Celebration Worship
We had another incredibly busy and exciting week in school with lots to celebrate across all year groups. Year 6 worked tremendously hard throughout SATs week and showed fantastic resilience, determination and positivity. We were so proud of the way they approached each day, never giving up and always trying their very best. A huge thank you also goes to all of the staff who have supported Year 6 throughout their journey and helped them feel confident and prepared. At the same time, Year 5 enjoyed their residential trip to PGL, where they represented the school brilliantly. The children showed excellent teamwork, bravery and determination throughout the week and followed the 4B’s wonderfully whilst taking part in all of the activities and challenges. Yesterday, we joined Joe Wicks for a special live worship linked to Mental Health Awareness Week, reminding us all of the importance of looking after both our physical and mental wellbeing. It was also lovely to see children enjoying extra-curricular opportunities this week through Kids with Bricks club, Science club and Craft club. We would like to say a huge thank you to our School Council, who raised an amazing £163 for the Brain Tumour Charity through their fundraising efforts. We are so proud of the children for thinking of others and supporting such an important cause. This week’s Values Awards were presented to Noah in Reception, Oliver in Year 1, Ida in Year 2, Fletcher in Year 3 and Lana in Year 4. In Year 5, the whole class was recognised for showing determination and bravery during PGL and for following the 4B’s so well throughout the trip. In Year 6, the entire class received the Values Award for their incredible attitude towards SATs and for giving 100% effort all week. Our team values results this week saw India Mill finish in first place once again, followed by River Darwen in second, Whitehall Park in third and Darwen Tower in fourth. We were also delighted to celebrate many fantastic achievements from outside of school. Mason received a swimming certificate for confidently jumping into the water, while Alayna achieved her 10m swimming certificate and Max earned a badge for coming first in a swimming competition. Jonas received a Squirrels badge for adventure, while Lydia, Eleanor, Olivia, Luna, Minnie C, Thea and Evie all achieved a badge through Rainbows after attending a trip and taking part in activities such as archery. Thea was also awarded the Olivia doll for being kind and helpful. In sporting achievements, Alice received a trophy and medal for cheerleading, Cassius was named player of the match in football after scoring eight goals and Reggie received player of the week for excellent passing. Chester was awarded player of the week for showing resilience by getting back up after falling and continuing to block the ball brilliantly. Charlie received both a player of the week plaque and a manager’s player trophy for “world class saves”, while Scarlett achieved a netball medal for winning the league. Isaac proudly showed us his huge Easter Cup tennis trophy and Alessia celebrated learning to ride her bike without stabilisers. In dance and performance achievements, Poppy received a ballet bear for excellent dancing, Skye achieved star of the day at acro and Ava received medals in an acro dance competition. Erin had a fantastic competition, winning first place in individual lyrical, second place in tempo, second place in duo and also receiving a participation medal. Lyla achieved third place in lyrical at acro alongside participation and placement medals, while Darcy and Sofia received medals for their acro duet performance. We also celebrated Elijah receiving his Chief Scout’s Bronze Award, which is an excellent achievement. Our school sports teams have also had another successful week. The Year 4 tennis team represented the school brilliantly at Pleckgate Tennis Centre and came away as winners. The Bee Stinger netball team also won the heat and are through to the final, while aur larger netball squad won one game and narrowly lost another last night. Well done to Year 1 and Year 6 for achieving the highest attendance this week. We were also extremely proud to announce that our school has achieved another National School Attendance Award, placing us in the top 10% of schools nationally for attendance, an incredible achievement for our whole school community. As reminders for next week, Year 1 and Year 2 will be visiting Brockholes Nature Reserve on Monday, and Year 6 parents will be attending the London meeting on Thursday evening. We are also looking forward to Inter-House Sports next Friday and we also break up for half term on Friday. Thank you to Mrs Ham for leading us in prayer and helping us reflect on another wonderful week together. We ended on a high by singing 'Stronger'.
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Whole School Assembly - Joe Wicks Mental Health Awareness Week
What a great time we have had this afternoon taking part in the Joe Wicks World Mental Health Awareness Week Assembly. The whole school took part in the worship from the warm up to 40 second on and 20 second off exercise routine. A brilliant time was had by all. What a brilliant way to support our mental and physical health!
Year 3 - Class Worship- How can music bring people together?
In class worship today, we explored the theme "Together in Tempo," focusing on the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. We discussed the Christian value of Joy and how music acts as a powerful tool for communication, bringing people from different cultures together. To conclude, the children sang "My Lighthouse" to celebrate how sharing a song can create unity and connection.
