behaviour and support that we maintain during school hours. Affordable & Flexible Options: Weāve negotiated affordable rates and flexible sessions for our families: Breakfast Club (7:30 amā8:55 am, including breakfast): Ā£5.00 per session. After School Club (3:20/3:30 pmā6:00 pm, including a snack): Ā£8.00 per session. Reduced Session Price: Only Ā£6.00 if attending after a school enrichment club! A 10% sibling discount is available, and Tax-free/Universal Credit childcare vouchers are accepted. Progressive will also offer holiday clubs during some school breaks. We are confident this new service will offer affordable, convenient and high-quality care. Please read the attached letter for further information.
Reception PSHE - Why sleep is important for our bodies.
This week we talked about why we need sleep and how important it is for our bodies. The children talked about how it helps us grow and get stronger, it repairs our bodies and stops us being grumpy. We then read 3,2,1 Bedtime and shared our own bedtime routines and favourite bedtime stories. We role played getting washed, cleaning our teeth and going to sleep.
Reception - RE-Hinduism
This week our class looked at special places for people of different faiths, specifically Hinduism. We compared pictures of Mandirs and Churches and practised some mindful meditation and yoga. Then we did some bhangra dancing in celebration. The children really enjoyed the colour and joy of the Hindu faith.
Online Safety: Minecraft
Minecraft continues to be a highly popular platform for children, combining creativity, problem-solving and social interaction. While the game can offer positive opportunities for learning and play, features such as public servers, multiplayer modes and in-game communication can create safeguarding challenges. Our latest guide supports educators and parents in understanding these risks and helping children play more safely. The guide explores: ā¢ Public server communication and contact with unknown players ā¢ Griefing, disruptive behaviour and online conflict ā¢ In-game spending and subscription costs ā¢ Addictive gameplay loops and balanced screen time ā¢ Safer settings, private servers and suitable game modes With clear, practical advice, the guide helps adults set boundaries, encourage safer choices and support responsible Minecraft use. Access the guide: https://vist.ly/54tfx #Safeguarding #OnlineSafety #Minecraft
Celebration Worship
We made it to the end of half term! It had been a very busy and action-packed few weeks with trips, SATs and lots of exciting events across school. Thank you to the WOW Group for sharing their new mission of collecting old toys so children can swap them for a different one. We were also excited to hear that Kids with Bricks Club would be returning after half term for Summer 2 and that a new list of clubs had been released. Today, we also enjoyed our inter-house sports competition led by our Sports Leaders. For our Values Awards this week, Receptionās awards went to Alana and Theo. Year 1 and Year 2 were both awarded the values award as a whole class. In Year 3, the award went to Annabel, in Year 4 to Finley, in Year 5 to Layla and in Year 6 to Theo. A TT Rockstars certificate was awarded to Harry in Year 4. Pen licences were awarded to Martha, Alfie and Brodie in Year 4. In the Team Values standings, Whitehall Park finished in 4th place, Darwen Tower finished in 3rd place, River Darwen finished in 2nd place and India Mill finished in 1st place. We also celebrated lots of fantastic achievements outside of school. Hendrix was awarded a medal for finishing Stage 3 by completing a backwards roll. Will was awarded Beaver of the Week for bug hunting after finding a spider. Thea, Annie, Luna, Evie, Phoebe and Olivia were all awarded the Helper Badge, Skills Builder Badge and Silver Award. Luna was also awarded the Olivia Doll for being kind and helpful, while Olivia achieved the Gold Award for earning lots of badges. James received a badge for being at Cubs for two years. Sofia was awarded a medal and a hoodie for participating in a dance competition. Eliza received a medal for completing a duathlon involving running, biking and then running again. Bo was awarded a trophy and certificate for dancing. Max achieved Player of the Week for his tackling and dribbling skills in football. Lydia achieved her Stage 4 swimming certificate as well as a Skills Builder badge and Eleanor also achieved her Skills Builder certificate and badge alongside her Stage 4 swimming award. Annabel received a trophy for Best in Cast for performing her solo loudly and confidently, as well as dance certificates. Maggie achieved two gymnastics medals for Levels 1 and 4. Lyla and Arrabelle both received medals for participation in their dancing competition, with Lyla finishing in 6th place and Annabelle finishing in 3rd place. Ava achieved two trophies for street dancing, earning both 2nd place and 1st place awards. A huge well done also went to the netball team, who won their first game 12ā0 and their second game 6ā5. They all played brilliantly and represented the school exceptionally well. Congratulations to Year 1 and Year 4 for achieving the best attendance this week. Finally, we shared some important reminders for after half term. Year 1 would be completing their phonics screening check, Year 4 would be taking part in their multiplication check, Year 6 would be going on their London trip, Reception would be holding their Fatherās Day Stay and Play, Sports Day would be taking place and the school disco would be held on Tuesday 30th June. The worship ended with a prayer from Mrs Ham and a lively rendition of the School Rule Song. Wishing everyone a wonderful half term holiday!