Worship with Rev. Ben
Today, we had worship with Rev. Ben, which began with a fun yet challenging relay-style game where we had to balance ping pong balls on a paper plate while moving carefully across the hall. Rev. Ben explained that, just like in the game, life can sometimes feel unsteady or difficult, especially when we are upset or facing challenges. To help us reflect on this, Rev. Ben showed a clip about what Jesus did when he was feeling deeply sad the night before his death. The video illustrated how Jesus turned to God in prayer, seeking strength and comfort during his time of sorrow. Rev. Ben explained that, just like Jesus, we can share our worries and struggles with God, knowing that He listens and understands, and can help us through even the toughest times. He reminded us that no matter how we feel, we are never alone—God is always there to support and guide us.
Year 3- R.E-Understanding the Rich Young Man: Lessons on Wealth, Faith, and Modern Perspectives
In today's R.E. lesson, the children explored the story of The Rich Young Man (Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30), from 'The Children's Bible'. We began by reminding ourselves of the Ten Commandments and reflecting on their meaning. The children discussed why Jesus’ response saddened the rich young man and whether they believed he tried to change. They also considered the challenges of wealth and why it can be difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. As part of our discussion, we examined Jesus’ metaphor of a camel passing through the eye of a needle, debating whether it is still a relevant example today. Working in pairs, the children devised modern phrases to express a similar idea, such as: Trying to fit an elephant through a doorway, fitting all your holiday clothes into a tiny backpack or putting a football through a keyhole. They all worked incredibly well in small groups and pairs.
Year 3- Presentation of Learning- History- Past and Present
Over the past three weeks, Year 3 have been learning about how children's lives have changed over time, comparing the past and present. Today, we shared our findings with the whole school in History and Guided Reading. We discovered that childhood and adulthood were defined differently in various historical periods—Roman children were considered adults at 12 or 14, Tudor children started working as young as 7 or 8 and became adults at 15, while in Victorian times, adulthood was reached at 21. Today, the legal age of adulthood is 18. We also explored how daily life has evolved, from clothing differences in Roman and Tudor times to changes in communication, transport, and technology. In the 1930s, toys were homemade from wood, and before Sat Navs, people relied on paper maps to plan their journeys. Seatbelts and airbags were only introduced in 1959, and television was only available in black and white until the 1970s. In the 1990s, Sat Navs were invented, and home computers connected to the internet using phone lines. The children have been great historians, asking thoughtful questions and making insightful connections, and they are thoroughly enjoying this unit as they continue to explore how the past has shaped the world they live in today.
Year 3- PSHE- Lyfta- Know Yourself, Grow Yourself: Exploring Mental Health and Aspirations Through Malahat’s Story
Today in class, our Year 3 students joined hundreds of other schools in a live Lyfta session, exploring the theme "Know Yourself, Grow Yourself" and the importance of children's mental health through the inspiring story world Dancing in the Land of Fire. During this engaging 45-minute session, our students, alongside thousands of their peers, reflected on self-awareness and well-being, inspired by the journey of 11-year-old Malahat, who dreams of becoming a world-famous dancer and building a new home for her family in Baku. The children were fascinated to learn about Azerbaijan, particularly its vibrant capital, Baku. Through this experience, they gained a deeper understanding of mental health, resilience, and self-growth. The session encouraged them to think about their own dreams, emotions, and personal strengths, helping to build their confidence and empathy. It was a valuable opportunity for them to develop a global perspective while also reflecting on their own well-being and aspirations.
Year 3- Class Worship- Know Yourself, Grow Yourself
Year 3 participated in class worship today by joining the live assemblies for Children's Mental Health Week. This year’s theme, "Know Yourself, Grow Yourself," focused on helping children understand their emotions and develop resilience. As part of the session, the children made different facial expressions to show emotions such as anger, shock, and happiness, helping them recognise and understand their feelings to face challenges with courage and hope. Daniel, an 11-year-old refugee from Ukraine, shared his experiences of overcoming trauma and what helped his mental health. We also heard from children in Ghana about their creative approaches to well-being, supported by World Vision. This was a valuable opportunity to show that every child’s story matters and that no one is alone.
Year 3- Science -Why is doing different exercises regularly good for our health?
Today in Science, Year 3 scientists explored the question: Why is doing different exercises regularly good for our health? They discovered how activities like football and swimming benefit the body, while sleep plays a crucial role in supporting the brain. The class also learned that dogs need regular walks and fresh air to stay fit and happy, while giraffes exercise by walking long distances to find food and stretching to reach high branches. This investigation linked well with Children's Mental Health Week, reinforcing the importance of physical activity for both body and mind. Our Science Ambassadors, Cassidy and Naomi, took their roles seriously, proudly wearing their lab coats to support their peers. They provided guidance and assistance to those who needed extra support, ensuring that everyone could engage in the learning and investigation.
Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics Club
In our second week of Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics Club, we practiced a variety of events which included standing long jump, obstacle relay, under and over relay and javelin. The children worked super hard to develop their skills, agility and speed.
Children's Mental Health Week Launch Worship & YOP- Talents
This morning Mrs Ham launched our Children's Mental Health Week theme of 'Know yourself, Grow Yourself'. We started by looking at our school vision that says 'Achieving great things through learning and growing together'. We thought about what the growing together means and we had some super suggestions such as growing emotionally and mentally, getting better at things and not giving up when we find things hard. We then looked at our emotions and how they control our brain, just like in the film Inside Out. We thought about the times when our brain tells us that we aren't good at things and we had some great examples such as in acro when doing cartwheels, in maths or art and when we do things for the first time. We thought of ways to challenge our brains and help ourselves grow by doing things that we enjoy such as listening to music, taking part in sports or other hobbies, showing courage to try new things etc. We then focused on our Year of Prayer for this week which is thanking God for our talents. We shared our talents and thought about ways we could express our talents this week and especially on our dress to express day on Friday. We reflected on how we should shine from the inside out and always respect each other's God given talents and the way we like to express ourselves. We discussed that if we laugh at the way someone likes to express themselves then that might hurt their feelings and they will feel sad and won't want to express themselves that way again. We said a lovely prayer thanking God for our talents and how we promise to share them with others and respect others' talents. We finished with singing one of our favourite songs 'Shine from the inside out' which reminds us that God knows us, loves us and fills us with talents that we need show to everyone we meet.
Foodie Friends club- Cupcakes
Today, in Foodie Club, the bakers worked in small groups to make cupcakes. They carefully weighed the butter, flour and sugar, whisked the eggs, and followed the recipe closely to ensure a smooth and well-blended mixture. They particularly enjoyed licking the spoon and the mixing bowl.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship thanking our whole school for coming to school in non-uniform to raise funds for food, shelter and first aid supplies for those in America who are being affected by the LA wildfires. Thank you to our Rotakids for organising the non-uniform day to help make a difference . We then reflected on a busy week in school. This week, we held in our thoughts all the Jews who suffered in the holocaust and thought about how we can show love, kindness and generosity to our neighbours and again we have enjoyed some wonderful dance and gymnastics sessions led by Rothwell Arts and some amazing extra-curricular clubs such as Foodie Friends, Craft Club, Basketball and Multi-Sports Club led by Edstart. We then congratulated Haydn, Eve and Eddie in EYFS and KS1 and Jack, Leo, Luca and Leonora in KS2 for pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and trying new things, demonstrating hard work and perseverance in their learning and showing all of our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, respectful, kind and safe). Furthermore, we congratulated Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, India Mill as our overall value award winners this week with 431 points, our Sportshall Athletics squad for winning their heat on Tuesday evening and getting through to the finals and our new Science Ambassadors (Noah in Year 6, Matthew in Year 5, James in Year 4 and Naomi and Cassidy in Year 3) for their fantastic applications. A huge well done to these children- we know that you will be amazing in your new role! We then congratulated our out of school sports award winners. Well done Ava for being awarded two gold trophies in her dance, Reggie for demonstrating fantastic football skills, Alice, Olivia and Daisy for their ‘Inspiring Women’ creation that won them a trophy at Brownies, Luna for winning ‘The Tiny Ballet Dancer of the Year’ award, Archie for achieving listening and follow the instructions at swimming, Lilly for achieving a special award in dance, Darcy for being a super gymnast, Lyla for working hard to master the aerial (a cartwheel with no hands), Grace for achieving two medals for song & dance and her own choreography, Annabel for achieving Star of the Week at Musical Theatre, Scarlett for being a super defender at netball and achieving the gold award and Beau for achieving Stage 5 in her swimming. To end our worship, Mrs Ham reminded us that it’s Dress to Express next Friday 7th February for Children’s Mental Health Week and we had some beautiful prayers from Vienna and Ralphi who prayed for those less fortunate than ourselves, including those who don’t have food and drink at their disposal as we do and those are in the midst of war, conflict and natural disasters. We then sang ‘Sing a New Song’ and thanked those who could attend celebration worship. We thank the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 3- Maths- Flexible Partitioning using base 10.
Year 3 have been working extremely hard to divide a 2-digit number by a 1-digit one, focusing on flexible partitioning. They've been using base 10 to help understand concepts like exchanging 10s for ones to simplify the division process. This approach allows them to break down numbers more easily and gain a deeper understanding of the division process.
Worship with Rev. Matt
This morning’s worship with Rev. Matt focused on the theme of perseverance. It began with a challenge where the children had to work together to keep an inflatable in the air without letting it touch the ground. As the game went on, they quickly realised that success required teamwork, determination and persistence. Following the challenge, Rev. Matt introduced a parable from the Bible—the story of the unjust judge. He explained how the woman in the story kept returning to the judge, refusing to give up until she received justice. This demonstrated the power of persistence, showing that when we truly believe in something, we must keep trying and not lose heart. Rev. Matt linked this to prayer, reminding the children that when we speak to God, we should be just as persistent. The children then took a moment for reflection, considering the question: What is something you could pray for this week? They were encouraged to think about personal challenges, hopes for others or things happening in the world that they could bring to God in prayer. To conclude, Rev. Matt left the children with a powerful message: when we knock on God’s door through prayer, He will answer. This message reinforced the importance of faith, patience and perseverance in our relationship with God.
Join our PTFA
Friends of St Barnabas (FOSB) are always looking for volunteers. We would love for you to join us to help fundraise for our wonderful school. If you would like to volunteer, please contact us via email: [email protected] Thank you in advance for helping.
Year 3- Class Worship Delivered by WOW Group- Should YouTube have more rules for younger users?
Leonora, began class worship by asking the children to sign the trinity. Year 3, then discussed a news story about the UK government asking video platforms like YouTube and TikTok to feature more educational content for children. This led to a class discussion on whether YouTube should have stricter rules for younger users. We concluded with a prayer, asking for guidance in choosing positive content and for strength to support those who might be easily influenced.
Collective Worship: Year of Prayer
This morning in our Collective Worship, some of our WOW (Worship our Way) group members told everyone about the special way we would be praying in class this week as part of Blackburn Diocese's Year of Prayer. In class we will be saying special fingerprint prayers to say thank you to God for making us all unique and special, just like our fingerprints. They then handed out ink pads for each class. Then we moved on to our whole school year of prayer focus and this week it was special toe prayers for our friends. The children enjoyed wiggling each of their toes whilst saying prayers for 5 special friends. Sofia put the special toes sticker onto our Year of Prayer poster. We then sang some of our favourite worship songs and each class had the chance to perform the actions at the front. This week we warmed up our voices by singing and dancing to Sing a new song to the Lord and then we sang Jesus strong and kind, Waymaker, Life in all its fullness and finished with Build Up.
Year 3- Art- Tie-dyeing a t-shirt
In today's afternoon's art session, Year 3 engaged in tie-dyeing. After watching a short clip on how to tie-dye a t-shirt the children carefully scrunched, folded, or coiled up their T-shirts and secured them with elastic bands. They then picked their favourite colours and mixed them in separate bottles, linking to their mood boards from our last art session. After applying the dye, each child's T-shirt was placed in a plastic bag labelled with their name. It is recommended to let the dye permeate the cloth overnight if possible, as it takes several hours for the colours to develop fully. The next day, the t-shirts were washed in cold water and left to dry, ready to be worn.
Year 3- P.E- Target Games
Today in P.E, Year 3 enjoyed a variety of target games. We began with a quick warm-up and concluded with a thorough cool-down that included stretching. For the first activity, 'Spearing the Disc,' children were divided into groups of 6-8. Two children rolled a hoop back and forth, while the remaining children attempted to roll a ball between them so that it passed through the moving hoop. After a set time, the roles were switched. In the second game, 'Beanbag Boccia,' teams of 3-4 competed using beanbags of their assigned colour. One team member threw a different coloured beanbag (the Jack) into the designated area. Players then took turns underhand throwing their beanbags, aiming to land them closer to the Jack than their opponents. Underhand throwing technique was emphasised, including facing the direction of the throw, stepping forward with the opposite foot, and following through with the arm. It was great to see lots of encouragement and support from other teams.
Foodie Friends club- Delicious Flapjacks
Today in Foodie Club, the junior bakers' made delicious flapjacks, some with raisins and some without. They carefully measured the flour and sugar, but the syrup was the trickiest part, sticky and stubborn, it clung to the spoon and added an extra challenge. They chopped the butter into small pieces and mixed everything thoroughly. It was a fun and messy experience that everyone enjoyed.
Holocaust Memorial Day Worship
Our first collective worship of the week had a serious and somber tone as we held in our thoughts and prayers all of the Jews who suffered in the Holocaust. We looked out of our spirituality windows to learn how the Nazis did not show love to their Jewish neighbours like God commanded but instead treated them really badly during World War II. We watched a BBC interview with a Jewish survivor, who described some of the personal tragedies he faced at the young age of 6 when his family sent him away to save his life from the Nazi regime. He shared how he travelled on the Kindertransport and a British family showed him love and compassion and became the light in the dark. Through our spirituality mirrors we were able to reflect on how hearing of these events made us feel, and how the Jews must have felt back then. Finally, through our spirituality doors we learned of the many survivors who have worked tirelessly to make people aware of the devastation that was caused so that it would never happen again. We reflected on how we should always love our neighbours regardless of whether they look like you, pray like you, speak like you or think like you and stand up to anyone who is being mean to others.
Rotakids Non-uniform day to support those affected by the LA fires.
As part of Year 5 RotaKids, we are determined to make a difference and support the 180,000 people who have been affected and forced to flee their homes due to the devastating LA wildfires. On Friday, 31st January, RotaKids will be hosting a non-uniform day to raise money for those impacted by this tragic event. We encourage everyone to get involved by wearing their favourite clothes and contributing to this important cause. We kindly ask for a minimum donation of £1, but any additional contributions will be greatly appreciated. This will be available on parent pay next week. Every penny raised will go towards helping families rebuild their lives and providing essential supplies to those in need. This is a wonderful opportunity to teach our children the value of helping others and making a positive impact on the world around us. Thank you for your generosity and support, Year 5 RotaKids
Choir - Let’s Go Sing Workshop
Today our Choir took part in their final workshop with Gaynor in preparation for the Let’s Go Sing concert in March. The children are working really hard on the lyrics to each song and Gaynor was super impressed with their confidence, enthusiasm and actions. As we’ve said before, we are certainly a small but mighty choir! I’m sure they are going to blow us all away when they perform on the second biggest stage in the world at Blackpool Winter Gardens, and we can’t wait to watch them singing their hearts out.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on another busy week in school. This week, our school staff have had some Makaton training which was wonderful and we can’t wait to roll some of the key signs out across school. We’ve also enjoyed some fantastic Life Education sessions led by Karen and Harold the Giraffe and Reception, Year 1, 2 and 4 have continued with their wonderful dance and gymnastics sessions led by Rothwell Arts. We then congratulated Hadi, Samuel and Eve in EYFS and KS1 and Joshua, Layla, Millie and Will in KS2 for demonstrating an outstanding attitude to learning, pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and always showing our Christian Values of respect, friendship and courage. Furthermore, we congratulated Reception and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen as our overall value award winners this week with 304 points and our Year 5/6 football team who represented our school amazingly well last night in the DPSSA football league winning 6-2 in their first game and 7-1 in their second game and achieving 2nd place overall- well done boys! We then congratulated Ava for being awarded ‘Star of the Day’ at Multi-Sports Club, Olly for swimming an incredible 50m, Samuel for developing his confidence in swimming and swimming with only a one-arm disc, Grace for achieving a distinction in her ballet exam and a platinum award for scoring 90 or marks in her classical ballet exam, Eliza for being a phenomenal horse rider, Sofia for achieving ‘Star of the Week’ at musical theatre and Millie for being awarded with her a Stage 1 swimming certificate. We then heard from our well-being warriors who launched a competition. They are inviting our whole school to design a badge for our ‘WOW’ campaign. The theme for this is ‘Walk With Joy’ and the designs must be big, bold and colourful. There will be a winner in each year group (Rec-Year 6) who will receive a special prize from Mrs Gardener and the well-being warriors and the overall top 5 designs will be sent off, printed and made into one of the ‘WOW’ badges for the 2025/2026 ‘Walking to School’ campaign. Examples of badge designs could include wildlife or pets, local buildings or landmarks and hobbies. We also heard from our Rotakids in Year 5 who told us about a non-uniform day that we will be having next Friday 31st January to raise funds for food, shelter and first aid supplies for those in America who are being affected by the LA wildfires. Please make a minimum donation of £1 for this worthy cause. To end our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Archie, Max and Phoebe who prayed for those less fortunate than ourselves, including those in America who are amidst the wildfires and having to live through fear and heartbreak. We then sang our 'Life in all its fullness' song and thanked those who could attend celebration worship. We thank the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 3- English- Identifying features of a playscript
In English, Year 3 looked at what makes a playscript and how it’s different from a regular story. To get ready for writing their own playscripts based on the film Soar, they worked with familiar stories like Jack and the Beanstalk, The Gingerbread Man, and Little Red Riding Hood. There were plenty of giggles as they acted out different parts, which really helped them think about how to make things exciting for an audience, use stage directions, and figure out timing and scenes.
Worship with Rev. Ben
Today’s worship with Rev. Ben began with a lively game of Captain’s Orders. In the game, forgiveness was straightforward—a simple cue to face the window—but in real life, forgiving someone is often much harder. Rev. Ben explained that one of the things Jesus taught us is that forgiveness can be challenging because we may not always have the right perspective. The children then listened to The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, which highlighted that true forgiveness comes from the heart. Through this parable, Jesus illustrated the importance of showing others the same grace and forgiveness that we receive. Afterward, the children engaged in a thoughtful discussion, exploring key questions such as: What did Jesus want people to learn about forgiveness from the parable? and How could this story help you in situations where you need to forgive others? The discussion encouraged the children to reflect on the value of forgiveness and how it can bring peace to their lives and relationships.
Year 3- Meet the Brain!
This afternoon, Year 3 enjoyed a visit from the Life Education Van, led by Karen. She shared fascinating insights about how our brains work and emphasised the importance of energy, oxygen, and exercise to keep them healthy. The children were also delighted to reunite with Harold the Giraffe, who made a special appearance after last year’s visit. Harold was impressed by how much the children had grown and commented on their maturity.
Year 3- Class Meeting-Big Debate Club | Should schools teach basic survival skills?
The Communication Team organised an exciting debate for the entire school this week. The topic: Should schools teach us basic survival skills? Lottie led the session, while Joshua took notes. The groups explored the importance of survival skills, such as building a fire, navigating using a map and compass, and handling first aid emergencies. They said these skills could help us stay safe in tricky situations and be more independent. One group, of students said we don’t need those skills right now because we have mobile phones to help us . But then someone pointed out—what happens if your phone dies and you’re stuck with no battery? We are now waiting to find out the winning vote.
After-school- Foodie Friends Club- Yummy, fruit scones.
In Foodie Club today, KS2 bakers made some delicious fruit scones. They did a great job weighing out the flour and adding just the right amount of sugar. They mixed in sultanas, then rubbed the butter into the flour. After that, they rolled out the dough and used cutters to shape their scones. Everyone had a brilliant time, and the best part -they got to take their scones home while they were still hot from the oven.
Year 3- Art- Weaving inspired by Anni Albers
This afternoon in Art, Year 3 explored weaving techniques inspired by artist Anni Albers. Using thick card as their base, the children created woven pieces with wool and ribbon. To deepen their understanding, the children watched short video clips demonstrating various weaving methods and their historical significance: 'Carpet Weaving' 'Hand Weaving' 'Palm Weaving' These clips highlighted the long tradition of weaving, which has been practiced for thousands of years, using a wide range of materials, from natural threads to modern synthetic fibers. Before starting their projects, the children referred to the mood boards. They carefully selected a colour that matched the themes or emotions reflected in their boards. When weaving, they alternated the wool and ribbon strips in an under-over-under-over pattern, ensuring each piece was pushed tightly into the weave. They continued this process, repeating the pattern, until all the strips were integrated into their designs. They were thrilled with the outcome and in awe with they created.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our Celebration Worship by reflecting on another busy week in school. This week, we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and thought about how we can all make a positive difference in our world. We have enjoyed focusing on the theme of building each other up as part of our Year of Prayer, Reception, Year 1, 2 and 4 have enjoyed dance and gymnastics sessions led by Rothwell Arts. Reception have enjoyed a visit from Rev Ben to learn about the role of a vicar and we have enjoyed various after-school clubs such as basketball, multi-sports, foodie club, Rocksteady and choir. We then congratulated Will, Hollie and Charlie in EYFS and KS1 and Arabelle, Daisy, Charlie and Rosie in KS2 for making a fantastic start to the Spring term by working extremely hard across the curriculum, always striving to improve and demonstrating our Christian Values and the Barny’s 4Bs. Furthermore, we congratulated Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, India Mill as our overall value award winners this week with 750 points and our Year 5/6 football team who represented our school amazingly well last night in the DPSSA football league against Ashleigh and St James’. We then congratulated Ella for achieving her Stage 2 swimming certificate for swimming across the pool with no armbands, Freddie for being awarded with his 10m swimming certificate, Callie for achieving her Stage 5 swimming certificate, Thomas for swimming an incredible 50m, Lyla for being a super gymnast and achieving a silver medal, Haydn for being awarded a huge gold trophy for his skilful tackling in football, Lydia for being awarded with Olivia at Rainbows for showing super respect and tidying up, Leonora and Iris for participating in a recent gymnastic competition and demonstrating great skill and Brooke for being selected for Blackburn Rovers Girls’ team. To end our worship, we prayed for peace in the world and said thank you for all of the things that we are lucky enough to have. We then sang ‘Build Up’ and thanked those who could attend celebration worship. We thank the rest of our school family for all of your continued support and we wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 3- Online Safety-TikTok
This afternoon, Year 3 discussed the TikTok app. Many children mentioned that they were unfamiliar with it or only used it under parental supervision. We explored the app's features, such as creating and sharing short videos, adding music, and using effects and filters. The children worked in small groups to discuss its advantages, such as creativity and entertainment, as well as potential risks and why it is age-restricted. This helped them understand the importance of using apps responsibly and with guidance.
Year 3- P.E- Gymnastics-Demonstrate balances on 2 and 3 points of the body.
Year 3 began their gymnastics unit this afternoon focused on balance and movement. To start, they practised balancing on one leg, extending the other leg backwards with a pointed foot, and then switching sides. We discussed the quality of a good balance, emphasising the importance of stillness. Next, the children explored balancing on four points (two hands and two feet) and discussed whether it felt easier and why. They then experimented with balancing on smaller body parts, trying positions with 1, 2, 3, or 4 points of contact. It was a fantastic start to the gymnastics unit, with plenty of creativity, teamwork, and fun.
Worship with Rev. Matt
Today’s worship with Rev. Matt began with an engaging vote about which activities take the most time to prepare for. Rev. Matt then shared a parable told by Jesus, illustrating how we pray and connect with God. The story featured two men who went to a temple to pray: a Pharisee, who proudly listed his good deeds and a tax collector, who humbly asked for forgiveness. The children reflected on the contrasting attitudes of the two men, learning that prayer is not about boasting but about speaking honestly and sincerely with God. Rev. Matt emphasised a powerful message from the parable: Those who make themselves great will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be made great. This served as a reminder to approach life with humility and gratitude, encouraging the children to think about how they communicate with God and with others.
Year 3- R.E- A Sensory Story- The man lowered through the roof
During our R.E lesson today, we explored into a 'Sensory Story' about the man who was lowered through the roof to reach Jesus. To bring this narrative to life, the children engaged in a role-play. We used props such as stretchers, small figurines representing the friends carrying the man, and a blue mat symbolising the ground after Jesus instructed the paralyzed man, 'Get up and go home.' The children used their imaginations to fully immerse themselves in the story through a multi-sensory experience involving touch, sound, and movement. To express their gratitude and praise to God, the children joyfully waved colorful ribbons.
Whole School Worship - Who Is My Neighbour?
In our collective worship, we were considering the question, “Who is my neighbour?” We discussed what it means to love your neighbour as yourself (as mentioned in parts of the Bible such as Leviticus and the Gospel according to Mark) and that there are times when it can be incredibly difficult. In hearing about the life of Martin Luther King Jr, as today is Martin Luther King Jr Day, we discovered that, even when it feels impossible to love our neighbour, when we are mistreated, ignored or disrespected as he and other black people have been, we must try harder to follow God’s greatest commandment, just like Martin did. Our children considered this and spent some time reflecting on the Christian Values that Martin demonstrated and the ways that they would like to make the world a better place and make a difference. Some of the children’s examples included: protecting nature, making peace when we have disagreements, putting a stop to pollution and eradicating poverty. We finished with prayers thanking God for Martin Luther King Jr and all that he did to the make the world a better place and asked Him to give us the courage to stand up for what is right. Rev Ben finished with a special blessing and we sang 'I can make a difference'.
Year 3- Class Worship- Pour your heart out with prayers
In our class worship today, we watched a Worship Together across the Diocese video with a story about Hannah from the Bible. This story teaches us that we can pour out our hearts to God in prayer, and he always listens. Some children prayed to be kind and helpful to others, to make good choices, to have the courage to try new things and for there to be peace in the world Bishop Philip also spoke about how prayer gives us hope.
Year 3- Art- Making a Mood Board
Year 3 budding artists created their mood boards today, using a selection of items. Through this activity, they expressed their personalities and showcased what was important to them. Their choices included pictures of their families, symbols representing their favourite sports or hobbies, images of their role models, and drawings or stickers of school-related themes. Some even added items representing their love for nature, like leaves, flowers, or favourite colours and patterns. They were also able to explain their choices and the significance behind them, sharing what makes each aspect meaningful to them.
Collective Worship- Year of Prayer
This morning in our Collective Worship we focused on our prayer for this week of the Year of Prayer from Blackburn Diocese. We discussed and shared our responsibilities in school and at home such as cleaning our rooms, loading the dishwasher, helping look after younger siblings, helping with the cooking and cleaning, counting values points (Heads and Deputies) and planning and leading sports events (Sports Leaders) . We then said together a special prayer for our responsibilities and discussed how God is always with us during those responsibilities and having a smile on face whilst carrying them out benefits others. Mrs Ham then shared the responsibility of selecting songs to sing and choosing children to demonstrate the actions at the front. The children chose to sing 'Life is always better when we share it with each other', 'Waymaker' 'My Lighthouse' and 'Build Up'. Build up is also the theme for our class Year of Prayer this week too. Our WOW group members informed each class of the special build up prayers they would be saying this week.
Foodie Friends club- Puff pastry pizzas
Years 3, 4, 5, and 6 had the best time at Foodie Club today. The chefs got creative making delicious puff pastry pizzas. They chopped tomatoes and pineapples, and some even bravely tried fresh basil for the first time. Everyone loved choosing their toppings, including sweetcorn, pineapple, fresh basil, cheese, tomato paste, and cherry tomatoes sprinkled with oregano. They went down an absolute treat.
Year 3- P.E- Mastering the Art of Dodging.
Year 3 began their new P.E. unit on tag and target games today by learning the fundamental skill of dodging. To practice, they played a fun game called Ice Monster Tag. In this game, a few children were designated as Ice Monsters, holding softballs, while others became 'Fire Gods' with red air balls. The rest of the children had to dodge and avoid being tagged by the Ice Monsters. When tagged, players stood still with their hands ready to catch a ball, waiting for a Fire God to unfreeze them. To make things more interesting, the next round introduced safe areas, marked with mats, where players could avoid being tagged. The class then worked together to decide on fair rules for the safe areas, such as how long a player could stay there, what to do if someone else wanted the space, and how many safe places to include. It was a fantastic start to the unit, great teamwork from Year 3.
Year 3- Archery and Axe Throwing
This afternoon, the children had a great time learning archery and axe throwing. In archery, they practised their stance, learned how to nock an arrow, and aimed at the target, it was great watching their skills improve with every shot. They also gave axe throwing a go, working on their accuracy and focus.
Year 3- English- Identifying features of a shape poem
This week in English, Year 3 have been identifying features of shape poems. To get the children inspired, I read some shape poems aloud, and they used their whiteboards to draw the amazing images that popped into their minds. They were incredibly creative. We also identified key features of shape poems, such as how their shape reflects the subject matter and how they often use vivid language to bring the poem to life. The children read a variety of shape poems, including examples like a mountain, a tree, a snowflake, and a raindrop, which helped the children understand how these unique forms can enhance the meaning and impact of a poem.
Year 3- R.E- How did the arrival of Jesus change the world?
This afternoon in R.E, we explored the meaning of the word 'Emmanuel,' which means 'God with us.' We then listened to the lyrics of the song 'Emmanuel, God with Us' and created a list of what Christians believe about Jesus based on the song's message. We then engaged in a discussion about how Christians believe Jesus continues to make a significant impact on the world today. Some of the suggestions were, he provides us with hope, inspires individuals to live good lives and help others, and teaches us the importance of loving everyone. To further illustrate the concept of God's presence in our lives, we watched a captivating video of the traditional tale of Papa Pános, a heartwarming story that beautifully demonstrates how God is always with us.
Worship with Rev. Ben- God is always listening
Rev. Ben's worship began with an engaging activity exploring creative ways to get people's attention. The children enthusiastically shared their ideas, suggesting: making gestures, creating signs, standing up, dancing, doing something funny, shouting names and waving. Rev. Ben then transitioned to discussing how, in Jesus' day, people had various ways of trying to get God's attention. He explained that Jesus told his people that it was very simple to get God to listen. The children watched a short clip that highlighted some of the ways people believed they could gain God's attention. They concluded that God is always listening, no matter what and that Jesus taught there’s no need for special rituals to communicate with God. Instead, Jesus encouraged everyone to talk to God anytime, anywhere and to speak to God like a friend. Following this, the children engaged in a thoughtful discussion. They explored the question, "What did Jesus say we should do when we pray?" and shared their personal responses to the idea, "If you could ask God for one thing, what would it be?" This reflection helped deepen their understanding of prayer and the nature of their relationship with God.
Year 3- Class Worship- Is it our responsibility to protect local wildlife?
During our worship today, we learned about Birdwatch, a special event where people help scientists learn about birds. We talked about whether we have a duty to protect the animals around us. The Bible teaches us to appreciate all of God's amazing creations, and that every creature has a special place in God's plan. We then thanked God for the wonderful world He made and showed our gratitude to those who work hard to study and protect wildlife.
Collective Worship- Epiphany
It was wonderful to welcome the children and staff back to school today after the Christmas holidays. We wished everyone a happy new year and welcomed Mrs Irshad, our new Year 5 and 6 teaching and welfare assistant to our school family. We got to light all of our special advent wreath candles of hope, peace, joy and love and the special white candle that symbolised Jesus, as we weren't in school on Christmas Day. We then learnt all about Epiphany and joined in with the rhyming Bible story 'one hump. two humps, lumpety lump'. which tells the story of the wise men visiting Herod and the baby Jesus. We discussed how Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to flee from Bethlehem as Herod planned to kill Jesus. Desmond told us that they were refugees. We then explored what the special gifts were that the wise men brought to baby Jesus and what they meant. Gold symbolised a King, Frankincense symbolised God and Myrrh symbolised sacrifice. Harry noticed that they were the words from our hymn 'We Three Kings' We reflected on how God has given us all special gifts and talents and we talked to our partner about our gifts and how we could share them with others. We shared some wonderful gifts such as huge smiles, hugs, football skills, art skills, our family and friends and the gift of kindness. We finished with a special Epiphany prayer along with the Year of Prayer putting on Holy clothes prayer and sang 'We Three Kings'. How will you share your gifts with others this week and show respect for other people's gifts?
