Friday Celebration Worship
It has been another very busy and exciting week here at St Barnabas. In Worship we have been taking time to reflect on both Lent and Ramadan, thinking about kindness, reflection and helping others. We have also had a fantastic week celebrating World Book Day, sharing our love of reading and enjoying all the brilliant costumes and book characters we saw in school. Our classes were also lucky enough to take part in the Pinocchio dance workshop and performance, which was fantastic to watch. There has been lots happening beyond the classroom too, including the River Darwen team disco and our wide range of clubs, such as Kids with Bricks club. Many of you have also been taking part in the Times Tables Rockstars competition and showing great enthusiasm for practising your times tables. We have now completed our Big Winter Wander and together we have raised £175 for WWF, which is an amazing achievement. Thank you to everyone who took part and supported this. Our RotaKids have also been showing kindness in action by collecting teddies for Darwen Asylum Refugee Enterprise and Darwen Rotary which will help support children less fortunate than us. We also had the World Book Day Dolly Peg Competition run by the Friends of St Barnabas and the judges were very impressed with the creativity and effort that went into the entries. The award for Best Book Character goes to Phoebe for Greg the Sausage Roll. The award for Most Creative goes to Ida for the Highway Rat. The award for Best Use of Materials goes to Molly for Molly and the Goldfish Fairy. The Judges’ Choice award goes to Alfie. The award for Most Imaginative goes to Alice for Stitch and the Outstanding Effort award goes to Elliot. Well done to everyone who took part and a huge thank you to our FOSB for organising the competition as well as contributing money to the Pinocchio workshops. A massive thank you to our parishioner Glenda for undertaking the difficult task of judging the competition. Our Values Awards where we recognise children who have been showing our school four Be's of being kind, respectful, safe and ready to learn. In Reception the award goes to Erina. In Year 1 it goes to Cassius. In Year 2 the award goes to Thomas. In Year 3 it goes to Albie. In Year 4 the awards go to Cassidy and Alfie. In Year 5 the award goes to Olivia and in Year 6 the award goes to Isabelle. Well done to all of you for showing our 4 Be's and Christian values so clearly in school. We also had some pen licences to award this week in Year 3. These go to Harry, Molly and Eddie. Well done for showing such neat and consistent handwriting across the curriculum, not just in English. We celebrated our team values totals for the week. In fourth place was Darwen Tower. In third place was Whitehall Park. In second place was River Darwen. And in first place this week was India Mill. Well done everyone! We also have lots of wonderful sports and out-of-school achievements to celebrate. Olivia, Eleanor and Annie have been awarded a certificate for celebrating 100 years of World Thinking Day at Rainbows. Alessia has been awarded her Level 1 for back bends in dance. Poppy has been awarded a teddy for really good dancing. Carmen and Renee have both been awarded their yellow belts in kickboxing. Albie has been awarded player of the week for good tackling. Martha has achieved her 20 metre swimming certificate. Haydn has been awarded a trophy for scoring seven goals in football. Olivia has also received a certificate for a fantastic backwards roll in gymnastics. Callie has been awarded a certificate for completing two years of JuJitsu. Maggie has received a Brownie doll and her promise badge. Annabel has been awarded star of the week in dance and swimmer of the month. Jack has been awarded a certificate for completing a silver swimming challenge and Piper-Jo has achieved her 50 metre swimming certificate. Well done to all of you for your hard work and dedication outside of school. A special well done also goes to our Cross Country team who showed fantastic determination when competing in rainy weather and muddy conditions. They ran over a mile, which is a brilliant achievement. We also held our inter-house competition for football and bench ball and the winning house was India Mill. Well done to everyone who took part. Our WOW group had some exciting news to share as well. Our school is now number one across all Blackburn and Darwen schools for walking to school last month. That is an incredible achievement. Year 4 are the overall winners for walking to school and badges will be given to all children who walked to school. Our attendance awards this week go to Year 2 and Year 3. Well done for coming to school every day and being ready to learn. Finally, just a reminder that Reception will soon be performing their Mother’s Day Service next Wednesday at 9.00am and there will also be the Mothering Sunday Service at St Barnabas Church where children are invited to come along and sing to their mums. To finish our worship we had lovely prayers from Olivia and Darcy and we sang the Butterfly song.
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World Book Day Worship with Key Stage 2
World Book Day Worship with Key Stage 2. Todays session started with a WBD quiz from Primary League Primary Stars in association with WBD. We completed the quiz in our classrooms and it had a football focus. An example question was - Which Premier League club does the current Wales men’s national team captain, Harry Wilson, play for? A mix of authors and footballers asked the questions with Katherine Randell who wrote Year 4’s class novel ~ The Explorer asking question six. The children absolutely loved the interactive quiz and worked to support each other in answering the football heavy questions. What a super way to kick off our World book Day Celebrations and celebrate The National Year of Reading. We finished with Ben and Alex who told us about the ‘Go All In’ challenge which we look forward to taking part in.
