Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, in our first celebration of the new academic year, we began by reflecting on a fantastic first week back at school. Over the past few days, we have revisited our Barney’s 4Bs and our Christian Values, warmly welcomed our new Reception starters, and transitioned smoothly into our new classes. We then turned our attention to celebrating some incredible out-of-school achievements. Well done to Ava for earning her 10m and Stage 3 swimming certificates, Grace for collecting multiple medals in ballet, song and dance, and acro, and Willow for being named Star of the Week at Gymfinity Kids for her outstanding skill. Congratulations also to Mollie, Samuel, and Olivia for their hard work completing the BwD Summer Reading Challenge, Lyla for her medals and trophy in improvised and commercial dance, and Callie for her exceptional achievements in gymnastics, Stage 6 swimming, and earning her dragon belt in Jiu-Jitsu. We also applauded Phoebe for her 5m swimming certificate, Charlie for helping his football team secure 2nd place in a recent tournament and winning the Manager’s Cup, and Hendrix for earning numerous badges at Squirrels. A big congratulations to Year 2 and Year 5 for winning this week’s attendance awards—Year 2 achieved an incredible 100% attendance, and Year 5 closely followed with 98.8%. Mrs Ham then shared some exciting upcoming events to look forward to: the whole-school production of Treasure Island on Tuesday 9th September, a ‘Let’s Go Sing’ workshop for Years 4, 5, and 6 on Monday 15th September aimed at boosting choir participation, our ‘Meet the Teacher’ meetings on Wednesday 17th September, our annual Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 26th September, and a ‘Stay and Play’ morning on Thursday 2nd October for children due to start school in September 2026. We ended our worship with heartfelt prayers from Renee, James, and Mason, who prayed for kindness and for all those suffering from illness or living amidst war and conflict and a singalong to ‘Shine From the Inside Out.’ Thank you to everyone who joined us this week—we look forward to welcoming more of our school family to Friday Celebration Worship in the coming weeks.
Year 3-Swimming Information & Kit List
This afternoon, our Year 3 class met with Nicola, a swimming instructor from Darwen Leisure Centre, to prepare for our upcoming lessons. The instructor answered all of the children's questions and explained what they can expect during their first session on Friday, September 12th.
Year 1 Art: self-portrait
Our school is creating a lovely rainbow display with each child’s own portrait. Our class colour is orange. Year 1 have made a brilliant effort with their self-portraits. They added in their facial features such as eyebrows, mouth, eyes and nose. These will also be displayed in the corridor outside of our classroom.
Reception - Treasure boxes
This week, our new Reception children brought in treasure boxes from home containing items that are special to them. It was lovely to hear the children talk about their items with pride and excitement. They also enjoyed showing their friends and the grown ups in the classroom.
Year 1 Science- Animal Families
Today in Year 1, we started to look at animal families and we went on an animal safari in our classroom!
Year 6 - Cricket
Today, Year 6 began their new cricket unit, with a focus on bowling skills. The children explored both underarm and overarm techniques, concentrating on accuracy and consistency when aiming at targets. They worked in pairs and small groups to practise their delivery, giving each other feedback and refining their technique.
Let your light shine worship with Bishop Philip
This morning in our collective worship, Bishop Philip welcomed everyone back to school. We reflected on why we come to school and how Jesus was a teacher and his disciples were the learners. He encouraged us all to shine out with the gifts and talents that God has given to us. If we shine with the light of learning, service and love we can make the world a better place. We thought about how we can shine from the inside out this school year and finished with one of our favourite songs, 'Shine from the Inside Out'.
Year 5 P.E
Year 5’s P.E unit for this half term is gymnastics. In this week’s lesson, the children began to develop gymnastics routines using a combination of mirrored and matched balances, counter-balances and travelling movements.
Year 3- R.E- Why do communities celebrate Harvest?
This afternoon in R.E, Year 3 have started a new topic all about harvest celebrations. We're exploring why communities around the world, and Christians in particular, celebrate the harvest. The children have been reflecting on some big questions, such as: Why do communities celebrate the harvest? What exactly is being celebrated at this time of year? We've had some wonderful discussions about the children’s own experiences of harvest festivals, whether at church, school, or within their own communities. They've shared what they already know and have come up with some fantastic questions that we'll be exploring together in the coming lessons.
Year 5 History
Year 5’s new history topic is Who Were the Maya? Today, the children explored the timeline and achievements of the ancient Mayan civilisation. We are looking forward learning more about this fascinating period in history!
Year 4 Geography - Where is the Amazon?
In our first geography lesson of the year we have been focusing on the Amazon rainforest. Today we located the Amazon on a map and considered the significance of its location. We then went on to find out that Brazil is South America’s biggest country. Finally we added the Amazon to a map of the world along with the equator, tropics, continents and oceans.
Year 4 PE - Learning Boccia Skills
In our PE session this afternoon, we were introduced to Boccia which is a precision ball sport. We practiced in smaller groups and tried to improve our precision. We tried to get the Boccia balls as close to the Jack as possible with the closest winning the game. The children became better and better over the course of the lesson and can’t wait to develop their skills even further in our next lesson.