Snowy start to the Spring term
We have had a snowy start to the Spring term at St Barnabas with a snow day at home yesterday and snow much fun with our friends today! All of the snow fun pictures from home and school can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/snowy-spring-2025-1
KS2 Christmas Church Service
This morning, we had a special Christmas Church Service led by Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 to celebrate Advent. Year 6 lit the first candle for hope and shared their hopes and dreams for the future. Leonora and Daisy shared their dream of being a teacher to inspire others in the same way that they have been inspired in their own education, Alice shared her dream of being a paediatric nurse to support children in their time of need and suffering, Matthew shared his hope of travelling the world and experiencing the awe and wonder it can offer, Oscar shared his desire to be a kind and respectful citizen as he grows into adolescence and adulthood and Jake shared the hope of being like his parents who love and care for him and inspire him every day to be kind and positive. Year 5 then showed their beautifully crafted origami doves, symbolising peace and hope. They then read their heartfelt prayers, expressing their wishes for peace. Year 4 lit the candle for joy and shared their wonderful metaphors for Jesus through artwork such as Jesus being a torch and a lighthouse. This symbolised the joy Jesus brings us. Finally, Year 3 told us about the final theme of Advent which was love. They spoke about how we are able to share love by being kind and supportive of one another and shared some examples of how Jesus showed love through the miracles that he performed. The candle for love will be lit this Sunday. To end our collective worship, Mrs Ham gave us a few moments to reflect on how we can spread hope, joy, peace and love this Christmas time. We had examples such as smiling, giving hugs and kisses, giving a high-five, making and giving someone a card, encouraging others to challenge and overcome things, letting others join in with our games and giving our friends and family the precious gift of time. She thanked all of the staff for their outstanding commitment to our school family, our parents for their fabulous support and our amazing children for being so well behaved and working so hard. We then heard from Rev Ben who shared a lovely Christmas blessing and we had the pleasure of watching our fabulous Christmas video which showcased all of the Christmas fun we have had over the last few weeks and it brought lots of joy and laughter to the whole congregation.
Christmas Lunch
We had a fabulous traditional Christmas lunch of roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, sweetcorn, yorkshire pudding, stuffing and gravy following by a Christmas shortbread biscuit. It was lovely to pull crackers with our friends and sing along to our favourite Christmas songs. Thank you so much to Mrs Norton, Miss Beech and Miss Norton for the wonderful food and to all the staff who helped serve the children!
FOSB Fundraiser Thank you
Good morning, A huge thank you to you all for your support with our recent fundraisers. Our total profit from our spooky disco was £426.89. Our total profit from our Christmas gifts and cards fundraiser was £222.12. Our total profit from our Christmas Fayre was £810.08. This means we have raised £1459.09 Thank you to our FOSB for all of their support and help with planning and running our fundraisers. The money will help us to purchase chrome books and repair our trim trail. Thank you, Mrs Wilkinson
India Mill Winners Disco
Well done to our children who are in India Mill House Team. Their team won the most Values points this half term and were rewarded with a non-uniform day and a disco. The children enjoyed some sweets, danced lots and played musical bumps too.
Autumn Amazing Attendance Alert
A huge congratulations to all of our children who were awarded with an amazing attendance award for having over 96% attendance, for the whole of this Autumn term! We are so proud of you all! There have been quite a few winter bugs doing the rounds so if you didn't manage to get a certificate this time due to being off poorly, we are hopeful that you will achieve one at the end of the Spring term, if you continue to have good attendance.
Collective Worship- Love at Advent
This morning in our collective worship we walked in to the song 'Wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas' which is from one of Mrs Ham's favourite Christmas films, The Muppets Christmas Carol. We then signed and lit our trinity candles and then lit our advent candles of hope, peace and joy. We then learnt about the fourth candle, which represents love. We watched a special video called from God with love which told God's big story and how he loves us so much that he sent his special son, Jesus. We then reflected on how we can show love to others this Christmas and we had some wonderful ideas such as smiling, giving our time, hugs, food for the homeless, giving presents and showing gratitude for everything we have. We thought about all of the lovely ways we have shown love to others over the last week through singing in care homes, delivering Christmas cards to East Lancs Hospice and bringing joy to others with our Nativity and Christmas Cracker Concerts. We then said a special prayer thanking God for his most amazing gift of Jesus and sang some Christmas carols. Whilst we were singing, Mrs Ham gave every single child in our school family a special gift of a small wooden heart with love engraved on it to remind us that God loves us, she loves us, all the teachers love us and our friends and family love us. She explained that everytime we look at it we can remember how loved we are and it can encourage us to show love to others in all the fantastic ways we thought of earlier.
Year 3- Class Worship- Love- Christmas Cards
In today’s worship, Year 3 enjoyed learning about the history of Christmas cards, from when the first postcard was made to how they’ve changed over the years. We talked about how things like rising postage costs have led to more people sending digital or hand-delivered cards. The children shared their own family Christmas traditions and thought about the real meaning of the season, focusing on the story of Jesus’ birth. Lyla ended the worship by reading a prayer, thanking God for all the joy and excitement that Christmas brings.
Year 3- Edstart Basketball taster session
Year 3 had a great basketball taster session with Marcus from Edstart this afternoon. The children practised key skills, including dribbling, chest passes, and passing the ball to teammates. Two standout stars were: Bindi, who won the bottle for her encouraging words to her peers, and Isaac, who received a certificate for his outstanding effort throughout the session. The children were also excited to hear about a new afterschool basketball club starting in the new year, and Year 3 can’t wait to sign up!
Year 3- Advent trail- Rose Garden
Year 3 enjoyed exploring the Advent trail at Whitehall Park's Rose Garden. Working in pairs, the children answered questions about the amazing artwork created by our students. Some of the questions included spotting how many stars they could find, counting how many baby Jesus’ were depicted, and identifying where the birth of Jesus took place in the scenes. Well done to Naomi and Jacob, who were the first to finish the quiz. To spread festive cheer, the class also sang festive songs like "Jingle Bells," "Ding Dong," and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," bringing joy to everyone around.
Year 3- Art- Making Christmas cards
After class worship and learning about the importance of sharing joy, the children decided to make hanging Christmas cards for their loved ones. They thoughtfully chose their favourite colours and designs, using strips of sugar paper to decorate their cards by sticking them diagonally across a Christmas tree shape. Each card was created with care and contained a beautiful message for their loved ones, making them truly meaningful gifts.
November WOW Winners - Year 3
Congratulations to Year 3 who have gained the most badges for the month of November for either walking, parking and striding or taking part in the 1K a day in school. It’s the second time that Year 3 have been awarded with the trophy so it shows how committed they are to active travel - well done!
Whole School Celebration Worship
During this week’s celebration worship, we reflected on the theme of joy this Advent, alongside the lighting of the peace and hope candles as part of our preparations for Christmas. We discussed how joy can be found in simple moments and acts of kindness, and the children were reminded of the many wonderful events that brought happiness throughout the week. These included the Rocksteady concert, where children showcased their musical talents, the magical pantomime Aladdin on Ice, the school Pantivity Production and the festive fun of the Christmas Fair. Our Values Award winners were celebrated with great applause: Harry in Reception, Molly in Year 1, Evie in Year 2, Chay in Year 3, Sofia in Year 4, Elsie in Year 5, and Poppy in Year 6. Their contributions to school life have been amazing and have been reflected in their awards. Year 1 and Year 4 were also recognised as the winners of this week’s attendance award for their commitment to being present and ready to learn. A heartfelt special thank you was given to all the children who contributed their creative talents to produce the stunning Christmas artwork now proudly displayed in the Rose Garden at Whitehall Park. This beautiful display adds a festive touch to the community and each class will now take a trip to the park to admire all the children’s artwork. Prayers were shared during the worship, led by the children, who asked for peace in countries experiencing conflict and war, kindness to those without food or shelter, and blessings for everyone to have a safe, warm, and joyful Christmas. The Team Values Points results were eagerly awaited, with Darwen Tower placing fourth, India Mill third, River Darwen second, and Whitehall Park taking first place for the week. In addition, India Mill was announced as the overall half-term winner, earning a well-deserved non-uniform day and disco celebration as a reward for their hard work and teamwork throughout the term. This will take place on the last Thursday of the term. We proudly acknowledged the remarkable achievements of our children. Lydia was recognised for earning her Rainbows Influencer Skills Builder badge and for taking action to make a difference, while Naomi received her Christmas badge for Brownies. Isabella celebrated swimming 5 meters, and Lyla earned a Medal with Rothwell Arts for her dedication to ballet. Marnie May was applauded for her accomplishments in tap dancing and gymnastics and Grace achieved her Bronze Award for earning multiple badges at Brownies. Olivia was named Star of the Week for her excellent performance in gymnastics and Tristen celebrated earning his blue belt in kickboxing. Scarlett shone with her Netball Shooting Award, while Oliver achieved a swimming award for swimming 5 meters. Elana was recognised for her Rainbows Influencer Skills Builder and taking action and Luna was honored as Dancer of the Day. Alice and Evie were recognised as they performed beautifully in Over the Bridge and Leonora and Desmond proudly represented their swimming competition in the regionals. Well done to all for these incredible accomplishments! The worship concluded on a high note, with everyone coming together to sing joyful Christmas songs, filling the room with festive cheer.
Whitehall Park Rose Garden Art Trail
Thank you to all the children who created fantastic Art work for our ADVENTure trail at the Whitehall Park. A selection of the Art work is now on display in the Rose Garden for everyone to see. All classes will be visiting next week to look at the Art work, talk about the Nativity story and sing some Christmas carols to get us all in the festive spirit!
Worship with Rev. Ben
During worship with Rev. Ben, the children began by playing a game of "Spot the Difference," where they had to identify which picture was missing from a selection of displayed images. Following this, Rev. Ben shared the story of Daniel and the Lions' Den. The children learned how Daniel, despite knowing that following God and continuing to pray would put him in danger, trusted in God and was unharmed by the lions. This led to a thoughtful discussion about Daniel's courage and faith. The children then reflected on how they could show courage in their own lives, drawing inspiration from Daniel’s example.
Not Getting Inn!
Our whole school was treated to a modern day version of the Nativity story. 4Front Theatre put on a wonderful production for our children. There was lots of laughter, singing and chanting throughout. Most importantly, there was a wonderful heartfelt message at the end of hope and joy. The photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/not-getting-inn-1
Whole School Worship: Joy at Advent
This week, our advent theme is JOY. We learned about the joy of Jesus’s birth and how we can bring joy into the lives of others this Christmas. We looked at the John Lewis advert about the man in the moon and how the little girl brought joy to the man, who had been very lonely. We also watched an alternative to the original advert about a girl searching for God and when she almost gave up looking, he sent to her his greatest gift: his son, Jesus. We finished with a look at all of the ways our classes have been bringing joy to each other and the community, including litter picking and singing in the local care home and reflected on how we can bring joy to to others this Christmas.
Aladdin on Ice
The children are all very excited for Aladdin on Ice at Planet Ice. We are very lucky and appear to have the best seats in the house! Oh no we haven't, oh yes we have!! All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/aladdin-on-ice
Aladdin on Ice
Our whole school family watched Aladdin on Ice this afternoon at Planet Ice. We all got involved in lots of singing and dancing at the beginning. Santa, a snowman and even the Grinch made an appearance! During the show it was wonderful to see so many talented ice dancers and actors. We enjoyed a bag of sweets as a treat and some of us even got to high five members of the cast. A well deserved Christmas treat for all of our children. All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/aladdin-on-ice
Whole School- Design Technolgy
This half term, our students have been busy creating a range of designs in Design Technology. From Reception's wooden Christmas decorations to Year 6's electronic steady hand games, our children have showcased their imaginative and creativity skills. Year 1 brought their imaginations to life, creating interactive moving storybooks using slider mechanisms. Year 2 developed their sewing skills, designing and creating a range of Christmas puppets. Year 3 designed and made festive pouches, perfect for holding small gifts or treats. Year 4 stitched up Christmas stockings, ready to hang by the chimney, finally, Year 5 created festive cushions. These creations were showcased and sold at our Christmas Fayre. We're incredibly proud of the hard work and imagination our students have demonstrated in these festive DT projects.
Year 3- Design Technology- Christmas themed pouches
Year 3 have been busy in Design Technology this term, creating their very own pouches and building on skills they’ve learned in previous years. They’ve practised sewing a running stitch, keeping their stitches neat and making sure both ends were securely knotted. They carefully prepared and cut fabric using a template, stitched the pieces together, and creatively decorated their pouches with the materials provided. It’s been amazing to see how much effort they’ve put in, tackling challenges along the way and improving their skills with every step. Now, they’re excited to show off their fantastic designs at the school Christmas Fair. Well done, Year 3 – your hard work has paid off!
Year 3- Maths- Making arrays using counters
This week in Maths, Year 3 mathematicians have been deepening their understanding of arrays by working with counters. They’ve practiced arranging counters into rows and columns, exploring a variety of combinations. Using concrete materials has made their learning both engaging and enjoyable, helping to reinforce key concepts effectively.
Year 3- Science - Functions of a muscle
Today in Science, Year 3 matched animals to their skeletons and investigated the structure and function of muscles, including their classification, location, and role in movement. As part of their learning, they created a model arm using cards and elastic to demonstrate how muscles work. By using cards for the bones and elastic bands to represent the tendons, the children were able to visualise how muscles pull on bones to create movement.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on another week in school. This week, we have been thinking about peace and how this is especially important at this time of the year when things can feel busy and chaotic on the run up to Christmas. We also thought about our many highlights such as watching the fabulous Nativity Performances led by Reception, the final dance sessions in KS2 with Rothwell Arts, our fabulous choir and their siblings bringing lots of festive cheer to the residents at Acer Lodge Care Home in Blackburn yesterday evening and our Year 5/6 football team for representing school at Witton Park last night and bagging several wins. We then congratulated Marnie-May, Percy and Fletcher in EYFS and KS1 and James, Desmond, Bella and Jake for being the individual value award winners this week. Furthermore, we congratulated Reception and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen as our overall value award winners this week with 451 points and Year 3 on being the overall ‘Walk to School’ winners for the month of November. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Thea for achieving a super 5m in swimming, Ralphy for being a superstar swimmer and being awarded his Duckling 1, 2 and 3 award and his Stage 1 and 2 award, Reggie and Albie for having the best decorated tractor at the Turton Young Farmers Tractor Run at the weekend, Beau and Haydn for achieving a fabulous 10m in her swimming, James for winning ‘Player of the Match’ at Darwen FC Aces, Hollie for achieving stage 2 in her swimming, Callie for being a wonderful swimmer and achieving her 10m backstroke and butterfly, Stage 8 in her gymnastics and working exceptionally hard at Stage Coach, Archie for being awarded his orange belt in kickboxing, Harriet for achieving 200m in her swimming and Stage 4 water skills award, Grace for being awarded two medals for ballet and acro dancing, Penelope for gaining the ‘Most Improved dancer’ in Acro at Rothwell Arts, Renee for gaining her white belt at kickboxing and her Stage 2 in swimming, Eleanor for achieving her Stage 2 at swimming and Charlie for achieving Stage 4 at swimming. To end our worship, we had two beautiful prayers from Lydia and Harry who said a prayer for refugees and keeping them safe as they flee their countries. We then sang ‘We Three Kings’ and ‘Ding Dong.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Worship with Rev. Matt
During worship with Rev. Matt, the children began with a lively game of musical statues, setting a joyful tone for the session. They then listened attentively to the story of The Men Who Liked to Say No, which illustrated how unwavering faith can triumph over even the greatest challenges. The story emphasised the courage and resilience needed to stand firm in one's beliefs. Following the story, the children engaged in a thoughtful reflection on its message. They discussed the true meaning of Christmas, explored practical ways to do good, even in difficult situations. They shared ideas on how small acts of kindness and faith can make a big difference, connecting the lessons of the story to their own lives. It was a meaningful session that left the children inspired to carry the spirit of Christmas into their everyday actions.
Year 3- PSHE- Making Smart Choices Online
Today in PSHE, we learned how to be smart online detectives! The children worked in groups to identify which statements were true or false about the trustworthiness of websites. We also discussed the importance of checking if information on websites is reliable. We learned to use tools like fact-checking, website checkups, looking for multiple sources, and asking adults for help. We also listed some of the websites we know, like YouTube, BBC News, Instagram, Snapchat and Roblox, and discussed how some websites are more trustworthy than others. Just like we wouldn't believe everything we read in a book, we should be careful about the information we find online.
Year 3- D.T- Finishing touches
The Year 3 Elves are nearing the end of their Christmas-themed pouch project. They've worked hard on techniques like running stitch, fabric joining, and knot-tying. Now, they're helping each other and considering the overall look of their pouches.
Year 3- P.E-Showcasing Our Dance Skills
Year 3 showcased their best bridges, handstands, and cartwheels for their final dance lesson with Rothwell Dance. Arabelle and Bobby Ray were our stars of the day and were recognised for their dedication and outstanding performance.
Collective Worship: Peace at Advent
Our school is starting to get ready for Christmas and has been decorated. There was one final job to do- our youngest child, Annie placed the star on our Christmas tree. This week we started our worship by looking at the Year of Prayer, which we will be taking part in along with lots of other schools from across our Diocese. Our WOW group explained what we would be focusing on this week in classes. All classes will have a go at alphabet prayers. The children will all think about something that brings joy to them. We then looked at our whole school focus which was on the value of peace. Mrs Wilkinson led the children in prayer. Mrs Wilkinson recapped what Christians focus on in the first week of advent: hope. She lit the first Advent candle. We then looked at what we would be focussing on this week which was peace. The children watched a video all about peace. Leonora said that if we experience conflict in school, we could walk away or not argue with our friends and remain at peace. Matthew said smiling brings us joy and peace. We all reflected on what the world would be like if it was always at peace. The children discussed how loving everyone can bring peace. We ended our worship by singing 'We Three Kings' and 'Ding Dong'.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Today, every child in school helped to decorate our real Christmas tree in the hall. They have been busy decorating their classrooms too so it really is beginning to look and feel like Christmas! On Monday, as part of our St Barnabas tradition, the youngest child in our school will place the star on top of the tree in Worship.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on another very busy week in school. On Monday, we started the week by introducing our children to the Diocese ‘Year of Prayer Challenge,’ we’ve had some fabulous clubs such as sportshall athletics, choir, lego and football training, great enthusiasm whilst rehearsing for our Christmas productions and making Christmas products in our D&T units to sell at our Christmas Fair. We then congratulated our individual value award winners. Well done to Minnie, Olivia and Marley in EYFS and KS1 and Cassidy, Peyton, Theo and Grace in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these fabulous children for consistently showing our Christian Values, Barney’s 4Bs and always demonstrating a positive attitude to learning. We also congratulated Elsie, Mollie, Haydn, Joey, Archie, Seb, Mila, Lyla and Heidi for representing school in the KS1 Multi-Skills Festival at St Bedes, our amazing Sports Leaders for supporting this KS1 Multi-Skills event and our fantastic Year 5/6 football team who represented school at BRFC Kids Cup. Despite their defeat, they bounced back amazingly and had two successes last night against St Edwards and Avondale. Well done boys! Furthermore, we congratulated Year 1 and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park as our overall value award winners this week with 296 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Vienna for swimming 100m without armbands and achieving her Stage 4, Arabelle for achieving Stage 5 in her swimming, Haydn for achieving his 5m and Stage 3 in his swimming, Sofia for achieving a medal for demonstrating great perseverance in her commercial dancing, Lyla for her fabulous audition as Glinda in Wicked, Grace for her fabulous dance talent, Eleanor for being a super Rainbow, Mollie for achieving her Stage 1 water skills award, Elsie for achieving 75m without armbands in her swimming, Olivia for getting Emily at Brownies for demonstrating kindness and using her manners, Beau for being awarded her Stage 2 at swimming, James for achieving the team captain arm band this week at football and Matthew for playing and winning in a special tournament for Manchester United at the weekend. We then said a farewell to a valuable member of staff, Mrs Stanton. We thank her for her dedication over the past 18 months in her role as Key Stage 2 Teaching Assistant and previously in her role as office admin. We wish her all the best in her new role as a design and technology teacher. To end our worship, we had three beautiful prayers from Hamza, Leonora and Olivia who said prayers about appreciating all the things that we can sometimes take for granted and being grateful for everything that we receive this Christmas. We then sang ‘Ding Dong' with great enthusiasm! We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 3- Big Debate Club- Can you ever truly know what happened in history?
The children had a big debate about whether we can truly know what happened in history. Some said we can, because we have things like old letters and pictures, and scientists can figure out how old things are. Others said we can't know for sure, because sometimes things get lost or people might not tell the whole truth. It's a tricky question, and it makes us think about how we learn about the past.
Worship with Rev. Ben
During worship with Rev. Ben, the children explored the story of Daniel and "the boys who liked to say no." Worship began with a fun game of yes or no, where the children decided which foods they would or wouldn’t eat. In the story, Daniel and his friends said no to the king’s food to show their obedience to God. Because they supported one another and remained loyal to their faith, they were granted strength and looked healthy. Rev. Ben explained that, unlike Daniel and his friends, Christians today don’t follow food rules in the same way. However, there are many ways we can remember God in our daily lives. The children reflected on how Daniel and his friends stayed faithful and considered how they could remember God this week—in their prayers, words, and actions.
Year 3- Class Worship-The Earthshot Prize winners
Today in class worship, we celebrated the Earthshot Prize winners. This inspiring award recognises people and organisations working to protect our planet. Year 3 were particularly excited, having just cleaned up their local community. We discussed how small acts of kindness, like their community clean-up, can contribute to a healthier world. The Bible reminds us that we are stewards of creation, and responsible for caring for the Earth. We prayed, thanking God for our beautiful world and asking for forgiveness when we haven't been good stewards.
Year 3- Litter Picking- Demonstrating our Christian Value of Service
Year 3 demonstrated the Christian value of service by participating in a litter picking activity. Their hard work and dedication made a positive impact on our school family and local community.
Year 3- Media- Create a modern Etch-A-Sketch on iPads
Today in media, Year 3 students created a modern Etch-A-Sketch on their iPads. They programmed a character to move in different directions based on the iPad's tilt. By using conditional statements, they made the character move left when the iPad was tilted left, right when tilted right, up when tilted forward, and down when tilted backward.
Whole School Worship - Bishop Philip’s Year of Prayer Launch
The St Barnabas school family were thrilled to join a live worship with Bishop Philip this afternoon, along with nearly 60 other church schools in Blackburn Diocese. Lisa and the Bishop met us via Zoom to talk to us about prayer, why we pray and what happens to our prayers. We were fascinated to learn that Jesus knows each and every one of us, and that he hears all of our prayers. We also learned some new ways to pray. These included quiet prayers, for which we were silent and focused on just being with our thoughts, and noisy prayers, for which we shouted out our school name and our own name as loud as we could. Over the course of this academic year, we will be focusing on a new way to pray each week in whole school collective worship, and in our classrooms. We know the children will enjoy exploring prayers along with hundreds of other children across the Diocese.
Lego Club
We had another fun week at Lego club. This week things got slightly competitive. We had a competition to see which groups could build the most sets and who could be the most creative building their own ideas.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on our busy week in school and all the fabulous snowy weather that we’ve had. We then congratulated our individual value award winners. Well done to Albie, Millie and Alice in EYFS and KS1 and Naomi, Walter, Jenson and Harry in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these amazing children for showing great enthusiasm across the curriculum, working hard to consistently demonstrate our Barney’s 4Bs and being fantastic role models. We also congratulated Martha, Declan, Harry and Tilly for representing school in the Pantathlon Bowling Competition and Charlie, Darcy, Eliza, Carter, Ivy and Edward for representing school at a Dodgeball Festival this week, Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and India Mill as our overall value award winners this week with 428 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Ava and Hendrix for taking part in Squirrels at Bold Venture Park, Eliza for achieving many rosettes for being a fabulous jockey, Reggie for doing a fantastic pass and being ‘Player of the Week’ at Little Darreners, Thea for showing amazing skill and bar work at gymnastics, Olivia for achieving the team captain arm band this week at football, Harry for achieving ‘Man of the Match’ for showing grit and determination at football, Marley for being amazingly creative, Maggie for achieving her ‘Animal Lover’ and ‘Family Tree’ badge at Rainbows, Desmond and Leonora for being super swimmers and achieving many PBs and Isabella for achieving 5m in her swimming without armbands. To end our worship, we had three beautiful prayers from Finn, Cassidy and James. Finn said a prayer for those who have sacrificed their lives in the war past and present, Cassidy prayed for those who are less fortunate than us including those without toilets and James prayed for us all to have a lovely and restful weekend and for our safe return on Monday. We then sand ‘Sing a New Song’. We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 3- Geography- Locating different climate zones
This afternoon, Year 3 geographers started their climate zones unit. They learned the difference between weather and climate, identified key lines of latitude like the Equator, and explored the diverse climate zones across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Rev Matt Worship
Today, Rev Matt led a fantastic worship that focused on how we can often lose sight of things that are important. He started with a challenge that involved watching a video with a focus in mind, but in doing so, we missed some other events that occurred. This linked nicely to the story ‘God Sends Fire’ as King Ahab had lost faith in God and decided to worship a false God called Baal. To show everyone that God was the true God, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest. They had to build an altar and ask their God to set it on fire. The prophets of Baal danced and prayed all night, but nothing happened. Then, Elijah asked people to drench his altar with water. He prayed to God, and fire came down from heaven! It burned up the altar and all of the water. Everyone saw this and knew God was the true God. This story can help us remember to have faith in God, even when things are tough, and to always trust that He is in control.
Whole School Worship - World Toilet Day
In worship yesterday, we looked through our spirituality windows and out into the world on toilets. We were shocked and saddened to find out that around 700 children under 5 die every year due to poor sanitation. We heard about Jeremiah in Kenya who doesn’t have access to a toilet. In his community, people would mostly use a hole in the ground or a plastic bag, which some people would tie up and throw on other people’s roofs. We talked about how this affects people’s health and shared ideas of what we could do to help. The children then learned about our Toilet Twinning project for which we raised money a few years go to sponsor the building and maintenance of toilets in Nepal, Uganda, Tanzania, and Afghanistan. We reflected on how we should never take our toilets for granted and thought of ways we could save loo paper and water.
KS2 - Fun in the Snow
Our classes in Years 3 to 6 had a whale of a time in the snow yesterday. They made snowmen and snow sculptures of varying sizes. We even had some Year 5s using a mould to create duckling sculptures.
Year 3 - Science- Identifying which animals have an endoskeleton, exoskeleton and a hydrostatic skeleton.
Today, Year 3 scientists explored the different types of skeletons: endoskeletons, exoskeletons, and hydrostatic skeletons. Using presentation slides, they researched animals to discover which kind of skeleton they have. They also learned that while these skeletons are very different in structure and function, they all provide support and protection for the animal's body. Each type of skeleton has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on the animal's environment and lifestyle.
Little Craft Club: Dinosaur Week
This week at The Little Craft Club, it was Dinosaur week! The children used problem solving skills to make paper plate dinosaurs without instructions. They also created exploding volcanoes using paint in a spray bottle… this was lots of fun! The children finished by working together as a team to clean and tidy the Rainbow Room. Next week is the final Little Craft Club of term and the children are excited to be making some cold climate creatures.
Year 3- D.T-Pinning and cutting fabric using a template
Today in DT, the children continued developing their skills by carefully pinning and cutting fabric using festive templates such as baubles, stockings, gingerbread men, and Christmas trees. These designs will create a wonderfully aesthetic and festive look.
Year 3- P.E- Rothwell Arts Dance- Bridgework-
Year 3 are having a fantastic time with Rothwell Arts Dance .Today in P.E, they’ve been practicing their bridgework skills, working both in pairs and independently. A huge well done to our star learners, Iris and Scarlett, for their amazing work.
Brilliant Bowling!
Mrs Ham had the privilege of taking a group of amazing children to a special Pantathlon Challenge bowling competition at Blackburn Bowling. She was so proud and impressed with the behaviour of all of the children and the way they encouraged each other and represented our school so brilliantly. They all did so well at improving their bowling skills so they got a medal and certificate each!
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on our very special and busy week in school. This week has seen us celebrate Remembrance Day, Anti-Bullying Week, Inter-Faith Week and Children in Need. We then congratulated our individual value award winners. Well done to Beau, Leila and Roman in EYFS and KS1 and Emily, Olivia, Mason and Daisy in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for working exceptionally hard across the curriculum, demonstrating our Christian Values. We also presented Emily with an additional award for achieving her pen license, our Year 5/6 football team for bouncing back from last week’s defeat and representing school with exemplary behaviour and brilliant sportsmanship which saw them win two matches at the Darwen School’s League last night, Year 1 and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and River Darwen as the overall value award winners this week with 404 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Ava for taking part in Remembrance Day at Bold Venture Park, Callie for always listening and following instructions beautifully during her singing, dancing and acting lessons at Stage Coach, Seb for getting ‘Man of the Match’ and ‘Trainer of the Week’ at football, Elijah for achieving ‘Player of the Week’ at football for mastering a new skill called the step over, Finn for achieving ‘Player of the Day’ at Football and achieving ‘Most Improved Player’ for his cricket team, Quinn, April, Walter, Eve and Percy for attending the ‘Little Potting Club’ at Whitehall Park and achieving an environmentalist award, Beau for achieving 5m in her swimming, Jack for being awarded with his Stage 6 swimming certificate, James for attending the remembrance service with Beavers and Haydn for showing super skills in a recent football match. To end our worship, we had three beautiful prayers from Darcy, Olivia and Mason who thought about fuelling children in need with food and remembering those who sacrificed their lives for us and we sang ‘Build Up’ to reinforce the message of ‘building each other up’ this Anti-Bullying Week. We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Children in Need 2024
Our Y6 Heads and Deputies asked everyone to dress in pyjamas or spots to show our support for Children in Need this year. Yesterday we had a special visit from Pudsey Bear and Christine from Asda. They told us all about how Asda are raising money for Children in Need and they said a special thank you to us all for our fundraising to help children who are less fortunate than us. Thank you so much to our staff, children and parents for the effort you have gone to in dressing in your pyjamas or spots and thank you for your generous donations on parent pay. Together we can make a positive difference to the lives of so many disadvantaged children around our country.
Year 3 - English- Discovering Bear Island
Today, Year 3 worked in pairs to explore the book "The Last Bear." They made predictions and inferences about the story based on the front cover of the book. Next, they looked at the double-page illustration (map) of Bear Island. The children debated whether it was a real place and explored the map, identifying locations like Tromso and Svalbard. We used Google to research the island and discovered that it is a small, uninhabited island in the Arctic Ocean. The children were fascinated to learn that there is a Bear Island in Norway, not far from the UK.
Year 3- R.E- Exploring God's Story through Art
This afternoon in R.E, the children looked closely at the People of God panels in the big frieze by Emma Yarlett. They searched for words hidden among the pictures, such as "idols," "temptation," and "repent." The children discussed why these words were included in the artwork and how they relate to the stories of God's people in the Bible.
Choir - Let’s Go Sing Workshop
Our choir have enjoyed their second LGS workshop with Matthew. We have been learning an exciting new set of songs in preparation for the concert, and they are already sounding brilliant! We are certainly a small but mighty choir. Matthew was really impressed with their attention and listening during this session.
Year 3 - PSHE-Odd Socks Day for Anti-Bullying Week
Today, our school celebrated our unique differences by wearing odd socks to launch anti-bullying week! Year 3 joined the live assembly in class, where we learned about the importance of kindness, respect, and a future without bullying. The assembly shared inspiring messages, guest speakers, and interactive activities where children had to discuss scenarios and develop solutions in pairs. This follows from our school worship led by Mrs. Ham, where we explored similar themes.
Odd Socks Day at St Barnabas
To launch Anti-Bullying week, we celebrated Odd Socks Day in style today with some brilliant demonstrations of uniqueness. The children showed off their odd socks to their peers and shared reasons for their choices that really showed off their different preferences and personalities!
KS2 - Observing 2 minute silence
At the end of break time today, KS2 observed a 2 minute silence to show respect to the fallen soldiers of the World Wars and any conflicts that have occurred since.
Year 3- Guided Reading-A Poppy is to Remember
For our guided reading session today, Year 3 listened to a story "A Poppy is to Remember" by Heather Patterson and Ron Lightburn. This story helped the children understand the significance of Remembrance Day and the symbolism of the poppy. We reflected on the sacrifices made by soldiers for peace, listening to John McCrae's poem, In Flanders Fields.
Year 3- Interfaith Week- Prag's trip to India- Hinduism
Year 3 celebrated Interfaith Week by learning about Hinduism. Prags, who was born in East Africa, shared her experiences of visiting India. She showed pictures of both traditional and modern parts of the country, highlighting its diversity. Prags also discussed the importance of recycling and her love for visiting sacred sites like the River Ganges and the Golden Temple. The girls then wore colourful, sequined skirts while the boys wore jackets and they all learned a dance routine together. The children asked insightful questions about the language and clothing and enjoyed trying the vegetable samosas that Prags brought in. It was great to learn about the traditions and religious beliefs of Hinduism.
Lego Club
Everyone had a great time at Lego club again this week. We got the chance to make models we didn’t get the chance to last week and some new ones! The ice cream stand seemed to be a popular choice this week!
