KS1 Sports Day- Mums’, Dads’ and Toddler Race
A huge thank you to all the amazing toddler siblings, mums, and dads who joined us for our Sports Day! You all did brilliantly, especially in the Mums', Dads', and Toddler Race, and brought so many smiles to the children's faces.
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Reception- Sports Day
A huge well done to our absolutely amazing Reception children! We're bursting with pride after their fantastic performance at their very first Sports Day here at St. Barnabas. Every single child showed such super efforts, lots of enthusiasm, and beautifully encouraged their friends. What a brilliant morning of achieving great things!
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
Reception Maths - Using rekenreks
This week in Maths, Reception have been exploring the rekenreks to support their counting and composition of number. We looked at how to set the rekenreks correctly and identified the patterns we could see, such as five red beads and five white beads on each row. The children then worked in pairs to move the beads along and used their subitising skills to move groups of beads all at once, rather than counting individually. The children also cleverly identified doubles they could see - double 5 and double 10.
Reception: Prayer in RE
For this week's outdoor learning session, Reception class focused on their RE prayer unit. We discussed how we can pray through song, words and actions too. This week we focused on the concept of prayer not just through words, but through an appreciation of the beautiful world around us – a world we believe is God's wonderful creation. It was a fantastic opportunity to foster a sense of awe and wonder in even our youngest learners. During our outdoor walk, we encouraged the children to stop, look closely, and truly see what was around them. We talked about how everything we observed, from the tiniest ant to the tallest tree, was something God made. We paused frequently, and at each stop, we invited the children to say "Thank you, God," and then to share something specific they loved about what they were seeing. It was wonderful to hear their unique observations –Eleanor thanked God for the grass; Annie thanked God for the animals; Minnie thanked God for India Mill; Thea thanked God for Darwen tower; Reggie thanked God for the flowers and Minnie thanked God for the water.. These simple acts of gratitude helped them connect their feelings of wonder directly to prayer. What was particularly heartwarming was how this experience naturally led us to talk about how we can look after God's world. The children, in their own words, came up with some fantastic ideas about being good "caretakers" of nature. We discussed how important it is not to throw litter and how we can help by picking up any rubbish we see. Their enthusiasm really shone through when we brainstormed even more creative ways to care for animals, such as making bird feeders for our feathered friends and even building "bug hotels" to provide cozy homes for insects! This outdoor RE lesson was a fantastic way to introduce concepts of spirituality, gratitude, and responsibility in a way that was accessible and engaging for our Reception children. They learned that prayer can be about thanking God for all the amazing things He has created, and that looking after our world is also a way of showing our appreciation.
Forest school club- week 1
This afternoon the children have been foraging for natural treasures to make their natural paint brushes. We then used water colours to create a picture using our paintbrushes. The children then went exploring, engaging in child initiated play either experimenting with water, funnels jugs and pipes or exploring our outdoor area to make dens or find minibeasts. We have had a great time living life in all its fullness!
Reception-Year of Prayer- Fruity Smells
For our Year of Prayer this week we immersed some different flavoured fruit tea bags in warm water. The children then passed the cups around the circle and had a smell of the tea to see what fruits they could identify by smell alone. We then prayed to thank god for the fruits and vegetables he provided for us.
Whole School Worship - Refugee Week
In Collective Worship today, we continued looking in detail at the Lord’s Prayer. This week we are focusing on ‘give us today our daily bread’. We had lots of ideas about what Jesus meant when He said these words. Of course, food and nutrition was mentioned, but the children said that this can also mean other things we need daily in order to live life in all its fullness, such as love, kindness, a safe place to live, clothing, education, fun and freedom. Mrs Ham then introduced Refugee Week and we looked through our spirituality opening to learn more about it. We were surprised to learn that some well-known people in Britain came as refugees, like Rita Ora and Mo Farrah and we also discussed how Jesus was a refugee when Mary and Joseph had to flee with him to Egypt. We also spent some time celebrating our work with D.A.R.E (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise) . As a school, we have collected toys, books, Easter eggs, tinned foods and toiletries to help out our local refugees. Some of our Year 3 children will be taking part in a special Refugee Week Tea Party tomorrow at the United Reformed Church and will be meeting a number of refugees and will learn more about what has led them to come to Darwen. Hamza told everyone how he was a refugee from Kenya when he was only 3 and he was given a warm welcome at St Barnabas. Lana shared how her Grandma was a refugee from Palestine. We then reflected on how we can continue to support refugees and give them a warm welcome into our community, just as Jesus wanted us to love our neighbours as ourselves. We watched a video celebrating 80 years of the Moomins and learnt that the Moomin House became a refuge for all different animals who had to leave their homes. We reflected on how we want St Barnabas to be like the Moomin house where everyone feels welcome, accepted and loved.
Whole School Worship - Resolving Conflict
Yesterday’s worship began with some fantastic news! A representative from East Lancs Hospice came in to tell us that our Hop, Skip and Jump event raised £163. Following this, Mrs Wilkinson introduced this week’s Year of Prayer theme: Favourite Places. We spent some time sharing our favourite spaces and then we talked about how God has created so many amazing and healthy spaces for us to enjoy. This led us on to considering the fantastic outdoor spaces we have around school in which we can enjoy time with our friends. We were introduced to our Year 5 peer mediators and Mrs Wilkinson explained how they are going to help us all resolve any fallings out between us and our friends. We are all looking forward to learning to compromise and play together more harmoniously.
A Brilliant Week of Living Life in its Fullness!
