Whole School Worship- Spreading God's Love and Sharing Our Talents
During today's whole school worship, we had a session led by Rev Ben, who signed the Holy Trinity before we began a fun balloon race to reach the finishing line, where Mason, Summer, Peyton, Arlo, Charlie, Seb, and Willow weren't allowed to use their hands at all, which was highly entertaining to watch! After that, we thought about the "race of life" and St Paul, with Rev Ben reading us the story of Paul getting shipwrecked while the children joined in by repeating the words "not at all" throughout. There was a thoughtful moment aimed right at our Year 6's too, getting them to think about their next steps with the big question, "What is your task as you leave this place?" and they had some brilliant answers, saying their tasks were to spread the word of God and Jesus, show His love, and be a good friend to anyone feeling lonely at their new secondary schools. After the children shared some of their amazing talents, we ended worship with a prayer and singing "My Lighthouse" together.
End of Year Awards and Celebration
We ended the year with pride at our annual awards ceremony, celebrating our children who have achieved great things and have been living life in all its fullness. It’s important to recognise that all of our children across school have been on an incredible journey this year and each and everyone one of them should be immensely proud of their accomplishments and the commitments they have shown to our school family. A huge well done to Our award winners this year: Reception - Star of the Year: Coban, Progress Award: Ronan, Children’s Champion: Poppy Y1 - Star of the Year: Marnie-May, Progress Award: Freddie, Children’s Champion: Albie Y2 - Star of the Year: Phoebe, Progress Award: Teddy, Children’s Champion: Joey Y3 - Star of the Year: Harry, Progress Award: Alice, Children’s Champion: Elijah Y4 Star of the Year: Finley, Progress Award: Lana, Children’s Champion: Emily Y5 - Star of the Year: Desmond, Progress Award: Miles, Children’s Champion: Olivia For our specialised awards this year, congratulations to Lottie on her acceptance of the Sharon Kay Kindness Award and Elijah for receiving the Planet Protector Award. What incredible achievements. We then excitedly announced the new roles and responsibilities for the upcoming Year 6 class. Please join us in saying well done to our new Heads, Deputies, Sports Leaders and Play Leaders for next year! Head girl: Olivia Deputy girls: Darcy and Sofia Head boy: Arlo Deputy boys: Desmond and James Sports leaders: Daisy, Alice, Eliza, Charlie, Carted, Ted. Play leaders - Alfie, Alexis, Nevaeh, Elliot, Leo, Peyton, Carmen, Miles, Layla, Heidi, Sonny, Harriet, Eliza, Daisy, Olivia. Lillie, Darcy, Sofia, James, Jack, Luke and Desmond - with more yet to be confirmed! We would also like to say a huge congratulations to our Netball team who came 2nd in the DPSSA Netball, and of course to the Overall Winners for DPSSA Witton Athletics - well done on representing our school amazingly well and your contributions to sports in school. Go Team Barnys! Lastly, we said an emotional Goodbye and Good luck to Miss Kachwalla, a valued and loved member of our school family, who is sadly relocating and leaving this year. It was clear to see what a wonderful impact Miss Kachwalla has had on our school and we thank her for the dedication, love and support she has provided to our children over the last few years. She leaves with a special place in all our hearts, but we know she will continue to shine in her next venture. Thank you Miss Kachwalla, we will miss you dearly!
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RotaKids Careers Day Whole School Worship
Today our Whole School Worship was a little bit different as it was our RotaKids Careers Dress Up Day. All of the children and staff were dressed in their own clothes, showing what they want to be when they grow up. Mrs Ham started by asking the teachers to parade in their outfits. We had an astronaut, a singer, a doctor, a vet, a paddle coach and a baker. The children followed on and each class showed off their outfits too and there was such a range of career choices with lots of vets, hairdresser and footballers. After the parade, Mrs Ham selected the most unusual outfits and asked the children to guess what the children would like to be when they grow up. We had everything from DJ Jenson to King Jonas. It was a super Worship and we hope that today helps to broadens the children’s horizons, sparks curiosity, and helps them to link their skills to future opportunities.
Year 3- Class Worship- What makes something popular?
In our class worship today, we looked at this week's theme of squishy dumpling toys and discussing how material possessions compare to the things that money cannot buy . The children discussed some of the things they feel are no longer popular. They shared a few great examples of trends that have passed their peak, including '6 7' , darwen ducks, 21, labubu and the cave game, which is actually an excellent piece of gaming history knowledge, as that was the original name for Minecraft before it officially launched! These examples captured how quickly crazes can come and go, tying back to our reflection that popularity is often temporary and our interests naturally change over time. It served as a wonderful reminder for the class that while following the latest trends can be fun, the things that truly matter like being a good friend and caring for others are the ones that last.