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on our week of remembering to honour ‘Remembrance Day.’ We said that we have been thinking about the people who sacrifice their life to keep us safe and/or bring about positive change in our world such as the soldiers, The Royal Navy, the NHS, the firefighters, the police and the charity workers and we observed a two minute silence to pay our respects. We then congratulated our individual value award winners. Well done to Tommy-Joe, Teddy and Archie in EYFS and KS1 and Rosie, Jack, Grace and Hamza in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for always being respectful, kind, well-mannered and exceptionally hardworking. We also congratulated Desmond, Eliza, Daisy, Jack, Sofia and Tristen for achieving their pen licenses, Ted, Sofia, Daisy, Alice, Darcy, Walter and Sonny for representing our school amazingly well yesterday at the Cidari Moon Conference at Blackburn Cathedral, our Year 6 JagTag team for also representing our school superbly at the Soccer Dome on Tuesday and our Year 5/6 football team for representing school well at the Darwen School’s League last night, Year 1 and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and India Mill as the overall value award winners this week. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Ava for her swimming certificate, Grace for passing her jazz exam, Eliza for demonstrating phenomenal skill in her horse riding mounting games and for placing 1st and 2nd in her most recent event, Olivia for achieving Player of the Match in a recent football match, Tristen for achieving his blocks badge and yet another belt in his kickboxing, Fletcher for being awarded with his green belt in genjitsu, Thomas for being a super pool player, Cassidy for being a super gymnast and achieving a silver medal for her vault work, Isaac for being an incredible captain and leading his football team with great confidence and skill, Mila, Eden and Sofia for taking part in a remembrance parade and Sofia for achieving several awards for her Brownies. To end our worship, Mrs Ham reminded us that next Tuesday 12th November is Odd Socks Day to celebrate Anti-bullying and Interfaith week and then next Friday 15th November is Children in Need and the children can wear pyjamas, spots or Pudsey merchandise. Rev Ben said a special remembrance prayer and then we sang ‘A Song of Peace’ to pray for a world of peace. We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Years 2 and 3-Outdoor Classroom Day- Remembrance Walk
This afternoon, Year 2 and 3 celebrated Outdoor Classroom Day by walking up to the WW1 Memorial Wall in Darwen Cemetery. As they gathered at the memorial wall, they paused to remember the brave soldiers who fought in the War. They thought about the sacrifices made and the courage shown by those for our freedom. Isaac, Bobby Ray, Lyla, Renee Archie, and Heidi shared heartfelt prayers and poems, honoring the memory of those who gave their lives for our country. As they walked back to school. they appreciated God's creation, the beauty of the trees, and the sweet songs of the birds.
Christmas at St Barnabas
Good morning parents and carers, Christmas will soon be here and we know what a busy time of year it is for everyone. We have lots of exciting things planned at St Barnabas so I thought it might help to have all of the dates in one place. Here are all the important dates you need in the lead up to the Christmas holidays. Please save it to your phone or device and I will also send it to you as a message. I hope this is helpful, Mrs Ham
Whole-School Worship: Remembrance
At St Barnabas, we always take the time leading up to Remembrance Day to reflect on the people who kept us safe in the past and those who keep us safe now. In worship, we heard examples of people who came from other countries to help defend the UK during the World Wars, and the courage and friendship they demonstrated in doing so. We also thought about how we would like to remember those who lost their lives in war. The children had some lovely ideas, including writing or saying prayers, drawing poppies, visiting memorial sites, attending church services, and even holding a two-minute silence at their weekend football matches. We remember those who gave up their lives for our country and also say a huge thank you to those who work hard everyday to protect us such as the armed forces, the police, firefighters and the NHS. We sang a lovely song of peace at the end of our worship in hope that the world will one day be filled with peace.
Year 3- French- Learning colours in french
Today Year's 3 lesson in french focused on numerical and colour vocabulary. The children practised counting from eleven to twenty (recap from the last lesson) and reviewed colour terms.
Year 3- PSHE-Expressing opinions and listening to those of others;
This afternoon in PSHE, the children discussed several statements and placed themselves on a line to show their agreement or disagreement. We talked about topics like healthy eating, screen time, physical activity, and sugary drinks. After sharing their positions, the children explained why they chose those spots. It was a great opportunity to listen to different viewpoints and understand each other's thoughts.
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
WOW Year Group Winners for October
A huge WELL DONE to Year 4 who gained the most walk to school badges for the month of October! It was great to see so many more children gaining their badges this month now we can take part in school through choosing to do the 1K A Day too. Thank you to parents and carers too for all of your support with this super initiative.
Year 3- Science- Sorting and Classifying Food
Today, Year 3 scientists continued their exploration of nutrition, building on their knowledge from Year 2. They identified the five key food groups: carbohydrates, proteins, dairy, fruits, and vegetables. They learned that a balanced diet, incorporating foods from each group, is crucial for optimal growth and health. Carbohydrates provide energy, proteins repair and build tissues, dairy strengthens bones, and fruits and vegetables supply essential vitamins and minerals. To reinforce their understanding, the children sorted pictures of food into their food groups and explained the benefits of each. Through this experience, Year 3 developed their scientific skills of observation, classification, and data presentation.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on the wonderful week that we have had in school. We lit a special candle for All Souls Day on Sunday to remember all those who have sadly passed away and reflected on the positive behaviour that we’re seeing around school such as holding open the doors for each other and using our wonderful manners. We also thought about all the amazing experiences that we have had in school such as Reception showcasing their Diwali learning to the whole school, Year 1 and Year 3 visiting Nightingale Farm, Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 fully embracing their dance sessions led by Rothwell Arts and the WOW group for giving the harvest donations to DARE (Darwen Asylum Refugee). Firstly, we congratulated the amazing children who took part in the 6 week Cre8ability programme which has allowed them to explore many of their creative talents such as painting, sculpting and being musicians and learning about their superpower emotional intelligence. We then presented Jasper, Vienna and Maggie in EYFS and KS1 and Ella-Grace, James, Quinn and Matthew in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for working extremely hard across the curriculum, showing a positive attitude to learning and using exceptional manners. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Eleanor who has recently made her Rainbows promise, Ava for achieving her Stage 1 swimming certificate, Fletcher for being awarded with his 25m swimming certificate, Lyla and Darcy for achieving a medal for their incredible gymnastic talent, Lydia and Naomi for receiving a letter from the head of royal correspondence thanking them for their very thoughtful letter to Princess Charlotte, Grace for being an amazing dancer, brownie and physicist, Olivia for being an incredible captain and leading her, Eliza for being an outstanding footballer and Sofia for achieving her intermediate award in gymnastics. We also congratulated our Year 4/5/6 girls football team who attended the DPSSA football league presentation evening last night and coming in 3rd overall, Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners, India Mill for winning the Inter-house sports competition before the holidays and River Darwen as the value award winners this week. We also congratulated River Darwen as being the half-termly award winners for last half-term. They will be awarded with a non-uniform day and disco next week. Our heads and deputies also announced that they will be selling the Remembrance Day merchandise every break time next week to raise money for The Royal British Legion. To end our worship, we sang ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ in celebration of All Saints Day. We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Worship with Rev. Matt
During this week’s worship, Rev. Matt engaged the children with a game of ‘Real or Fake,’ encouraging them to think carefully about what they see and question whether images are genuine or not. This led into the story of Elijah, who courageously stood against people worshiping a statue made of sticks and stones, teaching the children about the importance of true faith over false idols. To close, Rev. Matt invited the children to reflect on what they would like God’s help with, creating a moment of thoughtful prayer and connection.
Year 3- Nightingale Farm- Learning about Animals including Humans
Today, Year 3 had a great time walking to Nightingale Farm. They were thrilled to see a variety of animals up close, including chickens, goats, sheep, pigs, and two adorable ducklings named Salt and Pepper. As they explored the farm, the children learned about animal classification and diet. They asked insightful questions about animal health, behaviour, and reproduction. In small groups, they also engaged in a hands-on activity, labeling parts of animal skeletons on activity sheets. They identified bones like the pelvis, spine, and vertebrae. Throughout the walk, Year 3 were captivated by the beauty of the Autumn season. They paused to admire the colourful leaves, the misty morning, and the friendly greetings from passersby. This experience fostered a deeper connection to nature and a sense of spiritual wonder. Thank you to Nightingale Farm for a great day! All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-3-nightingale-farm-oct-2024
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.
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!
Year 3 - P.E- Dance
Today in P.E., Year 3 had an amazing time with Miss Vicky and Miss Sian, who will be teaching the children dance skills throughout this term. The session was filled with energy and excitement as the children enjoyed a fantastic warm-up, followed by learning basic acrobatics, practising cartwheels, and even trying out headstands. Some children felt a bit nervous at first, but everyone tried extremely hard and encouraged each other along the way. A special shoutout goes to our Star Learner, Jacob, for his enthusiasm and for asking fantastic questions.
Year 3- D.T- Running stitch
Building on their skills from Year 2, the little elves have started a new unit on textiles this afternoon, preparing for our school Christmas fair. By the end of this unit, the children will design and create a Christmas-themed pouch, practising essential techniques along the way. Today, they focused on mastering the running stitch, aiming for regular-sized stitches and learning the importance of knotting both ends to secure their work. They also revisited how to thread a needle and tie a knot. Although threading needles and stitching proved challenging today, we’re excited to see their skills and confidence grow as they work toward completing their Christmas creations.
Year 3- English- History-Understanding Mummification Through Experiment
In History, this afternoon, Year 3 continued their learning on the Ancient Egyptians with a writing stimulus focused on mummification. To support their writing unit, where they’ll explain the mummification process, the children “mummified” an orange. They cut the orange in half and removed the inside (representing the internal organs), then carefully dried it using a mixture of salt and baking soda. After removing the insides of the orange (just like the Ancient Egyptians removed internal organs), the children carefully dried the inside of the orange using salt and baking soda. This mixture acted like the natron salt the Egyptians used to preserve bodies by drawing out moisture. Next, they filled the orange with more salt and baking soda to prevent decay and dryness. Finally, they wrapped the orange carefully in strips of cloth to resemble linen bandages, just as the Egyptians would have wrapped their mummies. Over the coming days, the oranges will be left to sit, allowing the "mummification" process to take effect. The children will observe any changes and use this experience to help explain the process of mummification in their upcoming writing unit.
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.
Year 3 - English- Identifying features of an explanation text
In English today, Year 3 looked at the main features of an explanation text. Working in small groups, they wrote step-by-step explanations for different tasks: making a sandwich, helping a plant grow, making a cup of tea, and creating a scroll using papyrus paper. This activity helped them understand how to write clear explanations and allowed them to collaborate and share ideas.
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
Choir - Let’s Go Sing workshop
Choir took part in their first Let’s Go Sing workshop in preparation for their concern in March next year. Rose was super impressed with how much they have learnt in such a short space of time! They represented our school brilliantly and demonstrated so many of our Christian Values throughout the workshop, showing lots of courage and respect. I have no doubt that they will be amazing on the stage when we get to Blackpool! Well done choir!
Year 3- PSHE- Friends are Special
Year 3 had a fantastic time exploring the meaning of friendship in our PSHE lesson today. We used Harold the Giraffe, Kiki the Kangaroo, and Derek the Penguin to discuss the qualities of a good friend and how to maintain strong friendships. We discussed the qualities and strategies of a good friendship. such as A best friend is someone you trust and care about deeply. Good friends are kind, trustworthy, honest, loyal, and respectful. Even best friends can have disagreements, but it's important to forgive and understand. Ways to make up with a friend include talking about it, apologising, spending time together, and being a good listener.
Year 3- Art- Ancient Egyptian Scrolls
Throughout this half term, Year 3 have explored the fascinating world of Ancient Egyptian art. They learned about the unique styles, patterns, and techniques used by the Egyptians. To showcase their knowledge and skills, they created their own scrolls on papyrus, which they created using coffee and tea. They’ve carefully chosen colours and materials to make their scrolls visually appealing and historically accurate. They’ve also used sketchbooks to record their observations, experiment with different ideas, and plan their scroll-making process. By studying how artists in the past produced art, they’ve gained a deeper understanding of the influence and impact of historical methods and styles on contemporary art. This knowledge has inspired them to create their own unique and meaningful works of art.
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’.
Foodie Friends After- School Club- Making chocolate and plain cupcakes.
Our little chefs had a blast baking cupcakes today! They weighed ingredients, cracked eggs, and carefully filled cupcake liners with chocolate and plain batter.
Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by thanking everyone for dressing in yellow yesterday for World Mental Health Day. What a fabulous day we had! This week, we have also been thinking about courageous advocacy. Well done to our Rotakids who are being courageous advocates by collecting coats to keep people warm this winter and our WOW group for collecting harvest donations for DARE (Darwen Asylum Refugee Enterprise). We then presented Ralphy, Skye and Ella in EYFS and KS1 and Lyla, Harriet, Ruby and Noah in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for working extremely hard across the curriculum and always demonstrating our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, being safe, being kind and being respectful) and our school Christian values. We also congratulated our Year 5/6 football team who worked exceptionally well as a team in the Kids Cup Heat on Monday during all of the group stages and will now be competing in the final in the 23rd November, our Year 4/5/6 girls football team who played amazingly well in the DPSSA football league last night, Year 1 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners for the second week running and River Darwen as the value award winners again this week. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Lyla and Carmen for achieving their Stage 5 in swimming, Tristen for achieving his green and white belt in kickboxing and completing the BwD Summer Reading challenge, Maggie for being a superstar rainbow and being awarded Olivia this week and Isabella for being a fantastic swimmer. Finally, we had some beautiful prayers from James, Iris and Elijah to pray for those who have been affected by the hurricane in Florida and to give thank you this Harvest time and then we sang ‘Sing a Song of Harvest.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Inter-House Sports Dodgeball led by Sports Leaders
A huge thank you to our new Sports Leaders who ran their very first Inter- house competition today. They chose to do dodgeball and every class thoroughly enjoyed it! The children showed each other respect, demonstrated the 4 B’s and encouraged each other every step of the way. We can’t wait to hear who the overall winners are next week
Hello Yellow Day
To celebrate and raise awareness for World Mental Health Day, all the children and staff dressed in yellow to show their support. During a special worship, the children danced to happy songs. We reflected deeply on our emotions, exploring how they shape our inner lives and how we can find strength in times of struggle. We discussed the importance of nurturing our mental well-being through kindness, prayer, and community support. This spiritual reflection reminded us that we are never alone in our challenges; by turning to our faith and embracing hope, we can find peace and resilience within ourselves.
Rev Matt’s Whole School Worship
Today, during Rev Matt’s worship, the children were captivated by a short clip showing the powerful moment when Moses received the Ten Commandments. The video illustrated how, with people's disbelief in God, dramatic lightning and clouds appeared, revealing the presence of God as he delivered these sacred laws. Through this visual and the accompanying story, the children were guided to understand not only the importance of the commandments but also the broader significance of rules in our lives. This reflection helped them recognise that rules, much like the Ten Commandments, are there to keep us safe, fostering a sense of responsibility and care for one another within our community.
Year 3 - PSHE- Hello Yellow Day
Following our whole-school worship,to celebrate and raise awareness for World Mental Health Day, Year 3 wore yellow to show our support for mental health awareness. We also learned about some top tips to help people who might be feeling down such as: Allowing children to express their feelings through art and Dance, sing, or play instruments to release emotions . We then watched Emily and Harry's story on BBC Newsround about the importance of talking to a trusted adult.
St Barnabas do Hello Yellow Day 2024
Today in school, we celebrated Hello Yellow Day 2024. Hello Yellow Day is a day when we can show our support for young people and let them know they're not alone with their mental health. Thousands of children came together to make World Mental Health Day that little bit brighter by wearing something yellow and donating to YoungMinds. Right now, the world is a really tough place for children and young people to grow up in. We want young people to know that they don’t have to go through this alone. Things can get better. Because we stand brighter, together. At St Barnabas, we celebrated through our whole school worship led by Mrs Ham and her minion friends, Harry, Hamza, Daisy and Rosie. Each class then used their PSHE session to explore Hello Yellow Day further and it was clear to see that every class made a super effort with their outfits too. What a super day being loud and proud in yellow. #HelloYellow
WOW Group- Harvest Donations
Dear parents, Harvest is almost upon us and, this year, our wonderful WOW group have chosen to support two charities. They would like to continue to support refugees in our local area through the charity D.A.R.E. (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise) and are asking for donations of non-perishable food items, toiletries and good quality clothing. Please send these into school any time over the next week (by Thursday 17th October) and we will ensure they get to D.A.R.E. More details of the second charity we have chosen will be released shortly. Thank you, Mrs Araujo :)
Year 3- Class Worship- Celebrating Black History
During our class worship, we honoured Black History Month by exploring the remarkable life of Olaudah Equiano. Once enslaved, Equiano overcame extraordinary challenges to become a prominent abolitionist. We also celebrated the achievements of Nigel Clarke, a pioneering Black footballer, and Betty Campbell, the first Black headteacher in Wales. As we reflected on their inspiring stories, some children shared their aspirations and dreams, such as footballers, teachers, hairdressers and a doctor. We also discussed the resilience and determination it takes to overcome adversity, drawing inspiration from Betty Campbell's journey. We thanked God for providing us with opportunities for education, sports, and loving families.
Walk Once a Week Challenge September Winners - Year 3
Congratulations to Year 3 for having the most children who either walked, park and strode or completed the 1K a day in the month of September. They received a whopping 29 badges in total and will now take their place on the WOW hall of Fame. A huge well done and thanks to all of the parents and carers who have encouraged their children to take part in the scheme. Don’t forget - if you can’t manage the walk or park amd stride, you can always do the 1K a day with your teacher in school so that you have the opportunity to gain your badge as well! The WOW ambassadors highlighted that October is National Walk to School month so it is really important to try and travel more actively to school either in the morning or after school has finished.
Year 3- Science- Making A Shadow Puppet Show
This afternoon, Year 3 scientists continued their lesson about shadows and experimented with creating their shadow puppets. They discovered how the distance between the light source and the object and between the object and the surface where the shadow was cast affected the size of the shadows. They created their puppet show and wanted to make it even better. In our next lesson, we will continue our exploration of shadows and provide them with another opportunity to improve their performances.
Whole School Worship: Courageous Advocacy
Today in worship we continued to explore the meaning of spirituality, looking at adversity in the world, how it makes us feel, and talking about what we can do about it. We discussed how we can turn our sparks into flames, our ideas into actions. The children were really inspired by some of the images and shared some great ideas, such as donating warm clothing to the homeless, picking up litter so that it doesn’t hurt wildlife and donating food to local shelters and charities. We will be putting some of these ideas into action over the next few weeks, through our Harvest festival and our Rotakids initiatives.
Year 3- R.E- Comparing harvest festivals around the world
In RE today, Year 3 learned about how harvest is celebrated around the world. We watched a short clip and explored images and text from different countries like India, Italy, America, and China. It was fascinating to see how people celebrate this important time in different ways. India celebrates it with fireworks, lights and sweets, while America often has a roast dinner with family and friends, In China they eat mooncakes, a traditional pastry and in Italy they have parades.
Whole School Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by thanking everyone for their very generous Macmillan Coffee Morning donations last Friday. The heads and deputies will be announcing the final amount later today. We also lit a candle for gratefulness to say thank you for all of the wonderful things that we have in our lives including our loved ones and the beautiful nature around us. We then presented Ava, Isabella, Callie and Mila in EYFS and KS1 and Martha, Carmen, Edward and Will in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for working extremely hard across the curriculum and always demonstrating our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, being safe, being kind and being respectful) and our school Christian values. We also congratulated Walter and Alice in Year 4 for gaining their pen licenses, all of the children who have achieved their ‘WOW’ badges this month for walking to or from school at least once a week, Year 1 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and River Darwen as the value award winners this week with 549 points. We gave our girls football team a huge round of applause for their three amazing wins last night and particularly congratulated our Year 4 members of the team who stepped up into the Year 5/6 team. Finally, we congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Beau, Jack and Lyla for completing the Summer Reading challenge, Darcy for being awarded Star of the Week at gymnastics, James and Grace for gaining their Stage 5 swimming certificates, Leonora and Desmond for their fantastic swimming whilst competing for Blackburn Centurions, Isaac for being awarded Soccer HQ Player of the Day for demonstrating fantastic football skills, Daisy for being awarded 3 medals in the Paris Olympic Competition at gymnastics, Harriet for swimming 100m in her swimming, Fletcher for celebrating his uncle, Charlie for being a super football star, Laila for being the Player’s Player of the Match at football and Brooke for being awarded the Opposition Player’s Player of the Match. Finally, we had some beautiful prayers from, Renee, Callie and Mason and sang ‘If I was a Butterfly’ in celebration of ‘World Animal Day.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Rev Ben’s Collective Worship
In today’s collective worship, Rev. Ben began by engaging the children in an interactive challenge, where three children had to use two pieces of paper as stepping stones to cross the hall. This activity set the stage for the theme of the session: perseverance and trust in challenging times. Rev. Ben then shared the Bible story of Moses and the Israelites' long journey through the desert, highlighting the struggles and faith they experienced along the way. After listening to the story, the children were encouraged to reflect and discuss key questions: 'What did God's people do during their journey through the desert?' and 'What are some positive alternatives to complaining when things get tough?' These discussions helped the children connect the story to their own lives, exploring how patience, gratitude, and faith can guide them through difficult situations.
Year 3- Class Worship-How important is it to know about the author behind the book?
During our class worship, Year 3 explored a story from Picture News about a book vending machine at Linlithgow Academy in Scotland. The machine offers children access to a diverse selection of over seventy books. The children discussed their preferred books and authors and why they liked them, with suggestions including humorous books, books that enhance vocabulary, and books that provide insights into historical events. We thanked God for allowing us to read books and learn from them, including the Bible and books written by other people.
Year 3- Science- Investigating how shadows are created and change size.
Year 3 scientists had planned to conduct a shadow experiment outdoors using natural sunlight, but the weather turned overcast. Instead, they used a torch as an artificial light source in the classroom. The children recorded their findings using simple scientific language and drawings. They observed that the size of shadows changed when they moved the torch. They noticed that the shadows were smaller when the flashlight was closer to the object and larger when it was further away.
Whole School Worship: What is Spirituality?
In our Tuesday worship, the theme was spirituality and what it means to us. Mrs Ham talked about things that we can see (physical/ material things) and things that we just feel (spiritual things). We played a fun game where we had to put on a pretend pair of binoculars if it was something physical/ material that we can see or cover our eyes if it was something spiritual that we can't see. We had things like connecting with nature, a big house', money, connecting with friends, inner peace and believing in a God. She introduced the ‘windows’ looking out on the world and how we should take time to learn, to gaze, to wonder and admire and ask ‘why?’ We looked at some of the ways we can live life in all its fullness and today we particularly focused on being 'grateful' for all of God's creations. We also explored how taking notice is one of our five ways to wellbeing too. We looked at some of God’s creations in a video and discussed our favourite ones with our partner. There were lots of 'WOWs' and 'aahhs' at some of God's amazing creations. We finished with a prayer thanking God for all of his creations and sang 'If I were a butterfly' to sing thank you to God. Across this academic year, we will continue to further explore what spirituality means to us at St Barnabas.
Year 3- Music- Playing "Ghostbusters" at full speed using the interactive class jam video.
Today in music, the young musicians from Year 3 reviewed what they learned last session and looked at keywords like melody, harmony, major, and minor. They listened to a piano playing the harmony to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Then, put their new knowledge to work by playing "Ghostbusters" at full speed using the interactive class jam video.
Year 3- Maths- Partitioning 3 digit numbers using place value counters
Today, Year 3 were introduced to place value counters for the first time. They compared them to familiar resources like base 10 blocks and learned to represent numbers using the counters. By breaking down numbers like 253 into 2 hundreds, 5 tens, and 3 ones, the children started to understand place value concepts more easily. They also learned about the hundreds column on a place value chart. It was great to see them supporting each other and using the place value chart to visualise the numbers and their place values.
Singing Worship- Harvest
What a joyous way to start a new week at St Barnabas! We first discussed why we sing and we had some wonderful answers such as : to communicate with God, to learn new words and vocabulary, to learn new sign language so we can communicate with those who can't speak or hear, to have fun and to say thank you to God. Today some of our fabulous volunteers taught Reception class some of the signs and actions for some of our Harvest songs that we will be singing in our Harvest Festival on Thursday 17th October. We sang 'If I were a butterfly' and 'Sing a song of Harvest' to thank God for all of the wonderful living things he created such as animals, plants and trees.
Year 3- P.E- To catch a ball
In PE today, Year 3 started with a challenging throwing and catching game! They practiced throwing the ball in the air and catching it with either their right or left hand, depending on the variation. Then, they were challenged to work in small groups and catch two softballs simultaneously. This activity required speed and coordination as they aimed to catch both balls before they hit the ground. Great teamwork and effort from all.
After-School Club- Foodie Friends- Making Rice Krispies cupcakes
Year 3 and 4 had fun making rice Krispies cupcakes today. Although they might have gone a little overboard with the rice Krispies, it was clear that everyone had a lot of fun. They worked together to chop butter into small pieces, add syrup, and melt chocolate on a small pan using an electric hob. To finish off , they sprinkled some sweet decorations on top to make them look pretty.
Macmillan Coffee Morning
A huge thank you to everyone who has supported our Macmillan Coffee Morning this morning with donations of cakes and/ or money. Every child in school was able to have a cake at break time thanks to your generous donations. Donations can still be made on parent pay or after school. We have some cakes left over so we will have a stall after school on the infant yard.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by thanking everyone for their very generous Macmillan Coffee Morning donations, saying a huge thank you to our wonderful teaching assistants on National Teaching Assistant day and saying a special prayer and thinking about both our Cidari family of schools and local schools on ‘National Pray for Schools Day.’ We then presented Olivia, Reggie, Joey, Lydia and James in EYFS and KS1 and Olivia, Lana, Luke, Ted, Eden, Summer, Brooke and Charlie-Rose in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for being fantastic role model for their peers, having a fantastic work ethic and always demonstrating our Barney’s 4Bs (being ready, being safe, being kind and being respectful). Then, we heard from our well-being warriors who told us about ‘Hello Yellow Day’ coming up on Thursday 10th October and asked us to make a contribution on ParentPay in return for dressing in yellow to promote positive mental health. We also congratulated Year 2, Year 3 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and River Darwen as the value award winners this week with 410 points. Finally, we congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Hendrix Elijah, Maggie and Callie for completing the Summer Reading challenge, Ava for being awarded her ‘Little Puffin’ certificate at swimming, Scarlett for being achieving an award for her positive contribution to West Pennine Netball, Maggie for achieving a super drawing award, Bobby-Ray for achieving his white belt at kickboxing and stage 1 at swimming, Lyla for achieving two gold awards at gymnastics, Isabella for earning her brown belt at kickboxing and achieving all of her badges at Rainbows and moving up to Brownies, Peyton for red and white belt at kickboxing, Bella for achieving ‘The Little Darreners’ Player of the Week,’ Iris for being a super swimmer, Marley for being a yoga superstar, Charlie for achieving his brown belt at kickboxing, Olivia for achieving her Stage 6 swimming certificate and Layla for achieving a special rosette for being a super horse rider. Finally, we said the Grace and we sang ‘We Can Make a Difference.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Rocksteady Launch
This morning, we were treated to an exciting Rocksteady assembly, where children explored the world of electrical musical instruments. The children were introduced to instruments such as drums, guitar, bass guitar, and keyboard, learning how each contributes to creating music. They were captivated by the live demonstrations and enthusiastically sang along, filling the hall with energy. Mr Norris, Mr Bloomfield and Mr Prescott also got to live out their dreams as they got the chance to be in their own boyband The session offered a wonderful opportunity for the children to discover different musical sounds and rhythms, sparking their curiosity and love for music. Information about how you can sign your child up to play in a rock band will be being brought home this evening.
Key Stage 2 - Rocksteady Workshop
This morning, Key Stage 2 had a fantastic time during a Rocksteady workshop, where they got the chance to create their own rock band! The children were able to step into the roles of musicians, playing instruments like the drums, guitar, bass guitar, and keyboard. A huge well done to all the children who participated, showing confidence and enthusiasm as they took to their instruments and played with impressive skill. The session was a great opportunity for them to experience the excitement of performing together as a band.
Year 3- PSHE-How can we solve this problem?
In our PSHE lesson, I shared a scenario where a close friend's big birthday celebration is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I've been invited. However, another family member has arranged a trip to the seaside for the same weekend, inviting many of the same people. Neither knew the other had planned something and when they found out, they got into a big argument, shouting at each other and storming off. Now, they’re not speaking, and it’s caused a lot of tension. We discussed how they might have felt, why they argued, and how shouting didn't help the situation. Year 3 came up with some brilliant solutions to solve the problem. They suggested that one way to fix the situation could be for one person to change the event date so that everyone could attend both the birthday party and the seaside trip without a clash. Another idea was to have a joint celebration, where everyone could come together for one big event that includes the birthday and the trip. Some children even suggested talking calmly and finding a compromise to make both people happy, rather than arguing and storming off. We also discussed how important it is to think about other people’s feelings and find a solution that’s fair for everyone involved. We also looked at an online safety poster about Instagram. The children shared what they like to watch and post online, and some were surprised to learn about the age restrictions. Many didn’t know that Instagram has a minimum age requirement of 13 years old. We talked about why these restrictions are in place, such as to protect young people from inappropriate content and ensure their safety online. The children were able to understand that being careful about what they watch, post, and share is really important, and we discussed how some online spaces might not always be safe for younger users.
Year 3- French- Emotive language-Comment Ca Va'
During French with Junior Jam, the children revisited their previous learning, practising phrases like "How many?" and "How old are you?" in French. Today, they learned how to ask "How are you?" in different ways, expanding their vocabulary. They were brilliant and showed great progress with their French-speaking skills.
Year 3- Media- Exploring the function of a verse.
In computing, the children revisited their previous learning of keyboard skills. Today, they explored the function of a verse in a pop song and examined the key characteristics that make up a song. They were having an absolute blast, fully engaged and enjoying every moment of the lesson!
Rev Ben’s Worship: God the Rescuer
Rev Ben came in today to talk about rescuers. He began with a dressing up challenge in which 2 teams had to create their own superhero. Mind Reader won the most votes as the best superhero. Rev Ben linked this to a great rescuer from the Bible: Moses. He told us about God recruiting Moses to talk the Pharaoh into setting his people free. It was a difficult task but, with God’s help, he achieved it. The children spent some time thinking about what made Moses a rescuer and what made Jesus the ultimate rescuer.
Year 3- Science- Exploring reflective and non-reflective materials.
This afternoon, Year 3 scientists investigated the concept that, while all objects reflect light to make them visible, certain materials are more effective at reflecting light than others. The investigation involved testing a variety of materials such as mirrors, tin foil, wood, sequins, ribbon, marble, and black cards using a reflective tester. The children created their reflection testers using a white card and a torch. They observed and recorded the effects of shining the torch on each material and documented their findings in a table. They experienced many "wow" moments throughout the investigation. They had a fantastic time acting as young scientists and also learned the importance of wearing reflective materials at night for safety.
European Day of Languages 2024 - Harvest Songs
Today, in singing worship, the children were introduced to some Harvest-themed songs in different European languages. This was in celebration of European Day of Languages, which will take place on Thursday. We have set the children a challenge to learn part or all of one of these songs. They can do this for next week. We are not expecting them to know it by Thursday. There may be some value points available to those who try! :) Here are the links: Harvest songs Portugal - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2iZZ9GBUFE Germany - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzQraV8d1Q France - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjU3YhaM_50
After-School Foodie Friends Club- Mouth Watering Shaped Biscuits
During our after-school foodie club today, the children had fun turning into little bakers, making all kinds of shaped biscuits. They even got to use their maths skills, carefully weighing out the butter, sugar, and flour on the scales. Cracking an egg was a highlight before mixing everything into a soft dough. It was wonderful to see them helping each other roll it out and using shape cutters to create stars, hearts, flowers, and bunny rabbits. Once baked in the school oven, they packed their biscuits into little paper bags to take home and share with their families.
Friday Celebration Worship
During our celebration worship this morning, Mrs Ham began the worship by lighting the candles and reflecting on the many things we are thankful for and grateful for, which led to some children sharing their thankful moments, such as our school, our outdoor area and our families. We then moved on to celebrating a very special member of staff, Mrs Pendlebury who is sadly leaving us today to enjoy her retirement. She has been with us for over 25 years. Heads and Deputies expressed some of their fond memories shared with Mrs Pendlebury. Rosie, expressed by stating that Mrs Pendlebury is one of a kind, Daisy remembered a time when Mrs Pendlebury kindly gave her a hat to wear on a class trip to rock and River. Harry and Hamza recalled moments when Mrs Pendlbury almost fell off a chair which they found amusing. We also watched a short video celebrating Mrs Pendlebury’s time at our school, filled with wonderful memories, a true legend. Mr Bloomfield and Mr Prescott shared a few words too, though no words can capture or express how much Mrs Pendlebury has meant to the school. Her grandchildren Jack and Beau, helped present Mrs Pendlebury with gifts and flowers from the school and staff. Mrs Ham then shared the awards that children received outside of school, including achievements for Charlie, Molly and Isabelle swimming, Isabella, Annabel and Phoebe for the summer reading challenge, James football, Grace dancing and Ella-Grace scouted for Manchester United. Reception and Year 5 won the attendance award. Darwen Tower gained an extra break for the most value points received this week. We then had prayers from Naomi, Sonny and Oscar and sang Mrs Pendlebury’s favourite songs, ‘Welcome everybody’ and Our God is great big God’.
