Whole School Worship: Diwali
This week, our school community gathered together for a special whole-school worship focused on Diwali, the Festival of Lights. Celebrated by millions of people across the world—including Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains—this joyful five-day autumn festival marks fresh starts, peace, and the triumph of light over darkness. During our worship, the children explored the story of Rama and Sita alongside key cultural traditions, discovering how little clay diyas are placed in doorways to welcome blessings and remind us that even the smallest flame can chase away the dark. We also admired the colourful rangoli patterns created to welcome Lakshmi, and discussed how families celebrate through spring-cleaning, wearing bright clothes, watching fireworks, and sharing sweet mithai treats with neighbours and those in need. Connecting the festival to our own daily lives, we reflected on the deeper values of light over dark, good over evil, and wisdom over ignorance—focusing on courage, honesty, and kindness. The children were encouraged to consider how they can shine their own light within our school, whether by offering a cheerful greeting to someone new, inviting classmates to join playground games, or lending a helping hand in class. We brought our worship to a close with the song Shine and a quiet reflection, holding onto the thought: "May our words bring encouragement, and our actions spread friendship." We invite you to speak with your child at home about what they learned and how they plan to share their light this week.
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Year 5 - RotaKids
Today we continued planning our first RotaKids charity project by making posters, drafting letters and scripting videos. We are collecting warm clothing such as hats, gloves and scarves for DARE (Darwen Asylum Refugee Enterprise) and hope to engage as much of the local community as possible. We wrote letters asking local supermarkets to contribute any excess stock and made posters to encourage as many St Barnabas family members as possible to donate old warm clothes. Anything you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Year 6 - Gymnastics
Year 6 started their gymnastics unit today, focusing on counterbalancing. The children explored how they could work individually and with a partner to create a range of balanced shapes, using different points of contact, body positions and levels of tension. They experimented with pushing and pulling against one another to maintain control, stability and balance. The children also began developing their creativity by linking movements together to create interesting paired balances.
Year 3 - English: Predictions
At the start of the week, the children were presented with a series of clues about our new English text. They explored the clues, described what they could see and discussed how the items might be connected. They used this information to help them write predictions about the text.
Reception: Muddy Monday
Reception had a wonderful time during our Muddy Monday session out on the school field today! The children loved exploring their surroundings, spotting local landmarks like Darwen Tower, and observing the trees as we chatted about the changing seasons. To build our listening and attention skills, we played several fun instruction-following games together. We finished our outdoor adventure with plenty of big physical movements—racing and rolling down the grassy hill, which was not only great fun but fantastic gross motor practice for our balance and coordination.
KS2 Times Table Rockstar Battle
A huge well done to our KS2 champions! A massive congratulations to Lottie, James, Thomas and Charlie, our October Times Table Rock Stars Battle champions! Your hard work, dedication and fantastic times table skills have shone through. Keep up the brilliant work and continue to rock those times tables!
Whole School Harvest Celebration
This morning, we celebrated Harvest with a very special worship service at St Barnabas Church, led by our wonderful WOW group and Mrs Araujo. It was a joyful celebration filled with singing, gratitude and reflection. A huge well done to Reception, Year 1 and Year 3, who did a tremendous job of sharing what they have been learning in their RE lessons. Reception bravely opened our worship by singing ‘Thank You for the Harvest’, followed by Year 1, who expressed their gratitude to our farmers for all their hard work with a lovely rendition of ‘Thank You to the Farmers’. We also heard from Year 3, who shared beautiful prayers expressing their gratitude for all that we have, as well as leading us in a shared prayer using Makaton. We are incredibly proud of all the children for their thoughtful contributions. This year, we are supporting DARE, RotaKids and The Bishop’s Appeal. A heartfelt thank you to our school community for your generosity in donating non-perishable food items and pre-loved winter coats. Your kindness and support make a real difference to others. Looking ahead, please remember that we will be taking part in the Big Barney’s Assault Course Challenge on Friday 6th November to raise money for the Jehovah Rapha Healthcare Centre in Liwolo. The funds raised will help ensure that people can access essential healthcare. We would be very grateful if you could ask family and friends to sponsor your child and support us in this important mission. Finally, thank you for your continued support throughout this half-term. We wish all our families a wonderful and restful half-term holiday!
Christmas Artwork in Year 4
This week our children have been creating some mini masterpieces ready for the ‘My Child’s Art’ fundraiser. We decided to decorate baubles by using Pointillism where small dots are made using ear buds and paint. The children used a variety of colours and the end pieces look great!
Year 2 RE- The Torah
This week in RE, Year 2 explored the Jewish Holy Book, the Torah scroll, discovering how it is read in the synagogue and treated with the utmost respect. The children also learned about Simchat Torah, the annual celebration that marks the completion of the yearly Torah reading cycle, and enjoyed participating in their own Simchat Torah-style festivity. Well done, Year 2!
Year 1 Art: Final Self-Portrait
Year 1 made their final self-portraits, which turned out really well. They used their drawing skills, using organic shapes, colouring skills and observational skills to try and create a realistic portrait.
Online Safety: Deepfakes
Deepfakes can make it appear that someone has said or done something they haven’t, using AI to create increasingly convincing fake images, videos and audio. As this technology becomes easier to access, children and young people may encounter risks ranging from online bullying and impersonation to scams and fabricated explicit content. Our latest #WakeUpWednesday guide explores: • AI-enabled bullying • Cloned voices and fake family scams • Bogus celebrity endorsements • Fabricated images and videos • Extortion and digital blackmail It also offers practical advice for parents and educators on recognising warning signs, protecting personal information and talking to young people about responsible AI use. Read the guide here: https://vist.ly/5pady #Safeguarding #OnlineSafety #Deepfakes #ArtificialIntelligence
Year 5 - Christmas Cushions
Today we started our big Design and Technology project, making our cushions for the Christmas fair. We started by planning and drawing the shapes the cushion will be decorated with. This included Christmas trees, stars, presents and snowmen. The children cut the shapes out of felt and began practising the running stitch, sewing the decorations onto their cushion covers.
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