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Whole School Worship & Farewell to Mrs Norton
It is with great sadness that we are saying goodbye to our school cook of 19 years, Mrs Norton, this week. In our whole school worship we celebrated all Mrs Norton has done for us by inviting some of our children to share memories and messages of thanks. Each class made Mrs Norton a special card and Mrs Ham presented her with some gifts from our school family. We wish her well as she embarks on a new chapter. Mrs Ham also shared an update about our Harvest collections for Dare and we practised our songs for the Harvest service.
Year 2 Fun on the apparatus
To finish one of our PE units this half term, the children have been working towards incorporating all of their fundamental skills with travelling and heights using the apparatus. The children moved in different directions, heights, speeds across the balance beams, traverse, climbing wall and monkey bars. It was great to see them all experimenting with a variety of apparatus and working so well with each other.
Year 2 Geography- Continents and Oceans
To conclude our geography unit this half-term, Year 2 pupils created a quiz for the Year 3 children to see how much they could recall from studying the same topic last year. Year 2 wrote three multiple-choice questions each to test their peers’ knowledge. The questions covered topics such as the largest and smallest continents and oceans, as well as the warmest and coolest continents and oceans. They also explored geographical positioning, asking Year 3 to identify locations in relation to the compass points—for example, which ocean lies north, south, east, or west of a particular continent.
Year 2 RE- Similarities and Differences between The Bible, Torah and the Quran
This afternoon in RE, Year 2 rounded off their unit by comparing the similarities and differences between the three holy books they have studied: the Bible, the Torah, and the Quran. We were incredibly impressed by how much knowledge they had retained, particularly about the Torah and the Qur’an. The children thoughtfully identified key similarities and notable differences between the texts, showing great insight and understanding. Well done, Year 2!
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we began our worship by reflecting on what has been a busy but thoroughly enjoyable week. Mrs Ham started by thanking everyone for their wonderful efforts in raising awareness for mental health during last Friday’s Hello Yellow Day. She also expressed her appreciation to all the children who attended the Harvest Church Service at St Barnabas Church on Sunday, accompanied by Mrs Araujo, Mrs Wilkinson, and Mrs Govan. The children sang beautifully and truly gave it their all. We also recognised the many children supporting Rotakids by donating winter coats and shoeboxes filled with essentials for DARE (Darwen Asylum Refuge). Mrs Ham reminded us that we can continue to support important causes by taking part in Bishop Phillip’s Pedalathon, raising funds for Christians in South Africa by getting out on our bikes and putting in some miles. We are also still collecting Harvest donations for the local food bank and DARE. We took time to congratulate our individual Value Award winners this week: Poppy, Olivia and Skye in EYFS and KS1, and Renee, Lyla, Walter and Ruby in KS2, for consistently following Barny’s 4Bs, working incredibly hard across the curriculum, and showing great growth and maturity during their first half-term in their new classes. Our congratulations also went to our Year 2 and Year 3 classes for being this week’s attendance winners. A big well done to India Mill, who were our weekly Value Award winners with an impressive 236 points, and also our overall Value Award winners for the half-term. As a reward, they will enjoy a non-uniform day and disco — with the date to be announced shortly. We were delighted to recognise a number of pupils for their achievements outside of school this week. Well done to Jonas for settling in so well after recently joining Squirrels, and to Phoebe for earning a badge at Rainbows and always bringing positivity and laughter. Callie has been an excellent role model at martial arts, while Elijah was awarded Beaver of the Week for his enthusiasm and willingness to get involved. James impressed with his fantastic fielding in cricket, Lyla performed beautifully in her lyrical dancing, and Sofia was named Star of the Week at acro while also earning several badges at Brownies. Charlie achieved 25 metres in all swimming strokes, Olivia received her Silver Award at Rainbows, Willow showed amazing gymnastics skills, Lydia earned her Gold Award at Rainbows, and Eleanor achieved her Amazing Helper badge. We also congratulated our Year 4 pupils for representing the school so well at the Cidari Earth Conference at Blackburn Cathedral yesterday, and praised our girls' football team for their continued efforts in the DPSSA league. Finally, a reminder that next week is a four-day week due to an INSET day on Friday. We also have our Halloween Spooky Disco on Wednesday evening, organised by FOSB, and our Harvest Church Service taking place on Thursday morning. Please check Class Dojo for more details. Wishing you all a fantastic weekend!
Year 2 RE- Judaism
This week in RE, Year 2 have been exploring the Jewish holy book, the Torah. They examined pictures of Torah scrolls and watched a video to deepen their understanding. The children learned that the Torah is written in Hebrew, stored in a special cabinet called an ark, and can take up to two years to be written by a scribe. They also discovered that it is read from left to right using a special pointer called a yad, and that it contains the laws God gave to Moses, guiding how Jewish people should live their lives. To bring their learning to life, the class read Sammy Spider’s First Simchat Torah and enjoyed discovering how Jewish people celebrate the completion of reading the Torah each year. The children then made their own Torah scrolls and yads, and ended the lesson by joyfully reenacting the celebration of Simchat Torah.