Dear Parents and Carers, What a fantastic and incredibly busy week we've had, truly embracing life in its fullness here at St Barnabas! We are so proud of all our children and grateful for your continued support. This week has been packed with memorable moments: *Our Year 4 children had a wonderful visit to their linking school, St. Matthew's in Blackburn, fostering new connections and experiences. *Years 1-5 enjoyed a special trip to Darwen Library for the Literature Festival, inspiring a love for reading and stories. *We're incredibly proud of Year 1 for trying so hard with their phonics screening and our Year 4 children for being absolute stars in their multiplication times check. *Our amazing netball team secured two more super wins, and our cricket team represented our school family brilliantly, showing great sportsmanship. *Years 5 and 6 successfully completed their last "Money Matters" sessions, gaining valuable life skills. *Our Year of Prayer has continued to be great fun with an "I Spy" game, and in Worship, we focused on significant themes like Pentecost, St Barnabas Day, and Saul on the road to Damascus. *Our Donuts for Dads day and Father's Day Stay and Play were huge successes – a massive thank you for all your generous donut donations and to our FOSB for their support! And finally, we were thrilled to be awarded with an attendance award for being in the top 10% of schools nationally! This is a fantastic achievement for our whole school family. For all of this week's news from each class, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news Looking Ahead to Next Week We have more exciting events planned: Wednesday: 9.00- Reception Class Stay and Play. Some of our Year 3 children will be attending a Global Tea Party with DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise) in recognition of Refugee Week. Thursday: The final evening of the DPSSA netball league. Good luck to our team! Friday: Sports Day! EYFS and KS1: 9:15 AM - 10:30 AM KS2: 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM All children should come to school wearing their PE kits. Parents and carers welcome to spectate. Please bring something to sit on as seating is limited. Please note: If it rains, Sports Day will be postponed to the following Friday. In its place, we will have our Inter-House Sportshall Athletics competition led by our fantastic Sports Leaders. Upcoming events can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/events Thank you all for your continued support in making our school such a vibrant and thriving community. We do, however, need to remind everyone to park courteously of our neighbours. We have received reports of parking across drives, which causes inconvenience for residents. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated. Also, a quick reminder about our upcoming Table Top Sale in Whitehall Park this Saturday from 1.00-4.00pm, which aims to raise funds for the park that we all enjoy using. Finally, we want to wish all of our Dads and Grandads a wonderful Father's Day this Sunday! Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by reflecting on our very busy yet wonderful week. This week, we celebrated St Barnabas Day on Wednesday and remembered Him as the encourager. Mrs Ham explained that next Friday 20th June is Sports Day which will be the perfect opportunity for us all to be an encourager just as St Barnabas was. Mrs Ham also congratulated all of our school for achieving the 'National School Attendance Award' for our attendance being in the top 10% of all Primary Schools in England. We then reflected on our highlights of the week. We dedicated time to prayers for perseverance and resilience, aligning with the Diocesan Year of Prayer. Worship sessions included a reflection on Ascension and Pentecost with Mrs. Ham, and a focus on transformation with Rev. Ben. Year 4 visited St. Matthew's as part of their linking schools project. We celebrated Father's Day with two special events: a "Stay and Play" session in Reception and the "Donuts for Dads" event, successfully run by FOSB and Mrs. Wilkinson. The first Cre8ability session took place, and Years 1-5 enjoyed attending the Darwen Literature Festival at Darwen Library. Our sports teams also achieved notable success, with the Year 6 cricket team representing the school exceptionally well at Darwen Cricket Club on Wednesday, and the Year 5/6 Netball Squad securing another two victories in the DPSSA Netball league, maintaining their impressive unbeaten record. This week, we were pleased to announce several awards. Year 1 and Year 3 were recognised as our attendance winners. Darwen Tower earned the weekly value award with 289 points. Furthermore, River Darwen was celebrated as the overall value award winner for the last half-term and will be rewarded with a non-uniform day and disco, with the date to be announced shortly. We then moved on to congratulate our individual value award winners which were Fiia, the whole Year 1 class for their amazing phonics this week, Frankie, the whole of Year 3 for their fantastic behaviour at the Literature Festival, Year 4 for being superstars at their linking schools visit to St Matthews, Matthew and Freddie. We then moved on to our out of school awards. Ava was recognised as a fabulous mini medic and scientist at Squirrels; James was awarded "Beaver of the Week" for his success and perseverance in the treasure trail and consistently making positive choices; Seb achieved "Player of the Week" in football; Mollie was recognised as a superstar at Rainbows; Eleanor earned her Rainbows Bronze and Health awards; Marley demonstrated kindness and helpfulness at Rainbows, achieving her Rainbows Silver and Health awards; Desmond, Charlie, Sonny, and Leo were commended for their fantastic efforts in a recent football tournament; Charlie achieved Stage 5 in his swimming; Thea was "Star of the Week" at gymnastics for her incredible vault and bar work; Eliza reached won the Silver Cup Final at the weekend and was recognised for being an incredible goalkeeper; Grace achieved bronze in ballet, silver in acro and tap, and was named "most hardworking dancer" in a recent dance competition; and Summer was celebrated as "Star of the Week" at ballet. To end our worship, we had some heartfelt prayers. Mrs. Ham led prayers for all the victims and their families affected by the tragic aeroplane crash yesterday, travelling from India to London, and encouraged us to be grateful for the many amazing things in our lives, including our families. We also heard some beautiful prayers from Sofia and Callie, who prayed for those in conflict and war, and expressed gratitude for our wonderful world and the beautiful people in it. Mrs. Ham explained that Rev Ben and Rev Matt would be holding a special 24/7 week of prayers that we could all get involved in and wished everyone a lovely, restful weekend. We closed our worship with a singalong to 'Shine from the inside out'. Slides can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/about-us/church-and-worship#tab-4370
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!