Whole School Worship - The Big Announcement
We have started our week singing our favourite Christmas songs and enjoying, The Big Announcement’ Story where Angel Gabriel came to Mary to say that she would carry the son of God. Mary was then referred to as Blessed Mary as God had bestowed this blessing upon her. We also lit our third advent candle that symbolises joy.
Year 3 - Class Worship- A Journey of Reflection and Joy
In our class worship today, Year 3 explored the life of John the Baptist and the responsibility he was given to prepare the way for Jesus. We talked about how John had to make some big choices, turning away from his own "wants" to focus on exactly what he "needed" to be ready for the King’s arrival. To bring this into our own lives, the children shared some of the exciting things from their own Christmas wish lists. We then had a really thoughtful discussion about human needs vs. wants. This led us to a discussion about how we can prepare ourselves for the future. Instead of just thinking about money, the children suggested that being a "grown-up" means sharing kindness every day, being a helpful friend, and spreading joy to those who might be lonely. We decided that by practicing these small acts of love now, we are preparing ourselves to be the best people we can be as we grow.
Worship - Second Week of Advent
As we start our second Week of advent together we lit our candle of peace, thinking about how we can find and share peace throughout our week together. We then sang some of our Christmas songs together and shared a payer of peace. Wishing our whole school family a peaceful week among the busy preparations to make this time of year so special.
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Year 4 - Class Worship: John the Baptist
In this week's class worship, we heard the story of John the Baptist’s and how he was given the special job of preparing for the arrival of Jesus. The speakers talked about how John had to turn away from what he wanted and focus on what he needed in order to be ready for the arrival of the king. Following this, we spent some time thinking about our Christmas lists. The children wrote down one thing they’ve asked for on their Christmas lists. We then made a class list of human needs. We checked our lists to see if anyone had asked for any of these things for Christmas. The children noted that they didn’t ask for water or shelter (etc.) because those things are already provided for them by their parents or the world around them. We finished by talking about how the children can prepare for when they are adults, for example, by doing chores, working hard or saving money.
Whole School Celebration Worship
This week has been full of joy, community and Christmas spirit across our school! We started our celebration worship by lighting our first Advent candle together. Mrs Ham also thanked all the children and staff for decorating Christmas trees across school and highlighted a special moment when Phoebe, our youngest child in school, put the star on top of the tree in the school hall. We also said a huge well done to Reception who did an incredible Nativity performance. We also celebrated a couple of children who proudly represented our school at a local care home, singing for the residents and spreading Christmas cheer. We also had a fantastic time at the pantomime this week so a big thanks to Mrs Wilkinson for organising it. This week, our Values Awards were presented to the following children: all of Reception for their fantastic performance, Eleanor in Year 1, Teddy in Year 2, James in Year 3, Arabelle in Year 4, Sophia in Year 5 and Isabelle in Year 6. These children have been working so hard, following our 4’Bs and demonstrating Christian values. Mr Mealor also awarded Alexis, Miles, James, Harriet and Charlie with pen licenses for excellent progress in their handwriting. We also celebrated our Team Values Points with India Mill finishing in fourth place, River Darwen in third place, Whitehall Park in second place and Darwen Tower in first place! Mr Bloomfield also announced our first Times Table Rock Stars Winners: Charlie in Year 3, James in Year 4, Ivy in Year 5 and Charlie in Year 6. Our overall winners were Year 6! Well done. We are very proud of all the children who received special sports awards this week. Ava received Squirrel of the Week for her kindness. Zachary achieved his Stage 2 swimming certificate. Charlie was named Player of the Week for his excellent goal scoring. Desmond and Iris both competed in swimming events and placed in the top three, earning several medals. Thea was recognised for her fantastic balancing skills in gymnastics. Olivia was awarded the Olivia doll at Rainbows for her hard work. Vienna achieved her Stage 5 swimming certificate for completing 400m. Finn was named Player of the Week for his good passing skills. Willow achieved an impressive 19 skills in gymnastics. Luna earned the red belt in kickboxing. James received the Wilson Cup Trophy after finishing second with fewer players and also swam an impressive 50 metres. Grace was celebrated for helping others and persevering. Mollie was awarded the Claire doll for being helpful. Jack earned Captain of the Month for his encouragement, discipline and leadership. Tristan earned both his blue and purple belts in kickboxing and completed three minutes of continuous punching. Harriet was praised for her amazing progress in MMA. Lilly achieved a distinction in her Grade 1 acting school exam. Lila reached the finals of a dance competition, placing first in improv, first in commercial and second in lyrical. Our KS2 football team also showed great resilience this week. After losing their first match 7-0, they came back stronger to draw 2-2 in their next game. The winners of the Walk to School Challenge was also won by Reception, well done! We also celebrated our attendance winners this week which are Year 2 and Year 3. We have several exciting events coming up. The Lantern Parade will take place this Saturday in Whitehall Park. Our Christmas Fayre will be held next Wednesday in the school hall. The Christmas Carol Service will take place next Sunday. We also have an Advent Art competition with submissions open until Wednesday. Year 1 and Year 2 are performing their Christmas Cracker Show on Thursday and Friday. Year 1 are continuing to collect Christmas Hamper donations for the Darwen Asylum Refugee Enterprise. We are so proud of our wonderful children and look forward to another week of joy and celebration through our Advent journey.