Rev Ben's Collective Worship- Moses
Collective Worship - 19.09.24 During this week's worship session, Rev. Ben shared the story of Moses and the burning bush. He explained how, when God gave Moses a mission, Moses initially struggled to obey, feeling unsure and inadequate for the task. However, God revealed his power and presence to Moses, showing him the way and helping him develop trust. With God's guidance, Moses was able to achieve far more than he ever thought possible. The children engaged in thoughtful discussions, exploring questions like: What might it look like for you to recognise God's presence in your life? Some children reflected on seeing God's presence in acts of kindness, through nature, or in moments of peace when they feel supported by their friends and family. Others spoke about sensing God during quiet times or prayer, feeling that God is guiding them in difficult situations. When asked, Why do you think Moses was hesitant to follow God's instructions? The children expressed that they could relate to Moses’ fear and uncertainty. Some mentioned how Moses might have felt unworthy or scared of failing, while others said that like Moses, they too sometimes feel afraid when they are asked to do something new or hard. The group agreed that trusting God, even when they feel unsure, can help them overcome their fears. The final question, How does it change things for you, knowing that God is always with you? brought a range of responses. Some children said it gave them comfort to know they are never truly alone, even in hard times. Others felt it gave them courage, knowing they could rely on God’s strength when facing challenges. Many agreed that just like Moses, having faith in God’s presence helps them feel more confident in the tasks they are given, knowing they have divine support.
Year 3- Smart School Council- Act Of Kindness
Year 3 kicked off their first class meeting organised by the school communication team today. Bobby-Ray took the lead role and Cassidy supported by taking notes. In small groups, Year 3 discussed which act of kindness they think is the most important in school. The children found it quite challenging to narrow it down to one vote because they felt it was important to share kindness all the time. However, supporting an adult around school got the most votes.
Year 3- English- Diary Entry
Continuing our English work, this morning Year 3 wrote their diary entries from the perspective of Rhodopis. They focused on using noun phrases, descriptive language, and time connectives. Fantastic effort from our super writers!
Whole School Worship: The Good Shepherd
Today, we were learning about Jesus’s parable of the Lost Sheep. We discussed why Jesus said 'I am the good shepherd', and how he will always come to us when we feel lost. Thanks to Mr Bloomfield and some of our younger children for acting out the story so brilliantly. We reflected on how we can life live in all its fullness knowing that Jesus is always watching over and protecting us, just like a good shepherd does for his sheep.
Year 3- Science-Using scientific evidence, and explain the effectiveness of suncream as protection against the sunlight
In Science this afternoon, our future scientists discovered the importance of the sun as the ultimate energy source for all life on Earth. They also learned about the various ways in which exposure to the sun can be dangerous for humans. We made a prediction first on what might happen to the ultraviolet beads with no suncream or a lower SPF. These beads contain a special chemical that changes colour when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. UV is an invisible type of light from the Sun. The results from this investigation showed the ultra violet beads with SPF 15 had some protection. Some of the beads changed colour in the sunlight, but others stayed the same, showing that the SPF 15 didn’t fully protect them. The beads covered in SPF 30 had much better protection. Most of the beads stayed white, but a few changed colour. The beads with SPF 50 stayed fully protected and didn’t change colour at all when in the sun. When the beads with no SPF cream were exposed to the sun, they changed colour straight away. The light made the beads react quickly because they had no protection. Year 3 learnt, while sunlight is essential for many natural processes and for our health, overexposure to the sun's UV radiation can have harmful effects on our skin, eyes, and overall health. To stay safe while enjoying the sun, it's important to take measures to protect yourself from harmful UV radiation.
Year 3 and 4 - After-School Foodie Friends Club - Making Ciabatta Pizza
Year 3 and 4 chefs started our After-School Foodie Club with a fun and tasty activity making ciabatta pizzas! They sliced their ciabattas in half, layered them with tomato passata, a sprinkle of basil and oregano, and topped them with peppers, sweetcorn, pineapple, and cherry tomatoes.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our first celebration worship of this academic year by signing the trinity and talking about our extremely busy couple of weeks in school, especially focusing on our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, being safe, being kind and being respectful) and our school values. We then presented Thomas and Fletcher in Years 1 and 2 and Alfie, Eliza, Ella and Leonora in KS2 with certificates for being our value award winners this week. Well done to these children for starting the academic with an amazingly positive attitude, demonstrating fantastic behaviour for learning and consistently displaying our school values. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Harry for completing the Summer Reading challenge and being awarded a huge trophy for demonstrating kindness at SportsCool Summer club, Albie, Samuel, Renee, Carmen, Olivia and James for completing the Summer Reading challenge, Grace for being awarded the lyrical and jazz winner of the week, 3rd place for song and dance and a silver medal for her acro, Sofia for achieving Star of the Week at gymnastics club, Maggie for being a super Rainbow and working exceptionally hard to achieve all of her badges and Marley for achieving all of her badges at Rainbows and moving up to Brownies. We also congratulated Reception, Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and India Mill as the value award winners this week with 427 points. Finally, we had some lovely prayers of thankfulness and appreciation from Leonora, James and Lennox and we sang ‘Shine.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Year 3- Maths- Place value
This week in maths, Year 3 have been using concrete resources to help them partition numbers up to 100 and represent numbers up to a 1000.
Year 3- Handwriting-
Over the last two weeks, we have been placing a strong focus on handwriting, particularly focussing on letter joins and overall presentation. Year 3 have been working incredibly hard to join their letters and form them correctly . We are super proud of their dedication and hardwork.
Alice in Wonderland Production
Wow! Our whole school family really enjoyed watching Alice in Wonderland this morning. It was a fantastic production and it was lovely to watch all of the children’s expressions throughout the performance.
Year 3- P.E- 20th Century Playground Days
Today, Year 3 began their games unit in P.E. with some classic playground favourites! The children played "Stuck in the Mud" in the 1950s style, where taggers chase and tag others. Once tagged, a child must stand with feet apart and arms outstretched. They can be freed by another child running under their arms or crawling through their legs. They also enjoyed a game of "Hospital Tig," a 1940s-style game in which tagged children must hold the part of their body where they were touched. We emphasized the importance of gentle tagging and our school rule of playing safely. The children worked brilliantly and had a fantastic time!
Whole School Worship: Paralympic Values
We began our Monday worship with a race this week, except the race wasn’t very fair. One person was running the race, one was hopping and one was blindfolded. We discussed why this wasn’t a fair race and then we watched some athletes’ performances from the Paralympics. We were amazed to see people with no arms playing the piano, flying aeroplanes, brushing their teeth and driving cars etc and then we reflected on how we can learn from the Paralympians and have a 'yes, I can' attitude. We learned about the Olympic and Paralympic values and how some of the values are the same or similar to our Christian Values., We discussed how we can do anything with hard work, determination and self-belief and read in the Bible that with God, all things are possible.
Year 3- Creating Ancient Egyptian Art
This afternoon, Year 3 started their first art lesson by learning about Ancient Egyptian art and how it was made. They discovered that the Egyptians didn't use plain white paper but used papyrus instead. They also learnt that the Egyptians always painted figures sideways and the most important people were shown as the largest and prominent figures. To recreate this, Year 3 artists made interesting surfaces in their sketchbooks using water-based paints, tea bags, and coffee. After watching a demonstration, they tried making their surfaces to draw Egyptian patterns and shapes and their work turned out amazing!
Year 3- Dry Swimming - Safety talk and expectations
This afternoon the class talked with one of the swimming instructors from Darwen Leisure Centre, ready for our first swimming session on FRIDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER. The instructor answered any questions the children had about swimming lessons and explained what to expect. Year 3 are super excited and can't wait.
School Admissions
Good morning parents and carers, the applications are now open for primary and secondary school admissions for September 2025. Primary school applications are open from 3 September 2024 until 15 January 2025. Secondary school applications are open from 3 September 2024 until 31 October 2024. For further information, please click here: https://www.blackburn.gov.uk/SynergyWeb/ We will be holding a 'Stay and Play' session for children who are due to start primary school in September 2025 on Thursday 3rd October from 9.00am-10.30am. Here you will get to meet our EYFS staff team and Mrs Ham will take you on a tour of our school to meet our amazing children and staff. There is no need to book and further information will be shared shortly. If you are not able to make the stay and play morning, please contact our school office on 01254 702996 to arrange a tour with Mrs Ham at a time that is convenient for you. Parents of children who are due to start secondary school in September 2025. Here are the dates of the open evenings for our local high schools that have been released. I will share the dates of the other schools once they have been published. DACA: Wednesday 2nd October 4.00-7.00pm https://www.daca.uk.com/Open-Evening/ St Wilfrids: Thursday 26th September 4.00-8.00pm https://www.saintwilfrids.co.uk/events/academy-open-evening Darwen Vale: TBC St Bede's: TBC
Rev Ben’s Worship- Trust
Rev Ben welcomed us back to school by reflecting on our school holiday and what we were most looking forward to this school year. He then told us the Bible story about Abraham going on a journey but he didn't know where he was going but he put his trust in God. Rev Ben said that our life can be a wonderful journey if we put our trust in God and remember that he is always with us. We then discussed with our partners how we can make the most of this year and live life in all its fullness. We finished with a lovely back to school blessing and sang a special back to school song.
Class Worship- How can communities help each other in times of difficulty?
During our class worship, Year 3 looked at a story about the summer when riots occurred in England and Northern Ireland, causing damage to cars and buildings. We defined the term 'communities' and discussed the importance of everyone feeling welcome and safe within their community. The children reflected on their differences and similarities, recognising that our school community is special because it is made up of so many different individuals with unique interests. We discussed our British value of mutual respect and tolerance, considering how our words and actions can impact others. We then sang ' When I needed a neighbour' and ended the worship by thanking God for our school community.
Fun in the sun!
We have had lots of fun playing in the sun with our friends at lunch time!
Back with our friends
It is wonderful to be back with our friends! We have had a brilliant day so far and we had lots of fun playing with our friends at break time.
First day in our new classes
We’ve had a super first day in our new classes. Mrs Ham and our class teachers have been so impressed to see everyone following our four B’s and demonstrating our Christian Values. So many children have moved onto ‘time to shine’ and have been awarded values points. Well done everyone, it’s wonderful to have our school family back together again! We are so proud of our new Reception class children as they have settled so brilliantly and were so brave!
Whole School Worship: Jesus the Good Shepherd
We were all so happy to have everyone back for our first day of the school year. In our first worship we recapped and celebrated all of the amazing ways we live out our school vision and what Jesus meant when he said we should have life in all its fullness. We heard about His teaching of the sheep and the gate and learned that He wished for all of us to use Him as our gate to God; that we can have a good life if we follow His word. We then recapped our 4 B's school rules and our Christian Values. Our teachers will be looking for our children to demonstrate these in order to gain values points each day and get on our 'time to shine' board. We reflected on what we are looking forward to this year and how we will achieve great things and live life in all its fullness.
Year 3- First Day in Year 3
Year 3 had a wonderful first day back at school and were full of excitement about joining the juniors! We began the day by writing prayers for the new academic year, with children expressing their hopes for sharing love and kindness, supporting their families, and fostering a caring school community. We also built upon our school’s 4 B’s — Being Kind, Being Respectful, Being Safe, and Being Ready — with thoughtful ideas from the children, such as walking safely around the school and avoiding swinging on chairs. They practised lining up in alphabetical order with great enthusiasm and did an excellent job! In the afternoon, we explored our science unit on Light, where the children explored and compared natural and artificial light sources. It was a fantastic start to the year!
Whole School Awards Ceremony
This morning, we had a special award ceremony to celebrate a fantastic 2023-2024 academic year here at St Barnabas. First of all, we said a huge well done to Harvey and Miss Reynolds. We thank Mrs Reynolds for the amazing support that she has given to Harvey and the rest of our school family this year and we celebrate all of the wonderful things that Harvey has achieved. We wish him lots of luck at his new school. We then moved on to our Progress Award, Star of the Year and Children’s Champion winners in Years Reception-5. We congratulated Olly in Reception, Eli in Year One, Martha in Year 2, Alfie in Year 3, Elsie in Year 4 and Betsy in Year 5 with the Progress award, Elsie in Reception, James in Year 1, Naomi in Year 2, Alice in Year 3, Declan in Year 4 and Matthew in Year 5 as the Stars of the Year and Edward in Reception, Evie in Year 1, Alfie in Year 2, Daisy in Year 3, Annabelle in Year 4 and Harry in Year 5 as the Children’s Champion. Well done to all of these children for their incredible effort this year. Mrs Gardener and Mrs Ham also presented two of our Year 4 children with special awards. We said a massive congratulations to Annabelle who won our Protecting the Planet award. This is an award that Rev David left after retiring a couple of years ago. It goes to Annabelle for her fantastic commitment to preserving the planet. They also presented the Sharon Kay Cup for Kindness to Bella for her kind, caring, loving and empathetic nature. Mrs Ham, our current Heads and Deputies and Sports Leaders then presented Harry as our new Head Boy, Hamza as our new Deputy Head Boy, Daisy as our new Head Girl and Rosie as our new Deputy Head Girl for next academic year and Matthew, Freddie, Austin, Ezmae, Brooke and Poppy as our new Sports Leaders for next academic year. Well done to all of these children for their very successful applications-we are sure that you’ll all do a fantastic job in your new roles! Mrs Ham then presented all the children in school who have achieved 96% attendance across this academic year- a huge well done to these children for their commitment to learning. Finally, the Rotakids then presented Darcy and James as the sweet jar winners. Thank you to all of our children who guessed the number of the sweets in the jars to raise money for East Lancs Hospice and well done to Darcy and James for guessing correctly. We are so proud of our whole school family for their hard work and dedication, they really have achieved great things and lived life in all its fullness.
Whitehall Park Disco
Whitehall Park team enjoyed a disco in the school hall at break time today. They received the most house points this term. The children enjoyed some sweets, danced and also played musical bumps.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Talents
Today, Rev Ben set a task for our volunteers: to carry a balloon from one side of the hall to the other without using their hands. He shared the story of Paul and the shipwreck and talked about the Christian belief that it is their task to share the good news of God and His Son, Jesus. We also considered the talents God gave us and how these talents can be used to serve God and others.
Year 3- Maths- Tell the time to 5 minutes
In maths today, Year 3 focused on using analogue clocks to tell the time to the nearest 5 minutes, building on their learning from Year 2. To start, the children recapped that there are 60 minutes in an hour. With this knowledge, they explored why quarters of an hour are equal to 15 minutes and why the 12 intervals around a clock face each represent 5 minutes. Partitioning the clock vertically from 12 to 6 helped the children visually recognise whether a time is past or to the hour. As in the previous lesson, the children used analogue clocks with moveable hands to physically make different times. Additionally, the children tested their partners by setting different times on their clocks and asking their partners to read the time.
Year 3- Panda Paramedic First Aid Silver Award
This afternoon, we welcomed Dawn, a paramedic, into our Year 3 classroom to help us complete our Basic First Aid Silver Award. Dawn began by asking us how to treat a burn. While we knew to run it under cool water, our guesses for how long it should be done were way off. Dawn clarified that the burn should be cooled under running water for 20 minutes. Dawn then showed us pictures of a child with a graze, a sprained ankle, and a bump to the head. The children informed Dawn that if they have a head injury at school, their parents receive a message so their families can keep a close eye on them. Next, Dawn demonstrated how to give first aid to someone with a broken arm. We all practised putting slings on each other's arms. Though the children found it tricky at first, with practice, they got the hang of it. Dawn also asked the children how to help someone who is choking. The children knew to pat the person's back but were unsure for how long. Dawn clarified that you should strike five separate times between the person's shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. The children then had a turn to practice this on a dummy. Dawn then asked the children to name the four emergency services. She was impressed that they could identify them all: Police, Fire, Ambulance, and Coastguard. She added that you can also request mountain rescue if needed. Before finishing, the children asked Dawn what inspired her to become a paramedic and how long she had been doing this work. Dawn shared that she initially wanted to be a vet but was put off by the idea of having to put animals down, which she found very upsetting. She finds her current job much better because she is always helping people and has been a paramedic for over 15 years. They worked brilliantly as a class and were awarded a certificate for their participation.
Summer Reading Challenge 2024
This morning, Angela came in to invite us all to join in with ‘The Summer Reading Challenge 2024- Marvellous Makers’. This is a national reading activity, which aims to encourage a love of reading in children and develop their literacy skills throughout the summer. To get started, drop in to either Darwen or Blackburn Library. Angela told us that once you’re enrolled, each member needs to read 6 library books (or eBooks/eAudio), with stickers or a prize being awarded for each book that is read and returned. Prizes will include origami paper and pencil crayons. Those who complete the scheme (all 6 books), will receive a medal and a certificate that they can bring into school in September and have presented in Friday celebration worship. Angela asked us why it would be amazing if we all completed the Summer Reading Challenge. Our children said that reading can help us to learn new words, increase our imagination, get us excited so our hearts will beat fast and help us to challenge our brains. We look forward to hopefully presenting lots of ‘Summer Reading Challenge’ certificates and medals in September. Extra Information To enrol, simply go to your nearest Blackburn with Darwen library and complete an application form between 1st July & 30th September. Enrolment in the scheme is free of charge, and involves children borrowing books on a library card. If your child does not yet have a library card, we would encourage you to take this opportunity to enrol them as a library member. This is a quick process, and you will simply be asked to complete and sign another form. However, those children without library cards may still join the Summer Reading Challenge, and temporary arrangements will be put in place to allow them to borrow books.
Year 3- Rock and River-
Year 3 had an amazing day at Rock and River today, participating in various challenging activities, including the low ropes course, climbing tower, airbag jump, rafted canoes, sit-on-top kayaks, paddle boards, and mega paddle boards. Despite finding the water cold, nothing stopped them from jumping in and getting wet! They had an absolute blast, demonstrating our school's Christian values by being brave and showing courage, determination, and respect throughout the day. Their behaviour and manners were so impressive that even the instructors were in awe.
Year 3- Rock and River
Year 3 had an amazing day at Rock and River today, participating in various challenging activities, including the low ropes course, climbing tower, airbag jump, rafted canoes, sit-on-top kayaks, paddle boards, and mega paddle boards. Despite finding the water cold, nothing stopped them from jumping in and getting wet! They had an absolute blast, demonstrating our school's Christian values by being brave and showing courage, determination, and respect throughout the day. Their behaviour and manners were so impressive that even the instructors were in awe.
Rev Matt’s Worship - Seeking Truth
Rev Matt shared with us the fantastic news of his recent ordination. Some of the children even helped with a little re-enactment. He explained that his duty as a Christian is to live a life of truth. We listened to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; three men of faith who were punished for refusing to turn their backs on God in order to worship an image of the king. Rev Matt spoke about how it isn’t always easy for us to stand by our beliefs and we discussed times when this might be particularly difficult.
Witton Athletics 2024- 3rd place
A huge congratulations to our athletics squad for their super performance at Witton Athletics which gained us 3rd out of 13 Darwen schools. Medalists were: Matthew- 1st place cricket ball throw Ella- 3rd in Year 3/4 400m Sophie- 2nd Year 5/6 600m 1st- Year 5/6 Girls relay 2nd- Year 5/6 Boys relay Summer- 3rd Year 4 sprint Brooke- 3rd Year 5 sprint Freddy- 2nd Year 5 sprint A huge thank you to our parents for their support with transport and encouragement to the squad. Thank you to Mrs Gardner, Mrs Ham, Mr Bloomfield and Mr Norris for their super support.
Year 3 - Science - Plants
This week, to finish off our science topic, we compared the plants we have growing in soil with the ones in the gel and which has been easier to look after. We also put all of our knowledge together to draw a diagram and describe what a plant needs to grow nice and healthy.
Growth Mindset Assembly
Today, our school had a very special assembly by Liz from Growth Mindset. The children explored the differences between fixed and a growth mindset. The children understood the advantages of growth mindset and how we can channel our growth mindset to overcome challenges and hurdles that we face daily. Liz shared a story about her uncle David who overcame many challenges to compete in the Para Olympic Games which demonstrated the powers of growth mindset. The children were faced with a variety of scenarios and shown how a growth mindset can help achieve and succeed. Just remember: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” A huge thank you to Liz from Grow Your Mindset!
Fundraising - East Lancs Hospice
A huge well done to the whole of St Barnabas, we have raised a massive £277.30 for the East Lancs Hospice through our Hop, Skip and Jump event and our Barney's Got Talent Show. The money will be used to help care for those in need and will support the wonderful staff that do an amazing job within the health care system.
Year 3 - R.E. - Interview a Christian
For R.E. this week we learnt all about what it means to be a Christian and what skills and qualities someone needs to lead by example. To do this we had an interview of a Christian, which Desmond volunteered for and gave some great answers to questions the children in the class asked. We then wrote our own job descriptions looking for a Super Christian and thought about what responsibilities they might have and what kind of characteristics they would need.
Friday Celebration Worship- Whole School
Today, in celebration worship, we began by signing the Trinity and discussing the busy week. Mrs Ham thanked the children who sang at Blackburn Cathedral for the celebration of Cidari's 10-year anniversary. These children were recognised for demonstrating our Christian value of courage. All classes were praised for their transition day to new classes. They showed bravery and respect throughout. The class teachers presented value awards to the following students for always doing the right thing and trying their best in everything: Joey from reception, Harry from Year 1, Harry from Year 2, Darcy and Ivy from Year 3, Eden from Year 4 and Brooke from Year 5. Well done!. Year 1 and Year 4 won the attendance award this week. Well done for ensuring you are always in school, ready to learn. We also celebrated children for their extracurricular activities outside of school. Many showcased their trophies, medals and certificates in swimming, football, ballet, brownies, dancer for the year, gymnastics, performing arts, horse riding, Iron Kids Run, and lifeguarding skills. The Wellbeing warriors presented the children with walk to school badges and we sang' School Rules' which the children enjoyed. To conclude our worship, prayers were led by Lilly, Olivia and Mrs Ham.
Year 2 - 3 Transition Day-
Year 2 - Year 3 transition day was incredible! The children were amazing. They kicked off the morning with Junior Jam, where they played music, learned French, and explored computing. In the afternoon, they created a fantastic piece of artwork to showcase in September—a personalised pencil crayon highlighting what makes each of them unique and designed their bookmark. They also demonstrated their best handwriting and shared their favourite books and authors. We also visited the Junior yard where they will be playing in September, and they felt so grown up. They can’t wait to play in the yard with the other children and make new friends. They are eagerly anticipating their move to Year 3, and I am super excited for the new school year!
Rev Ben’s Worship - Living a Life of Truth
This week, in Rev Ben’s worship, we learned the importance of telling the truth and we discussed the consequences of lying. We found out that part of being a Christian is aiming to live a life of truthfulness. We also reflected on ways we could stay truthful in our daily lives.
Year 3 Move Up To Year 4
The Year 3 class had a fantastic day being Year 4s for transition day! They spent time getting to know each other with a game of human bingo, creating a unique piece of artwork, taking part in the Picture News Olympic Assembly and painting with cotton buds. They all settled really well in the classroom and demonstrated Barney’s 4 Be's perfectly.
Year 3- Science- Use scientific language to describe how plants reproduce.
This afternoon in science, Year 3 investigated how seed dispersal helps some plants reproduce. They were able to explain that dandelions use the wind to spread their seeds, cherry trees rely on birds to eat the seeds and then disperse them through their droppings, wild cucumbers burst to scatter their seeds explosively, burdock plants use their spikes to hitch a ride to a new location and coconut trees use water dispersal to disperse their seeds by letting them fall on the beach and when the tide comes in, the tide picks up the coconut and carries it to another to grow.
Year 3- History-Explain the limitations of archaeological evidence
Today in history, Year 3 explored the limitations of archaeological evidence using digital dwellings at Skara Brae. They examined a hearth in the middle of a room and discussed what they could see. They learned that clear evidence proves the object was a hearth, which they concluded was used for heating and cooking. They justified this by noting its central location and practical uses. The class completed three columns: one with certainties (e.g., the hearth and the Neolithic people hunted, they used the antlers from deer for making tools and jewellery, another with possibilities (e.g., a place to clean yourself or sleep), and a third with their questions about Skara Brae. They also watched clips and learned that Skara Brae is located on the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of Scotland and was the home of a Neolithic farming community.
Inter- House Sportshall Athletics with Years 3 & 4
Year 3 and 4 absolutely loved their inter-House Sportshall Athletics this morning. They did various events which included sack race, egg and Spoon, obstacle relay and sprints with a baton exchange. Thanks to the sports leaders for organising.
Year 3- Collective Worship- What makes a good friend?
During our class worship, Year 3 discussed the qualities of friendship. The children suggested someone you can trust, humble, caring, understanding, kind, encourager, supportive and someone who enjoys hanging out with you. We then watched a short clip inspired by singer, Taylor Swift, who is in the midst of her world tour, one superfan, Devon, has made hundreds of friendship bracelets to donate to people in care homes. She hopes to inspire all generations to get involved in the bracelet craze. We discussed that everyone is different so the friendships we choose are different too. It might be that people have similar hobbies, beliefs, or values that make them friends. The Bible teaches us many things about friendships and being a good friend. We also thanked God for all our wonderful friendships and how God helps us show love through kindness, patience, honesty and forgiveness.
Year 3 - Carbon Monoxide Workshop- Year 3
Emily delivered a workshop today as part of the CO Safety Assembly and Class Workshops, designed to raise awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO). Year 3 students learned a lot about this invisible and dangerous gas, known as the hidden danger because it can't be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. The children enjoyed the video and fun activities and are ready to spread the word as Safety Assistants.
Year 3 - French Greeting and Question
Today in French we revised some basic greetings and questions such as “What is your name?” and “Where do you live?”. We filled in the blanks on a conversation between two people called Adeline and Aloïs. Daisy and Sofia then re-enacted the conversation for the rest of the class.
Year 3- Design Technology- Make a castle using 3D shapes – both nets and junk modelling.
This term in Design Technology, Year 3 have learned about various features and designs of castles, including moats, drawbridges, battlements, keeps, and turrets. They have practised drawing their castle designs using 2D shapes and labelling the 3D shapes that will create these features. The students have constructed nets using glue to make geometric shapes and have stacked these shapes along with recyclable materials to build the structures of their castles. Next, they will evaluate their products, reflect on their challenges, and consider what they might do differently next time to improve their designs.
Year 3- Design Technology-Constructing nets to make 3D shapes
In D.T. this afternoon, the children constructed various 3D geometric shapes for building castles. They cut along bold lines, folded along dotted lines, ensured tabs were the correct size, made crisp folds, and used glue to assemble the nets into 3D shapes.
Barney's Got Talent
To celebrate World Music Day, Mrs Ham supported by our Heads and Deputies (Lucy, Skye, Isaac and Wilson) presented a very special Barney's Got Talent this morning. We are collecting donations that will be going to East Lancs Hospice to support the wonderful work they do. All of the talents that we witnessed from our school family were absolutely incredible and we commend all of the children for being so courageous and sharing these talents with such a large audience. A huge well done to Callie the Tangled Twin , Super Summer the Gummy Bear, Haydn and Percy as the Football Friends, Olivia and Lydia as the Barbie Girls, Ballerina Annabel dancing to the instrumental version of ‘Dance Monkey,’ Super Ted and Electric Elijah with their amazing street dancing, The Friendship Band of Iris and Naomi singing ‘This Girl is on Fire,’ Jack, Ella-Grace and Chay as The Conga Monkeys, Miles, Daisy and James as The Brilliant Believers singing Believer by the Imagine Dragons, Toffee Tristen singing Pure Imagination dressed as Willy Wonka, Sparkly Sofia singing ‘Beautiful Things’ by Benson Boone, Dramatic Darcy singing ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri, Mason and James as the MJ Boys singing ‘Shotgun’ by George Ezra, Amazing Annabelle as a magician , Graceful Grace dancing to ‘ABC’ by the Jackson 5, Beau, Jess, Laila, Brooke, Charlie-Rose and Betsy dancing to ‘Who Runs the World? (Girls)’ as the 6 Golden Stars, Eliza as The Joyful Joker, Outstanding Oscar playing and singing ‘Believer’ on the Piano, R’Kid Seb singing ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ by Oasis, Archie the Arrow thrashing Mr Bloomfield at darts and The WWE Wrestlemania team of Charlie, Carlton and Alfie. Wow! What a lot of talent. Thank you to the parents who could attend our Barney's Got Talent, we hope you enjoyed the performances. For those who couldn’t, Mr Bloomfield kindly recorded it and this will be shared with you all. We wish you a lovely restful weekend. Thank you for your continued support.
Mrs Ham's Highlights
Dear parents and carers, wow, another super busy week of living life in all its fullness at St Barnabas! The highlights of the week have been: *Our Barney’s Got Talent show this morning. We are so proud of our super talented and courageous children who took part in it. Thank you so much for all of the parents and grandparents who came along to support. Thanks so much for your kind donations to East Lancs Hospice. You can still make a donation on parent pay if you would like to. Photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/barney-s-got-talent-june-2024 *Learning about refugees in class worship as part of refugee week and Years 3 and 5 have special visits from two refugees from DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise. * Our high fives netball team winning the league and will now go on to represent BWD in the Lancs school games. *Our boys cricket team crowned champions of the DPSSA cricket competition. * Our tennis team did brilliantly at the tennis tournament. *Our new after school clubs started with Little craft club and Little Voices. *We had a carbon monoxide safety assembly for the whole school and workshops in Years 5 and 6. * Our WOW group have started to create our Spirituality garden with the help of Mr Fairbanks, Mr Ham and Mrs Ham’s son. We still welcome donations of pots and plants if you have any spare ones lying around at home. Next week we are looking forward to our Sports Day on Friday. Fingers crossed this lovely weather stays. The Infants ( Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) will go first at 9.15am- 10.30am and then the Juniors (Years 3,4,5 and 6) at 10.45am- 12.15pm. Parents are very welcome to attend and we are hopeful that we will be able to have our Mums, Dads and toddler races too. Work will begin next week on a new canopy on our Reception class yard. Therefore the Reception class yard will be closed and children will need to walk around the outside path to get to and from their class, rather than through the Reception yard. Further information will be sent out on Monday about where to drop off and collect Reception children from. Yesterday I sent out information about our children being invited to sing at a ‘Cidari 10 Year Celebration’ on Wednesday evening. I’m aware this clashes with out of school activities for some of our older children. Therefore, I have opened this up to children in any year group and they do not need to be choir members, just anyone who enjoys singing. We will be singing songs that we already know and sing in worship. We would really appreciate your support. If you would like your child to take part, please fill out the following google form and further information can be found on my previous post. https://forms.gle/sahNa3JH1UFz88Vu6 A polite reminder to please park considerately to our neighbours. This morning a white car parked on one of our resident’s drives to drop off, which meant the resident’s visiting family couldn’t park on their drive. Wishing you all a fantastic weekend and thank you for your continued support, Mrs Ham
Year 3- English- Zoom session from Tom Roberts-Author of the The Great Realisation poem and film. ·
Performance poet Tom Roberts also known as Tom Foolery shared his journey into poetry and explained his creative process during a Zoom session with Year 3 today. He emphasized the importance of focusing on subjects that matter to you at the moment, whether personal or universal, making the work more engaging. He shared valuable advice from a former teacher about structuring a poem. Instead of thinking of a poem as having a beginning, middle, and end, he approaches it as a progression from stability to instability, and finally to resolution. During the session, Tom delighted the children by reading two poems: "The Great Realisation" and "The World Awaits" – the latter from his second book. To make the experience even more special, he included the names of the children while performing. Year 3 loved it! Inspired by this session, the children will now use Tom's approach to structure their poems on the theme of refugees.
Whole School CO Safety Worship
Steph visited us to talk about how we can stay safe at home. We watched a video of Safety Seymour and the CO crew and learned about the dangers of CO - Carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas that can’t be detected by our senses alone. We have to be careful if we have gas fires or log burners and check them yearly to make sure they are clean. If we suspect there is a CO leak, then we must contact the gas emergency services to come and check. We must also check our boilers and gas cookers for any changes - if the flame turns floppy and orange it means CO is being produced and a gas safe engineer needs to look at it. Always get an adult to turn it off straight away. If we breathe in CO we might feel unwell and it can be very dangerous so we must remember the 3 safety steps: have our appliances tested regularly, look for signs and symptoms of feeling unwell and install a CO alarm at home.
English- Year 3- Refugees from Sudan and Libya
Today in Year 3, we welcomed two refugees. Zinab from Libya and Samah from Sudan. They both had to leave their families because it was not safe in their countries. Zinab and Samah told us about their struggles and worries about fitting in here in the UK. They were very grateful to the UK for providing them with housing and support. They also reminded us to be thankful that we don't have wars, and that we have safe places to stay and food to eat. The question and answer session helped the children understand the challenges refugees face, which they could then portray in their writing.
Rev Matt’s Worship: God’s Great Creations
Rev Matt began his worship this week with a challenge for us all to vote for “the best one for the job”. He showed two people or animals and asked which would be the best runner, the best fire fighter, the best world leader etc. He then read a poem from the Bible about nature and how precious God’s creations are. We spent some time discussing our favourite creations and how we could take care of them.
Year 3- Class Worship- Refugees Welcome
During our class worship today, we learned about Milad from Syria, who had to flee his country because of the war. Milad was forced to leave his older brother behind and was separated from him for over a year, not knowing if he would ever see him again. We also examined the conditions of the refugee camps and the large number of people living in them. Additionally, we discussed the British value of individual liberty, recognising that everyone has the right to live somewhere safe and that we can choose to help refugees. We then thanked God for keeping us safe and prayed for all those who have to leave their homes because of war.
