Reception- R.E- Exploring the features of a mosque.
It was fantastic teaching the Reception class all about the different features of a mosque, exploring what happens inside, and discussing who goes there to worship. The children were deeply engaged throughout the lesson, showing great curiosity as we looked at the daily practices and rituals that take place within a mosque. It was wonderful to see them so inspired, and they asked a variety of thoughtful questions to deepen their understanding of other faiths and cultures.
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 - Emotive Poetry
This week, Year 6 have been exploring emotive poetry writing, focusing on expressing their feelings about SATs and how these assessments do not define who they are. The children reflected on their own journeys throughout the process, including the challenges they have faced, the progress they have made and the importance of recognising their wider strengths beyond test results.
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.
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The WOW Group - Recycle to Read Campaign Launch Assembly
This week, the WOW group spoke to the rest of the school about ways we can reduce waste when it comes to our toys. They launched our Recycle to Read campaign by explaining that throughout June and at the beginning of July families can take their broken plastic toys to Tesco Extra in Horwich, Leyland or Chorley and place them in collection bins to earn points for our school. These points will go towards earning free books for the school. If our families are unable to get to the specified stores, school will be collecting broken plastic toys on their behalf. The WOW group also introduced our Toy Swap Shop event, which will be held on Tuesday 9th June after school. Children who bring in a pre-loved toy on Monday 8th or Tuesday 9th June will be able to visit our Toy Swap Shop to choose a replacement toy to bring home. It’s the perfect time to have a half term sort-out!
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Year 4 - National Numeracy Day
To celebrate National Numeracy Day, the Year 4 class took part in a number of activities to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills. These included taking part in a live lesson delivered by TT Rockstars and Mr MoneyJar, which involved understanding the value of money and playing ‘Would You Rather…?’ to decide when to splurge and when to save. The children also completed the Build A Playground challenge, in which they had to compare deals on various pieces of playground equipment in order to build the most cost effective playground. Once they had calculated their total cost, the children designed their playgrounds. The children’s final challenge involved a concept cartoon about number sequences. They were given the first 5 terms in a sequence and were asked to workout the 20th and the 100th terms with their partner. This activity involved lots of discussion using our oracy skills. They were encouraged to share their ideas and ask each other questions so that they would both reach a mutual decision in order to reach the answers. The class was given timely clues, or helpful hints, to aid their mathematical working. They showed great perseverance and even developed an algebraic equation to help solve the problems efficiently.
Whole School Worship - Pentecost
This week, Tuesday’s worship focussed on the Christian celebration of Pentecost. Mrs Ham began by asking the children what they remember about Pentecost, to which some children replied, “When the Holy Spirit came”, “Fire on people’s heads” and “When they spoke in different languages”. We watched a film about a group of pandas waiting for a special gift of some new musical instruments. They woke very early for the delivery but they had the wrong day and the gift wasn’t due until the day after. They had a bedtime story about Jesus’ disciples waiting for a wonderful gift, but they were unsure when it would arrive. Suddenly a strong wind blew and they all had flames on their heads and a warm feeling inside, they knew God’s power had struck them and he was living inside their hearts. Jesus will always be with them and he asked them to always be with him as he was with them. They ran into the streets and Peter shouted to the people that Jesus had rescued them and that Jesus’ love is never breaking and always and forever. Even though not everyone could speak the same language, they all still understood Peter’s words. Mrs Ham told us that Pentecost is also known as the birthday of the church. We all then sang one of our favourite hymns, “He Is Alive” to finish our Pentecost celebration.
Year 4 - RE: Visit to St Barnabas Church
During our visit to church this week, the Year 4 class spent some time exploring and spotting some interesting features. Rev Ben asked them to consider what symbols they noticed, how they may be used and how they may link to the Bible. The children remembered a number of key features from their study of the church in Year 2, such as the font, the lectern and the chalice and plate. They were able to state a use for each symbol and suggest links based on their personal knowledge of the Bible, for example, “The font is for baptising people” and “I think this links to when John the Baptist baptised Jesus.” Rev Ben then explained the symbols’ uses and links in more depth, as well as explaining that the term “Church” mostly refers to the people who form an organised body of Christ’s believers. Rev Ben ended the session with an invitation to ask questions about the objects they had explored, and the Church in general.
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.