Friday Celebration Worship
During our celebration worship this morning, Mrs Ham began the worship by lighting the candles and reflecting on the many things we are thankful for and grateful for, which led to some children sharing their thankful moments, such as our school, our outdoor area and our families. We then moved on to celebrating a very special member of staff, Mrs Pendlebury who is sadly leaving us today to enjoy her retirement. She has been with us for over 25 years. Heads and Deputies expressed some of their fond memories shared with Mrs Pendlebury. Rosie, expressed by stating that Mrs Pendlebury is one of a kind, Daisy remembered a time when Mrs Pendlebury kindly gave her a hat to wear on a class trip to rock and River. Harry and Hamza recalled moments when Mrs Pendlbury almost fell off a chair which they found amusing. We also watched a short video celebrating Mrs Pendlebury’s time at our school, filled with wonderful memories, a true legend. Mr Bloomfield and Mr Prescott shared a few words too, though no words can capture or express how much Mrs Pendlebury has meant to the school. Her grandchildren Jack and Beau, helped present Mrs Pendlebury with gifts and flowers from the school and staff. Mrs Ham then shared the awards that children received outside of school, including achievements for Charlie, Molly and Isabelle swimming, Isabella, Annabel and Phoebe for the summer reading challenge, James football, Grace dancing and Ella-Grace scouted for Manchester United. Reception and Year 5 won the attendance award. Darwen Tower gained an extra break for the most value points received this week. We then had prayers from Naomi, Sonny and Oscar and sang Mrs Pendlebury’s favourite songs, ‘Welcome everybody’ and Our God is great big God’.
Rev Ben's Collective Worship- Moses
Collective Worship - 19.09.24 During this week's worship session, Rev. Ben shared the story of Moses and the burning bush. He explained how, when God gave Moses a mission, Moses initially struggled to obey, feeling unsure and inadequate for the task. However, God revealed his power and presence to Moses, showing him the way and helping him develop trust. With God's guidance, Moses was able to achieve far more than he ever thought possible. The children engaged in thoughtful discussions, exploring questions like: What might it look like for you to recognise God's presence in your life? Some children reflected on seeing God's presence in acts of kindness, through nature, or in moments of peace when they feel supported by their friends and family. Others spoke about sensing God during quiet times or prayer, feeling that God is guiding them in difficult situations. When asked, Why do you think Moses was hesitant to follow God's instructions? The children expressed that they could relate to Moses’ fear and uncertainty. Some mentioned how Moses might have felt unworthy or scared of failing, while others said that like Moses, they too sometimes feel afraid when they are asked to do something new or hard. The group agreed that trusting God, even when they feel unsure, can help them overcome their fears. The final question, How does it change things for you, knowing that God is always with you? brought a range of responses. Some children said it gave them comfort to know they are never truly alone, even in hard times. Others felt it gave them courage, knowing they could rely on God’s strength when facing challenges. Many agreed that just like Moses, having faith in God’s presence helps them feel more confident in the tasks they are given, knowing they have divine support.
Year 6 - Class Meeting
Year 6 discussed how we can show kindness in our school community. Each group justified which options they thought were the most important, but accepted that they could all play a huge role in promoting kindness throughout our school family.
Whole School Worship: The Good Shepherd
Today, we were learning about Jesus’s parable of the Lost Sheep. We discussed why Jesus said 'I am the good shepherd', and how he will always come to us when we feel lost. Thanks to Mr Bloomfield and some of our younger children for acting out the story so brilliantly. We reflected on how we can life live in all its fullness knowing that Jesus is always watching over and protecting us, just like a good shepherd does for his sheep.