Year 2-Darwen Fire Brigade Visit
This afternoon, Year 2 had a special visit from the Darwen Fire Brigade. The firefighters spoke to the children about the importance of having a working smoke alarm at home—especially at night when we are asleep and might not notice a fire. As part of their visit, they set the children a very important piece of homework: to go home and check that their house has a smoke alarm installed. The brigade then gave an exciting and informative demonstration of the various features of their fire engine. They showed the children their breathing apparatus—masks and air tanks—which help them breathe safely in smoke-filled environments. The children were particularly fascinated by the thermal imaging camera, which helps firefighters see through thick smoke and darkness. The firefighters also explained that their role goes beyond fighting fires. A big part of their job involves attending road traffic accidents. They demonstrated some of the specialist rescue equipment they use in these situations, including vehicle extraction cutters. To end the visit, every child had the chance to use the fire hose—a highlight that brought huge smiles to everyone’s faces! A huge thank you to the Darwen Fire Brigade for an unforgettable visit and for helping Year 2 learn how to stay safe.
Year 2 Class Worship- Picture News
This week in class worship, Year 2 caught up on last week’s Picture News and explored the inspiring story of 23-year-old Ellie Goldstein, a model and current contestant on Strictly Come Dancing. Some of the children recognised Ellie from the show, and we learned that she is the first person with Down’s Syndrome to take part in the full series. We discovered Ellie’s motivations for joining the show, including her desire to challenge herself and to prove that people can achieve incredible things—sometimes even surprising others with what they’re capable of. We reflected on the important messages we can take from Ellie’s story. The children shared some brilliant thoughts, such as the importance of facing our fears, ignoring negativity, being brave, and working hard to achieve our goals through perseverance and practice.
Year 2 Bouncing a ball and dodging
In our PE lesson we looked at bouncing a ball which involves regimenting force from a ball then immediately imparting force on the ball in a downward direction. The children tried really hard to develop this fundamental skills and use both hands to control the ball. With dodging, the children worked on a quick, deceptive change in direction in order to get away from their partner. We played various games and everyone joined in and communicated in a positive and mature way.
Friday Celebration Worship and Hello Yellow Day
This morning, we enjoyed an extra special celebration worship to mark ‘Hello Yellow’ Day for World Mental Health Day. We began by exploring the range of emotions we all experience and discussed ways to lift our spirits when we're feeling down, with thoughtful suggestions like listening to favourite music, taking deep breaths, watching a funny film, reading a book, singing wholeheartedly, having a cuddle, or counting to ten. To boost our mood even further, we had a joyful singalong to Golden by K-pop and lit candles to pray for those facing mental health challenges. We then celebrated our Value Award winners across the school—well done to Coban, Reggie, Olly and Percy in EYFS and KS1, and to Harry, Olivia, Carter and Jenson in KS2—for their outstanding attitudes to learning and for consistently demonstrating our Barney’s 4Bs. Congratulations also to India Mill for being our overall Value Award winners with an impressive 979 points, as well as to EYFS and Year 2 for 100% attendance in the infants and Year 3 for an excellent 99.3% in the juniors. Mrs Ham shared the fantastic news that we had 100% attendance across the whole school on Tuesday. We also celebrated the achievements of our pupils beyond the classroom—well done to Mason for swimming 5m, Chester for earning ‘Player of the Week’ as a goalkeeper at Darwen FC, Phoebe for her wonderful dancing, Callie for her gymnastics skills, Callie and Alice for completing the Summer Reading Challenge, Grace for excelling in a recent dance competition with acro, song and dance, classical and her own choreography, Harry for achieving his yellow belt in kickboxing, Thea for being named Star of the Week in gymnastics, Scarlett for being a superstar netballer and earning Player of the Match, Willow for achieving her Puffin award in swimming and Star of the Week in gymnastics, and Eleanor for earning her Stage 4 in swimming, her recycling badge at Rainbows and completing the Summer Reading Challenge. A huge congratulations also went to our brilliant Year 4/5 Girls Football Squad for their outstanding performance in the Girls DPSSA Football League, and to the group of eight Year 2 children who represented our school so brilliantly in the Key Stage 1 Multi Skills Festival. To finish our worship, Mrs Ham reminded us of the upcoming Harvest Family Service at St Barnabas Church this Sunday at 11am, and how we hope to see as many of our children there as possible for a joyful Harvest singalong. We are also proud to be supporting Year 5 and the Rotakids in their campaign to collect as many shoeboxes as possible filled with essentials for local refugees and The Bishop's Harvest Appeal 2025—please see Class Dojo for further information.
Year 2-World Mental Health Day
Year 2 celebrated World Mental Health Day today! Everyone came dressed in yellow and spent time learning about how important it is to look after ourselves. We talked about what we can do when we’re feeling a bit down — like doing things we love, spending time with friends and family, and talking about how we feel. The children shared lots of great ideas about what makes them happy and how they can stay positive. Well done Year 2!
Year 2 English- Using Non-Fiction Texts to Retrieve and Record Facts
Today in English, Year 2 explored non-fiction texts (both online and in book form) to retrieve information about animals from the Savannah. They each chose either a lion, giraffe, or elephant and worked hard to record key facts, ready to use in their very own information pages. We were blown away by their impressive facts- well done Year 2!