Reception: Class Worship
Our Reception class shared a heart-warming Songs of Praise worship today to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week. It was a beautiful start to the morning spent exploring our emotions and supporting one another through the power of music and reflection. The children sang their hearts out to some of our favourite songs, including "I Can Make a Difference," "My Lighthouse," and "Build Up." These songs helped us think about how we can shine and use our words to encourage our friends. We finished our worship with moving Thank You Prayers, where the children shared their gratitude for family, friends, and the things that make them feel happy.
Reception: Class Worship for Mental Health Week
Today in Reception, Mrs Wilkinson led a special Class Worship to launch Mental Health Awareness Week. We began by exploring the concept of mental health together, which led to a heartwarming discussion with our talk partners about the people who fill our hearts with love. The room was buzzing with affection as Poppy shared her love for Mummy and Daddy, Mason spoke about his Grandad, Bowen mentioned his brother, and Eva told us all about her Nanny. Moving from love to laughter, we explored the things that bring us pure joy. It was wonderful to hear such a variety of answers: Luna finds happiness in spending time with her family, Jackson loves a good tickle, and Eryna’s face lit up talking about trips to the play centre. We also took a moment to reflect on our "cheer-up" strategies—those special activities we turn to when we need a little boost. For Coban, that meant getting creative with writing; for Phoebe, it was all about the rhythm of dance; and Erin shared her passion for gymnastics. To wrap up our session, we put our words into action! We finished our worship by dancing together, filling the room with energy and big smiles. It was a truly joyful and uplifting way to start the week, reminding us all of the simple things that keep our minds and hearts healthy.
Celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday
Today, we celebrated the 100th birthday of David Attenborough during a special worship. We talked about how many of us recognised his voice from nature documentaries we had watched before. Mrs Ham read the book Little People, BIG DREAMS: David Attenborough to help us learn more about his life and the important work he has done to care for our planet. We also watched a special Newsround celebration about David Attenborough’s 100th birthday. During worship, we enjoyed watching a video created by Cidari which showcased all the different ways Cidari schools, including St Barnabas, have been helping to care for the Earth. The video included examples such as using reusable containers, switching off lights, using less electricity, litter picking, bird watching, wearing green and blue for Earth Day, taking part in Travel Tracker and sorting rubbish into the correct bins. We loved watching the video and spotting our own faces on the screen. To finish our worship, the whole school sang “Happy Birthday” to Sir David Attenborough to celebrate his amazing contribution to protecting and caring for our world.
Year 3- Class Worship- Exploring 'The Kind Stranger
In class today, we took part in a 'God’s Big Story' collective worship session focused on the parable of The Kind Stranger (The Good Samaritan). We joined Iain the storyteller to revisit this famous parable and listened to Bishop Philip, who challenged us to look beyond the surface of the story. The children explored the different "layers" of Jesus' words, discussing what it truly means to be a neighbour and how we can show compassion to everyone, even those who are different from us. It was a thoughtful session that encouraged the class to think about how they can put kindness into action in their own lives.
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Year 4 - Class Worship: Is It Ever Right To Lie?
A philosophical debate helped us to answer a very widely contested question in our class worship during polling week. Stephen Fry introduced the story of King Lawrence the Lion who introduced a law against telling lies of any kind. Within the story, there were examples of lies that hurt others and lies that protect others. There were also quotes from famous philosophers who have argued both sides. Then it was over to the children. In groups, the children used their talk tokens to take turns in putting forward their ideas. We focussed on the skill of summarising and so each group had a note taker who summarised the main points discussed in their groups when presenting to the rest of the class. We then considered what Jesus would say about lying. The majority of the class agreed that telling a lie can sometimes be a good thing if it spares someone being hurt.
