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
KS2 Football Practice
Today’s football session focused on using bounce back players to create overloads, giving the children the chance to develop their passing accuracy, movement off the ball and tactical awareness. They worked on making quick decisions, supporting teammates and finding space to keep possession under pressure.
Y4 History - Roman Formations
In our history lesson this week, we looked at Roman formations. The children created their very own shields and tested how effective the formations were whilst Mrs Gardner tried to break through with table tennis balls. The key formations are the testudo (tortoise), which is a defensive shell formed by soldiers holding their shields to create a roof and walls, and the wedge, an offensive V-shape used to charge and break. We had a great time and the children worked really well within their legions.
Year 4 DT - Seasonal Stocking Production
We are flying with our seasonal stockings in Year 4 now. The children have been working so hard to create these wonderful stockings and we are so proud of their perseverance and determination to master difficult skills such as embroidery and appliqué. We can’t wait to share the stockings with everyone at the Christmas Fayre.
Year 4 - Snow White
The Year 4s thoroughly enjoyed their trip to the Empire Theatre in Blackburn. Along with the rest of our school, we went to watch this year’s pantomime, Snow White. The excitement was building as we boarded our coach. And the fun didn’t stop the entire time we were there. The children’s highlights seemed to be singing along to K-Pop songs, shouting “6, 7” and being squirted by water pistols. There was plenty of dancing and audience participation - all the things our lively Year 4 class love. What a fantastic afternoon out!
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Seasonal Stockings Start in Year 4
In our DT session this week, we made a start on our felt stockings. After selecting which stitch we would use - either the running or overstitch, we selected which embellishment we would add first. We were able to use the templates to make it easier too. The child found it quite a challenge using the fabric scissors, especially when cutting out the smaller designs but they really persevered and we had some lovely designs by the end of the lesson which they were super proud of. Next week, we look forward to adding extra appliqué, embroidery and creating the other designs on the other side of our felt then eventually sewing them together.
Year 4 - English: Roman Vocabulary
To start our new diary unit in English we explored a range of primary and secondary sources in order to build a bank of Roman vocabulary. The children will be writing in role as a Roman soldier describing a typical day at the start of the Roman invasion of Britain.
Year 4 - French: Le Corps
After recapping the French vocabulary for common facial features, the children sang songs and labelled pictures. They then began learning the French for other parts of the body in preparation for singing ‘La Tête, Les Épaules, Les Genoux, Les Pieds’ (Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes).
Whole School Worship - The Importance of Trees
This week is National Tree Week and Mrs Ham introduced an exciting new tree-planting project that we will be undertaking as a school. Following on from Switch Off Fortnight, we will continue our Planet Protectors mission by planting trees on our school grounds and, of course, our fantastic children will be involved. To kick start the project, we had a discussion about why trees are amazing. The children gave some very thoughtful answers, such as “they give us oxygen”, “they take harmful carbon dioxide out of the air”, “they provide protection for animals”, “we love playing in the trees”, “we use trees to make things”. Mrs Ham also told us the story, The Man Who Planted Trees. It was about a shepherd who saw the barren land and wanted to improve it, so he started planting trees. He planted over 1000 acorns, and after many years, the landscape was filled with lush, green trees, rivers flowed and a town was built. We learned from this 100-year-old story that one person’s small act can make a huge difference. Just like in the Parable of the Talents, we learned that it’s important for us all to use what we’ve been given to make a positive impact on the world. We can’t wait to use the trees that have been donated to us by the National Trust to make a positive impact on our community.
KS2 Football Practice
Today’s football session focused on the effective use of a target man, emphasising intelligent movement to create space, link play and support attacking transitions. Players worked on timing their runs, offering clear passing options and using body positioning to shield the ball and bring teammates into the game.
Year 3- TT Rockstars: The Battle is ON!
This week, we've kicked off the TT Rockstars Battle of the Bands, where our year groups go head-to-head to see who can answer the most correct times tables questions. We are dedicating 15 minutes each day over three days to this tournament during class time. The rivalry is fantastic! Currently, Year 6 is leading the charge on the leaderboard, but Year 3 is incredibly competitive, they are going home and logging extra time on TT Rockstars, determined to practice their way right into the Top Ten!
TT Rockstars Battles
Good evening, To further promote times tables within our school, we have set up a Key Stage 2 battle on TT Rockstars, where the children will compete once a month, for a week, to see who can take the top spot. We encourage all pupils to get involved, both at school and at home, battling it out to improve their times tables skills. Prizes will be awarded to the child with the highest score in each year group and an overall trophy will be given to the winning class. I will update next week with the winners of each year group and the overall winner. The battle will take place once per month and is scheduled for the week commencing the 24th of each month. This month’s battle is now live! Many thanks, Mr Bloomfield