Whole Class Worship - Joy
This week of advent, our focus is Joy. We began by recounting the advent themes we have explored so far: Hope and Peace. Mrs Ham chose Lyla from Year 4 to come to the front to light the three advent candles and she highlighted some of the ways our school family have brought joy to others over the past few weeks. It was heartwarming to hear about some of these, including the Reception class nativity, Year 1 and Year 2’s Christmas Cracker, the choir singing at Acer Lodge care home, and Year 4 writing letters to the residents, plus all of those who have been supporting our latest charity campaigns. We reflected on what true joy looks like and how we can sometimes forget about the simple things when our minds are preoccupied with expensive gifts and the hustle and bustle of the season. Our focus was brought back to the gift God sent - his only son - and how Jesus’ incarnation was the joyous gift that changed our world forever.
Year 2 - We met Father Christmas
On Friday we had a fantastic Christmas party and met Father Christmas. We were so pleased to receive a special gift from him.
KS1 Christmas Cracker
We are absolutely bursting with pride today following the Year 1 and 2 "Christmas Cracker" concert! The children gave a truly spectacular performance. It was wonderful to see them shining on stage, singing their hearts out, and remembering all their lines and moves with such confidence. They have worked incredibly hard over the last few weeks, and today, that hard work really paid off. A huge congratulations to every single one of them for bringing so much festive joy to our school. We would also like to say a massive thank you to you, our parents and families. Whether you helped with costumes, practiced lines at home, or simply came along today to offer your applause and cheers, your support makes all the difference. It was lovely to see so many of you in the audience. Finally, a special vote of thanks goes to our fantastic staff team! To Miss Woods, thank you so much for writing such a wonderful script and for taking on the role of musical director, to Mr Carter aka DJ Carter for organising and playing the music, to Mrs Hegarty, Miss Lyons and Miss Woods for your support with costumes, props and encouraging the children with the actions and to Mr Bloomfield for filming the concerts. We hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did! Photos: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/ks1-christmas-cracker-2025 Dress Rehearsal Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9Lqx9_D2nM Thursday Concert Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pst0cr5gax8 {gallery:KS1 Christmas Cracker 2025}
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Infant Christmas Party
Our youngest children in school had a great time at their Christmas party this afternoon. They played different games including pass the parcel and did some wonderful dancing. They also had a special visit from Santa and each received a special gift.
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Year 2 - DT - Puppets
We have completed our fantastic Christmas puppets. We have been sewing, cutting and joining materials.
Author Visit to KS1 and Year 3: Janek Puzon
We had a special visit from an author this morning, Janek Puzon. He read his new book “Dean the Baked Bean and his Karaoke Machine”. It was about a baked bean who loves singing on karaoke. The children sat amazingly whilst listening to him read the story and enjoyed it. They also asked some fantastic questions such as: How many books have you written? Do you enjoy being an author? Where do you write the books? How do you write a book? Which is your favourite book that you have written? We are very excited for our delivery of his books to our school library!
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Design Technology Products
Good afternoon parents and carers, our children have been working really hard on their design and technology skills over the last few weeks to create products that can bought at our Christmas Fair. They are available to purchase on parent pay for £2.00 each, which will help to cover some of the cost of the materials used. Reception: Wooden christmas decorations Year 1: Christmas moving books Year 2 : Christmas puppets Year 3: Christmas pouches Year 4: Christmas stockings Year 5: Christmas cushions Year 6: Christmas loop games
Whole School Celebration Worship
This week has been full of joy, community and Christmas spirit across our school! We started our celebration worship by lighting our first Advent candle together. Mrs Ham also thanked all the children and staff for decorating Christmas trees across school and highlighted a special moment when Phoebe, our youngest child in school, put the star on top of the tree in the school hall. We also said a huge well done to Reception who did an incredible Nativity performance. We also celebrated a couple of children who proudly represented our school at a local care home, singing for the residents and spreading Christmas cheer. We also had a fantastic time at the pantomime this week so a big thanks to Mrs Wilkinson for organising it. This week, our Values Awards were presented to the following children: all of Reception for their fantastic performance, Eleanor in Year 1, Teddy in Year 2, James in Year 3, Arabelle in Year 4, Sophia in Year 5 and Isabelle in Year 6. These children have been working so hard, following our 4’Bs and demonstrating Christian values. Mr Mealor also awarded Alexis, Miles, James, Harriet and Charlie with pen licenses for excellent progress in their handwriting. We also celebrated our Team Values Points with India Mill finishing in fourth place, River Darwen in third place, Whitehall Park in second place and Darwen Tower in first place! Mr Bloomfield also announced our first Times Table Rock Stars Winners: Charlie in Year 3, James in Year 4, Ivy in Year 5 and Charlie in Year 6. Our overall winners were Year 6! Well done. We are very proud of all the children who received special sports awards this week. Ava received Squirrel of the Week for her kindness. Zachary achieved his Stage 2 swimming certificate. Charlie was named Player of the Week for his excellent goal scoring. Desmond and Iris both competed in swimming events and placed in the top three, earning several medals. Thea was recognised for her fantastic balancing skills in gymnastics. Olivia was awarded the Olivia doll at Rainbows for her hard work. Vienna achieved her Stage 5 swimming certificate for completing 400m. Finn was named Player of the Week for his good passing skills. Willow achieved an impressive 19 skills in gymnastics. Luna earned the red belt in kickboxing. James received the Wilson Cup Trophy after finishing second with fewer players and also swam an impressive 50 metres. Grace was celebrated for helping others and persevering. Mollie was awarded the Claire doll for being helpful. Jack earned Captain of the Month for his encouragement, discipline and leadership. Tristan earned both his blue and purple belts in kickboxing and completed three minutes of continuous punching. Harriet was praised for her amazing progress in MMA. Lilly achieved a distinction in her Grade 1 acting school exam. Lila reached the finals of a dance competition, placing first in improv, first in commercial and second in lyrical. Our KS2 football team also showed great resilience this week. After losing their first match 7-0, they came back stronger to draw 2-2 in their next game. The winners of the Walk to School Challenge was also won by Reception, well done! We also celebrated our attendance winners this week which are Year 2 and Year 3. We have several exciting events coming up. The Lantern Parade will take place this Saturday in Whitehall Park. Our Christmas Fayre will be held next Wednesday in the school hall. The Christmas Carol Service will take place next Sunday. We also have an Advent Art competition with submissions open until Wednesday. Year 1 and Year 2 are performing their Christmas Cracker Show on Thursday and Friday. Year 1 are continuing to collect Christmas Hamper donations for the Darwen Asylum Refugee Enterprise. We are so proud of our wonderful children and look forward to another week of joy and celebration through our Advent journey.
Year 2 Pantomime Visit - Snow White
Year 2 really enjoyed their visit to the pantomime on Tuesday. Oh no they didn't! Oh yes they did!
Year 2 - Decorating our Christmas tree
Year 2 have all worked together to decorate our Christmas tree.
Year 2 - Christmas Puppets
Year 2 have been decorating our Christmas Puppets this week.
Snow White Pantomime
The children had a brilliant time today at Blackburn Empire Theatre. The whole school watched Snow White. It was wonderful to see their faces light up, Christmas is in full swing at St Barnabas! All of the photos will be uploaded shortly to here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/snow-white-pantomime