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Whole School Worship
It was lovely to welcome everyone back to school in Worship this morning after the long bank holiday weekend! Mrs Ham introduced this week’s Kindness Kite, which focuses on God’s mercy. The children shared some thoughtful reflections—Naomi reminded us that we hear in the Bible how Jesus showed mercy to others, while Alfie (Year 5) explained that mercy means forgiveness. Together, we reflected on how showing mercy is the same as showing forgiveness in our everyday lives. We then watched the story of the Prodigal Son and explored how the different characters might have felt. The children suggested that the older son may have felt jealous, confused and even angry when his brother returned after spending his father’s money and was welcomed back with a celebration. Through this, we discussed the message that no matter what we do, God still loves us. We linked this to our own lives, recognising that even when we make mistakes at school or at home and face consequences, we are still loved by our families. We ended our worship by singing Stronger and Sing a New Song, helping us feel positive and ready for the week ahead. 💛
Friday Celebration Worship
We have had a very busy and exciting week in school, with lots to celebrate together. During worship, we learned the Makaton signs for spring and continued to build on our focus of kindness. We spent time reflecting on how we can show kindness to others in our words and actions, reminding ourselves that God is always watching and guiding us to make positive choices. We were also delighted to welcome special visitors, who spoke to us about the importance of caring for our oceans and looking after God’s sea creatures, helping us to think about how we can protect the world around us. We were proud to announce our Values Award winners this week. In Reception, Evie demonstrated our school values brilliantly, while Minnie C in Year 1 and Alice in Year 2 also impressed with their positive attitudes. Year 3 were celebrated as a whole class, with a special mention to Aura for settling so well into our school community. In Year 4, Naomi and Emily were recognised for their efforts, while Charlie in Year 5 and Summer in Year 6 also showed excellent examples of our values. It was wonderful to celebrate our TT Rockstars achievements, with Jack and Scarlett in Year 4 receiving certificates for their hard work. In the same year group, Finley, Lottie and Ella were awarded their pen licences, showing great progress and pride in their writing. We also announced our team values results, with India Mill taking first place, followed by River Darwen in second, Darwen Tower in third and Whitehall Park in fourth. We were incredibly proud to share a wide range of achievements from outside of school. Erin achieved a 5m swimming certificate, while Bowen swam 10 metres without armbands, and Lydia and Naomi achieved Stage 4 and Stage 6 swimming certificates. Annabelle received a star of the week award in acro dance alongside multiple swimming certificates, and Lyla achieved fourth place in jazz dancing. In sporting achievements, Haydn received a football trophy for scoring eight goals, Joshua earned two medals for running, and Finley, Chai and James were awarded medals and a Bronze Cup trophy, with James also being named player of the match. Harry achieved a green belt in kickboxing, and Percy was awarded a Beavers trophy for his commitment to attendance. We also celebrated achievements in other areas, with Phoebe receiving a Bible reading in church certificate and James earning a silver award at St George’s Parade in Scouts, while Seb received a badge at the same event in Cubs. Callie was awarded a Chloe doll at Brownies for confidently singing in front of others, and Evie received an Olivia doll in Brownies and Eleanor achieved a courage badge and Bee Keeper badge. Rosie was named builder of the week in her Kids with Bricks club, and Alice achieved cheerleader of the week. Grace was recognised as runner up for cutest performance as Young Cosette in Les Misérables, which is a fantastic accomplishment. In school sport, our Year 4 gifted and talented football club represented the school brilliantly, showing great skill and teamwork. Our tag rugby team demonstrated excellent sportsmanship at Blackburn Rugby Club, and our netball team had a fantastic set of results, winning seven matches, drawing one and losing two at the Westholme tournament. Finally, well done to Year 1 and Year 6 for achieving the highest attendance this week. Thank you also to Rev Ben for leading us in prayer and helping us reflect on all the wonderful things we have achieved together. We hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and we look forward to welcoming the children back after the break. A quick reminder that school is closed on Monday for the bank holiday and on Thursday for Polling.
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Whole School Worship
Today Rev Matt led our Whole School Worship which focused on understanding that during difficult times we can listen to God. We started with a challenge where we had to listen to different noises and identify what they were. First there was a cat, then a plane, a lion, a microwave, the wind.This highlighted the importance of listening. Our Bible story this week was the story about the road to Emmaus. After Jesus rose from the dead, two sad followers were walking to Emmaus when Jesus joined them, but they didn’t recognise him. He explained how the Bible predicted his resurrection. Later, while breaking bread together, they realised it was Jesus before he vanished. Excited, they ran back to tell others he was alive! Rev Matt told us that Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in the Bible. But they are written that you may believe. He also asked us how does God help us when something is hard? The children gave some lovely answers such as showing us the way, giving us support and being the guiding light. We finished with a special prayer and then sang One, two, three Jesus is alive!
Whole School Worship - One Way Giving
In this whole school collective worship, we developed our understanding of one way giving. Our Year 6 heads and deputies began by sharing what each class did for our Hop, Skip and Jump event. Jacqui, a representative from East Lancs Hospice came to award us with participation certificates and to reveal that we raised a fantastic £357 during our event. Thank you to all our children and parents for your support. Mrs Ham then shared this week’s One Way Giving kindness kite. Three of our KS2 children volunteered to read the sections of the kite and we learned that the Bible says we should give in secret and God will reward us. After this, we watched a cartoon of the event when Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Canaan. He secretly asked the servants to fill the jars with water and turned it into wine. The master of ceremonies tasted the wine and approved it to be a very good wine thinking it was provided by the groom. The groom received the praise, and only the servants and God knew that Jesus had performed this miracle. This was a great example of one way giving. Finally, Mrs Ham and Mr Bloomfield put up our new Widgit symbols, with the help of our children, on our Big Frieze to help the children understand God’s Big Story.