Whole School Worship with Bishop Philip
We were thrilled to welcome Bishop Philip into our wonderful school this week. When he arrived, the Year 6 pupils treated him to a VIP performance of one of their favourite songs from their end of year production. Bishop Philip then led a special worship in which the children helped him with a lively retelling of the story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den. The children loved joining in with the actions and helping Daniel with his dilemma of whether to go against the king and continue praying to God, or to worship only the king. The children were then tasked with identifying the message in the story and they gave some thought-provoking answers about trusting in God even when it’s difficult and knowing God will look after you. Mrs Ham later took Bishop Philip on a tour of the school where he invited each class to ask questions about his role in the Diocese of Blackburn.
Singing Worship
What a wonderful start to the week in our Singing Worship today! We began by singing School Rules, before continuing our preparations for the Year 6 Leavers' Service with a selection of special songs. We then sang As You Go, reflecting on the exciting journeys ahead, before our Year 6 pupils confidently led us in Stronger. It was fantastic to hear such enthusiastic singing from everyone and to see our Year 6 children leading so beautifully. A great way to start the week together!
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Whole School Worship with Rev Matt
Our Whole School Worship was led by Rev Matt this morning. We started with our WOW group sharing their broken toy initiative. They reminded us that they are collecting broken toys which Mrs Araujo will then donate to Tesco Extra to repair and send them on to those less fortunate than ourselves. Our challenge this morning was to guess ‘ Which is bigger? ‘ An elephant or a blue whale? Big Ben or The Empire State Building in New York? A hamster or a mouse? Todays Bible story was ‘ In the Beginning’. The story told can be split into days. Day 1: God created light and separated it from the dark, making day and night.Day 2: God made the blue sky and the fluffy clouds.Day 3: God gathered the water into oceans and made dry land, filling it with plants, trees, and colorful flowers.Day 4: God put the sun in the sky for the daytime, and the moon and twinkling stars for the night.Day 5: God filled the oceans with swimming fish and the air with soaring birds.Day 6: God made all the land animals. He made everything from tiny bunnies to big roaring lions. Finally, He made the very first people, Adam and Eve, to take care of the world.Day 7: God finished everything and took a day to rest, and he was very happy with all that he had made.
Whole School Worship with Rev Ben
Today we started our Whole School Celebration Worship by recognising the fact that it is St Barnabas Day! Rev. Ben then told us that this half term our Worships will focus on truth. We played the true or false game where the children had to decide if the images on screen were true or false. We had a range of questions on geography, science and maths. Some things are obviously true, but sometimes it’s hard to decide. In the Bible reading that was shared Jesus said: I am the way, the truth and the life. In life we sometimes aren’t sure about which way to go. Christian’s believe that knowing the truth is ultimately about knowing a person - Jesus. Our time to think was : How did Jesus describe himself in the Bible today? How might following Jesus help you if you aren’t sure what’s true? The children had some lovely ideas which included: Jesus is the way , the truth and the light . He can guide us like a compass. If we want to lead truthful lives then we need to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.
Year 3- Class Worship- What Can Football Teach Us About the World?
During class worship today, we looked ahead to the upcoming 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup and explored the big question: "What can football teach us about the world?" We learned that this tournament will be the biggest one yet, bringing together 48 teams to play matches across the USA, Canada, and Mexico. We discovered that football is truly a universal language, played by millions of people in entirely different environments, whether on a beach in Brazil, in a busy city, or in a refugee camp, showing us that all you really need to connect is a ball and some space. Ultimately, we reflected on how the World Cup is about much more than just sport; it is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our global community. We concluded with a prayer, reflecting on how people who speak different languages, eat different foods, and live in different cultures can still be brought together through shared experiences, teamwork, and mutual respect.
Whole School- Be the Change: Our Kindness Workshop
This morning, Years 1-6 took part in an inspiring 'Kindness Workshop' delivered by Krish, centred on Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote: "Be the change you want to see in the world." The children explored the three pillars of kindness, being friendly, generous, and considerate, and brainstormed simple everyday actions like smiling, sharing, hugging, complimenting, etc. We looked at powerful, real-life examples from 52 Lives, a charity founded by Jamie in 2013, including Clare from Australia and Andrea from Romania, whose £5,000 operation goal was doubled to £10,000 by kind strangers. This sparked a wonderful discussion about how fortunate we are to have the NHS in our country compared to places where healthcare is very expensive. After watching a video of a young boy comforting an upset football fan after Portugal beat France, the children learned that kindness is actually scientifically proven to make us happier, give us healthier hearts, slow down ageing, and help us live longer. Best of all, kindness is contagious; a single act can spread to 125 people! During the workshop, the children had the opportunity to share kind words with their peers in pairs. They mentioned that giving and receiving compliments felt anywhere from a bit "weird" to really "joyful". At the end of the workshop, the children had a quiz with a series of questions. Arlo, Jack, Molly, Beau, Sophia, Phoebe, Elijah, Eden, Isaac, James, Desmond, Chay, Declan, and Archie did a brilliant job answering the questions, showing great listening skills, and everyone demonstrated our 4 school rules exceptionally well. Afterwards, the children went back into their classrooms to complete their kindness activities. They had a fantastic time making chatterboxes, bracelets, letters, poems, and posters. Lots of kindness has been shared today, and we will definitely continue to share it. We must remember that kindness doesn't cost anything, so we should all use it more.
