Worship with Rev. Ben
Today’s worship with Rev. Ben began with a fun game where two teams raced to pass a shuttlecock around the hall and get it back to the start. This linked to the Bible story about Jesus giving us instructions to “pass it on”—just like in the game. The story focused on the Ascension—the moment when Jesus, after rising from the dead and spending time with his disciples, was taken up to heaven. Before he left, Jesus gave his disciples an important mission: to go out into the world, share his teachings, and spread the good news. He promised they would not be alone—God would send the Holy Spirit to be their helper. Even though the disciples felt unsure and a bit afraid, Jesus reassured them that he would always be with them. After the story, the children engaged in thoughtful discussions, exploring questions such as: What did Jesus ask the disciples to do? And How can you trust in Jesus’ promise to be with you, even when you don’t feel brave? Some children shared that they feel brave when they remember Jesus is with them in their hearts. Others said they can pass on kindness and love to friends and family, just like the disciples did. The worship reminded everyone that living like Jesus and sharing his message helps us experience life in all its fullness—a life filled with love, purpose and hope.
Square Root Day in Year 4
Square Root Day Today we took part in Square Root Day. Square Root Day is when both the day of the month and the month are the square root of the last two digits of the year. It's a milestone for lovers of numbers, logic, and patterns because 2025 is a perfect square year! Represented as 45245^2452 (since 45×45=202545 \times 45 = 202545×45=2025), this rare occurrence makes the year a special point of reflection and celebration for mathematics fans. The children took part in interactive games with Lottie and Nora then did some quick fire questions on square roots. We noticed that there is a pattern with the square numbers which read odd than an even, odd, even. So we can check if when we are multiplying numbers we have the correct answer. Patterns help us to predict what comes next. Following this the hosts did a Q and A and St Barnabas got a live question shout out and asked “ What inspired them to be a mathematician?” Another question asked by another school was “ Who invented the square root?” which turned out to be a school in Ancient Greece. The children loved sharing the session with other schools across the country and did so brilliantly!
Year 6 Junior Jam
Year 6 really enjoyed their sessions with Junior Jam this week. In French, the children learned the names of jobs in French and had to write sentences containing these job names. In computing, the children were tasked with designing a new banner for the Junior Jam website, using the Logo Founder app. We have moved on to learning how to play a glockenspiel in music, creating our own 8-beat phrases.
Year 6 Maths
In maths, year 6 have been learning how to convert fractions into percentages using our multiplication and division knowledge. At first, the children thought this topic sounded tricky, but all the class have now become converting experts!
Year 4 PSHE - Mental Health Awareness
In our PSHE lesson we have been looking at Mental Health Awareness. Mental health is everything. Mental health is more than just a small part of our lives.It’s connected to every little thing we do, every place we go and every person around us. Mental Health Awareness Week this year takes place from Monday 12 – Sunday 18 May 2025. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. In our sessions we have been learning how to fill our buckets with all the things that find us joy, writing Kindness poems and planning random acts of kindness.
Year 6 - Year of Prayer
Continuing our Year of Prayer activities, year 6 took part in a reflective walk along the markings on the school yard. We had to follow the lines, reflecting or praying, remembering that we can trust Jesus and ask him to help us to follow the right path.
Year 3- Maths- Celebrating Square Root Day with Nira Chamberlain
Year 3 joined a live zoom session with Nira Chamberlain to celebrate square root numbers today. They enthusiastically participated in activities around calculating square numbers, showcasing fantastic engagement and a real passion for learning. They even discovered why the unique alignment that creates Square Root Day, like the upcoming May 5th, 2025, only happens a few times in a lifetime! This special day reminds us to recognise and celebrate those rare and interesting moments. A huge well done to Year 3 for their brilliant effort and enthusiastic participation. A big shoutout to Lyla who was chosen by Nira Chamberlain read out a question. ‘Who inspired you to be a mathematician . Nira told us his parents were the inspiration behind his love for maths.
Darwen Primary Schools Cross Country
This evening, Team B took part in the final night of the DPSSA Cross country at Witton park. This time it involved all of our four squads Y3/4 Girls, Y3/4 Boys, Y5/6 Girls and Y5/6Boys. We had some super impressive finish places for all squads and a Y3/4 Individual Gold for Emily and Y3/4 Individual Silver for Carter. It was a super tough course in the heat but everyone worked so hard and pushed themselves to their limit. Big shout out to all of our wonderful supporters too.
Year 1- Year of Prayer (Follow the Lines)
This week as part of the Diocesan Year of Prayer, Year 1 went outside onto our playground and ‘followed the lines.’ Before doing so, they thought about how we try our best to lead our lives by Jesus’ example. We thought about all the amazing things that Jesus did such as sharing his power to perform miracles such as healing the sick and feeding the hungry. We thought about the Christian Values that this shows such as kindness, generosity and friendship and how we can live out these values each and everyday. Year 1 suggested that we can lead by Jesus’ example by helping each other when we fall over, holding the door open for one another, complimenting each other to spread love and joy and supporting one another with our work. We followed the various lines (the correct paths) on the playground as we thought about all of the things that we had discussed. We also thought about what we can do when we are finding things a challenge. We said that we could pray to Jesus and ask him to help us to make the right decision to take the right path.
Year 1 Maths- Measuring using Non-Standard Units of Measurement
Today in Maths, Year 1 measured the length of various objects using non-standard units of measurement. To do this, they used counters, cubes and paper-clips. Year 1 were extremely accurate in their measurements as they made sure that they started at the very beginning of the object and lined up the counters, cubes and paper-clips accurately without leaving any gaps until they got to the very end of the object.
Year 3:Year of Prayer- Where Lines Led to Prayer
The children drew chalk lines and followed them on an adventure. It was a lovely reminder, as part of our year of prayer, that just like following those lines, we can trust Jesus to guide us on the right path through prayer.
Year 6 Square Root Day
This week, year 6 took part in an online Zoom session for Square Root Day, an unofficial holiday celebrated on days when both the day of the month and the month are the square root of the last two digits of the year. For example, the last Square Root Day was April 4, 2016 (4/4/16), and the next Square Root Day will be May 5, 2025 (5/5/25). There was a guest speaker who was a real mathematician and the children took part in discussions, submitting questions to the speakers and playing some maths games. One great quote we took away from this session was: “Mathematics is the poetry of logical thinking.”