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Whole School Worship
Today in worship, the children were treated to an exciting online worship from Picture News exploring the importance of inclusive sport and how we can break down barriers that may prevent people from taking part. We learnt about the struggles that Stef Reid, a Paralympic athlete, faced when she lost her foot in an accident. She was determined to run again though after being a keen sportswoman before her accident and she went on to win many medals in a number of Paralympic Games events including running and long jump. She then retired from athletics but then took up figure skating and competed in Dancing on Ice. What an inspiration! The children discussed how everyone has different strengths, abilities and experiences, and explored the idea that there is always more than one way to achieve something and to never give up, just like Stef. It was a fantastic opportunity for the children to think about inclusion, resilience and the importance of supporting and encouraging others.
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Reception: RE
This week in RE, as part of our "I am Special" unit, we read the wonderful story Clever Cub and the Case of the Worries. Inspired by Phil the Philosopher, who reminds us how important it is to express our emotions, the children spent time talking about moments when they have felt worried. Georgie shared that she felt worried about her leg when she fell over, Liliana talked about feeling worried when her sister was poorly, and Alissa mentioned that she sometimes feels worried at nighttime. We then reflected on who we can trust and turn to when we feel this way: Everley said God, Matthew said Daddy, and Amelia said Jesus. Expanding on who we can speak to, Noah mentioned Daddy, Louie shared Grandpa, and Everley noted that a teacher is always there to help. To support the children moving forward, we have introduced a class Worry Monster! The children can tell their worries to the monster, who safely locks them away to help everyone feel better. They absolutely loved sharing their worries with our new helper this afternoon!
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Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, Mrs Ham opened our Celebration Worship by telling us that today is World Smile Day. We talked about how smiles are infectious and how we are going to work even harder than we normally do to put a big smile on people’s faces and spread happiness, love and kindness. This week, we have enjoyed a wonderful variety of extra-curricular clubs, some fantastic worships and an extra-special day yesterday, celebrating National Poetry Day and Give Like Dolly Day. We then presented our Barney’s Brilliant Beacons. A huge well done to Reggie, Minnie, Luna, Poppy, Everley and Matthew in EYFS and KS1, and Joey, Skye, Marley, Mila, Iris, Oliver and Tristen in KS2. Well done to these fantastic children for their exemplary behaviour, exceptional attitudes to learning and for consistently demonstrating our Barney’s 4Bs and our Christian Values. We are incredibly proud of you! Looking ahead to next week, we are excited to welcome families to our second Open Day for the 2027 Reception intake on Wednesday, as well as our Stay and Play session in EYFS on Thursday. We will also be celebrating Hello Yellow Day next Friday, 9th October, before coming together for a special Harvest Service at St Barnabas Church on Sunday, 11th October. We ended our worship by congratulating Year 4 on being our Walk to School Winners for September, followed by some beautiful prayers from Iris, Alfie and Mrs Ham. What a wonderful way to end another fantastic week at Barney’s! 🌟
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Reception Mystery Reader
In celebration of Give Like Dolly Day, Reception enjoyed a very special storytime session today when Theo's mummy came to visit. The children were so excited to hear the story 'I really really need a wee!' It was such a funny story and the children loved it. We would like to send a big thank you to Theo's mummy for taking the time to share this brilliant book with us!
Reception - Give like Dolly Day
Reception came together to celebrate "Give Like Dolly Day," honoring Dolly Parton and her inspiring love of reading and storytelling. To celebrate her generous spirit, the children shared their favourite stories with one another, filling our classroom with imagination and togetherness. We embraced Dolly’s joy by singing, dancing, and colouring bright, vibrant pictures to spread happiness throughout the room. It was a wonderful day dedicated to sharing kindness, celebrating books, and carrying on Dolly’s passion for bringing joy to others!
Reception Maths - Counting to 5
This week in Reception, our early mathematicians have been exploring cardinality and honing their counting skills up to 5. We have been discovering that the main reason we count is to find out "how many" objects we have in total. Through hands-on activities, the children have practised careful, one-to-one counting, learning the crucial rule of cardinality: the last number we count tells us how many there are altogether. Whether counting physical objects, actions, sounds or pictures, the children have been building strong foundations in number sense and gaining confidence in declaring the final total!
Reception- Owl Babies
This week, Reception class' learning has been inspired by the beloved story Owl Babies, which linked wonderfully with our discussions about how each of us is special and how important our families are to us. Across our provision, the children are busy exploring the story through hands-on creative activities while working hard on their fine motor skills. They are experimenting with painting techniques using sponges to create realistic feather textures on their owls, and they are practising their pencil grip and control by carefully drawing patterns on owl templates. In our creative area, the children are enjoying making their own owls using collage materials, and they are bringing the characters Sarah, Percy, and Bill to life by crafting them out of playdough and additional resources to retell the story. To build up their hand strength and precision, they are having great fun using tweezers to pick up and feed worms to the owls. We are so proud of all their hard work and creativity.
Reception: Mystery Reader
In preparation for Give Like Dolly Day, Reception enjoyed a very special storytime session today when Georgie’s mummy came to visit. The children were completely captivated as she read two fantastic stories: The Dinosaur That Pooped the Bed and Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the joy of reading, and we would like to send a big thank you to Georgie’s mummy for taking the time to share these brilliant books with us!
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Rev Ben’s Worship - Moses & the Burning Bush
On Thursday, Rev Ben led a worship all about following instructions. The children thoroughly enjoyed an active game of Captain’s Orders to begin with. They then listened to the story of Moses and the Burning Bush. Rev Ben posed questions about why Moses was afraid to follow God’s instructions at first and how people show trust in God.
Reception: Aliens Love Underpants
We have had out-of-this-world fun in Reception this week exploring our story of the week, Aliens Love Underpants! The children have been thoroughly engaged in reading and retelling the hilarious tale, bringing the story to life across all areas of our provision. Taking inspiration from our handwriting sessions, the children have been busy making marks and practising their letter formation directly onto cut-out underpants. Over in the malleable area, little hands were hard at work shaping, squeezing, and decorating their very own playdough aliens, while our creative station saw vibrant alien portraits painted with endless imagination. In maths, the children put their counting skills to the test by matching and placing the correct number of stars onto different spaceships.
Reception: Handwriting
Our Reception children have been working so hard in their handwriting sessions! To get ready for writing, we start each session with a fun hand workout—doing thumb pushes, palm crouches, finger taps, and finger lifts to build up those vital fine motor muscles. The children have been putting a huge effort into using a comfortable tripod grip as they explore basic pre-writing shapes, laying fantastic foundations for forming their letters. We are so proud of their focus and determination!
Reception: Mark Making
This week, our Reception children have been hard at work strengthening their fine motor control and perfecting their mark-making skills through a creative activity inspired by Elmer the Elephant! To build early writing skills, the children were challenged to decorate Elmer with various patterns using felt-tip pens, allowing them to practise key pre-writing strokes: drawing straight lines for grids, fluid wavy lines for movement, and anti-clockwise circles and dots, which are essential building blocks for forming letters like a, c, d, and o. The children showed great concentration and pencil control as they explored different shapes and colours to complete their vibrant patchwork designs.
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