Whole School Worship - The Story of Queen Esther
This morning our whole school came together to worship with Rev Ben. Here we enjoyed a story about Queen Esther who came to power for her beauty and saved her people from the king by showing courage and compassion. We then thought about how we can show courage and compassion to others and ourselves.
Whole School Worship - The First Day of Advent
The whole school family came together to celebrate the start of Advent. We heard from Lisa, Sam and Bishop Joe that through his messengers the prophets, God told his people that Jesus was coming 100's of years before he arrived.
Year 4 - Class Worship: Togetherness
In our class worship time this week we learned about the Princess of Wales’ annual carol service and the work she does to bring people from different walks of life together. We spent some time considering groups that we belong to and we used our oracy skills to share our thoughts on feeling a sense of belonging. There were some excellent points about sharing interests and feeling loved, and also about recognising when we feel ostracised or unsafe in a group, such as an online community.
Year 3- Class Worship-The Importance of Togetherness
Today in our class worship, we discussed the importance of togetherness and the Princess of Wales's Carol Service, which aims to bring people together to celebrate kindness and community. We learned that togetherness means noticing others, caring, listening, and showing kindness. This helps create a sense of belonging for everyone. Charlie read the prayer out.
Year 3- Class Worship- The Spread of Christianity
Today, during our class worship, we explored the fascinating story of The Spread of Christianity and how the faith journeyed from its beginnings to our very own local area (our Diocese). We learned that after Jesus left, his first followers were given the special job, known as the Great Commission, to share his message of love and hope with everyone. Key stories, like the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and the incredible journeys of figures like the Apostle Paul, showed us how the Church grew and traveled across the world, eventually leading to the formation of the network of churches we belong to today. This movement is why we can gather together right here to worship. After learning about the growth of the Church, we took part in our own special way of spreading something good: thankfulness. Instead of using paper or screens, we used the power of our voices and our actions to share what we were grateful for. Each person was encouraged to verbally share something they were thankful for with the person next to them, creating a "chain" or "ripple" of gratitude that spread across the room, showing how quickly and easily good words can travel when we speak them aloud.
Whole School Worship led by Rev Matt
In our Whole School Thursday Worship this week, Rev Matt shared the Bible story - Ruth Finds a New Home We started with our challenge which involved being good at charades. The children acted out a feeling and the other children sat down had to guess what it was. We had sad, angry, happy, excited and worried. We have been thinking about compassion. The Bible story - Ruth Finds a New home is about Ruth, a woman from Moab, chose to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi and move to Bethlehem after her husband died. There, she worked hard gleaning barley in the fields of Boaz, a relative of Naomi. Boaz was impressed by her kindness and loyalty, and he eventually married her, providing a new home and a place in God's family for both Ruth and Naomi. The story is filled with compassion so it led us to our questions - Who shows us the most compassion and who do we show it to. We had answers such as family, friends, trusted adults, teachers and God. The children have showed compassion to everyone that they have come across, including their pets. Rev Matt finished with a lovely prayer about compassion and asked the children sto think how they could show this more around school this week.
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.