EYFS and KS1- Sports Day Medal Winners
Hurray for Our Sports Day Stars! A huge well done to all our amazing medal winners from EYFS, Year 1, and Year 2 at Sports Day! We are so, so proud of all our incredible sports stars! And a massive shout-out to every single child in EYFS and Key Stage 1! You all showed such super efforts and truly shone on the day. We are incredibly proud of each and every one of you! All of the photos will shortly be uploaded here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/sports-day-2025
Darwen Netball League Winners
We are immensely proud of our netball squad for playing amazingly well over the last five weeks in the Darwen Netball League and for winning all of their games. Tonight they played in scorching heat against Avondale, Belmont and St Joseph’s resulting in two wins and a draw, making us the winners of the league for the second year in a row! This is along with winning the Bee Stinger High Fives for the second year in a row too! We can’t wait to represent Blackburn with Darwen in the Lancashire games on the 8th July. A huge thank you to Mrs Gardner for her wonderful coaching and umpiring and thank you to our other teachers who came along to support. A massive thanks to the parents and carers for your support and help with transport. Well done to all the other teams and umpires along with Phil Eastwood, who organised the league. And finally an enormous thank you to our children for always giving it 100%, being so competitive and always encouraging each other. A special mention to the Year 5 girls who have stepped up and played games- this is great preparation for next year! What a fantastic evening of achieving great things and living life in all its fullness!
Year 5 - Striking and Fielding
Today, Year 5 enjoyed an energetic and competitive game of rounders as part of their PE lesson. The session focused on key skills including accurate striking, effective fielding and quick decision-making. The children worked on developing their hand-eye coordination, communication and teamwork. They also explored tactics such as choosing the best positions when fielding, backing each other up and judging when to run or stay on a base.
Year 1 PE- Kicking
PE this week saw Year 1 focusing on their ball skills! They did a great job practicing how to kick and receive a ball, showing off some really good control. They especially enjoyed aiming their kicks through hoops, hurdles, and into a net. And, they had a blast kicking the ball, then running to stop it and regain control. Super work, Year 1!
Year 4 - PE: Tennis Skills
The Year 4s couldn’t wait to get rackets in hand for our first tennis skills session, but first they had to work on their ball skills. To develop their coordination they had to stop a ball rolled by their partner, but they had to use the hand their partner told them to. Our racket skills segment was an extension of this in which the children had to “splat” the ball and return it to their partner. Communication is our character development focus for this unit, which the children will develop by listening to their partner and looking for non-verbal cues.
Year 2 - Invasion games
This week in PE, Year 2 out their improved throwing and catching skills to the test in different games. They had to use tactics to ensure the ball reached their target without being intercepted. It was great to see how far the children have come from when we first practiced these fundamental skills back in the Autumn term.
Reception PE Sports Day Practise
Reception have been practising the different races in preparation for Sports Day next week. They completed a sack race, running race, egg and spoon race and an obstacle race. They worked very hard and are ready to go next Friday!
Year 5 - Striking and Fielding
Today, Year 5 began their new unit on striking and fielding in PE. To kick things off the children played a game of kick rounders with a specific focus on developing their fielding skills. The session helped the children to practise accurate throwing, effective catching and quick decision-making as a team. It was a fun and active start to the unit and everyone showed great enthusiasm and teamwork throughout.
DPSSA Netball Final Heats Night
So Team B finished the final round of the heats in style with a 5-0 and 10-0 win. They worked super hard to play the ball forward and keep going despite their challenges. Fingers crossed that we get to attend finals night next week and showcase their talents. Super proud!
Year 6 - Cricket Competition
Today, 8 boys from year 6 represented the school in a cricket competition. Unfortunately, they didn’t qualify from their group but they have learnt some valuable lessons leading into the Darwen schools competition they will be taking part in, in just a couple of weeks. Well done boys! It was great to see you happy to take feedback on board and play with such enthusiasm.
Year 6 P.E
Year 6 have begun a new P.E unit, working on their tennis skills. They practised ball control and also serving and receiving the ball with a partner.
Reception: Muddy Monday
Reception class have had a fabulous time at Whitehall park. The children found treasures, built dens and bug hotels, found minibeasts, balanced and climbed trees too! It was lovely to hear the children's excited voices amongst the trees and they really enjoyed getting muddy too! The rain certainly didn't spoil a fabulous afternoon of living life in all its fullness!