Year 3- Class Worship- Hopes and Dreams
Today in our class worship, we learned about the incredible achievements of Adriana Brownlee, the youngest woman to climb all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks. We then reflected on our hopes and dreams, both individually and as a class. We discussed the Bible's message of God's love, strength, and guidance, and how these principles can help us to pursue our aspirations. Lyla then read the prayer to the class: Thank God for always being there as we journey through life and giving us hope for the future as we learn and grow. Amen
Reception RE: The Birth Of Jesus
Today our Reception children began their Christmas unit in RE. We took part in a sensory story all about the birth of Jesus. We used Widget symbols for each part and used our senses to get involved with the story. The children smelt baby oil to understand that Mary was expecting a baby, we walked to show how Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem and we lit candles to show how dark it was. The children then used a drum to knock on the door to see if there was any room. We then used the sign for no. Finally, the children wrapped a baby in blankets to show the birth of Jesus. The children really enjoyed drawing parts of the story in our scrap book and enjoyed getting involved in the story all about the birth of Jesus. We can't wait for the children to act out this special story in their Nativity production in a few weeks time.
Reception: Painting Skills
Our Reception children have been really working hard on painting like an artist. The children have carefully selected colours and the right amount of paint to create some Rangoli patterns for Diwali. Well done!
Reception - Diwali
During today’s worship, Reception Class led a special service to celebrate Diwali. The children proudly showcased their beautiful artwork, including vibrant rangoli patterns filling the space with vibrant colours. They sang joyful songs and shared the story of Diwali with the whole school. It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to learn about and appreciate this important Hindu celebration!
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Whole-School Worship: Allhallowtide
In our first collective worship of the week, Mrs Ham looked at Allhallowtide through our three spirituality lenses. Lens 1 - Windows: we looked out into the world at a photograph from Bangladesh depicting Christians gathered around graves with lit candles on them and discussed our observations and ideas about what the people were doing and how they might have felt. We had some fabulous ideas such as it must be a place of worship as they could see a cross and candles like we have in our worship, that they might be praying and that they were remembering. Lens 2 - Mirrors: we learned about All Souls’ Day and reflected on how we might remember our loved ones. The children had some lovely ideas about lighting candles and going to a special place. Lens 3 - Doors: we learned about All Saints’ Day and thought carefully about how we could be like saints. The WOW group introduced our behaviour focus for this half term , which is using good manners around school, and the children immediately put these into action by saying please and thank you, holding doors for each other, and letting people past. What a fantastic start to the new half term!
Harvest Heptathlon
Today, each class took part in our Harvest Heptathlon obstacle course challenge for the Bishop’s Harvest appeal. The course consisted of running, hurdles, travelling through a hoop, hopping, skipping, speed bounce and star jumps. A huge well done to every child that took part. They gave it their best effort. And an extra big thank you to all of the Year 6 helpers for helping to set up, replace equipment, demonstrate the course and support and encourage the younger children to complete the course. Let’s hope we can raise some much needed funds for developing classrooms and literacy in church schools in Multan, Pakistan.
Reception: Diwali
Reception have been learning all about Diwali this week. Diwali will be celebrated by Hindus on Thursday and we are looking forward to teaching the school about it on Thursday. The children learnt about Rama and Sita and how Diwali is the festival of light. They have made Rangoli patterns, cards, Mendhi, diva lamps and cards. The children have also learnt a special song all about Diwali.
Enjoying our Spiritual Garden
A huge thank you to our WOW (Worship Our Way) group, Mrs Araujo and Mr Fairbanks for planning and developing our Spiritual Garden. We are loving having time to reflect, admire God’s creations, be peaceful and connect with our friends in it at break and lunch times. Thank you to SACRE for the generous grant we received to create a spiritual garden made from mainly reclaimed and recycled materials.
Year 3- R.E- What does it mean to be called by God?
In R.E. today, the children explored what it means to be "called" and shared times when they’ve been asked or called to do something, whether by friends, family, or teachers. They discussed different kinds of tasks they’re asked to do and how they feel when it’s something important versus something they may not want to do. Some shared moments when they didn’t feel skilled enough but tried because they trusted the person asking. This led to a conversation about feeling called by God, with many children expressing that they believe God may send signs through different forms, like weather, friendships, or even a beam of light, to guide and encourage them. They felt this calling could be an invitation to try new things, make good choices, and grow in confidence. It was a wonderful session of reflection.
Harvest Church Service 2024
Thank you to our Wow group, EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 classes for leading our Harvest celebration at church today. I have uploaded some videos to class dojo and additional photos can be found here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/harvest-church-service-2024 It was wonderful to see so many of our families in attendance. A huge thank you to you all for coming to watch and thank you to all of our families for your continued support this half term. Thank you for all of your kind harvest donations, these can be continued to be sent in during the first week that we are back at school. Wishing you all a wonderful half term, Mrs Wilkinson
Reception: World Faith learning
Today, the children found out a little bit about Islam. Mrs Wilkinson showed the children some Islamic prayer beads called Subhah. We started our learning by wondering what they could be. The children thought it could be a necklace to wear. We wondered what they could be used for. Will said we could give them as a present. We learnt that Muslims used Subhah to pray with. The children all got to hold a Subhah.
Monday Worship: Harvest Appeal
This week is Recycle Week so we will be thinking about all of the rubbish we throw away and how it could be rescued and reused or recycled. Bobby-Ray said what one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure! Thank you for all of the donations of coats we have had so far for our Rota Kids Wrap Up Appeal. Mrs Ham showed us two bin bags that at first she thought was rubbish but they were filled with coats that can be donated to the homeless. Mrs Ham then introduced the Bishop’s Harvest appeal which our WOW group have chosen to support this year at Harvest along with DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise). We started by exploring our spirituality window and looked at a photo of the classrooms of a church school in Multan in Pakistan. We stopped and reflected on what is great about our classrooms. Lottie loves the amount of paper, Ella-Grace said our teachers, Callie said our books, Eleanor said our friends, Jacob said the opportunities to learn, Olivia said the view of Darwen Tower and Will said everything. There are some boys and girls in Multan in Pakistan that are unable to go to school and some who do but don't have many resources in their classroom. We took some time to look at a picture and reflect on what we could see. The classrooms in Multan do not have any chairs, tables, pictures, windows or toys. The children reflected and felt empathy for the Christian children in Multan who did not have the same experience and resources as we all do at St Barnabas. We then started to think about what we could do to make a difference to their lives. The Bishop’s Harvest Appeal has helped the children to receive books, solar panels and hand washing facilities in the past. Rosie said we could do a sponsored run and James said we could collect books. Bishop Philip has asked us all do to a Harvest Heptathlon . We need to think of seven things we could do to help the children in our area and also the boys and girls in Multan. Over the next few weeks, we will be thinking about how we can help and make a difference. We ended our worship by singing ‘I can make a difference’.