Image of Celebration Worship
24 Feb

Celebration Worship

Well done to all of our children this week on another busy week in school, working so hard and showing all our Christian values and gaining so many value points. A huge congratulations to Reception and Year 3 for being the amazing attendance winners again this week! Well done Darwen Tower team for winning the overall value points prize which you get to choose, will it be a disco, non uniform, or maybe an extra MUGA session with coach Baxendale? A massive well done to all our class Value Award winners, your hard work and determination really does show both in the classroom and around school, we hope you are super proud of yourselves.

Image of Reception - Maths
23 Feb

Reception - Maths

This week we have been ordering numbers to 10. We used our reasoning skills and the words ‘more than’ and ‘fewer than’ to help us to put the number blocks in the right order.

Image of Reception PE
23 Feb

Reception PE

In PE the reception children started with a warm up, we talked about transport and how we can get from one place to another. The children chose a partner and they had to copy their movement around the hall. The children then went to the different stations where they practised balancing, under arm throwing, jumping into the different hoops for distance, and they practised rolling a ball on the ramps and catching it at the bottom.

Image of Reception- Magnets
23 Feb

Reception- Magnets

Some of the children in reception asked if they could have some magnets to test which items in the classroom were magnetic or not. We discussed what materials the items were made of and which ones were magnetic. The children found magnetic items such as scissors, magnetic letters, chairs and lots more!

Image of World Book Day Information
22 Feb

World Book Day Information

Next Thursday, 2nd March we will be celebrating World Book Day. This year the theme is bedtime stories and stories that can fill your happy tank. We would love for all children to come dressed all cosy and warm in their pyjamas. Children will take part in a variety of exciting book related activities and competitions and will listen to stories throughout the day. There will also be a book cover competition which the children will complete in school where the children will have the chance to win a £5 book voucher. During World Book Day, a local author, Raysa Farah will visit each class. Once Raysa has been into school, the children will have the opportunity to purchase her book 'The cub that lost its mane' for a discounted price. Further information will be sent out after World Book Day. The children will all receive a £1 token. This can be used at our book fair which will be held between 15-21st March. Between the 15-17th March, the children will all have the opportunity to look at the books in school and they will create a 'wish list' which will be sent home. You can then purchase these books either using the web address on the wish list or by coming into school to purchase books on Monday 21st March and Tuesday 22nd March from 3.30pm. Payment will only be able to be taken by card or contactless payment. We can't wait to celebrate next week and further promote our love of reading.

Image of Online Safety: Spotify
22 Feb

Online Safety: Spotify

Is Spotify hitting the right #OnlineSafety notes?

Image of Reception - Understanding Of The World - Material Hunt
22 Feb

Reception - Understanding Of The World - Material Hunt

This week we have explored different materials. We have looked at different types of materials including plastic, metal, wood, glass, rubber, brick, stone, fabric and wool. We then went on a material hunt to identify different materials around our classroom and school! The children really enjoyed finding all of the different materials in our environment

Image of Shrove Tuesday
21 Feb

Shrove Tuesday

As today is Shrove Tuesday, Mrs Ham bought our whole school family pancake bites to eat to symbolise the start of Lent tomorrow. They went down a treat and many of the children were excited to have pancakes at home this evening too. We are looking forward to seeing lots of different ways that we can all give this Lent through demonstrating our Christian values of service, friendship and generosity.

Image of Rev Ben’s Ash Wednesday Worship
21 Feb

Rev Ben’s Ash Wednesday Worship

This morning Rev Ben led our Worship. First he lit our special candle and we had a moment's silence to pray for the families in Turkey and Syria who have been affected by the devastating earthquakes. Rev Ben asked us who was the greatest out of four celebrities, Marcus Rashford, Taylor Swift, Princess Kate and Rishi Sunak. The children had a discussion with a partner about who was the greatest and why. We had some super answers and several reasons why each one was the greatest. We then watched a video about the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee which was a story that Jesus told to some people who thought they were great and looked down on others. The Pharisee thought he was the greatest and looked down on others but the tax collector was actually great in God's eyes as he asked for help and forgiveness. Rev Ben explained that Ash Wednesday is when Christian's ask for help and for their sins to be forgiven by God. Rev Ben then talked to us about Christian greatness and we had some time to reflect and discuss what Christians think being great is all about and how we can put that greatness into practice. Again we had some brilliant answers such as showing kindness, friendship, generosity and service to others. We finished our worship with a special prayer led by Rev Ben and sang and danced to My Lighthouse, to symbolise that God is always there to hear our prayers of help and forgiveness.

Image of Reception- Shrove Tuesday
21 Feb

Reception- Shrove Tuesday

The children in Reception have tried some pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. All the children tried the pancakes and enjoyed them. We discussed that Pancake Day is also called Shrove Tuesday. We talked about how Jesus went to the desert for forty days and forty nights with no food or water.

Image of Reception: Muddy Monday
20 Feb

Reception: Muddy Monday

Today the children explored the changes of weather and different areas of Whitehall park. The children commented on how the weather can be sunny, cloudy, rainy, foggy and windy. The children explored the waterfall and other forest schools sections. They showed the Christian value of courage as we had to walk up a steep hill and walked a long way around the park.

Image of Whole School Worship: Shrove Tuesday and Lent
20 Feb

Whole School Worship: Shrove Tuesday and Lent

To begin our worship, we lit a special candle and prayed for everyone in Turkey and Syria. As we entered worship, we watched a video all about when Jesus spent 40 days in the desert. Tomorrow it is Shrove Tuesday. On Wednesday, our altar will change to the colour of purple as we enter Lent and prepare for Easter. Mrs Ham asked the children ‘what makes you you?’ Neve said her freckles, Oscar said playing the piano and cello, Jake said his fingerprints and Grace said her flexibility. Our personality, emotions, behaviour, clothes, family and belongings all make us unique. Mrs Ham then asked ‘what made Jesus Jesus?’ Eliza said he was the son of God, Grace said his abilities to perform miracles, Ella said that he came down from heaven, Finn said his kindness and Leonora said when he rose from the dead. On Wednesday, Lent beings where we remember how Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. We watched a video all about this time. Jesus was tempted by the devil during his time but he trusted in God and didn’t give in to temptation. Jesus knew there was a plan for him. He knew that he was going to die on the cross so that all of our sins can be forgiven. During our reflection, we had a think about what we could do or give up to help us to feel closer to God. Eva said she is going to give up chocolate, Elsa said sweets, Carter said fizzy drinks, Isaac said he will give some of his toys to charity and Declan said his clothes to the charity shop. We also thought about how we could show kindness and which Christian values we could show during Lent. We finished our worship by singing ‘our God is a great big God’.