Whole School Worship - St Paul: Amazing Grace
In Rev Ben's collective worship this week, he started by asking us all to think of the most important thing someone ever said to us. The children shared examples of words of wisdom and good news, such as being told about a new sibling. Rev Ben shared some of the most important words St Paul ever said about the grace of God and being justified by Jesus's death, resurrection and ascension. He used role play to explain the complicated concept of grace and that God's grace isn't something which can be earned. The children acted out scenarios in which someone received something by working for it, and someone received the same thing just because the person chose to give it to them. Rev Ben went on to say that God's love is given to us all; we don't have to earn it. He reminded us that friendship with God develops from faith in Jesus.
Lancashire Schools Bee Stinger Netball
What a fantastic day we have had at the Lancashire Bee Stinger Netball Finals. We had the honour of representing the Borough after winning the Blackburn with Darwen School final a few weeks ago. We started off with an impressive 7-1 then went on to play several other matches which were a real mixed bag, but the children fought hard for every point and worked so well as a team. We are really proud of all of our children and it is such a big achievement to reach the Lancashire Schools finals. Small but mighty definitely sums us up!
Year 3&4 Quad Kids
Today, our talented Year 3 & 4 Quad Kids represented the school at the Lancashire School Games! They took part in a series of athletic events including the 400m run, vortex throw, 50m sprint and long jump. Each child gave their all, showing fantastic determination, teamwork and sportsmanship throughout the competition. Well done to all involved – a brilliant effort and a proud day for our school!
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Year 3- R.E-A Visit from Rev. Ben
Today, we welcomed Rev. Ben into our R.E. lesson. He came to speak to Year 3 about the qualities of a Christian and what it means to live a Christian life. Rev. Ben shared examples from his own experiences and the Bible, helping the children understand key values such as kindness, forgiveness, honesty, and compassion. The pupils were incredibly engaged and asked thoughtful questions, such as “How do Christians show love to others? Is it hard to forgive people? Do Christians have to attend church every Sunday? After the discussion, the children reflected on what they had learned and worked on writing their own set of guidelines for how someone might live as a Christian. These included ideas such as “Help others in need,” “Treat everyone fairly,” “Pray when you feel thankful or worried,” and “Forgive people, even when it’s hard.”
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Year 3- Year of Prayer-Our Achievements in drawings.
As part of this week’s Year of Prayer reflections, the children took time to celebrate both their milestones and our collective achievements as a class over the past year. Each child thoughtfully created a drawing/ shape to represent something they were proud of trophies for sporting triumphs and accomplishments outside of school, pencils for their progress in handwriting, reading books to show how far they’ve come in reading, musical notes for learning new instruments, and stars for moments of kindness, courage, or perseverance. These drawings now brighten our classroom walls, forming a display. Together, they remind us of how we have each grown in confidence, character, and faith, truly living life in all its fullness.
Reception: Butterfly Release Day
Today was a very special day for our Reception children as they released their butterflies. The children have been so engaged throughout the entire process of watching the butterfly life cycle, observing firsthand how they change and grow from caterpillars. It was truly wonderful to see their excitement as they finally released the butterflies. This experience has been a fantastic way for them to learn about nature and the amazing transformations that occur in the natural world.
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Year 5 - Striking and Fielding
Today, Year 5 continued their unit on striking and fielding, focusing more closely on striking the ball with accuracy and exploring tactics to use effectively during gameplay. The children worked on improving their hand-eye coordination, positioning and decision-making skills, applying these in small team games to develop a deeper understanding of both attacking and defensive strategies.
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Year 5 - Year of Prayer
As part of this week’s Year of Prayer reflections, the children took time to think about their personal and collective achievements over the past year. They each cut out shapes to represent something they were proud of—whether it was a goal they had reached, a skill they had developed or a moment that made them feel proud. These shapes were then displayed on the classroom windows, coming together to form a vibrant and meaningful collage that celebrates all we have accomplished as a class community.