Reception: Our First Worship
Today, our Reception class took part in their first whole school worship in the hall. They showed lots of respect entering the hall and loved being with our whole school family. Mrs Wilkinson led a singing worship and the older children helped them to sing songs with lots of actions. We sang Hello, Build up, Our God is a great big God, Build up and I can make a difference. Thank you to our choir for helping lead worship.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our first celebration worship of this academic year by signing the trinity and talking about our extremely busy couple of weeks in school, especially focusing on our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, being safe, being kind and being respectful) and our school values. We then presented Thomas and Fletcher in Years 1 and 2 and Alfie, Eliza, Ella and Leonora in KS2 with certificates for being our value award winners this week. Well done to these children for starting the academic with an amazingly positive attitude, demonstrating fantastic behaviour for learning and consistently displaying our school values. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Harry for completing the Summer Reading challenge and being awarded a huge trophy for demonstrating kindness at SportsCool Summer club, Albie, Samuel, Renee, Carmen, Olivia and James for completing the Summer Reading challenge, Grace for being awarded the lyrical and jazz winner of the week, 3rd place for song and dance and a silver medal for her acro, Sofia for achieving Star of the Week at gymnastics club, Maggie for being a super Rainbow and working exceptionally hard to achieve all of her badges and Marley for achieving all of her badges at Rainbows and moving up to Brownies. We also congratulated Reception, Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and India Mill as the value award winners this week with 427 points. Finally, we had some lovely prayers of thankfulness and appreciation from Leonora, James and Lennox and we sang ‘Shine.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Rev Matt 's Worship - Moses
Collective Worship - 12.09.24 During this week's worship session with Rev. Matt, the children engaged in a meaningful and reflective activity. Rev. Matt began by reading a Bible story. The tale centered on a baby boy placed in a basket and gently set adrift along a riverbank. This story unfolds against a backdrop of great hardship for the Hebrew people, who were oppressed under the rule of the Egyptians. The Egyptian king, fearing that the Hebrew people might rise against them, had decreed that all Hebrew infants be killed. Amidst this dire situation, a courageous act of compassion emerged. The baby, destined for death, was discovered by none other than the Egyptian king’s daughter. Moved by the child’s innocence, she decided to save him and raise him as her own, naming him Moses. Under the watchful eyes of God, the baby was spared and later grew up to become the leader who would free his people from their suffering. Following the story, the children participated in a thoughtful discussion. They paired up and pondered a question: What are some ways they can show respect to their teachers, friends, or family members? The children shared numerous ideas, reflecting their understanding of Christian values. They suggested acts such as actively listening, showing kindness, and embodying respect in their interactions. Their responses demonstrated the importance of treating others as they themselves would wish to be treated, a principle at the heart of our Christian Value of Respect. Through this worship session, the children not only learned about a significant biblical figure but also explored the practical application of respect and kindness in their own lives.
Our new Heads and Deputies
Introducing our new Heads and Deputies! We are so proud of our new Head and Deputy Head boys and girls as they have made a great start to the school year already with a meeting with Mrs Ham planning out how they can support our school family , they have been involved in our worships and today they counted up all of our values points across school. On Friday they will be announcing the winning house teams in our Celebration Worship and they have lots of exciting things planned for our school in the coming months. Well done Harry, Hamza, Daisy and Rosie!
Whole School Worship: Paralympic Values
We began our Monday worship with a race this week, except the race wasn’t very fair. One person was running the race, one was hopping and one was blindfolded. We discussed why this wasn’t a fair race and then we watched some athletes’ performances from the Paralympics. We were amazed to see people with no arms playing the piano, flying aeroplanes, brushing their teeth and driving cars etc and then we reflected on how we can learn from the Paralympians and have a 'yes, I can' attitude. We learned about the Olympic and Paralympic values and how some of the values are the same or similar to our Christian Values., We discussed how we can do anything with hard work, determination and self-belief and read in the Bible that with God, all things are possible.
Year 6 - Picture News Worship
Year 6 took part in a virtual worship which followed on nicely from our class worship. It focused on the clean up and the importance of community in the aftermath of this summer’s riots, that took place up and down the country. We discussed how we can all come together, no matter what our background, and work towards a common goal.
Rev Ben’s Worship- Trust
Rev Ben welcomed us back to school by reflecting on our school holiday and what we were most looking forward to this school year. He then told us the Bible story about Abraham going on a journey but he didn't know where he was going but he put his trust in God. Rev Ben said that our life can be a wonderful journey if we put our trust in God and remember that he is always with us. We then discussed with our partners how we can make the most of this year and live life in all its fullness. We finished with a lovely back to school blessing and sang a special back to school song.
Class Worship- How can communities help each other in times of difficulty?
During our class worship, Year 3 looked at a story about the summer when riots occurred in England and Northern Ireland, causing damage to cars and buildings. We defined the term 'communities' and discussed the importance of everyone feeling welcome and safe within their community. The children reflected on their differences and similarities, recognising that our school community is special because it is made up of so many different individuals with unique interests. We discussed our British value of mutual respect and tolerance, considering how our words and actions can impact others. We then sang ' When I needed a neighbour' and ended the worship by thanking God for our school community.