Collective Worship- St Barnabas
This morning, we welcomed everyone back to school by singing We All Need Encouragement as we gathered for worship. We joined worship with Lisa and schools from the Diocese, where we reflected on the lives of saints and the difference they made through their faith. We even got a special mention as we are only one of two schools from the diocese named after St Barnabas and this week it is his special Feast Day! We learned about Saint Barnabas and how he played an important role in God’s big story. Barnabas was part of the very first Christian community and was known for being kind, patient, respectful, and generous. We heard from Bishop Joe that Barnabas was originally called Joseph, but his name was changed to Barnabas, meaning “son of encouragement.” He travelled with Paul to many countries, sharing the word of God. We thought about how we can be more like Barnabas in our own lives and took time to encourage the person sitting next to us. Lisa then led us in a prayer, asking God to help us be good encouragers who use kind and thoughtful words. We ended our worship by singing The School Rules Song. What a wonderful way to begin the week together!
Celebration Worship
We made it to the end of half term! It had been a very busy and action-packed few weeks with trips, SATs and lots of exciting events across school. Thank you to the WOW Group for sharing their new mission of collecting old toys so children can swap them for a different one. We were also excited to hear that Kids with Bricks Club would be returning after half term for Summer 2 and that a new list of clubs had been released. Today, we also enjoyed our inter-house sports competition led by our Sports Leaders. For our Values Awards this week, Reception’s awards went to Alana and Theo. Year 1 and Year 2 were both awarded the values award as a whole class. In Year 3, the award went to Annabel, in Year 4 to Finley, in Year 5 to Layla and in Year 6 to Theo. A TT Rockstars certificate was awarded to Harry in Year 4. Pen licences were awarded to Martha, Alfie and Brodie in Year 4. In the Team Values standings, Whitehall Park finished in 4th place, Darwen Tower finished in 3rd place, River Darwen finished in 2nd place and India Mill finished in 1st place. We also celebrated lots of fantastic achievements outside of school. Hendrix was awarded a medal for finishing Stage 3 by completing a backwards roll. Will was awarded Beaver of the Week for bug hunting after finding a spider. Thea, Annie, Luna, Evie, Phoebe and Olivia were all awarded the Helper Badge, Skills Builder Badge and Silver Award. Luna was also awarded the Olivia Doll for being kind and helpful, while Olivia achieved the Gold Award for earning lots of badges. James received a badge for being at Cubs for two years. Sofia was awarded a medal and a hoodie for participating in a dance competition. Eliza received a medal for completing a duathlon involving running, biking and then running again. Bo was awarded a trophy and certificate for dancing. Max achieved Player of the Week for his tackling and dribbling skills in football. Lydia achieved her Stage 4 swimming certificate as well as a Skills Builder badge and Eleanor also achieved her Skills Builder certificate and badge alongside her Stage 4 swimming award. Annabel received a trophy for Best in Cast for performing her solo loudly and confidently, as well as dance certificates. Maggie achieved two gymnastics medals for Levels 1 and 4. Lyla and Arrabelle both received medals for participation in their dancing competition, with Lyla finishing in 6th place and Annabelle finishing in 3rd place. Ava achieved two trophies for street dancing, earning both 2nd place and 1st place awards. A huge well done also went to the netball team, who won their first game 12–0 and their second game 6–5. They all played brilliantly and represented the school exceptionally well. Congratulations to Year 1 and Year 4 for achieving the best attendance this week. Finally, we shared some important reminders for after half term. Year 1 would be completing their phonics screening check, Year 4 would be taking part in their multiplication check, Year 6 would be going on their London trip, Reception would be holding their Father’s Day Stay and Play, Sports Day would be taking place and the school disco would be held on Tuesday 30th June. The worship ended with a prayer from Mrs Ham and a lively rendition of the School Rule Song. Wishing everyone a wonderful half term holiday!