Year 3- P.E- Athletic Activities
This half term, Year 3 are focussing on athletics activities. This afternoon, the children carried out standing long jumps and sling throws. We set up a throwing area with zones ranging from 5 to 50 points, and the children practiced the sling throw for distance. We arranged lines of cones approximately five metres apart, and the children jumped across using one type of jump. They worked amazingly as a class.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning in celebration worship, we started by signing the trinity and discussing a very busy first week back after the half-term holidays. This week, we have had a worship about St Barnabas, the encourager and how St Paul was originally called Saul and how he changed his behaviour, a worship from Rev Ben about Jesus being a compass and helping us to find the way when things become difficult and a wonderful Father’s Day Stay and Play in Reception Class. This week also saw a group of our Year 6 children taking part in The Darwen Primary Schools Netball Finals event at Darwen Vale and coming away with joint first but second on goal difference, a group of our Year 6 children for taking part in a BwD cricket competition at Darwen Cricket Club and coming an overall 8th and Year 5 class for being the class who walked to school the most in May. This week, we also said a huge well done to Haydn, Carter, Bluebelle, Miles, Elsie, Ruby and Isaac who were awarded as our value award winners this week for always striving to do their best and showing respect and kindness and we also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our attendance winners and Darwen Tower as our overall value award winners this week with 275 points. We then moved on to hearing about what great things our children at St Barnabas have been achieving outside of school. Well done to Charlie for achieving his brown belt in martial arts, Ella-Grace for being awarded with a trophy for demonstrating fantastic football skills, Callie for working extremely hard and showing amazing skill in her gymnastics, Carter for achieving his silver award at swimming, Amelia for running 5k in the Race For Life and raising £600 for Cancer Research, Olivia for being an amazing Brownie, Daisy for achieving 2nd place at a recent gymnastics competition, Finn for achieving ‘Player of the Week’ at football, Lyla for achieving 10m in her backstroke, Isabella for achieving her brown belt in martial arts and 20m in her swimming, Eliza for achieving ‘Player of the Season’ in her football and being invited back to Blackburn Rovers after trialling out for their girls team, Leonora for swimming amazingly for the centurions and achieving both ‘The Funkiest Hairstyle’ and ‘Heart of Gold Award’ from the club she went to while on holiday, James for achieving a silver medal at Jiu Jitsu for demonstrating very powerful kicks and punches, Maggie for achieving a fantastic 50m in her swimming, Edward for being a super reader and achieving 100% in his reading eggs quiz, Tristen for achieving yet another impressive kick-boxing belt, Miles for achieving 3rd place in a recent football tournament, Annabel for being an incredible tap dancer and achieving her first steps certificate and Summer for achieving a first class medal for demonstrating incredible skill in her gymnastics. Finally, we ended our worship with two beautiful prayers from Jack and Leonora thanking all of our amazing staff for all that they do and praying for those who are in the midst of war and conflict. We also sang, ‘Build Up' as this week we have been thinking about how we can be like St Barnabas and encourage each other and build each other up. Thank you as always for those who could attend celebration worship today and we send an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for their continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend when it arrives and we hope all of the Dads and Grandads have a wonderful Father's Day on Sunday.
Year 3- English- My name is not a Refugee
This week, Year 3 began their new writing unit based on the book titled "My Name is Not Refugee." At first, the children predicted that the story might be about a child starting school, going swimming, or on a family holiday. However, after learning the title, they felt sad for the little boy and his mum. In today's lesson, the children were asked to think of five items they would take if they had to leave their home and never come back. They suggested items like jumpers, snacks, teddies, books, games, sleeping bags, toothpaste, and torches. Narrowing it down to just five items was extremely difficult for them. They realised that a mobile phone would lose its battery and become useless, a sleeping bag might be helpful if they couldn't find a place to sleep, but they were still concerned about staying warm and finding food. The children then wrote responses to questions based on the story.
Year 3- PSHE- Drowning Prevention Week- Water Safety in the home
During our class worship, we learned about water safety at home. The children watched the water safety animation and discussed danger signs and when to shout for help. We also took a moment to thank God for keeping us safe around water in our homes, pool, and beaches.
Year 3- Science-identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants and flowers
This afternoon, Year 3 began their unit on plants. Each group was assigned a specific plant to research. Using secondary sources, they investigated the functions of their plant. They highlighted key scientific terms in their writing, such as photosynthesis, nutrients, temperature, light, sun, water, absorbs and transports.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Jesus is Our Compass
This week, Rev Ben joined us for worship to talk about seeking the truth. He began with a true or false quiz in which the options become progressively more difficult. We discussed why sometimes it’s hard to know what’s true and how it feels to feel lost. We learned that Christians believe that Jesus will always guide them to the truth if they put their trust in him.
Year 3- History- Creating timelines
Year 3 created a history timeline using a toilet roll, with each sheet representing 100 years. This activity helped them visualise how long ago prehistory was. They also learned how BC and AD divide history into distinct periods. Some of the events that they were fascinated about were 'The Invention of the Printing Press (Around 600 years ago)' and the Internet was invented, (1980-1990s) which changed how people communicate, learn, and share information. Today, we use the Internet for almost everything!
St Barnabas Day Collective Worship
It was wonderful to welcome our school family back again this morning after the half term break. Tomorrow it is St Barnabas day so we focused on St Barnabas, the Encourager this morning in our Collective Worship. We also looked at how St Barnabas and St Paul became friends and we thought about how Rev Ben is the vicar at both St Barnabas and St Pauls in Hoddlesden. We learnt how Paul was originally called Saul and he was mean and didn't like followers of Jesus. One day Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and after that Saul became a good person, changed his name to Paul and spread the word of God. Barnabas met Paul and encouraged others to listen to him and to give him another chance as he always saw the good in others. Barnabas and Paul went on lots of missionaries together to spread the word of God and the good news of Jesus. We reflected on how we could be like St Barnabas and encourage each other in the coming weeks. We discussed the bible quote 'encourage one another and build each other up' and had some wonderful answers. We thought about how our vision 'achieving great things through learning and growing together in a love-filled family' can only be achieved if we encourage each other and build each other up. We then finished with a prayer and sang 'Build up one another'.
Year 3- Design Technology- Identifying features of a Castle
This term in D.T., Year 3 will explore castles in detail and construct their castle structures using materials like cardboard boxes, coloured cards, string and tubes. In today's lesson, the children designed their castles on paper and labelled a castle's key features such as towers, turrets, battlements, moat, gatehouse and drawbridge, labelling them clearly.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about our extremely busy week in school. This week, we saw The Little Voices after school club showcase their amazing learning over the last six weeks, Year 1&2 visit BeWILDerwood in Cheshire, Year 2&4 visit St Barnabas Church to learn about the symbols of the church with Rev Ben, amazing learning in computing, music and French through our Junior Jam sessions, and two wonderful worships with Mrs Wilkinson about mental health awareness and Rev Matt about Pentecost. We then presented Percy, Isabella, Euan, Hamza and Archie as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for demonstrating an amazing attitude to their learning. Miss Flynn then presented all of Year 1 as value award winners this week for challenging themselves to try new activities at BeWILDerwood and representing school amazingly well by showing an amazing amount of courage, friendship and teamwork and Mr Norris presented all of Year 2 as value award winners for approaching their recent tests with amazing smiles on their faces and a huge amount of perseverance as well as being amazing on our trip to BeWILDerwood yesterday. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, Whitehall Park as the overall value award winners this week with 329 points, Annabelle, Mason, Jenson and Elsie for achieving ‘Rock Legend’ status for being able to rapidly recall their timetables and to Lily-May for achieving her pen licence for amazing handwriting across all of her subjects. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Callie for being awarded a certificate and trophy for demonstrating high standards of courtesy, respect and a black belt attitude at martial arts, Leonora for her certificate of recognition for her effort in working towards an award in her gymnastics, Iris for achieving her stage 1 grading at gymnastics and all of her hard work that has gone into achieving this, Ella-Grace for being a super football star and being selected as the manager’s player in her football team, showing amazing commitment to her training at Manchester United and achieving 20m in her swimming, Ed for achieving 25m in his swimming, Isaac for playing for being voted as the players’ player in his football team, Archie for running 2km in the Winter Warmer at Witton, Maggie for being awarded Olivia at Rainbows for being a superstar and always being kind, caring and showing wonderful behaviour, Lyla for her commitment to Rainbows and achieving lots of badges, James for achieving his Stage 2 swimming certificate, Annabelle for achieving an incredible gold award in swimming, Sofia for achieving her Stage 1 gymnastics award and Lucy for being awarded the manager’s player of the year. Her manager said although she’s younger than the other players, she certainly makes up for it on the football pitch. To end our worship, we had a message about Barney’s Got Talent from our heads and deputies. They told us that auditions for this will be W/C 10th June and the showcase of these amazing talents will be on Friday 21st June. Finally, we had some lovely prayers from Sofia and Olivia in Year 3 and we sang ‘Our God is a Great Big God.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful half-term holiday.
Happy half term
Good afternoon parents and carers, I can't believe that we only have a half term left in school and it feels like this year has flown by. We have had a brilliant last week of the half term and the highlights have been: *Year 1 and 2's visit to BeWILDerwood in Cheshire. All the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-1-2-bewilderwood-trip-may-2024 *Year 2 and 4's visit to our church For all of the news from each class, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news Our Heads and Deputies told our whole school about the Barney's Got Talent show that they will be hosting on Friday 21st June. If children would like to enter, they have the next two weeks to practise their talents and auditions will be held the first week back. A reminder that our FOSB are selling Father's Day breakfast in bed boxes that can be collected on Friday 14th June. These can be purchased through parent pay until Monday 10th June. They will not be able to accept orders after this date as the boxes will need to be prepared. As Thursday 4th July is now a General Election, we will be closed on this day for all staff and children as our school is used as a polling station. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. I would like to say a huge thank you to our staff team for their support and dedication to our school family. I hope they all have a well deserved rest and chance to recharge. Thank you so much for all of your continued support and I hope that you all have a wonderful half term break. We look forward to seeing you all on Monday 10th June and I hope the weather is kind to us all, Mrs Ham
Year 3- Collective Worship- First impression
We discussed this week's story about first impressions during our class worship. The children shared what first impressions mean to them and talked about times when someone had the wrong impression of them or when they misjudged someone based on appearances. They also discussed occasions when they try to make a good impression, such as when meeting visitors at school, new students, or their new teacher. We then explored the biblical story where God told Samuel that He had chosen a new king for Israel, who would be one of Jesse's sons. Jesse assumed it would be his eldest son, but God chose David, Jesse's youngest son. This story teaches us that God does not judge by outward appearance but by the heart. Learning the facts rather than making assumptions based on first impressions is important. We concluded by thanking God for giving us the wisdom to see beyond first impressions.
Year 3- Religious Education-Which of the ten commandments do you think are the most important?
During our R.E. lesson today, we discussed a child-friendly version of the Ten Commandments and talked about their impact both in the past and now. The children shared which commandments they think are the most important and why. We also considered if any of the commandments could be left out, with pupils arguing for and against particular ones. The children felt that all of the commandments were still relevant. They thought that if God sent a new set of Ten Commandments today, the original ones would be kept the same, but new ones could be added. Some suggestions for new commandments included being humble, being kind, and not bullying.
Year 3- Computing- Create a blog!
This morning, Year 3 bloggers worked in pairs to create blogs, vlogs, and podcasts. They explored these three forms of communication in-depth and created their logos. Their concentration and enthusiasm was amazing to see.
Rev Matt’s Worship - Pentecost
Today Rev Matt came in to lead a worship all about Pentecost and being filled with the Holy Spirit. As a challenge, a group of children were chosen to blow up a balloon as large as possible in 30 seconds. He told us about the events of Pentecost and how the disciples received the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is considered the birthday of the church.
Year 3- Science- Create a set of instructions which need a compass to find the hidden treasure!
This afternoon in science, our future scientists designed their own treasure hunts using compasses, which contain magnets that always point north. They worked with their partners with a series of instructions, such as starting by the bench, taking four steps north, and then 5 steps east. They demonstrated excellent teamwork throughout the activity.
Mad Science After School club- Making slime
During our final after-school Science Club session, the children had a blast making slime with the Mad Scientist. They creatively mixed colours to make their slime unique. This half term, they have thoroughly enjoyed exploring various aspects of science. We definitely have future scientists among us!
Monday Worship: Mental Health
Last week was mental health awareness week and the theme was find your moments for movement. We began our worship by thinking about what mental health is. Isaac said it is about how you feel, Lucy said it was all about your emotions and Seb said it was about how you feel inside, not outside. We watched a video all about how people can look ok but actually may feel scared, worried or anxious and it is important to talk to someone, to exercise or to take time out for yourself. David told everybody how he felt worried about his SATs but he came into school smiling so people may not have known. Mrs Wilkinson led a mindfulness activity for everybody to really focus on their body. We then discussed how we can move more. The children suggested that we could play outside, go swimming, play football and dance. We then took part in a moodbuster get active workout where we all jumped, did star jumps, squatted and ran on the spot repeating affirmations. We then reflected on how we can move more and how we can promote mental health to ourselves and others. We ended our worship by singing Lighthouse to remind us that Jesus is always there to listen to us.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about our extremely busy week in school. This week, we saw Year 6 showing an amazing amount of courage as they faced their SATs, Year 5 having a wonderful 3 day PGL residential at Winmarleigh Hall and lots of amazing lunch time and after school clubs such as Cricket, Little Voices, Mad Science, Choir, Netball and Story and Craft. We also congratulated our wonderful Year 4 tennis team (Jenson, Summer, Annabelle and Quinn) for performing amazingly on Wednesday afternoon and coming in 2nd place out of 8 schools in BwD. What an achievement! Thank you to Mr Foy for training up the tennis team in his lunch times and Miss Baxendale for taking them to the competition. We also congratulated our Year 5/6 Netball team who competed in the DPSSA Netball League on Thursday night. We are hopeful that they will qualify for the final in a few weeks. We then presented Lenny, Archie, Rosie, Layla, Neve and Millie as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for impeccable manners, an amazing attitude to learning and working extremely hard across the curriculum. Mr Bloomfield then presented all of Year 5 as value award winners this week for challenging themselves at PGL and showing an amazing amount of courage, friendship and teamwork and Mr Prescott presented Year 6 for approaching SATs with amazing smiles on their faces and a huge amount of perseverance. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Darwen Tower as the overall value award winners this week with 208 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Summer for being an incredible gymnast, Grace for achieving Star of the Week at Little Voices after school club, Annabel for achieving a Certificate of Excellence from Butterflies After School Club for pushing herself out of her comfort zone by trying new things, Isaac for achieving an amazing 25m in his swimming, Teddy for achieving his red stripe belt at kickboxing, Sofia for achieving an honours in her musical theatre and being highly commended, Lottie for showing incredible swimming talent and achieving her level 4, Archie for achieving his black shirt in darts, James for starting Beavers this week and being awarded Beaver of the Week, Archie for demonstrating a wonderful attitude at football, Oscar for being a super scientist and taking part in various science (biology, chemistry and physics) investigations, Elliott for demonstrating an amazing attitude and wonderful behaviour during his football training and Darcy for being an incredible gymnast. To end our worship, we heard from Rev Ben who congratulated our wonderful Year 6 team for completing their SATs, Year 5 for an incredible few days at PGL and a lovely prayer thanking God for being with us and giving us the love, strength and power we all need. We then sang, ‘My Lighthouse’ with lots of enthusiasm and thanked all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 3- Class worship- What are some of the things that test's can't measure?
During our class worship session this morning, the children watched the week's story about facing challenges and listened to an uplifting poem reflecting on the aspects of life that tests cannot measure. The children then took turns sharing their unique strengths and talents with the class. Among the contributions were horse riding, kickboxing, dancing, singing, and swimming.
Year 3 - Art - Botanical Drawing
For Art this week we looked at how scientists would draw detailed pictures of plants and flowers to help study them and document them. We had our own go at drawing some flowers and leaves using magnifying glasses to help us capture the fine details.
Little Voices after school club
Our Little Voices after school club had lots of fun playing games to develop their confidence and they then practised the song that they will be performing to their parents next week.
Year 3 - Class Worship - Passover
Today for class worship we listened to the story of how Moses helped the Israelites escape Egypt and cross the sea to safety. We learnt about how the Jews celebrate this each year and this is called Passover.
Year 3 - Road Safety
This afternoon we had Katie from Blackburn with Darwen council visit us to teach us all about road safety. We practiced how to cross the road safely and how to use a zebra crossing. We also learnt about lollipop people and how hi-vis works and why certain people will wear a hi-vis jacket.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about how we have lived life in all its fullness this week. We kickstarted the week on Tuesday with Rev Ben and his worship about the ascension and we’ve enjoyed a variety of lunch time and after school clubs such as Cricket, Little Voices, Mad Science, Choir, Netball and Story and Craft. We also congratulated our wonderful Year 5/6 netball team for performing amazingly on Wednesday night in the DPSSA Netball League and winning both of their matches. As it stands, they are unbeaten and look forward to competing against St Peter’s next week. We then presented Millie, Molly, Cassidy, Nevaeh, Seb, Daisy and Lucy as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for always their amazing attitude to learning and consistently demonstrating the 4Bs and our Christian Values. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park as the overall value award winners this week with 143 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to sisters Lydia and Naomi for getting Olivia at Rainbows for being superstars, Callie for being awarded Bruno Bear at Stagecoach for being a super brave performer, Cici for being this week’s Little Voices after school club superstar, Archie for achieving a certificate for the level of bravery that he showed whilst getting his bloods taken at the hospital, Lyla for achieving highly commended in her Musical Theatre exam, Bluebelle for achieving a fabulous 25m in her swimming, Evie for being awarded with a trophy for her wonderful gymnastics, Olivia for achieving her Stage 5 at swimming, Bindi and Elsie for swimming an amazing 50m, Jenson for being able to swim a phenomenal 800m and his Bronze swimming award, Nevaeh for achieving level 4 in her gymnastics, Tristen for gaining his orange belt in kickboxing and we congratulated Lucy for winning the East Lancs Final whilst playing for her football team Lammack. To end our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Darcy, Oscar and Harry who prayed for people who are less fortunate and those in countries that are currently faced with war and uncertainty. We then sang, ‘Sing a New Song to the Lord.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely (and hopefully sunny) weekend!
Glorious Golden Time
This afternoon our children have enjoyed a glorious golden time outside. We are so lucky to have such large grounds to explore and play in. We have had some children playing sports on the MUGA, some on the outdoor gym and trim trails, some building and playing in the sand, some getting creative and some playing Jag Tag. The children work their socks off in class each week, follow our Four B's and complete their reading and homework to earn their golden time each Friday. What a fantastic afternoon!
Mrs Ham's Weekly Highlights
Good afternoon parents and carers, we hope that you all had a lovely bank holiday weekend. We have had another short but busy week of living life in all its fullness at St Barnabas. The highlights have been: *Reception class farm animal visitors from Nightingales Farm * Year 1's mock Baptism and party at our church with Rev Ben * Two more brilliant wins for our netball team * Our WOW group leading our KS2 class worships * Continuing learning how to play the keyboard in Junior Jam * A glorious golden time outside in the sun this afternoon Coming up next week: *Our Year 6 children are very much looking forward to their free breakfasts as we have the KS2 SATs. We know that they will try their very best and make us all proud. We also know that our children have been blessed with skills and qualities that SATs don't test. *Our Year 5 class are very excited as they are going on their three day PGL residential to Winmarleigh with Mr Bloomfield, Miss Kachwalla and Rev Ben. We are sure that they will make some amazing memories. *Years 1 and 3 have road safety officer workshops. *Year 2 have a visit from the fire service. *The Year 3/4 mini tennis competition. * Years 4, 5 and 6 have a PSHE RSE session from Coram Life Education *Our netball team have more matches. As the weather is warming up, please ensure that your child has a water bottle in school each day and that they put on all day sunscreen before coming to school. Sunhats would be brilliant too for playtimes and lunchtimes. Thank you for your continued support to our school family. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend in the sunshine with your loved ones, Mrs Ham
Year 3- Class worship delivered by members of the 'WOW' group
Lucy, Grace and Ruby did a wonderful job delivering our class worship today. Year 3 learnt about the new study published in an archaeological journal, using evidence found in Italy, which found that Neanderthals organised their living areas and tools similarly to modern humans. The class discussed how the events and people in our past have shaped who we are. Lucy ended the worship by thanking God for all the people who have shaped and influenced the world we live in today.
Year 3 - Science- Investigating how friction can be decreased or increased.
This afternoon in Science, Year 3 conducted a "ramp investigation" to explore how objects move on different sloping surfaces, considering friction. They made a small ramp using a piece of wood. Then, they placed a car on top of the ramp and observed how it moved down without being pushed. The children experimented by laying different materials on the ramp, such as fabric, tin foil, and plastic, to see how they affected the car's movement and friction. They made systematic and careful observations, and where appropriate, took accurate measurements using standard units.
Year 3- Class Meeting-What school trips would you like to go on in future?
Miles took the role of a leader and Sonny took notes during our school council class meeting today. We discussed our last action about how to promote reading, and the most popular vote was to revisit Darwen Library. This week, the communication team wants to know ' What school trips would you like to go on in future?' The four choices were: Theme Park, Beach Visit, Museum/Art Gallery, or Football Match. Year 3 voted for a beach trip as their favourite option.
Year 3- English- David Attenborough- Use nouns and pronouns appropriately to avoid repetition.
This afternoon, Year 3 explored the fascinating journey of David Attenborough's life. They discovered details about his early years and education, then wrote a brief paragraph, ensuring they used nouns and pronouns to prevent repetition. They also learned that Sir David is celebrating his 98th birthday today, so they wanted to extend warm wishes for a fantastic day and many more years of greatness to come.
Mad Science After school Club- Magnetic Magic
This afternoon, the future scientists embarked on a magical journey exploring the wonders of magnets. They learned about how magnets work in everyday life and did tests to see how magnets make things move. Then, they used what they learned to conduct experiments that seemed like magic, like making things levitate!
Year 3- Geography- Exploring US States
In Geography, this afternoon, Year 3 worked in small groups to explore various U.S. states and assess their suitability as places to live. They investigated what it's like to live in different states, considering their similarities and differences, and examined how climate and landscapes could affect the quality of life in a particular location. They then shared their findings with the class.
Rev Ben’s Worship: The Ascension
Rev Ben spoke about the exciting events between Jesus’s crucifixion and his ascension. Many see Jesus’s ascension as a sad time, but Rev Ben explained that Christians believe that, although Jesus helped many people whilst he was here on Earth, he can help all of us from heaven. We also spent time thinking about when someone was helpful to us and how we can be helpful to others.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about how we have lived life in all its fullness this week. We kickstarted the week on Monday with two amazing science shows, had a wonderful worship about ‘The Road to Emmaus’ with Rev Matt on Tuesday and enjoyed a variety of lunch time and after school clubs. We also congratulated our wonderful Year 5/6 netball team for performing amazingly on Wednesday night at the High 5s Bee Stinger Qualifiers. They will be attending the grand final in a few weeks. We then presented Alessia, Ella, Bobby-Ray, Desmond, Edward, Jacob and Sophie as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for always working exceptionally hard and demonstrating great enthusiasm, respect and kindness. We also congratulated Reception and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and River Darwen as the overall value award winners this week. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Alessia for achieving her stage 1 swimming certificate, Hayden for winning ‘The Little Darreners’ Player of the week,’ James for also achieving ‘Player of the Week’ as a goalkeeper for his football team, Elsie for achieving a fabulous 25m in her swimming, Annabel for showing both generosity and courage to complete a swimathon to raise money for Marie Curie and Cancer Research, Marley for being awarded with the Rainbow Bronze award, Harry for achieving his green stripe at kickboxing, Molly for being awarded her green belt at jui jitsu, Darcy for achieving her Stage 4 at gymnastics, Daisy for participating in a gymnastics competition in Lancaster and taking 2nd place, Grace for achieving an honours in her classical ballet exam and we congratulated Archie for winning the East Lancs Cup alongside the rest of his football team. We then presented all of the children in school who have achieved their WOW badges this month. Well done to these children for their efforts in walking to school. Finally, we ended our celebration with a wonderful prayer from Rev Ben and a sing along to ‘Shine from the inside out.’ Thank you to those who attended celebration worship and we wish our whole school family a lovely and restful extended weekend.
Mrs Ham's Weekly Message
Good afternoon parents and carers, we have had a short but busy week due to the school being used as a polling station yesterday. We hope all of our school family had an enjoyable day in the sunshine. This week the children have continued to achieve 'great things' and have lived life in all its fullness. The highlights of the week were: * The fantastic Science shows on Monday. Thank you Miss Kachwalla for organising them. * Our high fives netball team won their Bee Stinger qualifier by winning every game so are through to the grand final. Thanks Mrs Gardner for training the team and supporting at the matches, even on your days off. * Year 2 visited Four Seasons Garden Centre to learn more about plants and growing. * We had great fun learning about perseverance by trying to keep two giant inflatables off the floor in Worship with Rev Matt on Tuesday. * We've had some fantastic clubs such as Little Voices, Cricket, Jag Tag, Netball, Forest Schools and Mad Science. Miss Flynn and our librarians also ran a wonderful lunchtime story and craft club too. * Year 5 and 6 had another brilliant Jag Tag session each this afternoon. For all of this week's news from each class, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news On Monday we won't be in school as it is bank holiday Monday but we look forward to welcoming our school family back to school on Tuesday. Wishing you all a wonderful bank holiday weekend and thank you for your continued support, Mrs Ham
Year 3 Computing - Podcasts
This term in computing we are writing and recording our own podcasts. We have been really putting our imagination to use and have written podcasts all about football, video games, magic and even one based on the book, The Day The Crayons Quit.
Year 3 - Art- Painting on the cave wall
Year 3 have thoroughly enjoyed Art this term. They have explored the techniques of Prehistoric Artist, experimenting with natural ingredients to create paints. For their final piece that they created this afternoon, it involved crafting a textured cave wall using lentils, couscous, coloured sand, and seeds using PVA glue. They then painted their animals from lesson 1 and 2 that they had sketched on to their cave wall.
Mad Science After School Club- Lights, Colour, Action.
Today at the club, the budding scientists explored what's hidden in regular light and witnessed cool chemical reactions. They also tried on special glasses that made rainbows look awesome. Plus, they had fun making drawings on black paper light up by shining a torch on them.
Rev Matt’s Worship - The Road To Emmaus
Rev Matt asked us to participate in the story of the disciples walking to Emmaus and talking about the sad events of Jesus’s death. We learned about the stranger who joined them and later revealed himself to be Jesus resurrected. Rev Matt involved all of the children in an activity in which they had to work together to keep an inflatable off the floor. He used this to explain the importance of believing, especially without proof, in God and His Son, and that it is this that keeps faith going.
KS2- Science Show- Fantastic Forces
This afternoon, KS2 enjoyed a special Science show led by Adrian, a former primary school teacher. The kids had a blast learning about different types of forces and examples and discovering more about Isaac Newton. Some students were selected to come to the front and test which parachute would land first: one open and the other tied. They made predictions and discussed air resistance. The children were intrigued by the various types of magnets, including bar and ring magnets, and they learned about repelling and attracting forces. Adrian even showed them how static can keep bubbles in the air, which left the children in absolute amazement with many "wow" moments. They asked Adrian why he chose to leave teaching and do science shows instead. He explained that while he loved teaching, focusing solely on science was his passion, which wasn't always possible in primary school. Delivering science shows allows him to do just that, and he thoroughly enjoys it. What an outstanding show it was!
Year 3- Hop, Skip and Jump
This morning, Year 3 have taken part in the Hop, Skip and Jump challenge in their crowns to raise money for the East Lancashire Hospice.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about how we started our week on Monday by celebrating World Earth Day and having a special worship with Willow the guide dog. Some other highlights from the week have been our wonderful worship about forgiveness with Rev Ben on Tuesday, Leonora and David attending the RE conference and our wonderful Year 5/6 netball team for performing amazingly last night and winning their match against St Edwards 13-0. We then presented Thomas, Evie, Martha, Miley, Brodie, Bella, Jake and Jay as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for consistently demonstrating an amazing attitude to learning, always showing kindness and respect to their teachers and friends and working incredibly hard across the curriculum. We also congratulated Reception and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park as the overall value award winners this week with an a wonderful 226 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Callie for achieving 3rd place out of 28 people in her recent gymnastics competition on the vault and beam, James for taking part in the St George’s Parade as a Beaver and achieving the chief scout’s special bronze award, Lyla for trying incredibly hard in her dancing, Charlie for achieving the ‘Little Darreners’ Player of the Week award, Renee and Carmen for being brave and challenging themselves on the high rope and the zip wire at Go Ape, Carmen for being very thoughtful at Little Voices after school club, Archie for concentrating and working extremely hard towards achieving his red belt at martial arts, Noah for achieving a trophy for demonstrating incredible skills in his football, Finn for being awarded a certificate for showing skill in his football, Tristen for achieving his orange belt at kickboxing, Luke for being awarded ‘Man of the Match’ in his most recent football match, Jack for achieving his Stage 4 and Stage 5 swimming certificates, Lola for achieving several medals for her dancing including one for completing a recent exam in her acro and another for her commitment to dancing, April for achieving her 200m swimming certificate after working extremely hard to progress to that level, Elsie for attending Brownies for a year, Daisy for her commitment to Brownies by attending for 2 years and achieving lots of badges such as her recent aviation and Scarlett for demonstrating amazing concentration in her jiu jitsu. To end of our celebration worship, we had some lovely prayers from Seb, Lilly, Darcy and Mrs Ham for those caught in war, prayers of thankfulness and prayers about protecting our planet and we sang ‘We Can Make a Difference.’ Finally, we thanked all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Year 3 - Persuasive Text- Why should you visit North America?
Year 3 have been learning how to write persuasively in the past week and a half. They've been using words like "could," "should," and "must" to convince people to visit North America. In geography, they've been learning a lot about North America, which helped them with their research. They've also been incorporating subordinate clauses in their writing using phrases like "Because North America has diverse landscapes." Now they're ready to show their persuasive writing to a wider audience and convince them to travel to North America.
Mrs Ham's Weekly Message
Good afternoon parents and carers, we have had another wonderful week of living life in all its fullness. The highlights of the week have been: *Celebrating World Earth Day through crafts at lunchtime and special class worships * A visit from Willow, a guide dog for the blind, as part of National Pet Month * WOW group members David and Leonora represented our school at the Pupils' RE conference * Our netball team won their first match of the league 13-0 against St Edwards * All of our children took part in the hop, skip and jump event today to help raise money for East Lancs Hospice. They all received a chocolate treat too. Donations to this very worthy cause can be made via parent pay. To hear about all the great things we have achieved this week in Celebration Worship, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news/2024-04-26-friday-celebration-worship For all of this week's news, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news A quick reminder that school is CLOSED on Thursday as our school is used as a polling station. Thank you for all of your support and dedication to our school family. Wishing you all a lovely weekend and I hope the sun shines for you all, Mrs Ham
Year 3- Collective Worship- Earth Day
During our class worship this morning, Year 3 enjoyed exploring the wonders of our planet and learning what we can do to keep it safe. The children thanked God for creating a wonderful world and how blessed we are to be surrounded by nature on our doorstep. The children made promises on how they will save the Earth. Some of the promises were, to not waste water, to recycle more and switch off lights when they leave the room.
Collective Worship-Forgiveness
This morning in Rev Ben’s worship, we started with a challenge. Dougie and Jake had a minute each to catch as many fish as possible using a rod and transfer them to another bowl at the other side of the room. The whole school gave them lots of encouragement which spurred them on enormously. This then led us on to a story of a fisherman called Peter. In the story, Peter realised that Jesus was more than a friend, he was God as he did such amazing things such as save him from drowning and heal his mother. When Jesus told Peter that he would betray him by not knowing him three times before the cockerel crowed, Peter didn’t believe him. Peter told Jesus that he would never betray him as he was his best friend. However, later in the story Peter did in fact betray Jesus when he denied knowing him three times. Then, the cockerel crowed. This is when Peter had the realisation that he had betrayed Jesus after all and he was extremely upset with himself. He wasn’t sure if Jesus would ever forgive him but Jesus did because Jesus loved him very much. Peter became a forgiven man and he spent the rest of his life telling everyone about Jesus and how amazing he was. He spread the word of God. Rev Ben asked us about the story and what we could learn from this. A lot of our Year 6 children shared their views and said that making mistakes can be good as you can learn, grow and improve and that Jesus will always forgive you for the mistakes that you make. We ended our worship with a lovely prayer and a sing along to ‘Jesus Strong and Kind.’
Year 3- P.E- Invasion Games- Rugby
In P.E. this term, Year 3 are learning the skills of rugby. This afternoon, the focus has been to master the swing pass technique for ball handling. The children formed groups of 4 to 5 in a semi-circle and engaged in a game of Pepper Pot, aiming to maximise the number of successful passes they could make within 30 seconds. They were reminded to show honesty as a group and report back the actual number of passes made and it is about beating their own group's personal best score rather than other groups. They worked brilliantly and encouraged other groups along the way.
Mad Science After-School Club-Watts- Up!
At the Mad Science after-school club today, the budding scientist had a blast! They dove into the world of static electricity, discovering its role in nature. They created indoor lightning and tried out some hair-raising experiments with an electrostatic generator.