Year 3 Celebrating World Book Day
To celebrate World Book Day, the children arrived dressed as their all-time favourite book characters or snuggled up in their best pyjamas. Whether they were channelling their inner hero or getting cosy for a story, the spirit of reading was truly alive today.
Year 3’s World Book Week -From Doodles to Drama
What an incredible week we’ve had celebrating World Book Day! We have truly embraced the spirit of living life in all its fullness by immersing ourselves in the magic of storytelling. We launched our celebration on Monday with an energetic live drawing session with Liz Pichon. Throughout the week, Year 3 has been busy exploring reading, writing, and performing, from joining live author sessions and listening to stories online to bringing characters to life through their own drawings and drama. Highlights have been the joys of discovery; the children loved opening mystery books, guessing the mystery reader behind a book, and reading to their peers. The fun continues into tomorrow as we settle down to enjoy the classic tale of 'Postman Bear' by Julia Donaldson.
Year 3-Class Worship: Exploring Rail Safety and Electricity
As part of our class worship, the children watched an impactful video from the Rail Safety Education Mapping Tool, which they found incredibly interesting. The session highlighted the tragic story of Harrison, who lost his life after being electrocuted by overhead wires while attempting to retrieve a football. This served as a vital reminder of the hidden dangers near tracks and the importance of staying "Rail Safe." Following this powerful introduction to the topic, we are now eagerly awaiting a visit from the rail industry partners, who are keen to support our school in further embedding these safety messages.
Year 3- Computing- Stop Motion Animation
In computing today, Year 3 put on their director hats and began filming their stop-motion sequences. They applied Mr Bradley's guidance on visual aesthetics to bring their chosen storylines to life through frame-by-frame animation.
Year 3- Music- Developing Ukulele Technique
In music today, the children explored the fundamentals of stave notation, learning how it functions as a visual map for reading music. They developed their ukulele technique by mastering both thumb and finger strumming, which they then applied to reading and playing rhythmic patterns. To finish, the children took on the role of composers, creating their own stave notation for the class to perform together as an ensemble.
Year 3-West End Choreography Workshop-Pinocchio
Today, the entire school was buzzing with creativity as we took part in a fantastic West End Workshop based on the story of Pinocchio. Our guest choreographer, James, was absolutely brilliant, bringing the magic of the theatre directly to our pupils. The children focused on rehearsing and perfecting the second half of the story, working hard to synchronise their movements and add expressive actions to their performances. It was truly amazing to see everything come together during our final whole-school assembly, where the narrative was told through a seamless collaborative performance. Year 3 were truly in their element, showing incredible enthusiasm and confidence throughout the day. Well done to everyone!
KS2 Timestable Rockstar Battle
A huge well done to our champions of this month’s Times Table Rockstars Battle! Our individual champions are: Year 6 – Luca Year 5 – Charlie Year 4 – Bobby-Ray Year 3 – Charlie A special congratulations to Year 6 and Year 4, who were our overall winning teams and claimed victory in their class battles. Well done to everyone who participated — your effort, enthusiasm and determination made it a fantastic competition!
Whole School Worship
During today’s whole school worship, we reflected on what we might give for Lent. We explored how Lent is a time of sacrifice, remembering Jesus’ sacrifice, but also a time to give — not only by giving something up, but by giving more of ourselves. We thought about how we can share smiles, kindness, love and live out our Christian values in simple, meaningful ways each day. The children shared thoughtful ideas about small changes they could make, both at school and at home, to show patience, forgiveness and generosity. We also focused on this week’s Kindness Kite theme, “Share what you have,” reminding ourselves that even the smallest act of generosity — sharing time, helping a friend or offering encouraging words — can make a big difference to others.
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Whole School Worship - Ramadan
During worship, we were also treated to a special and informative reflection on Ramadan, thoughtfully led by Miss Kachwalla. The session helped us to understand the importance of this sacred month in Islam — a time of prayer, fasting, reflection and generosity. We learned about how Muslims around the world show dedication, self-discipline and compassion during Ramadan, and how values such as kindness, gratitude and community are central to this time. It was a wonderful opportunity to deepen our understanding, celebrate diversity within our school community and reflect on the shared values that bring us together. We also looked at the similarities between Lent and Ramadan and how they were both important times to give to others and give food up or fast to feel closer to God.
Year 3- Science-Exploring the formation and properties of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks
This afternoon, our Year 3 scientists investigated the fascinating formation and properties of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. By carrying out a series of comparative tests, the children explored the durability, permeability, and density of various specimens, even using microscopes to search for embedded crystals. They applied their scientific enquiry skills to determine how these physical properties dictate a rock's everyday use, such as why marble might be chosen for a statue or sandstone for a building. It was wonderful to see them reporting on their findings with such enthusiasm as they grouped their rocks and compared them to their previous learning on igneous formations.