Year 3- Exploring Design Technology Through Castle Construction
Over the past few weeks, the Budding designers have been learning the skills needed to design and build their own castles. They explored the features of castles, practised using tools for cutting, shaping, and joining materials, and sketched detailed designs of what they wanted to create. Today, our young designers finally brought their ideas to life. After watching the Pupil video Constructing a Castle for guidance, they began building their structures. Using shoeboxes from home as sturdy bases, the designers constructed turrets from cardboard tube rolls, battlements from sugar paper, and added flags made from straws and coloured card. Each castle was unique, reflecting the creativity and planning of its maker. The children selected from a variety of tools and materials, using them carefully and with purpose. Many included features such as drawbridges, windows, and gatehouses, and some even furnished the interiors of their castles with handmade items. In the next lesson, the children will evaluate their finished structures, considering what went well, what could be improved, and how effectively their design ideas were brought to life.
Reception: Muddy Monday
Our Reception class thoroughly enjoyed their Muddy Monday session! They had a fantastic time finding various bugs and enthusiastically creating homes for them. It was truly wonderful to observe their engagement and curiosity during these activities. It was also wonderful to see the children becoming braver, climbing higher up trees, and collaborating to create a camp fire. They also loved foraging for different natural materials to continue their imaginative role-playing games. Additionally, the children enjoyed closely observing the wildflowers and using them to create lovely summer scents, showcasing their creativity and sensory exploration.
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Monday Worship
This week we began our worship thinking about countries that are not as fortunate as ours. Some countries do not have access to food and clean water so we collectively prayed for them as part of the Year of Prayer. Mrs Araujo then introduced our year of prayer class activity which was to think about our achievements from the year and to draw and stick something to reflect that on the window to thank God. We then sang some of our leavers song ready for our special Leavers Service next Friday. The children sounded beautiful.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning's worship reflected on a very busy, yet rewarding week. all of our children got the opportunity to transition into their new year groups, we welcomed our new Reception starters into school, our Year 2 and Year 4 students enjoyed their visit to St Barnabas Church and many children also participated in another engaging Cre8ability session. Mrs. Govan thanked all entrants for the recent Rota Kids Art Competition, congratulating Luna, Beau, Olivia, Skye, Alayna, Lyla in EYFS/KS1 and Naomi and Edward in KS2, whose artwork will be displayed at the Darwen Heritage Centre over the Summer holidays. Our athletes achieved great success: Our Year 3 ,4 5 & 6 Athletics squad were winners at Witton Athletics on Monday evening, and a group of Year 3 and 4 children excelled in the Quad Kids competition, qualifying for the Lancashire School Games at UCLAN next Tuesday! We also celebrated our individual value award winners: Annie, Hendrix, Oliver, Noah and Carter in EYFS/KS1 and Lana, Isabelle and Grace in KS2 for consistently following Barny’s 4Bs and showing growth. Additionally, Year 1 and Year 3 were attendance winners, India Mill was the overall Value Award Winner, and Olivia, Leo, Lilly earned their pen licenses. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Beau, Thea, Annie and Olivia for achieving their Explorers badge at Rainbows and Annie for being awarded Olivia at Rainbows, Thea for being a super gymnast, Willow for achieving backwards flip on the bars at gymfinity and for showing extreme kindness by donating her beautiful long hair to the Princess Trust, Reggie for achieving 20m in his swimming, Marley for ‘Star of the Day’ at the Edstart Multi-Sports Club for super listening and demonstrating outstanding dodgeball skill, Harry for showing super skill and teamwork in a football tournament and Mason for working towards the purple stage at The Darts Academy. To finish our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Harry, Lilly and Callie who prayed for those in the midst of conflict and war, homeless people and those in Heaven. Mrs Ham wished us all a lovely restful weekend and we had a singalong to ‘The School Rules Song’.