Whole-School Worship - Guide Dogs
As it is National Pet Month, Mrs Ham invited some special visitors from the guide dogs charity into our collective worship. They came to tell us all about how guide dogs are selected, how they are trained and how they support blind people in their daily lives. Keith asked us to put our hands over our eyes in order to imagine what it must be like to be blind. Haydn said you might not see things on the floor so might trip up and Cici said you wouldn't be able to see where you were going. We were also introduced us to Willow, a working guide dog, and he showed us how to spot a guide dog by their harness. He also showed us how to spot if a blind person is in need of help. The children asked some great questions about blindness and about the charity. They were especially shocked to learn that each guide dog costs around £55,000! Two of our children have already sponsored a guide dog puppy and hopefully more families might choose to do the same. We ended our worship talking about Earth Day and how we can look after God’s creations. We all agreed that everyday should be Earth Day and we finished by singing 'I can make a difference in this world of ours'.
Year 3 - Art- Prehistoric Palette- Create paints using all natural ingredients as prehistoric artists did.
In ancient times, people had to get creative with their art supplies since they didn't have paints like we do today. They used things from nature, like crushed berries, burnt wood, and plant extracts mixed with animal fats, to make colours. That's why they collected leaves and other natural materials—they were their art-making tools. Today, Year 3 artists explored this ancient technique. They went on a nature walk to gather leaves, mud, twigs, and flower petals for their artwork. Back in the classroom, they mixed flour and water to make their paint base. Adding spices like turmeric or paprika gave them colours such as yellow, red, brown, and purple. Back in class, they used their homemade paints in their sketchbooks. They made marks, noting down the process for each colour they created. Through simple shapes, intricate patterns, and symbols.
WOW Badge and Class Winners for March 2024
A huge well done to all 120 of our WOW badge winners for March 2024. What a super effort everyone has made. We have all tried really hard to either walk or park and stride once a week in the month of March which was a little taster session as we did it over the 2 weeks! A big congratulations to Year 5 as they have the most badge winners. We look forward to seeing who has earned a badge for April in a couple of weeks.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by talking about why we are all wearing blue today which is for Autism Awareness Day at St Barnabas as part of Autism Awareness Month. Finn very bravely stood up in front of the whole school and told us a little bit about his brother Declan who has Autism. He told us that Declan doesn’t like walking in the rain as he doesn’t like the sensation and he told us that he doesn’t like very loud noises and will therefore sometimes wear his ear defenders. Despite this, Finn said that Declan leads an amazing life and it’s wonderful having a brother with Autism. Harvey, who has autism, also came to the front to show everyone his t-shirt which spread awareness for Autism and he loved blowing the worship candles out. We heard a little about how Harvey loves to sing rhymes and songs just like many of us. We then thought about how we’ve lived life in all its fullness this week with our wonderful worships led by both Mrs Ham and Rev Matt and all of our wonderful after school clubs including Little Voices, Mad Science Club, Forest schools and Cricket and Rounders Club. We then presented Hollie, Lydia, Frankie, Iris, Oliver, Olivia, Talia, Charlie, Betsy and Jake as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for consistently demonstrating an amazing attitude to learning, always showing kindness and respect to their teachers and friends and working incredibly hard across the curriculum. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, Jack and Sofia for receiving their pen licenses, Darwen Tower as the overall value award winners this week with an amazing 611 points, the children that completed the big plastic count for being super eco warriors, all of the children who have achieved their badge as part of the WOW initiative which involves walking to school or from school at least once a week and we said a special well done to Year 5 who have won the schools walk to school challenge by completing the most walks or park and strides so far. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Lenny for achieving his starfish swimming badge, Ella-Grace for achieving a trophy for coming first in her recent 3x3 football tournament, Sonny, Charlie, Leo and Desmond for winning the cup in their recent football tournament, Iris for being a wonderful gymnast and swimming several lengths to raise awareness for diabetes, Sofia for achieving her level 4 in gymnastics, making her promise at Brownies, being part of Brownies for two years and achieving an award at musical theatre, Betsy for being awarded a medal for amazing ballet, Isaac for being awarded a merit in his swimming, Lyla for achieving her Stage 4 certificate at swimming, Eliza for achieving several rosettes in her horse riding, Alexis for making her Brownie promise and achieving 100m in her swimming, Alice and Grace for achieving their Brownie Promise badge, Annabelle for gaining her silver certificate for demonstrating several skills at swimming, Lydia and Ella for achieving their Level 1 at swimming, Leonora for achieving her 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke in her swimming, Harry and Eli for being awarded their 100m certificate at swimming, Archie for getting Man of the Match during his semi-final football match, Eden for attending Brownies for a year and achieving her Brownie Eid badge, Mila for achieving her badge for visiting the Fire Station at Rainbows, Marley for getting Olivia doll at Rainbows for being kind, Thomas for getting his 15m swimming certificate, Callie for achieving Stage 4 in her swimming and Cassidy for making her Brownie Promise and being awarded her badge. Wow, what a busy week of celebrations that we had! Rev Ben then led us in prayer and to end our celebration worship, we thanked all those who attended and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Mrs Ham's Weekly message
Good afternoon parents and carers, it has been another wonderful week at St Barnabas! It was brilliant to hear in Celebration Worship about how each class has lived life in all its fullness and about all the great things that have been achieved this week both in and out of school. Please click here to read all about it: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news/2024-04-19-friday-celebration-worship Thank you to everyone for your support for autism awareness today by dressing in blue. A special thanks to Finn for being courageous by telling us all about his big brother Declan, who has autism and to our Harvey who loved showing us his special blue autism awareness t-shirt and how he loves to blow out our worship candles. This week we found out that 30 new children will be joining our school family in September and we can't wait to welcome them. Next Friday we are looking forward to our Hop, Skip and Jump in support of East Lancs Hospice. Donations can be made via parent pay. For all of this week's news, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news Thank you for your wonderful support and in particular with our walk to school initiative, which saw lots of children being awarded with their first WOW badge this morning. I would like to wish you all a fabulous weekend and I hope the weather is kinder to us next week. Take care and God bless, Mrs Ham
Year 3- Collective Worship-Creativity
In today's class worship, we talked about a famous artist named Banksy who published new artwork in London overnight. Year 3 were interested in his art, so we looked at some of his other pieces too. The children then drew something that represents a feeling or idea they have. They had five minutes to do it! Then, they talked about their drawings with the class and explained why they chose what they did. They created things like rainbows, sunsets, animals, and sports because those things represent them. We also explored an extract from the Old Testament. It talked about how Bezalel and Oholiab, had special talents for making beautiful things. They used their abilities to make a special place for people to gather. We ended worship by thanking God for giving us all different talents and ways to show our creativity.
Year 3 - Geography- Identifying and locating countries and states in North America on a map.
This afternoon, Year 3 Geographers delved deeper into their studies of North America. We explored the diverse landscapes of Canada, the tropical beauty of Costa Rica, the bustling streets of New York City, and the vibrant culture of Mexico. Afterwards, the children located these countries on a map and carefully labelled them for better understanding.
Little Voices After School Club
What a super first session with Little Voices! Our little superstars played several games that helped to develop their confidence and they learnt and performed an amazing song! Well done everyone! There are still places available if you would like your child to take part for the next five weeks on Tuesday evenings. CONTACT HAYLIE: Email: [email protected] Mobile: 07717 711715
Year 3- Prehistoric Art- Fun with charcoal
This afternoon in Art, the Year 3 artists have scaled up drawings from lesson one in charcoal to create tones and textures. They have successfully applied and blended charcoal to create form, and shape.
Rev Matt’s Worship: The Resurrection
Rev Matt came in to lead our worship today and tell us about the biggest surprise in the Bible: the resurrection. Rev Matt began with a mystery box game in which children had to feel an object in a box and guess what it was. He talked about how, even though we may worry about what’s coming, the surprise can often be the best thing. This is how the women felt when they visited Jesus’s tomb after his death. They were worried when they noticed Jesus was missing and the ground began to shake, but were overjoyed when Jesus appeared and spoke to them.
Year 3- Science- Making a dinosaur footprint fossil.
For our final science lesson on rocks and fossils, year 3 made their own fossils by mixing together 200g salt, 150g flour and 150g coffee grounds. Next, they imprinted by pressing dinosaur feet into the dough. The process helped them understand how fossils form overtime. Carmen also brought in some fossils from holiday to show the class.
Mad Science After School Club- Optical Illusion
The Science after-school club got off to an exciting start as the young scientists dove into optics, reflection, and sight! They had a blast learning about light and vision, even using mirrors to draw pictures and understand how things reflect.
Collective Worship- Road to Emmaus
This morning in our Collective Worship, we watched the latest Worship Together video from Blackburn Diocese. Lisa asked us to think about a time that we have run to share some exciting news with our friends or family. Archie said when he received a darts contract, Ella-Grace said when she won in a football 3x3 competition, Seb said when he won a dance competition, Luca said when he got a 171 in darts, Scarlett said when it was her birthday, Lyla Grace said when she got a fish and Alfie said when his team scored a goal. We then heard about the story of Jesus appearing to some of his followers on the road to Emmaus and how they ran back to tell the disciples. We then delved deeper into the story by watching a cartoon of the story to help us visualise what it must have been like for Jesus' disciples when he appeared to them and then disappeared. Bishop Philip explained how the disciples were happy as they knew that Jesus would always be with them and He is with us all the time. Lisa led us in a running prayer today and we all joined in with lots of enthusiasm. To finish our Worship we sang 'Let me walk beside you', said Jesus one day, which helps to explain how Jesus is with us when we are walking, sitting, standing and resting and we had some wonderful volunteers to show the younger children the actions. We then reflected on how we have lived life in all its fullness this week and Annabelle shared that she volunteered to be pushed into the freezing cold water during the Year 4 residential, Charlie said he jumped into the water twice, Jenson said he was brave in the water which felt like -25 and Isaac shared that he took part in some filming which pushed him out of his comfort zone. I wonder how we will live life in all its fullness this week?
Year 3- Class Worship-Dealing with disappointment
During our class worship, we talked about coping with disappointment. Before watching this week's story, I had prepared a large parcel box containing a pencil. The children were very excited and curious about its contents. However, to their dismay and disbelief, they discovered only a pencil inside. They had hoped for glue sticks, new books, or even slime. Afterwards, we watched a story about families travelling to Glasgow for an event inspired by "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." The event promised chocolate fountains, Oompa Loompas performances, and tickets priced at £35.00 per person. Unfortunately, upon arrival, families were met with empty rows and walls covered in black fabric. The organisers eventually cancelled the two-day event, leaving many disappointed. The children shared times when they felt disappointed and how they overcame it. We also discussed the story of Jeremiah from the Old Testament, who spent decades delivering God's message, even when he faced opposition from his own family and people. Jeremiah's unwavering hope and trust in God inspired us to persevere in spreading goodness. Together, we thanked God for giving us the strength to handle disappointment and for guiding us to learn and grow from these experiences
Thank you parents and carers!
Thank you to everyone who attended parents’ evening last night. We had 85% of our parents attend which was great, especially with it being the first day back after the Easter holidays. It was lovely to welcome you back into school again and we hope you enjoyed hearing how your child has progressed since the last parents’ evening in December. Thank you for your patience when waiting for appointments and for your ongoing support. If you weren’t able to attend last night, please contact class teachers via class dojo to arrange a 5 minute phone call. There will be NO Celebration Worship tomorrow morning sorry due to the shorter week and Year 4 being on their residential trip to the Anderton Centre. A quick reminder that parents and carers are always welcome to join us for our Family Celebration Worship on Friday mornings, which will start next Friday. Refreshments will be available from 8.55am and worship will start at 9.05am. We look forward to seeing you and thank you for your continued support.
Year 3- BIG Debate Club
In our class debate this morning, we discussed if it was better to be a teacher or a pupil. We had some great conversations, especially because some of our pupils have family members that work in schools and see them working hard in the evenings and holidays. Some pupils thought it was great to be a pupil because at break times they can play with their friends and eat with their friends at lunch time. They didn't like the idea of marking books and assessments. They discussed that being a teacher is tough but can also be lots of fun because they can teach what they enjoy the most. We then discussed the importance of teaching a range of subjects to prepare them for the future.
Easter Reflection Worship
It was wonderful to welcome our school family back after our Easter break. In our collective Worship we reflected on the events of Holy Week and joined in with a rhyming Bible story about when Jesus appeared to his disciples and we watched 'The Awesome Easter Surprise' video. We reflected on how Jesus must have felt telling his friends that he would be leaving them but we discussed how this was all part of God's plan and how God sent his son Jesus as a rescuer and saviour. We looked at our God's Big Story canvases and identified that the Easter story came in the salvation part. We then thought about how Jesus asked his disciples to love one another and live life in all its fullness. We talked to our partner about how we can live life in all its fullness, which is our school vision, and make Jesus proud of us. We had some really thoughtful answers such as: show love and respect to everyone including your pets, neighbours and parents, look after our world by picking up litter, donate clothes, toys and food to those who don't have as much as we have, challenge yourself, go outdoors and look at God's creations, be happy, play nicely with your friends and be grateful for everything we have. We finished our Worship with a prayer and sang Give me oil in my lamp to sing Hosanna to Jesus.
Easter Church Service
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Easter Service this morning. I’ve added some videos and photos to class dojo for parents who weren’t able to join us. Thank you to our Heads and Deputies for leading the service with me and to our KS2 classes for leading the singing. A special thanks to Rev Ben too for leading us in a special Easter prayer. We’ve had a wonderful few weeks in school in the lead up to Easter. Please click here to see all the Easter fun we have had: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/easter-2024 Thank you so much to our children for the amazing walking they have been doing both in and out of school for our Big Lent Walk challenge. As a school family we have walked a fantastic 2383km and raised £215 so far to help fight global poverty! Sponsor money can still be paid in on the following link: https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-big-lent-walk A quick reminder that we break up early today at 2.00pm and return back for the Summer term on Wednesday 10th April.
Amazing Attendance Winners - Spring Term
A huge congratulations to all of the children who received an Amazing Attendance certificate today for achieving great things by being in school for 96% of the time or over for the Autumn and Spring terms. We are so proud of you all!
Rev Matt’s Worship: Good Friday
Rev Matt’s worship this week began with a drawing challenge. A Year 4 child was shown a picture and they had to draw the picture on the back of a Year 5 child. This child then had to draw what they thought the picture was on the back of a Year 6 child, who had to attempt to draw it on flip chart paper. Rev Matt then explained that messages sometimes become distorted when we don’t see the full picture, but it is important to stay hopeful. This mirrors the sadness of Jesus’ death on Good Friday. We must remember that it was all part of God’s plan to save mankind.
Collective Worship- Salvation
This morning in Worship we learnt about Palm Sunday with Mrs Ham and then we watched the Easter Worship Together across the Diocese video with Lisa and Bishop Philip. We looked at our school timeline of God's Big Story and found where salvation was in the New Testament. We then learnt all about Jesus being our salvation, our rescuer and saviour. We looked at our sorry tree and Mrs Ham read out some of the things we are sorry for (sins) and we asked for God’s forgiveness. We finished with an Easter prayer and Years 3 & 4 performed the songs they will be singing in our Easter Service on Thursday morning.
Mad Science After-School Club- Magnetic Magic
Our future scientists had a blast using paper clips, strings, and a magnetic board for hands-on exploration. They immersed themselves in the world of magnets, conducting experiments and discovering the fascinating properties of magnetism in a fun and engaging way.
Year 3- Easter Artwork
This afternoon, Year 3 went for a little Easter walk to the rose garden at Whitehall Park. The children enjoyed guessing which part of the Easter story each class, from Reception to Year 6, represented through their artwork. Once there we all sang Easter songs together too. Our walk covered 2.5 miles, contributing to our Lent journey as well.
Year 3- Maths- Measuring in metres and centimetres
In today's math lesson, Year 3 revised skills learnt in Year 2, measuring the length of objects using either metres or centimetres. They revisited these skills by starting with measuring objects in centimetres using a ruler. Additionally, they had the opportunity to compare each other's work.
Easter Artwork Trail in the Rose Garden
The St Barnabas Easter trail is now ready for visitors! Our whole school family has worked hard to represent a different part of the Easter story through art and we have selected some for our community to enjoy when they visit the Rose Garden at Whitehall Park. Our pictures have brought a lovely splash of colour to the garden to celebrate this joyous time in the Christian calendar. We hope that they will bring joy to all visitors.
Inter House Dodgeball Event
The Inter House Dodgeball competition was a huge success. Every single child across school took part and represented their house teams. It was fantastic to see the children getting involved, working as a team and having lots of fun. A massive thank you to the Sports leaders who ran the event and congratulations to both of our winning houses which were the yellow and green team - Whitehall Park and Darwen Tower
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by thanking our whole school family for wearing odd socks yesterday for World Down Syndrome Awareness Day and all of our children who have contributed to our Big Lent Walk this week including Year 6 who have walked all over London and Year 1 who walked 3 and a half miles around Darwen on their local history walk. We then presented Fletcher, Maggie, Ella-Grace, Isabelle, Edward, Brooke and as the value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently demonstrating an amazing attitude to learning and demonstrating all of the 4Bs. Then Mr Prescott presented all of Year 6 as value award winners this week for representing the school amazingly well in London. Mr Prescott said that they all got along amazingly well, were incredibly well mannered and showed a genuine interest in all of the places they visited and things that they got to see. Well done Year 6. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen who are our overall value award winners this week and our amazing swimming gala team made up of children from Year 3,4,5 and 6 for coming 3rd place overall and also achieving lots of individual placings. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Holly for achieving both her Stage 3 and 4 swimming certificates, Callie for being awarded the special teddy at stage coach for amazing singing, dancing and acting, Ella-Grace for being being successful in getting into the Man United Girls Football Team, Grace for receiving a letter from the King regarding her letter about the closing down of Waddow Hall, Maggie for showing wonderful commitment to Rainbows by attending for two years, Lola for showing generosity and raising money for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital by completing 50k in March, Annabel for completing her promise at Rainbows, Betsy for achieving a gold medal for ‘throwing herself into the deep end’ in her acro dancing, Scarlett for showing wonderful commitment to Rainbows by attending for two years, Marley for showing wonderful commitment to Rainbows by attending for one year, Arabelle for working hard to achieve her Stage 4 at swimming, Vienna for being awarded her water safety certificate, Harriet for achieving her Stage 4 in swimming, Thomas for being awarded his Level 1 First Aid certificate, being a super chef and a brilliant builder, Annabelle for achieving her Blue Peter Badge for reading and taking part in an orienteering competition, Leonora for completing seven swimming events in a 50m pool last weekend. To end of our celebration worship, we heard from Rev Ben who reminded us all about the Palm Sunday Church Service this weekend where our school choir will be singing and an Easter egg hunt that the church have organised on Good Friday. Mrs Wilkinson also reminded us about the Scholastic Book Fair which is running tonight, Monday and Tuesday after school. We also sang along to ‘Gospel Medley.’ We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Mrs Ham’s Weekly Message
Good evening parents and carers, well what a busy week it has been at St Barnabas and we sure have been living life in all its fullness! The highlights have been: *The Year 6 London trip *Odd Socks day for Down Syndrome Awareness Day *Year 5 class releasing the trout they have grown into River Darwen *Reception class visits from a firefighter and two dentists *Year 1 Victorian history walk *Inter-house dodgeball led by our Sports Leaders today Each class has been busy creating wonderful Easter artwork and a selection of it will be displayed in the Rose Garden in Whitehall Park. Each class will have the opportunity to visit it and it will be there over the Easter holidays if you would like to visit it as a family. For all of this week’s news from each class, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news On Sunday everyone is welcome to Rev Ben’s Palm Sunday service at 11.00am and our choir will be singing. Any of our school children can also join in too. Next week we will be celebrating Holy Week in school and everyone is welcome to our Easter Church Service on Thursday morning at 9.15am. We break up early for the Easter holidays on Thursday at 2.00pm. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend with your loved ones and I hope our Year 6 children rest and recharge after a busy couple of days in London, Mrs Ham
Year 3- Class Worship- World Down Syndrome Day
Today, on 'World Down Syndrome Day', Year 3 proudly wore mismatched socks to raise awareness for Down Syndrome. We learned that individuals with Down Syndrome are just like us-they go to school, have friends, and enjoy everyday activities. We celebrated our differences and thanked God for making us all unique and special.
Year 3: Computing
The children have been enjoying creating a short stop motion clip on the tablets this term. This week they have been using a green screen to edit the background on their clips.
Running Club
Running club continued for the KS2 children. The children have been building their stamina and technique for long distance running. Many children have beaten their original times and are making lots of progress.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Palm Sunday
Today, Rev Ben read the story of Palm Sunday and talked about the joy of the crowd when Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. He contrasted this with the anger of the crowd when they were led to believe that Jesus lied about who he was. Determination and perseverance were two key qualities demonstrated by Jesus during that time and Rev Ben asked everyone to reflect on when they will need to show these qualities this week.
Year 3-Food and Nutrition- Making a Seasonal Tart
This term in D.T. Year 3 have been exploring food worldwide, recognising that food grows in different climates and identifying locally grown foods in the UK. At the start of the unit, the children made Japanese skewers, additionally, we were lucky to have a professional baker join us to create a delicious fruit crumble. For our final lesson, the future bakers/chefs had a hands-on experience creating a seasonal tart using some of our key ingredients: mushrooms, rocket, kale, cheese, and tomatoes. Next week, the children will evaluate their dishes, provide feedback and identify strengths.
Spring attendance update
Good afternoon parents and carers, please see the images for the latest attendance update for the Spring term. In the Autumn term we achieved an award for being in the top 25% of schools nationally for attendance and we are really close to our school target and government target of 96%. With your help we can ensure that your child achieves the best possible outcomes in life by coming to school every day and on time. We are looking forward to presenting Amazing Attendance certificates to all of the children who are at our 96% target and above at our Easter Service in church on Thursday 28th March at 9.15am. For further information about attendance, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/academy-life/attendance
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our celebration worship by thanking our whole school family for dressing in red to support Comic Relief. We then thought about how we’ve lived life in all its fullness this week with the help of our amazing after school clubs, a wonderful worship with Rev Matt about Jesus being kind towards Zacchaeus and by celebrating British Science Week. Mrs Ham also updated us all on our Big Lent Walk progress. Up to now, we have collectively walked 1239km and raised £215. We believe that we can continue to better this and achieve 2000km and raise even more money. We then presented Summer, Eli, Lyla, Ivy, Ruby, Hamza and Charlie as the value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently demonstrating an amazing attitude to learning and our 4Bs. We also congratulated Reception and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, the KS2 girls who took part in the Girls Football tournament last Friday with Mr Bloomfield to celebrate International Women’s Day and River Darwen who are our overall value award winners this week. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Olivia for achieving her white belt at kickboxing, Sofia for achieving her 8th birthday badge at Rainbows, Carter for achieving his stage 2 at swimming, Annabel for achieving swimmer of the month, Vienna for being awarded an amazing 50m at swimming, Elsie for her incredible swimming and Renee for achieving her Stage 1 swimming. To end our worship, we had some lovely prayers from Olivia, Olivia, Finn and Mrs Ham who prayed for those who have died , are in the midst of conflict and a prayer to encourage us to be both kind and forgiving during this time of Lent. We also sang along to ‘Sing Hosanna.’ We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Darwen Swimming Gala
Good evening parents and carers, I’m so sorry for the late message but we are just back from the swimming gala. We are so proud to share that our swim team came 3rd overall out of 8 schools. Every child in our team won at least one medal and they were amazing at encouraging each other. Here are the medalists: 100m relay - 2nd Isaac 25m butterfly- 2nd Annabelle 25m butterfly- 2nd Isaac 25m breaststroke -2nd Sophie 25m breaststroke - 1st Isaac Boys medley relay- 3rd Boys freestyle relay - 3rd Girls freestyle relay - 3rd Thanks to Mrs Gardner for running the swimming trials and sorting the admin. Thank you to Mr Bloomfield for supporting the children with me tonight. A huge thanks to the parents and siblings who came along to cheer them along, it was a brilliant atmosphere! We have had another wonderful week at St Barnabas. For all of the news from this week, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news Year 6 have an exciting week next week as we go on our visit to London and the book fair will be visiting our school. Wishing you all a fantastic weekend and thank you for your continued support, Mrs Ham
Year 3- Gymnastics- Use apparatus to perform jumping actions.
Year 3 explored various jumping techniques during the session such as straight, star, and tuck jumps. During the activity, the children were reminded about safety rules and the importance of trust. They also encouraged each other, particularly those who might have been apprehensive about jumping from a slightly higher bench. They can't wait for the next session where they will use the apparatus to perform rolling actions.
Easter Singing Worship
We had a wonderful morning singing our favourite Easter hymns and songs. To finish we practised the Spring Chicken song in hope that we get a visit from the Spring Chicken at the end of term.
Year 3- Collective Worship- Jesus the Powerful Friend
This morning in our class worship, Year 3 watched and listened to the worship together across the Diocese video. The children first explored God's Big Story by exploring the timeline. The story comes from the gospel. After listening to the story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus the children discussed two key questions. What was Jesus trying to teach us and how can we use the story in our lives today. The story taught us about faith, trust and the power of Jesus in our lives.
WOW Ambassador Training
In our very first WOW Ambassador meeting today, we met to discuss the children’s role and how they will promote this walk to school initiative throughout school. We also completed training on how to access the travel tracker and monitor each class on a weekly basis. The children can’t wait for the launch of this exciting new walking to school initiative next week!
Year 3- R.E- The Easter Story
This afternoon, Year 3 explored 'The Easter Story' using a children's bible. After reading the story, they described the emotions expressed through the paintings related to the various parts of the story, such as the 'Entry into the City, the Crucifixion, The Women at the Empty Tomb and Good Friday. They found the paintings and the story bring happiness and some are quite upsetting. They then expressed the symbolisms and sadness and joy through art.
Year 3- Easter Artwork- Express the symbolism of sadness and joy through art.
This afternoon, Year 3 explored 'The Easter Story' using a children's bible. After reading the story, they described the emotions expressed through the paintings related to the various parts of the story, such as the 'Entry into the City, the Crucifixion, The Women at the Empty Tomb and Good Friday. They found the paintings and some parts of the story bring happiness and some are quite upsetting. They then expressed the symbolisms and sadness and joy through art. Year 3 are super excited about displaying their artwork at the Rose Garden.
Year 3- PSHE- What is a community?
Today in PSHE, Year 3 discussed the concept of "community." We explored what this term means to each of us. To visually represent this, Sophie and Elliot sketched a 'Community Web' diagram in the PSHE scrapbook and extended lines outward, representing the different communities the children belong to. These included their family, school, sports teams, brownies, cubs, swimming, neighbourhoods, and more. We explored the idea that individuals can belong to multiple communities, each with its unique characteristics and lifestyles. We also emphasised the importance of understanding and recognising this diversity within communities and showing respect.
Rev Matt’s Worship: The Story of Zacchaeus
This morning Rev Matt began our worship talking about soft and hard materials and how some materials can be softened. This led nicely into the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector who had a hard heart and did not treat people very well. However, when Jesus called Zacchaeus to Him and requested to go to Zacchaeus’s house, Zacchaeus changed and had a softer heart. The story taught us that those who struggle are the ones who need our kindness most.
Year 3- British Science Week- Time- Experimenting Yeast Burps every 15 minutes for 45 minutes.
The future Scientists of Year 3 had a fun science project for British Science Week, all about making electricity without burning coal. Working in pairs, they had four cups, each numbered 1 to 4, with yeast added to all of them. Cup 1 got 150ml of cold water, cup 2 got the same amount of warm water, cup 3 had warm water and a teaspoon of salt added, and cup 4 had sugar and 150 ml of warm water. They secured the cups with gloves and rubber bands to keep air in. They observed what was happening every minute 15 minutes for 45 minutes to see how things changed over time. Before experimenting, Year 3 predicted what might happen. Some thought the yeast would turn into flour or make the gloves fly! But they were amazed by what happened. As time passed, the yeast made a gas called carbon dioxide. This gas filled the gloves, making them blow up like balloons. Cup 4 had the most respiration because it contained sugar. As the yeast consumes the sugar, it releases carbon dioxide gas. With nowhere else to go but upwards, this gas gradually inflates the glove. The whole experiment wowed the kids! It was fun celebrating science during British Science Week, with a theme of time.
Running Club
Another amazing session of running club got underway this week. All the children showed incredible determination and resilience during running club to improve on their times from last week; in preparation for the cross country event.
Mad Science After- School Club-Watts-Up!
The future Scientists had a blast this afternoon: They learned about static electricity, exploring its properties and involvement in natural phenomena. They also created indoor lightning and conducted hair-raising experiments with an electrostatic generator.
Values Points House Team Winners - Spring 1 2024
A huge well done to our Values Awards Winners for Spring Term 1 2024 - Team Whitehall Park. Today they celebrated their win with a special non- uniform day, sweet treats and a disco. It was lovely to see each and every one of them dancing and having lots of fun! Well done Team Whitehall Park on another successful half term win!
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by wishing all of the wonderful women in our school family a Happy International Women’s Day. We then thought about how we’ve lived life in all its fullness this week with a lovely Mother’s Day breakfast hosted by FOSB, a special Mother’s Day celebration in Reception class, a fantastic author visit from R.K. Alker, an amazing day celebrating World Book Day, a visit to King George’s Hall Let’s Go Sing concert for our amazing choir and lots of amazing extra curricular clubs. We then presented Vienna, Charlie, Archie, Carter, Declan, Grace, Bobby and Sienna as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently showing our Christian Values and working incredibly hard across the curriculum. We then had a phenomenal performance from our incredible choir of ‘Dancing on Air’ which was one of their songs at Let’s Go Sing concert. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week, our Year 5/6 football team who attended the Football Festival on Tuesday evening, our amazing librarians for all of their effort and enthusiasm on World a book Day and Grace, Annabelle and James in Year 4 for designing badges for the launch of the WOW initiative. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Jenson for achieving his 400m at swimming, Daisy for getting Emily the doll at Rainbows for being incredibly kind and thoughtful, Eliza for being awarded player of the match in her football match at the weekend, Skye and Rosie for demonstrating incredible skills in their horse riding lessons, Isaac for achieving a 100m medal in a swimming competition, Cassidy for being awarded gymnast of the session and Scarlett for achieving her ‘World Thinking Day’ badge. To end our worship, we had a lovely prayer from Rev Ben, sang happy birthday to those children who are celebrating birthdays today and this weekend and we had a sing along to ‘We Have a King Who Rides a Donkey.’ Mrs Ham also reminded us that it is dress in red for Comic Relief next Friday 15th March. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
The Big Plastic Count
THE BIG PLASTIC COUNT We're excited that our school is joining the Big Plastic Count initiative from March 11th to 17th. The issue of plastic waste affects us all, and our young ones must have a say in finding solutions. Click on the link below for more information. https://youtu.be/x0nQHO7Mw-k?si=76vpk8Hf9wXOKqn1 During this initiative, your children will play a vital role in gathering evidence about what happens to our plastic waste. This information will be used to advocate for change at national and global levels, urging UK ministers, supermarkets, and major brands to take action towards phasing out plastic production. In the coming days, your child will receive a ‘Let’s count tally sheet’. Count as you throw from Monday 11th March morning until Sunday 17th March! Simply mark every piece of plastic package as you throw it away on the tally sheet. We encourage you to support them in this activity, and they can then input their findings at home using the unique class link provided on their class page between 18-31 March. Once all the results are in, we'll create our class footprint and share it with the children. We appreciate your continuous support in involving our pupils in these significant initiatives. Thank you, Smart School Council and Miss Kachwalla
Mrs Ham's Weekly Message
Dear parents and carers, wow, what another busy week of 'achieving great things' and 'living life in all its fullness'! The highlights have been: *Choir Let's Go Sing concert at King George's Hall *Reception class firefighter visit and Mother's Day Worship *Years 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 Big Lent Walks *Year 5 and 6 football festival *An author visit- RK Alker *FOSB Mother's Day Breakfast- Thank you FOSB! *Year 3 visited by a baker and made apple crumble * World book day- the word costumes were amazing! *International Women's Day girls football tournament *Whitehall Park house team winners non-uniform day and disco *WOW walk to school launch Next week we have a slightly quieter week but are looking forward to: Monday: Launch of the Big Plastic Count Wednesday: Rhyme and story time for Reception class and younger children Thursday: Cross Country competition for our cross country team Friday: Dress in red for Red Nose Day, Comic Relief Darwen Swimming gala for our swimming squad. Thank you so much for your donations and support towards our Big Lent Walk. We have now walked 1088km. Please keep sending in your walks and sponsorship money can be donated here: https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-big-lent-walk For all the latest photos in our gallery, please click here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-gallery-category/our-gallery For all of the latest news from each class, please click here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news or see our facebook page. I've attached a photo of the upcoming church Easter services and your child should come home with an invitation today. We are looking forward to our choir singing on Palm Sunday 24th March and everyone is welcome to come and support. Happy International Women's day to all of our wonderful Mums, Grandmas, female staff and young ladies in our school family. We hope that all of our Mums and Grandmas have a wonderful relaxing day on Mothering Sunday. Rev Ben is leading a special church service at 11.00am on Sunday and everyone is welcome. Wishing you all a fabulous weekend and thank you for your ongoing support, Mrs Ham
WOW Initiative Assembly Launch
Today we had our WOW assembly in which we learned all about our new walk to school challenge and how we need to try to walk to school (or find an active way) at least once a week. We met Dan who is from Living Streets. He told us how we can earn badges every month by taking part. It’s so important to walk to improve our mental wellbeing, get fit and decrease pollution. We look forward to practising with the Travel Tracker next week with our newly appointed WOW Ambassadors.
Biggest Ever Girls Football Session
Today, our KS2 girls all took part in the biggest ever girls football session in celebration of International Women’s Day. Our girls all played a football tournament to encourage more girls to play and take up football. The girls participated in a tournament style session building on teamwork and spirit within the game and then finished off with a penalty shootout at the end. All the girls had an amazing time and showed lots of talent and potential. Well done girls!
World Book Day- Dress as a word
Happy world book day! The children have loved seeing all of our staff team dressed as different words and have had great fun guessing their lords. We have had some brilliant challenging vocabulary from onomatopoeia to metamorphosis! Can you guess the words?
Year 3- World Book Day- Dress as a word.
Year 3 are dressed as words to celebrate 'World Book Day'. We have seen costumes depicting scientists, courageous, confident individuals, heroes, exhausted characters, and even camouflaged.
World Book Day- Reading for Pleasure
As part of our World Book Day celebrations, all of our teachers and teaching assistants swapped classes and read to a group of children in a different year group. The children loved being read to by a different adult to usual and our teaching staff thoroughly enjoyed promoting reading for pleasure.
KS2 World Book Day Assembly
Thank you to our wonderful KS2 children for their fantastic engagement with this morning’s World Book Day assembly. Mrs Ham introduced the assembly by telling the children all about the word that she had come dressed as which was ‘onomatopoeia.’ The children then watched a video published by the literacy trust which gave them some top tips for choosing an appropriate book such as deciding if the genre is of interest to them, reading the blurb and ensuring that there are no more than 5 words that they can’t understand on the first page. They then joined in with a three part quiz. During the first round, the children had to identify the title of a book by looking at the front cover. This included book titles such as The Naughtiest Unicorn, Grimwood, Mac B Kid Spy, The Storey Treehouse collection, The Accidental Prime Minister, The Babysitters Club, Loki and Breakfast Club Adventures. The second round consisted of guessing the authors of certain books such as J.K. Rowling, Andy Stanton and Francesca Simon and the third round consisted of playing emoji Pictionary with books such as Goldfish Boy, There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom, Ninja Kid and Daisy and the Trouble With. All of the books that were on the quiz are books that we have in our library so we are hoping that our children now feel inspired to sample a book that they haven’t yet read. The librarians also awarded Annabelle and Miley with their book token as they were the KS2 winners of our ‘Design a Bookmark with Your Favourite Book Title’ competition. Annabelle‘s bookmark showed her love of the ‘The 13 Storey Treehouse’ collection of books and Miley’s showed her love of the ‘Daisy and the Trouble With’ collection of books.
KS2 Author Visit
Yesterday, the children in KS2 were lucky enough to have a visit from Richard Alker. Richard is the author of the book ‘My Grandad vs the Fangazoo’. The children were truly immersed in his session and had many questions to ask Richard about his life and how he became an author. During the session, he discussed various things: what inspired him to write, character development, simple strategies he uses when writing and finally the children had the chance to listen to a book reading. Thank you Richard!
FOSB Mother’s Day Breakfast
A huge thank you to our members of FOSB and staff who supported at our special Mother’s Day breakfast this morning. Thank you to everyone who came and we hope you enjoyed it. Wishing all of our school family Mums and Grandmas a wonderful relaxing Mother’s Day on Sunday. All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/fosb-mother-s-day-breakfast
World Book Day Competition
A few weeks ago, our school librarians set a whole school competition. This was to design a bookmark with their favourite book and explain why. Today, the school librarians and our English link governor have been judging our World Book Day competition ready to announce in our World Book Day assembly tomorrow.
Let’s Go Sing concert 2024
Wow, we are so proud of our school choir for their amazing singing and enthusiastic actions this evening at the Let’s go sing concert at King George’s Hall. I’ve loaded some videos onto class dojo and the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/let-s-go-sing-concert-2024 A huge thank you to Mrs Govan for her wonderful leadership of our choir and to Mrs Wilkinson for her support this afternoon. Thank you to all of our choir parents for their support in helping the children learn their words and for supporting them this evening. We are hoping to have more choir members next year and will be opening choir open to more KS2 children in the next few weeks. If your child is interested in joining, they are welcome to come along on Thursday lunchtimes to give it a try. It was an absolute pleasure to watch our children sing their hearts out. They will be performing their favourite song in worship on Friday. You are very welcome to join us.
Year 3- Food Technology- Bake with Jessica Sharp
Year 3 had the best time meeting Jessica this afternoon. Jessica is a professional baker/ chef who runs a bakery business from home. She shared her passion for baking, inspired by her grandmother. The children made a scrumptious fruit crumble, from chopping apples, weighing flour, to layering the pastry and creating the crumble topping. They also had the opportunity to look at pictures of some of the wonderful cakes Jessica has made over the years.
Year 3 - The History of Women’s Football
Today during class worship we looked into the history of women’s football. Year 3 were very interested in learning about what women have faced in the past and how the game is evolving to include women. We discussed the importance of encouraging and supporting each other. The boys in class can’t wait to cheer on the girls on Friday when they take part in a football tournament in support of International Women's Day.
KS2- Author Visit-R.K. Alker
To celebrate World Book Day and foster a love for reading, we welcomed children's book author RK Alker today. He shared insights into his journey before becoming an author, recounting experiences such as growing chillies and collaborating with celebrities like Gordon Ramsay. Before pursuing writing, RK worked as an ambulance man until a leg injury led him to reconsider his career path. Inspired by his daughters, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of writing a book. During his talk, RK emphasised the importance of creative writing prompts and utilising the five senses to enhance writing. He introduced the children to his character Stretch the Dragon by reading chapter 7 from his current best-selling book 'My Grandad Vs the Fanga Zoo,' leaving it on a cliffhanger. RK hopes to get a word he made up, 'oopositollogy' (which means the opposite of opposite), into a dictionary one day. To end the visit, RK told funny jokes that had the children laughing their socks off.
Big Lent Walk: both targets achieved!
Wow! We have achieved both of our targets already for the Big Lent Walk. A huge thank you to our wonderful children and families for taking part to help us to travel 385.4km (so far!!) Thank you to everyone who has sponsored us so far- our families, friends and the community. Your generosity means so much. We still have just under 4 weeks of Lent left so I am sure we can continue to add more km to our distance travelled and raise more money for this wonderful cause. You are not too late to get involved so please send your pictures and total km walked to either myself or Mrs Ham. Donations can still be made here: https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-big-lent-walk?utm_medium=email&utm_source=PostOffice&utm_campaign=DS_EVENTS-LFC_Trans_NthDonation Thank you for your kindness and generosity,
Rev Ben’s Worship- Jesus welcomes the children
This morning in Collective Worship Rev Ben started with a fun game where we all had to touch our nose, then stand on one leg, then whilst hopping, then whilst turning around and finally whilst shouting 'Good morning Mrs Ham'. We discussed how the busier you get, the harder it can be to do things. He then read us a story from the Bible about how everyone wanted to see Jesus and how his disciples thought he was too busy and important to see the children. However, they were wrong as Jesus welcomed the children and said that adults could learn from the example of children and that he is never too busy. We reflected on how we are sometimes so busy but it helps us to know that Jesus is never too busy to listen to us. We finished by singing Jesus strong and kind and My God's the King of Giants. Thank you Rev Ben for another brilliant Worship!
Year 3- Big Lent Walk
This afternoon, Year 3 went on the 'Big Lent Walk', covering a distance of 2.8 km. A small donation has been made to CAFOD to help fight poverty worldwide. We also had fun being Geologists exploring different kind of rocks.
Mad Science After- School Club- Optical illusion
Today, the children in the science club observed changing images firsthand through a camera obscura while delving into the fascinating realms of optics, reflection, and sight.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship discussing the ‘Big Lent Walk’ challenge that we are currently participating in as a school to fundraise for CAFOD to help to fight poverty globally and boost our mental health and well-being. At present, we have exceeded our 200km target and we are confident that we can double and maybe even triple it so please get involved and send your pictures through to Mrs Ham or Mrs Wilkinson. We also thought about how we’ve lived life in all its fullness this week with the help of our amazing science, running, well-being and messy church clubs and all the wonderful learning in our classes. We then presented Olivia, Renee, Roman, Penelope, Isaac, April, Luca, Ella, Joshua and Oliver as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently following the 4Bs and demonstrating a wonderful attitude to learning. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen who are our overall value award winners this week and Tristen, Daisy and Desmond for achieving their pen licenses. We also said a huge well done to Carter, Ivy, Rio, Molly, Luca, Daisy, Charlie and Matthew for participating in our SIG5 times tables competition and pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Eliza and Carmen for showing commitment and achievement in their keyboard lessons, Eliza for demonstrating fantastic skill in her football, Tristen for a achieving his yellow belt in kickboxing, Mila for getting Olivia at Rainbows for showing lots of kindness and being both helpful and creative, Marley and Maggie for achieving their ‘World Thinking Day’ and some other badges for their commitment to Rainbows, Elsie, Eden and Grace for completing their promise at Brownies and achieving lots of badges for attending Brownie camp and completing several challenges and also to Elsie for working exceptionally hard at her English tuition lessons. We then ended our worship by saying the grace altogether and listening to a song called ‘You’ve Got to Sing’ by the choir that they will be performing at KGH next week. Just a reminder that it is the Mother’s Day Breakfast run by FOSB next Wednesday 6th March at 8.15am-8.45am. The cut off for purchasing tickets will be Monday. It is also World Book Day next Thursday 7th March and we have asked the children to dress up as a word for example courageous, athletic, mythical and disciplined. We can’t wait to see what you come up with. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Year 3- English-Use questions to open a story.
Before starting their new writing unit, Year 3 were given a fun challenge. Working together in groups, they were tasked with using their imagination to construct something from the objects available to them, such as elastic bands, wood, hoops, sticks and canvas. The children were guided through a series of questions to help them brainstorm ideas for their story's opening paragraph. They were encouraged to imagine their creation as something enormous, suddenly appearing in an unexpected location of their choosing and for example, envisioning an immense car stranded on a remote beach or a colossal metal house situated on a zebra crossing in the heart of London.
Year 3- Class Worship-R.E- How does Jesus change lives?
In today's class worship and Religious Education lesson, Year 3 explored the story of Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector, which meant he collected taxes for the government. However, many disliked him because he was known to cheat people out of their money. When he met Jesus, everything changed. He felt sorry for tricking and lying to people in the past. After hearing the story, the children generated questions asking Zacchaeus about how he felt during different parts of the story. Then they got into the role of Zacchaeus and answered those questions, imagining his feelings. The story of Zacchaeus teaches us that people can change for the better. Even if someone has done wrong things in the past, they can choose to make things right. When Zacchaeus met Jesus, he decided to be honest and kind instead of cheating people. It shows us that it's important to say sorry when we make mistakes and try to be better people. We learnt that everyone deserves a second chance, and it's never too late to do the right thing.
CAFOD: Lent Big Walk Update
Wow, we have already met our target of 200km!!Well done to everybody who has contributed so far! Who thinks we can double our distance by the end of Lent? If you are up for the challenge, please continue to send your photos in to either myself or Mrs Ham . So far we have raised £94. Please ask your family and friends to see if they will sponsor us so that we can reach our target of £200 for a worthwhile cause. Donations can be sent here: https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-big-lent-walk Thank you so much, Mrs Wilkinson
Year 3- PSHE- Families and Friends
During our PSHE lesson this afternoon, Year 3 discussed what "family" means to different people. We emphasised the importance of respecting everyone's idea of family. Then, in small groups, they got a picture of a family and made up a story about them. They were reminded to be respectful and think about different kinds of families. We spoke about stereotypes, and how stereotyping isn't good because it makes people think everyone in a group is the same. But people are all different. Stereotypes can make us treat others unfairly because we don't see them as individuals. It's important to understand everyone is unique and not judge them based on stereotypes. This helped the children understand that families can be different and that's okay.
The W.O.W. Group - Messy Church: Faith in Action part 2
The WOW Group Messy Church activities continued this week with the final KS2 Faith in Action session. Participants watched the story of David and Goliath and talked about how David believed in God and himself. They then chose an affirmation bookmark to decorate and take home. Next week the WOW Group will be moving on to the KS1 sessions, with a focus on creation.
Year 3 - French - Names of Fruit
This term the children are starting to learn names of various food. This week they were focusing on the names of different fruit.
Rev Matt’s Worship: Perseverance
Rev Matt’s worship began with a balloon challenge this morning. The aim was for the children to persevere and keep the balloon up in the air for as long as possible. All three contenders did extremely well. He then shared the story of the man through the roof, in which the sick man’s friends had persevered in seeking help for him. After bringing their friend to Jesus they discovered the house was overcrowded, but they refused to give up. Instead they made a hole in the roof and lowered him in so that Jesus might heal him. We spent time reflecting on how we could help our friends, and those in need.
Cross Country Club
Year 3,4,5 & 6 cross country club got underway after school, despite the awful weather. For our first session, the children ran up to Jacks Key Lodge and completed long distance shuttle runs to maximise their stamina and pace in preparation for the cross country races.
Year 3- Science- Making Edible Intrusive and Extrusive Igneous Rocks.
The Year 3 Scientists are having a blast learning about different kinds of rocks and soils this term in science. This afternoon, the children had a super fun and exciting lesson where they made edible rocks to see how igneous rocks are formed. They made two types: one that forms underground (called intrusive) and one that forms above ground (called extrusive). Then, they compared the two to learn more about rocks.
Easter Singing Worship
What a joyous start to the week! This morning we practised some of our Easter songs ready for our Easter church service in a few weeks. Each class took a turn to show our Reception and Year 1 classes the actions. We sang 'When I think about the cross', 'Give me oil in my lamp', 'This is the story of the cross' 'We have a King who rides a donkey' and our favourite Easter song 'Lord of the Dance'. Well done everyone for your amazing actions, beautiful singing voices and wonderful enthusiasm!
Mad Science After-School Club. We made slime!
The scientists picked their favourite colours in today's session and had a blast making slime. They learned about cool stuff like polymers and how mixing two liquids can turn into gooey slime. They were excited to take it home to show their parents and carers.
SIG5 Times Tables Competition
We are so proud of our amazing mathematicians for showing great courage when taking part in the School Improvement Group (SIG) timestables competition at St Peter's. Our SIG is made up of 12 other local schools and this was the first timestables competition. Two children were chosen to represent our school from each KS2 class and they had to take part in a TT Rockstars battle with the other schools. We were amazed at the speed of the some of the competitors at some of the other schools and it has made us more determined to keep practising our tables and aim to get faster and faster. Thank you to Mr Prescott, our Maths Leader, for organising our school maths team and to St Peter's for hosting it.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our week in school. We reflected on our wonderful Lent worship with Rev Ben and the launch of our Big Lent Walk to fundraise for CAFOD to help to fight poverty globally and boost our mental health and well-being. At present, we have walked 129.7km and raised £91. We are confident that we can exceed our 200km target and raise even more money so please get involved and send your pictures through to Mrs Ham or Mrs Wilkinson. We then presented Olly, Charlie, James, Iris, Charlie, Lola, Neve, Rosie and Molly as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently demonstrating our 4Bs, working hard and participating whole-heartedly in class discussions. We also congratulated Reception and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week with 619 points. The Year 6 Heads and Deputies announced that over the past two weeks, we have collected 2067 values points as a school-how amazing! We also said a huge well done to Luca in Year 4 who achieved his pen license this week, our Year 5/6 Sportshall Athletics who achieved 4th place in BwD just before the half-term, our KS2 gifted and talented gymnastics team who attended a competition at St Bedes before the half-term and demonstrating wonderful skill and sportsmanship and our Year 3/4 Sportshall athletics team who came 4th place last night at St Bedes. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Charlie and Isabella for being awarded their green belt in martial arts, Grace for achieving several medals in her song and dance and improv dancing, Jacob for achieving his water skills stage 3, Lyla for achieving a medal for her incredible ballet, Finn for achieving 2k Winter Warmer running challenge, Isaac for achieving a medal for great leadership in his performing arts and taking part in some wonderful fundraising, Archie for being awarded a trophy to be proud of for exceptional darts, James for achieving his stage 1 in his swimming, Annabel for her successes in achieving stage 2 in skating and being star of the week at dancing, Naomi for being awarded her Stage 3 at swimming, Mila for achieving her ‘World Thinking Day’ badge at Rainbows, Cassidy for achieving her ‘World Thinking Day’ badge at Brownies, Annabelle for showing commitment and achievement in her keyboard lessons, Eden for achieving her ‘World Thinking Day’ badge at Brownies and Heidi for being awarded her First Aid Badge at Rainbows. We then ended our worship with a lovely prayer about being generous, especially during Lent and sang ‘Build Up.’ We thank our children for another wonderful week and we look forward to next week. Just a reminder that ‘The World Book Day competition’ entries need to handed in by next Friday 1st March so please get your entries in by then and also the Mother’s Day Breakfast that FOSB are running on Wednesday 6th March. You can find further details on Class Dojo. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Year 3- Collective Worship- Should we learn sign language at school?
Today in Year 3's class worship, we explored different ways of communicating, including prayer to connect with God and the importance of British Sign Language. The children feel learning sign language at school is vital to support the deaf community, break down barriers, and promote understanding between different communities. They also discussed the importance of respect and celebrate difference. We ended our worship by thanking God for creating each of us uniquely different.
Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics
A huge well done to our Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics squad as they tried so hard tonight, behaved brilliantly and were amazing at encouraging each other. For several of our children, it was the first time they had represented our school. They just missed out on a medal and came 4th place out of 8 schools. Well done Team Barney’s! For all of the photos, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-3-4-sportshall-athletics-1
FOSB Disco
A huge thank you to everyone who attended our FOSB Disco. It was lovely to see all of the children dancing and having lots of fun. A huge thank you to our FOSB members for giving up their time to prepare and stay for the disco- you are all superstars! A massive thank you to DJ Dunn, one of our parent governors for providing the music and games! For all the photographs from the EYFS and KS1 disco, please look here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/fosb-eyfs-and-ks1-school-disco For photographs from the KS2 disco, please look here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/fosb-key-stage-2-disco
The W.O.W. Group - Messy Church: Faith in Action
The W.O.W. Group have done a fantastic job in planning some exciting lunchtime Messy Church sessions. The first one was for KS2 children and the theme was “Faith in Action”. Participants had to think of someone who is their hero and make them into a superhero. They also listened to the story of Samson and his strength, and they were treated to a drink and a biscuit whilst they worked on their superheroes. The W.O.W. Group are looking forward to the second KS2 session next week.
Rev Ben’s Worship- Jesus chooses his disciples
This morning in Collective Worship, Rev Ben started with a fun game where we had to guess the superpowers that our wonderful volunteers, Walter, Lottie, Isabella, Charlie-Rose and Matthew acted out. We guessed the superpowers of speed, strength, sports, invisibility and flight. We then followed on from Jesus' 40 days in the desert and we watched a story from the Bible that showed what happened next. We watched as Jesus chose his followers, called his disciples. They didn't have superpowers and were very ordinary and often made mistakes, just like us. Rev Ben told us that the best followers of Jesus don’t have super-powers and God works today through ordinary people who love Jesus and admit it when they get things wrong. He then told us about Ash Wednesday and how that is a time to ask God for forgiveness for the things we have done wrong. Wilson, our Head Boy, volunteered to have an ash cross put on his head. We then reflected on what we can do when we get things wrong and how God will always forgive us. We finished by singing My Lighthouse and My God's the King of me. Thank you Rev Ben for another wonderful worship.
Year 3- Food Technology- Making Japanese Skewers
This afternoon, we kicked off our Food and Technology unit, exploring the diverse climates where fruits and vegetables grow. We then followed a recipe to create delicious Japanese skewers. We had some very eager children who enjoyed them right away while others took them home.
Year 3- P.E- Dance- Creating representation of the Iron Man using their bodies.
Today, the children worked in groups of 4 or 5. They took turns leading each other around the room in a line, deciding how to move. After that, they worked together to make a human Iron Man by connecting their bodies safely and sharing weight.
Mad Science After -School Club- Missions Nutritious
Today, in our after-school club led by a scientist, the young children investigated the energy content of food by burning a stale crisp and using the released energy to heat water. We discovered that one crisp equals 6 calories. This was super exciting to watch. The young scientists also measured their energy expenditure by jogging on the spot. For our final experiment, the children filled a bottle halfway with water and then poured in about 100ml of oil. They then observed the oil float on the water. They were fascinated by this observation. We also estimated the length of a child's intestine during the session, adding to our exploration of the human body. They're eagerly looking forward to next week's experiment with slime.
Whole-School Worship: Understanding Lent
In worship today, Mrs Ham explained that Lent is a time in the Christian calendar in which we observe Jesus’ time in the wilderness and prepare for Easter. We discussed what we could do to observe Lent. Some of the children’s suggestions included giving up sweets, chocolate, crisps, time on devices, or giving back by helping at home or making an extra effort to show kindness to others. We also learned more about THE BIG LENT WALK and how each member of our school family can contribute by walking a few kilometres over the Lenten period and raising money that will go towards ending global hunger. More information is available on Class Dojo.
The Big Lent Walk
During Lent, our school are currently fundraising for CAFOD. We are taking part in the big Lent walk where we are collectively trying to walk 200km. Please help us to raise as much money as possible by sponsoring our whole school family. If you have been on a walk, please either sponsor and leave a message with how many km you have walked or send me a message and I can update our page. We will also be walking during the school day in our classes to achieve our target so any sponsorship will be greatly appreciated. Your sponsorship can change lives. Every £1 raised through the Big Lent Walk will help fight poverty globally in countries like Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. This year, CAFOD’s Lent Appeal is helping fishing communities feed their families in Liberia, and SCIAF’s Wee Box Appeal is focused on women and girls in Rwanda facing gender-based violence. Also in Ethiopia, CAFOD and SCIAF are working together to respond to the devastating food crisis there. Years of drought caused by the climate crisis means families are no longer able to cope, but your support means we are working with people right now, providing them with water, emergency food and healthcare. With your hard work and sponsorship this Lent, we can change families’ lives for good and tell poverty to take a hike. Please access our page here where you can sponsor your child: https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-big-lent-walk Thank you for your kindness, Mrs Wilkinson
Celebration Worship- Dress to Express Day
Today, we had a very special worship to celebrate Children's Mental Health Week. We all ‘Dressed to Express’ and danced our way into the hall. We discussed the theme for this year which is ‘Our Voice Matters’ and we watched a video that told us all about the rights and responsibilities that we have such as being free to choose to think what we like and have our own opinions and ideas. Mrs Ham then showed us some pictures of people that have been influential in the past for standing up for their belief. Ross and Wilson named Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parkes, Sonny named Ayanna all of whom worked to end black segregation. Darcy named Marcus Rashford who has been influential in helping to stop racism within football and Charlie added that he has also been helping to support children who are entitled to free school meals. We then heard from some children from each year group about how they’ve chosen to express themselves. Hamza expressed his love of football and fashion, Archie his love of darts, Isaac his love of BMX, Charlie-Rose her love of all things sports, Betsy her love of dancing, Mason his love of smart clothes and attending special occasions such as weddings, Archie his love of football, Grace and Lola their love of gymnastics, Sonny represented all those in the world who live with diabetes, Daisy her love of art and bright colours, Renee’s love of PJ Masks, Olivia’s love of the colour pink and Jewellery, Alfie’s love of playing and watching football, Ella-Grace’s love of dancing and sparkles, Isabella’s loves of wearing pyjamas because you can snuggle and be cosy in them, Naomi’s love of all things pink, Charlie’s love of football, Annabel’s love of Ariel, Joey’s love of Spider-Man and Elijah’s love of superheroes. Mrs Ham then asked some of our members of staff how they had chosen to express themselves. Mr Prescott and Mrs Norris chose to bring their golf clubs to express themselves as golfers, Miss Kachwalla and Mrs Lyons expressed themselves by wearing bright and bold colours to express themselves as creative and Mrs Hegarty wore an apron to express herself as a baker. What a wonderful way to end ‘Mental Health Week.’ We wish you all a restful and enjoyable half-term and we look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday 19th February.
Dress to Express 2024
What a fantastic day we’ve had celebrating Dress to Express! It was lovely to get together as a whole school to raise awareness for Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Every single member of our school family certainly dressed to express themselves and made themselves heard as we all have a voice. Well done to all of the children that spoke about why they had chosen their outfits and how it allowed them to express themselves.
Year 3- Physical Education- JagTag
Year 3 had a fantastic time during their JagTag taster session today. They demonstrated excellent teamwork and attentive listening skills. Despite the rain, they persevered and continued to play enthusiastically. Star performers were Olivia and Jack, who distinguished themselves with their outstanding contributions.
St Barnabas Big Lent Walk
Good morning, Next Wednesday 14th February, is the start of Lent. During Lent, our school will be fundraising for CAFOD. We will be taking part in the big Lent walk where we will collectively try and walk 200km. Please help us to raise as much money as possible by sponsoring our whole school family. If you have been on a walk, please either sponsor and leave a message with how many km you have walked or send me a message and I can update our page. We will also be walking during the school day in our classes to achieve our target so any sponsorship will be greatly appreciated. Your sponsorship can change lives. Every £1 raised through the Big Lent Walk will help fight poverty globally in countries like Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. This year, CAFOD’s Lent Appeal is helping fishing communities feed their families in Liberia, and SCIAF’s Wee Box Appeal is focused on women and girls in Rwanda facing gender-based violence. Also in Ethiopia, CAFOD and SCIAF are working together to respond to the devastating food crisis there. Years of drought caused by the climate crisis means families are no longer able to cope, but your support means we are working with people right now, providing them with water, emergency food and healthcare. With your hard work and sponsorship this Lent, we can change families’ lives for good and tell poverty to take a hike. Please access our page here where you can sponsor your child: https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-big-lent-walk Thank you for your kindness, Mrs Wilkinson
Safer Internet Raps
*PROUD POST* A huge well done to Years 1-4 for their fantastic safer internet raps this morning & to Year 5 for introducing our safer internet worship. Please have a watch of the videos on class dojo. After the Safer Internet Day worship on Tuesday, Mrs Wilkinson set them the challenge of performing a rap to the whole school to advise them how to keep safe online. This week is also Children’s Mental Health week and the theme is My Voice Matters so this was a great opportunity for the children to use their voice. Some of the children were nervous about performing in front of the whole school but they showed lots of courage and did brilliantly. Over the next few years we are going to be involved in an oracy project with our Trust called Voice 21. This will develop our children’s oracy skills and develop their confidence when speaking in small groups and large groups. Well done, you are superstars!
Let’s Go Sing Worship
Our choir took part in a workshop with Rachel from Let’s Go Sing. Rachel was amazed at their wonderful singing. Please come and watch our wonderful choir perform at King George’s Hall on 6th March 2024.
Year 3- P.S.H.E- Online Safety
This afternoon, we learnt about how to stay safe online. We discussed the importance of speaking to a trusted adult before joining groups, downloading apps and thinking about the information you share online. The children then created a rap in small groups ready to perform to the whole school.
Safer Internet Day
This morning our whole school enjoyed a special worship, focusing on how to stay safe on the internet to celebrate Safer Internet Day. We discussed why it is important to raise awareness. We looked at what technology looked like compared to now. We then looked at what can happen online and how important it is that we know what to do if we come across something that makes us feel uncomfortable. The children discussed how we can speak to Mrs Ham, Mrs Wilkinson, our teachers, our sports coaches and our families if we feel we have seen something we shouldn’t have. We also discussed why our parents might check our devices and how our grown ups, including our teachers always want to keep us safe. We then joined lots of other schools from all around the country on a special assembly to discuss safe and unsafe things which may happen online. The importance of passwords, checking the settings so they aren’t sharing information with people they don’t know and also what to do if people they don’t know try to contact them online. Every Wednesday, we post guidance on how to keep safe online. Please have a look and discuss the National Online Safety posters with your children. The online world can be wonderful as long as we know how to use it safely.
Year 3- Art- Paper Weaving
For our final art lesson, Year 3 explored the work of Anni Albers' weaving techniques. Inspired by her amazing weaving the children picked coloured paper linking back to their mood boards to weave together with another one. Finally, they cut a cross shape and glued it onto their weaving.
Rev Matt’s Worship - Temptation
Today in whole-school worship, Rev Matt talked about temptation and how the devil tried to tempt Jesus in the desert. We thought about what tempts us and what we might do if we wanted to celebrate Lent.
Year 3- R.E- How did/does Jesus change lives?
This afternoon in R.E. Year 3 listened to "The Calling of Levi". After the story, we made two lists: one about what mattered to Levi (Matthew) before Jesus called him, and another about what became important after Jesus called him. We talked about why his priorities changed after meeting Jesus. Meeting Jesus made Levi think differently about what's important in life, like his beliefs and values. Jesus' teachings and being around him made Levi rethink what matters most and make good changes in his life. Levi became a better person after meeting Jesus because he used to do a job collecting taxes, which was important for money. But when he met Jesus, he decided to follow Him and be a friend. So, what became important to Levi was being friends with Jesus and learning from Him, instead of just collecting money. It shows how meeting someone special can change what's important to us.
Year 3- Reading- A live reading session with Jane Considine
WOW! Year 3 have just had the pleasure of joining a live session with the amazing author Jane Considine. She read aloud the book Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. The children absolutely loved it.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our week in school. We reflected on our very joyous singing worship that we had on Monday with Mrs Ham and our wonderful worship with Rev Ben about ‘Turning To God’ on Tuesday. We then presented Edward, Ella, Joshua, Luke, Eden, Bella, Ivy, Archie and Isaac as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for demonstrating kindness, compassion and an excellent attitude and commitment to learning. We also congratulated Year 4 and Year 1 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our value award winners this week. We then moved on to our out of school achievers. Well done to Holly for achieving her Stage 3 at swimming, Sofia for working hard to achieve lots of new badges at Rainbows including her performance badge, Archie for giving 100% during his football training, Dougie for achieving his white belt at jiu jitsu, Isaac for celebrating his successes in drama and performance with achieving a part in Waterloo Road, Tristen for working hard to achieve his yellow belt in kickboxing, Grace for demonstrating incredible talent in both her acro and lyrical dancing, Jack for achieving Stage 4 in his swimming, Scarlett for getting Rainbow Bear at her netball sessions for demonstrating incredible footwork, Matthew for being awarded with a huge celebratory gold cup for his commitment to a recent tournament whilst representing Manchester United U10s football club, Finn for being elected as the sixer at cubs, Ivy and Betsy for their commitment to both lyrical and acro dancing and also performing an incredible duet together. We then ended our worship with a lovely prayer from Rev Ben and a sing along to ‘Build Up.’ We thank our children for another wonderful week of achieving great things and we look forward to next week. Just a reminder that it is our ‘Dress to Express Day’ next Friday 9th February. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Aladdin Pantomime
This afternoon our whole school family enjoyed a wonderful production of Aladdin by M&M productions. Oh no they didn't! Oh yes they did! It was fabulous to see all of the children joining in through cheering, booing, singing and dancing along to the songs. They particularly enjoyed Mr Prescott and Mr Norris' dancing! The cast said they had never had a school who joined in so well and who all stood up and danced at the end! Thank you so much to our FOSB for their donation and to all of your parent contributions, as without your support, we wouldn't be able to provide such exciting enrichment activities.We hope this has inspired some of our children to audition for our upcoming Barney's Got Talent show next half term. What a fabulous way to end a brilliant week of 'achieving great things' at St Barnabas!
Year 3- History-Why did Tudor children work and what was it like?
This afternoon, the young historians delved into the Tudor era, exploring the lives and working conditions of that time. The children were amazed by the differences in daily life. Girls didn't attend school; instead, they assisted with household chores such as cooking, cleaning, and looking after younger siblings. Meanwhile, boys often apprenticed with blacksmiths, learning to craft tools, horseshoes, and more using metals to bring money for the family. They often worked long hours often cramped and uncomfortable environments. They weren't privileged to attend school as we do, and their toys and clothes were simpler. Despite these differences, they still found ways to have fun and enjoy their time like us!
Rev Ben's Worship: Turning to God
This week, Rev Ben told us the story of John the Baptist and how he preached about the importance of turning our lives to God. We spent some time thinking about what it means to turn to God.
Year 3- Class Meeting- National Storytelling Week
Today, James led the class meeting while Alfie took notes. We reviewed the actions from our previous meeting, set by the communication team. The primary focus was on the key question: If we had a trolley outside at playtimes with healthy snacks, would you use it? The majority of the classes voted a definite yes. Mrs. Ham took action and listened to what the students wanted, and now KS2 get fruit for break time. In our latest class meeting, we kicked off National Storytelling Week by discussing the question, "How can we enhance the enjoyment of reading in our school? The children voted in favour of revisiting Darwen Library and meeting the authors of their favourite books.
Year 3 Computing - Creating Characters
The children enjoyed creating their own characters today. They had to make a character that looked like them then a character that looked completely different.
Year 3-Scientists making maps to display what they've learnt
This afternoon, the young scientists created mind maps to showcase their learning gained this term on the topic of Animals including Humans. They can identify that animals, including humans, require specific types and quantities of nutrition, as they are unable to produce their own; instead, they acquire nutrition from their food. Additionally, they recognise that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles, serving crucial roles in support, protection, and movement. They've enjoyed learning about animals and humans while approaching the subject scientifically.
Songs of Praise Worship
We had a joyous start to the week with our songs of praise singing worship. We practiced a selection of our favourite songs including My Lighthouse, Build Up, Jesus Strong and Kind, the School Rule song, May you find peace and Sing a new song to the Lord. Each class got the chance to choose a song and perform the actions at the front for our Reception class to copy as some of the songs are new to them.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our week in school. We reflected on our ‘Mad Science’ assembly which was amazing and also discussed our learning about Jesus being special in collective worship. We then presented Samuel, Piper-Jo, Emily, Peyton, James, Grace, Austin and Wilson as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for working exceptionally hard , consistently demonstrating the 4Bs and demonstrating our Christian Values. We also congratulated our Year 5\6 football team who represented Darwen in the County Football Finals last Friday and made it to the semi-final, our Year 5\6 Sportshall Athletics squad who represented our school amazingly well at St. Bedes on Wednesday evening and celebrated a win ready to compete in the final, Summer, Grace and Charlie-Rose for achieving their pen licenses, Reception and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and India Mill who are our overall value award winners this week with 322 points. We then moved on to our out of school achievers. Well done to Charlie for achieving 10m in his swimming, Leonora for achieving her honours swimming challenge for swimming 40 lengths in under 20 minutes, Desmond for being awarded with his 25m in swimming, Jacob for being Player of the Week at Judo, Seb for being awarded with a trophy for Darreners Player of the Week at football, Olivia B, Olivia R and Darcy for getting through to the final of their football competition, Cassidy for achieving two new additions to her Rainbow badge collection and moving up to Brownies, Vienna for sponsoring a dog called Sage to become a guide dog, Harriet for being awarded with Morris Dancer of the Week for incredible marching and Lola, Summer and Quinn for wonderful gymnastics. Lola has been working extremely hard to perfect her backwards roll, Quinn has been persevering to achieve a cart wheel and Summer has been using her fantastic gymnastic skills to guide others. We then ended our worship with a lovely prayer from Rev Ben and sang along to ‘My Lighthouse.’ We thank our children for another wonderful week and we look forward to the next two weeks of this half-term. We have some exciting things planned such as a pantomime of Aladdin next Friday 2nd February and ‘A Dress to Express Day’ on Friday 9th February. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Mrs Ham's Highlights
Good afternoon parent and carers, what another busy week at St Barnabas! The highlights have been: * the super Science show yesterday, * Year 5/6 Sportshall Athletics team winning their heat and getting through to the finals, *Creating terrific tie-dye t-shirts in Year 3, *Playing on the outdoor gym, *A money matters session in Year 5 and some of their trout eggs have hatched! Next week we have our Aladdin Pantomime to look forward to on Friday afternoon. We kindly ask for a small donation of £3.00 which can be made on parent pay. Thank you to our FOSB for their contribution in order to keep the cost down. For all of this week's news from each class and this morning's celebration worship, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news For all of the upcoming events, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/events I would like to wish you all a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support. Take care and God bless, Mrs Ham
Year 3 - P.E- Outdoor Gym Session
Year 3 had a great time in P.E. at the outdoor gym this afternoon. We discussed the importance of getting off the equipment safely and not rushing past anyone to reach a new one. Everyone had a turn to explore and enjoy all the equipment! They had a great time.
Mad Science Show
This morning our whole school family had a super Mad Science Show led by Scientist Sarah. The focus was on energy and she showed us all some really exciting experiments that create different forms of energy. A huge well done to our chosen volunteers James, Annabelle and Archie!
Year 3- Art- Tie-Dye T-Shirt
Year 3 can take pride in their artistic achievements. Last week, they created mood boards that beautifully reflected their personalities. This week, they used those ideas to make cool tie-dye t-shirts. These colourful creations not only showcase their artistic flair but also serve as personalised expressions of their individuality. Amazing work from all. Well done!
Year 3- Art- Tie Dye T-shirt
Year 3 can take pride in their artistic achievements. Last week, they created mood boards that beautifully reflected their personalities. This week, they used those ideas to make cool tie-dye t-shirts. These colourful creations not only showcase their artistic flair but also serve as personalised expressions of their individuality. Amazing work from all. Well done!
Bee Yourself: A brilliant online platform designed to promote mental health and wellbeing for young people living in Blackburn with Darwen
Bee Yourself: We've just been made aware of a brilliant online platform designed to promote mental health and wellbeing for young people living in Blackburn with Darwen. It offers a range of resources and activities to help young people feel good and have fun while providing information and support for parents, carers, and practitioners working with young people. The platform is divided into several sections, including the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ section, which provides information on local activities and opportunities linked to the 5 Ways to Wellbeing. The 5 Ways to Wellbeing are a set of evidence-based actions that promote wellbeing and include connecting with others, being active, taking notice of your surroundings, learning new things, and giving back to the community. The Parent/Carer Area – Honeycomb – offers health and wellbeing information for parents, carers, and families by topic. It includes links to support and resources for further information on topics such as managing stress, dealing with anxiety, and building resilience. Bee Yourself offers The Big Ask section for young people with questions or concerns. This area provides answers to questions generated by young people through various focus groups, supported by health and wellbeing partners. The section aims to help young people understand and manage their mental health and wellbeing. The Worries Away area is another section that provides health and wellbeing information by topic. It aims to help young people understand and manage common concerns such as anxiety, stress, and depression. The section includes information on how to recognise the signs of mental health issues and what steps to take to get help. Bee Yourself is a valuable online platform that offers a range of resources and activities to promote mental health and wellbeing for young people in Blackburn with Darwen. With sections for children, parents and carers, practitioners, and young people themselves, Bee Yourself has something to offer everyone. It’s an excellent resource for those who want to learn more about mental health and wellbeing and take steps to promote it in their own lives and in the lives of those around them. www.bee-yourself.org
Year 3- Class Worship-To drive or be driverless?
During our class worship today, we watched this week's story. According to the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, there's a possibility that by 2026, motorists might find themselves completing journeys in driverless vehicles – cars that can navigate without human control. Year 3 are worried about the idea because they felt uneasy and thought it could be unsafe not having a driver. But, we used this chance to discuss the British Value 'Rule of Laws'. The children were reminded about how everyone must follow the rules when driving to keep things safe. We thanked God for the wonderful world and everything in it. To conclude our worship, the children sang the hymn, 'Our God is a Great Big God.'
Year 3- Maths- Multiply and Divide by 3.
Today, the Year 3 class progressed in their understanding. They explored the concept of division by 3, actively engaging in activities where they shared objects into three equal groups and grouped items in sets of three. Furthermore, they applied this knowledge by drawing jumps on the number line to solve problems involving dividing given numbers by 3.
Collective Worship- The boy in the temple
We started our Monday morning worship by singing Jesus strong and king and then by signing the trinity and the lighting of the candles. We then watched a video from the Worship Together Collective Worship led by Lisa from Blackburn Diocese. We heard the story ‘the boy in the temple’, which taught us about a twelve year old Jesus who went missing and was found in the temple. He said to Joseph when he was found “ you should have known I was here, it is my father's house after all.” Bishop Philip told us how in this story Jesus tells us who he is and what he has come to do. We then watched an animation of the story and discussed how Mary and Joseph must have felt when Jesus was missing for three days and how Jesus was a little child, just like us. We then finished our worship by singing and signing to two of our favourite songs about Jesus, Waymaker and My Lighthouse.
Solo Parents United- Football Team
Good morning parents and carers, I hope you've had a lovely weekend. Please find attached some information from one of our former parents, Stephen Walker about his Solo Parents United group and new football teams he is setting up for children of single parents.
Year 3- Art- Tie-dyeing T-shirt
In today's afternoon's art session, Year 3 engaged in tie-dyeing. After watching a short clip on how to tie-dye a t-shirt the children carefully scrunched, folded, or coiled up their T-shirts and secured them with elastic bands. They then picked their favourite colours and mixed them in separate bottles, linking to their mood boards from our last art session. After applying the dye, each child's T-shirt was placed in a plastic bag labelled with their name. It is recommended to let the dye permeate the cloth overnight if possible, as it takes several hours for the colours to develop fully. The children are eagerly looking forward to tomorrow when they can finally remove the rubber bands and discover the exciting results of the tie-dye on their T-shirts.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our week in school. We reflected on our learning about courage and Martin Luther King in collective worship and how much fun we had in the snow on Tuesday. We then presented Ida, Fletcher, Bindi, Harriet, Annabelle, Alice, Alfie and Sophie as our value award winners this week. Well done for being extremely conscientious and hardworking. We also congratulated Maliki, Alfie, Zac and Rio for representing our school amazingly well at a Bowling Competition this week on Monday morning, Ruby, Daniel, Jessica for being rewarded with their pen licenses, Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week with 287 points. We then moved on to our out of school achievers. Well done to Isaac for achieving Player of the Match for showing an immense amount of courage by taking the role of goalkeeper in a recent football match for the first time, Arabelle for being extremely generous and sponsoring a dog called Crumble by donating money that she has raised through her swimming to support Crumble in becoming a guide dog, Cassidy for achieving a trophy for showing wonderful perseverance in her bar work at gymnastics, Eliza for achieving a trophy for showing lots of courage and hard work during her football training and matches and Annabelle for working extremely hard towards her bronze award in swimming. We then presented all of our teachers with their first aid qualifications. Finally, we heard some lovely prayers from Jacob, Olivia and Ivy who prayed for peace in our world. We thank all those who attended celebration worship- it is always lovely to see so many of our families attend and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Year 3- Class Worship- Is an e-reader better than a book?
Today in class worship, we watched this week's story on reading. Year 3 had the opportunity to read from cereal boxes, leaflets, letters, magazines, game instructions, and emails. Some children like reading on screens, especially cereal boxes during breakfast. But most think reading from a real book is better because you can touch and feel it, and some books have cool stuff you can touch and smell. We acknowledged that learning to read requires perseverance and resilience, qualities for which we can take responsibility and we are lucky to have many chances to read. Books can take us to new and exciting places, and we're thankful for the gift of reading, thanking God for everything, especially the ability to learn to read.
Year 3 - French - Days of the Week
This week the children have been learning the days of the week in French. They had to use their previous knowledge of colours to give each day a different colour. Next week we will be looking at the months of the year.
Where has Darwen Tower gone?
We can’t see Darwen Tower this morning as there is so much snow in the sky. Thank you so much to all of our parents and carers who took extra time and care this morning on the school drop off. Everyone got into the warmth of school safely and sensibly. Please take extra time and care during pick up at hometime.
Let's Go Sing tickets now on sale!
Our choir will be taking part in a brilliant concert at King George's on Wednesday 6th March. They have been busy rehearsing for months and we can't wait to see them perform! Audience tickets are available online at https://bwdvenues.com/whats-on/ or by ringing the King George’s Hall box office on 01254 582579. Tickets are £8 per adult, U18 £3.50. There is also a small booking fee per ticket charged by KGH.
KS2’s Super Snowmen
Mrs Ham set our KS2 children a challenge to build the biggest and best snowmen at lunchtime. We are so lucky to have such large school grounds as we ended up with a whole family of snowmen! Well done Years 3, 4, 5 and 6!
Year 3- Art- Mood Board
Today in art, Year 3 created mood boards uniquely representing their personalities. They carefully selected various craft items that showcased who they were. The children drew pictures of things they enjoy, used words and colours that highlight their personality, chose personal images of places that are significant to them, cut out images that they found appealing and selected pieces of coloured fabric, pastels and crayons to express their feelings and mood.
Year 3- Gymnastics- Travelling with control on four points.
Today in P.E. the children began their gymnastics unit. They concentrated on moving with precision and balance. Additionally, our character value for the day was trust. We had a conversation about the significance of trust and how crucial it is. The activity involved partnering and relying on each other to enhance our gymnastic abilities. The task was to work closely with a partner, demonstrating trust by accepting and appreciating their constructive feedback to improve their skills. The children focused on travelling using their hands and feet. They practised placing their hands on the floor with flat palms and thumbs pointing forward.
Friday Celebration Worship- Spring 1 Week 1
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our first week in school of 2024. We reflected on our learning about The Epiphany in collective worship, how much fun we’ve had exploring the new outdoor gym and all of our learning during the Life Education sessions with Harold the giraffe. We then presented Skye, Seb, Alfie, Jack, Walter, Tilly, Daisy, Lucy and Amelia as our value award winners this week. Well done to these children for being incredible role models. We also congratulated Oscar and Ivy on achieving their pen licenses and Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week with 436 points. We then moved on to our out of school achievers. Well done to Ella for achieving the Christmas Cup for being an exceptional team player at football, Charlie for achieving Stage 3 and 25 meters in his swimming, Eliza for achieving several badges at Pony Club including learning how to groom horses and provide them with first aid, Marley for achieving 10 meters in her swimming and a badge at Rainbows, Scarlett for getting Olivia at Rainbows for being a team player and doing wonderful tidying up, Sophie for achieving a trophy for Athlete of the match and several medals for representing Blackburn Harriers as part of Lancashire, Annabel for achieving Skate Excel’s grade 1 in her ice skating and Daisy for being a wonderful gymnast. We then heard from Rev Ben who finished our worship with a lovely prayer. We thank you all again for your continued support this week and we wish you all a lovely restful weekend.
Year 3- Life Education
Year 3 had a brilliant time in their Life Education session with Karen. They learnt all about the brain and how to look after ourselves and our mental health. They then talked all about friendships and how to compromise with our friends and how we can't always get our own way.
Year 3 English- Performing Poetry
Year 3 have been learning about shape poems this week. They chose a poem to write out in a specific shape according to what the poem was about. They then rehearsed their poem in pairs, adding expression and actions. Finally they performed their shape poem to the rest of the class. They were all super brave and even those that didn't really want to do it got up and performed. Rev Ben will be so pleased to hear how Year 3 have shown courage this week, after reflecting in Worship on Tuesday how Jesus is always there to support and encourage us during scary times.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Courage and Epiphany
This morning, Rev Ben came in to talk about courage and how the wise men showed courage on their journey to meet Jesus. The children shared their bravest moments and they enjoyed joining in with the Bible story and especially Rev Ben’s impression of a grumpy and mean King Herod. We reflected on how the wise men showed courage, how we can show courage this week and how it helps us to know that Jesus is always with us. This doesn't mean that the fear goes away but Jesus helps us to face our fears and be courageous, just like the wise men.
Year 3 Science - Caring For Our Pets
For Science this week we continued learning about how we can care for our pets at home. We discussed what different pets need to be healthy and well looked after and looked at the five welfare needs. We then created our own care guides for our pets.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Good afternoon parents and carers, what a fantastic last week we have had at St Barnabas celebrating Christmas. Each class has visited the Rose Garden in Whitehall Park to see the lovely Christmas art work and enjoyed singing Christmas carols. Our Christmas parties were great fun and the infants got a special visit and gift from Santa & the children in KS2 were left special presents from him too. This morning we had our Christmas church service and this afternoon we presented our amazing attendance winners with their certificates and had a singalong to our Christmas video. To see all of our latest news from each class, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news I’m delighted to let you know that Sean Dunn is our new parent governor and you should be able to spot him in our Christmas video along with some of our other governors, our staff and children. It wouldn’t be Christmas at St Barnabas without our special Christmas video to wish you all a merry Christmas from our whole school family. Here it is: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EaMCS8bGFvc On behalf of our whole staff team, we would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and we hope that it is filled with moments of peace, love and joy. Thank you so much for your kind words, cards and gifts. We look forward to seeing you all next year when the Spring term starts on Monday 8th January. Merry Christmas and best wishes to you all, Mrs Ham and the St Barnabas staff team
Whitehall Park Values Winner Disco
Well done to all of the children in Whitehall Park as they collectively received the most values points this half term. As a treat, they were rewarded with a disco! They had a super time and all enjoyed a chocolate lolly too.
Key Stage 2 Christmas Party Fun
What a fab afternoon Key Stage 2 have had at their Christmas party. Games galore, dancing and singing. Everyone had a huge smile on their faces and enjoyed every second! Huge thanks to the elves who brought every child a gift which is so kind. Hopefully the children will have exhausted themselves and sleep well tonight ahead of our final day of school tomorrow.
Santa’s Workshop for Key Stage 2
Last week, our heads and deputies created a list for Santa of toys that our key stage 2 children would like. After Santa visited key stage 1, he left toys for our key stage 2 children to choose from. They all enjoyed choosing from a selection of gifts. What a treat!
Year 3- Class Worship- Are decorations an important part of celebrations?
During today's class workshop, Year 3 discussed the significance of decorations in celebrations. Some children express that decorations are important as they bring joy and help spread the purpose of the celebration. However, the majority felt that spending money on decorations is worthwhile only if they can be reused each year. As we reflected on the discussion, we reminded ourselves that Christmas is a special time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, who is considered the most precious gift. We thanked God for the festive season and, most importantly, for the gift of Jesus. The children decided to end class worship by singing the carol 'Away in a Manger.'
Year 3- Whitehall Park- Singing Christmas songs and admiring the Artwork
This morning, Year 3 have been out admiring the wonderful artwork created by some of the children from our school. During the visit, they sang Christmas songs, spreading festive cheer to the members of the gardening club. They were amazed by how well they sang their hearts out. They also had the opportunity to have a play in the park before heading back to school.
Year 3- Whitehall Park- Singing Christmas songs and admiring the Artwork
This morning, Year 3 have been out admiring the wonderful artwork created by some of the children from our school. During the visit, they sang Christmas songs, spreading festive cheer to the members of the gardening club. They were amazed by how well they sang their hearts out. They also had the opportunity to have a play in the park before heading back to school.
Friday 15th December- Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by lighting our advent candles and reflecting on this week’s theme for advent which is joy. Mrs Ham said that our choir brought lots of joy to Darwen Market Hall yesterday and how this week we have also taken part in the Christmas Fayre and Christmas lunch which have also brought lots of joy to us all. We then presented Elsie, Marley, Arabelle, Sonny, Talia, Charlie-Rose and Molly as our value award winners this week. Well done to these children who have been displaying an incredible amount of kindness, respect and trying incredibly hard with their learning. We also congratulated Tyler, Bobby, Ella, Jenson and Talia who have achieved their pen licenses and Reception and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week. Whitehall Park are our overall value award winners this week and are also this half-terms overall winners. We then said a huge well done to four of our Year 2 children who attended a Curling competition. Unfortunately, they just missed out on achieving medals but they represented school amazingly - well done to Isaac, James, Emily and Olivia! We then said well done to our out of school achievers. Well done to Olivia for being an incredible mascot at the weekend during the Ladies’ Blackburn Rovers Football game, Isaac for achieving a medal at performing arts, Ruby for attending Brownie Camp and achieving a gold award in Brownies which is the highest award that a Brownie can achieve and also lots of medals and a trophy for her survival skills in swimming, Alexis for achieving 50m in her swimming, Isaac for achieving 50m in his swimming and his younger brother Teddy for achieving Ducklings stage 3 in his swimming, Alfie for swimming 5m backstroke, Grace for attending Brownie Camp and trying lots of new activities such as caving, zip wiring and climbing, Betsy for achieving a medal in her ballet, Callie for swimming 5m, Carmen for achieving her stage 4 in swimming, Thomas for achieving stage 2 in his swimming and Eden for achieving the bronze award at Brownies and attending the Brownie Camp at the weekend. We then said a huge thank you to our Friends of St Barnabas who continue to run lots of events in school, such as our Christmas Fayre on Wednesday, to fundraise money for school to purchase lots of new and exciting things for our children. We can’t wait for our new outdoor gym. We then heard some lovely prayers from Sofia, Elijah and Mrs Ham and listened to our amazing choir who sang to us all. We thank you all again for your continued support this week and we wish you all a lovely festive weekend.
Year 3- A visit to Nightingales Farm
The children had an inspiring morning at Nightingales Farm today, where they saw pigs, goats, sheep, and many chickens. The children were set on a fun activity where they had to guess the number of chickens in the barn and were astonished to discover that they had over 400 chickens. They were fascinated to learn that a chicken's health could be determined by the colour of its comb – a red comb indicates good health and a peach comb chicken needs care. Steph, also assessed the children's understanding of their recent classroom lessons on bones, challenging them with questions about the human and animal skeletal system. The children displayed exemplary behaviour and respect, and actively participated in discussions about animal diets, demonstrating their keen interest and knowledge.
Year 3 - Maths- Making equal groups
This week in their maths, Year 3 have explored various multiplication methods using counters. They have been using concrete materials to demonstrate their understanding of both multiplication and division of given numbers.
Whole School -Design Technology- Christmas Fayre
This term in Design and Technology (D.T.), children from every class have been busy creating special things with a purpose. They showed off their creations at our school's Christmas fayre. Reception made cute Christmas decorations, Year 1 made Christmas-themed characters that move from a book, Year 2 put together yummy fruit kebabs, Year 3 crafted pouches, Year 4 made stockings, Year 5 created comfy cushions, and Year 6 invented their own steady hand game. Everyone should be proud of what they made because when parents and visitors saw the products, they were amazed! Each class did a fantastic job turning their creativity into awesome projects.
Choir Christmas Carols at Darwen Market
A huge well done to our amazing choir and Year 6 singers for a wonderful performance today! Thank you to Darwen Market for inviting us. Thanks to everyone who came to watch. We hope we spread some festive cheer and joy to you all!
Christmas Lunch 2023
We had a fantastic Christmas lunch together as a school family! A huge thank you to Mrs Norton, Mrs Beech and Miss Norton for the meal. Thank you so much to our staff team for all of your help. It was wonderful to see all of our children eating and having festive fun together. We loved your singing too!
Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics Club Final Session
Tonight saw the final Sportshall Athletics Club. The children have pushed themselves out of their comfort zones trying new events such as obstacle relay, five strides and vertical jump. Well done to everyone who attended and we look forward to the competition in the new year.
Friday 8th December- Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by lighting our advent candles and reflecting on this week’s theme for advent which is peace. Mrs Ham asked us to reflect on how we can create peace both at home and in school. We had suggestions such as helping around the house, helping out with younger siblings, making our own bed, tidying up after ourselves and showing kindness to everyone. We then presented Leila, Alice, Chay, Elliott, Quinn, Mason, Harry and Oscar as our value award winners this week. Well done to these children who have been working incredibly hard and showing impeccable manners. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week. We then said a huge well done to four of our Year 4 boys who attended a Boccia competition. Unfortunately, they just missed out on getting to the final but they represented school amazingly - well done boys! We then said well done to Ella for achieving her puffin award at swimming which includes swimming 5m, James for becoming the captain of his football team, Tristen for being awarded the best newcomer at kickboxing, Leonora for swimming her first ever 100m and achieving several PBs in her swimming, Desmond for attending his first ever session with Darwen Centurions, Grace for achieving several badges at Brownies, Maggie for a badge at ar Rainbows for attending the ‘Magical Christmas Experience’ and achieving Stage 2 in her swimming, Annabel and Scarlett for also attending the ‘Magical Christmas Experience’ at Rainbows, Sofia for achieving a medal for her incredible dancing, Jacob for attending a magical Christmas experience at the North Pole, Matthew for achieving Student of the Year at Organised Chaos Kickboxing club, Jessica and Amelia for achieving lots of rosettes and certificates for demonstrating amazing talent in their horse riding and Ivy for demonstrating fantastic talent in her gymnastics talent. We ended our worship by saying the Grace and singing ‘We Three Kings’ and ‘Ding Dong.’
Year 3- D.T- Christmas Pouch
This term for our design and technology unit, the year 3 Christmas Elves have been busy making Christmas themed pouches. Prior to making the pouch, the children have carefully planned their pouch and thought about their design in detail. They have learnt how to sew fabric together using a running stitch, designing the front of their pouch and decorated it by using fabric glue to stick on embellishments to give that wow factor. They have also made sure that the pouch is functional and aesthetic. They have also evaluated their finished products by answering a series of questions. We are super proud of the dedication and enthusiasm that the children have shown throughout the planning and making of these products. We can't wait to showcase our products at our school Christmas Fair.
Year 3 - French - Animals
This week in French we have learnt lots of different animals including marine animals, farm animals, zoo animals and pets. The class are doing a great job remembering the names of all these different animals.
Whole School Peace Chain
During our second week of Advent, we are focussing on praying for peace. Throughout the last week, all classes have created a whole school peace chain. Continuing from yesterday’s worship, we discussed different ways that we can find peace. Ruby said that she had listened to her mum this morning to create a peaceful home environment. Darcy said she had shown peace to her younger sibling. Isaac said he had helped his parents and Percy said he had gone to bed earlier. We will continue to focus on peace throughout this week and the whole of Advent. Our peace chain is displayed in our school entrance for you all to see.
Celebration Worship- 1st December 2023
This morning in celebration worship, we started our worship by lighting a candle of hope to represent the first week in advent. We then presented our value award winners with their certificates for showing an exceptional work ethic and demonstrating the Christian Values. Well done to Teddy, Heidi, Isaac, Daisy, Alice, Lily-May, Jake and Rio. We then said a huge well done to River Darwen who were our overall value award winners this week and Reception and Year 5 for being the amazing attendance winners this week. We then moved on to our wonderful out of school achievers. We said a huge well done to Tristen who achieved his red and yellow belt at kick-boxing, Lydia who has got Olivia from rainbows for super tidying up, Seb for achieving his 5m without armbands in his swimming, Elliott for achieving a trophy for incredible football, Evie for being awarded a medal for demonstrating incredible skills in her gymnastics, Grace for achieving a medal in her lyrical dancing, Alby for achieving 50m in his swimming, Ed for achieving 20m in his swimming, Betsy for working extremely hard in her ballet lessons and working hard towards achieving her point shoes and Summer for achieving 20m in her backstroke. To end our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Lilly, Wilson, Isaac and Sofia and a prayer from Mrs Ham about remembering the true meaning of Christmas. We also sang ‘Come and Join the Celebration’ and ‘Little Donkey.’ Thank you for all of your support this week and we wish you all a lovely weekend.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
All of our children helped to decorate our real Christmas tree today at lunch time. It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Year 3- Class Worship- Who is responsible for Antarctica?
WOW! Year 3 were amazed as they learned about drastic changes in Antarctica's weather because of melting snow and ice. Penguins are struggling to find a place to live, because plants and flowers are being replaced by ice and snow. A polar explorer named Robert Swan is extremely worried about these changes, he wants schools to encourage children to recycle more. Year 3 have volunteered to become champions of Antarctica, and they have promised to recycle more. They hope their actions will have a ripple effect on the environment and the world. We ended the class worship by thanking God for giving us the wonderful world.
YEAR 3- NO PENS DAY WEDNESDAY
Year 3 had a great time supporting 'NO PENS DAY' today. To encourage children to speak and listen to each other, the class took part on playing 'Who am I', imaginary show and tell, played snaps using multiplication and division cards and made some Christmas decorations using salt dough. They had a great time and it was a wonderful opportunity to give everyone a chance to talk about something they love and feel proud of.
Rev Ben’s Worship- Jeremiah : Down in the well
This morning Rev Ben led our Worship about God's Compassion. We started with a fun listening game where Rev Ben blind folded some children and the rest of us had to make the animal noise of the animal on the screen. The children who were blindfolded were able to realise what it was like to not be able to see, just like the person in this week's Bible story, Jeremiah. We listened and joined in with the Old Testament Bible story all about Jeremiah being stuck in a deep, dark well. We loved joining in with the repeated refrain and we learned that God helped Jeremiah get out of the well. We reflected on how God can help us when we are feeling stuck or in a dark place. We then thought about how God sent His saviour, Jesus to rescue us all and how at this time of Advent, we are thinking about the special birth of Jesus. We finished our Worship singing 'Jesus, strong and kind'.
Year 3- Science- Labelling the human skeleton
Today in science, Year 3 learned that animals have different kinds of skeletons. They found out which animals have bones inside their bodies (endoskeleton), which ones have a hard outer shell (exoskeleton), and which ones use water pressure to move (hydrostatic skeleton). They were fascinated to learn that a giraffe, which has a super long neck, has the same amount of vertebrae as a human. We also labelled the different bones of a skeleton using technical vocabulary.
First week in Advent- Hope Collective Worship
This morning in our collective Worship we focused on Hope as it is the first week in Advent. Lucy and Charlie lit the first candle on our advent wreath and we said special prayers of hope. We watched a lovely video showing how God promised to send his special son Jesus and people had to wait in hope a very long time for Him but 'Good things come to those who wait'. We then discussed with our friends what we were hopeful for in the future and we had some wonderful answers such as 'For there to be peace across the whole world and for everyone to show kindness to each other.' Over the next four weeks we will be focusing on the hope, peace, joy and love that Jesus brought to the world and how we can show that to others too. We finished our Worship by singing a number of Christmas songs to remind us of the importance of Christmas, when baby Jesus was born. Thank you to our wonderful singers who volunteered to model the actions to the younger children.
Year 3- P.E- Group Sequence
During P.E., this afternoon, Year 3 was tasked with creating a story sequence using the five dance elements - travel, turn, jump, gesture, and stillness. The first step was to identify the term "villain", and some of the words suggested by the children were "evil", "torture", "threatening", "intimidating", and "mischievous". Once a villain was selected, the children worked in pairs and gradually moved into small groups. They then performed their sequences to the whole class, using music by Stealth. The students did an excellent job portraying their villains and worked extremely well in groups, demonstrating great teamwork.
Year 3- D.T- Running stitch
This afternoon in Design technology, the little elves have been busy picking their design for their pouch, options were stocking, star, bauble, tree or snowman. They are doing great with the running stitch, although a few need support threading the needle. They are super excited to reveal the end result at our school Christmas fair.
Celebration Worship - 24/11/23
This morning in celebration worship, we started our worship by presenting our value award winners with their certificates. Well done to Joey, Archie, Olivia, Ivy, Ella, Esme, Wilson and Ross for consistently demonstrating an exceptional attitude to learning and always showing respect, kindness and friendship. Mrs Ham also awarded a special bravery award for Sonny in Year 3. Today marks one year since he was diagnosed with diabetes. This past year, he has taken all of the hospital trips and disruptions to his usual routines in his stride and shown an immense amount of courage. We are so proud of you Sonny! Our head and deputies then awarded Darwen Tower as the overall value award winners this week and Mrs Ham announced Reception class and Year 6 as the amazing attendance winners this week. We then celebrated lots of children who have been achieving great things out of school. Well done to Mila for achieving her drawing badge at rainbows, Eliza for being a superstar horse rider, Annabelle for achieving her drawing badge at rainbows and the rainbows theme award for expressing herself, Desmond for being a super swimmer, Marley for showing kindness, Archie for achieving 20m front crawl swimming, Callie for achieving her stage 3 award at swimming, Penelope for achieving a rosette in her horse riding, Poppy for achieving a trophy for being a fantastic footballer and Skye for displaying lots of new skills in her horse riding lessons. We then applauded Alice in Year 3, Poppy in Year 5, Wilson, Charlie, Lucy and Jacob in Year 6 for their successful entries into the ‘Happy News competition’ which was launched in school a few weeks ago. Mrs Govan then launched our current competition. Mrs Govan explained that Home Bargains are accepting entries into a Christmas card competition that we would love our children to enter into. The winner of the competition will get their Christmas card printed and sold in Home Bargains and the money raised will go to Alder Hey Hospital. What a fantastic cause to support. Finally to end our worship, Rev Ben then said a beautiful prayer and Mrs Ham reminded us about non-uniform day next Friday in exchange for chocolate or a toy for our FOSB School Christmas Fair on Wednesday 13th December. We thank you all for your continued support and we wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
Christmas Card Competition
This morning in our Celebration Worship I shared the details of our Christmas Art Competition in Aid of Alder Hey Children’s hospital. The competition is for the children to design their own Christmas Card on a square piece of paper (please see the image above for more details and last year’s winners!) All entries will be submitted to the competition, and if selected, the winning entries will be sold as Christmas cards in Home Bargains stores across the UK, with all proceeds going to Alder Hey. School can also win a craft hamper and £100 voucher for resources too! We will also be selecting a handful of amazing entries to copy and display in the Rose Garden at Whitehall Park for our Christmas ADVENTure trail, so any Nativity related entries would be lovely to see. Please can we ask that all entries be handed to class teachers by no later than Wednesday 13th December. We are able to provide squared paper for entries if needed, please just ask your class teachers. If you have any further questions then please ask. We look forward to seeing some wonderful designs! Thank you, Mrs Govan
Year 3- Class worship- Peace
During our class worship, the Year 3 class created a peace chain. They are hoping their peace chain travels the world and their messages of peace makes a difference.
Year 3 - P.S.H.E- The Risk Robot
Today in P.S.H.E., we looked at our third lesson on 'Keeping Safe'. I described different risky situations, and the children had to decide whether the situation was a high, medium, or low risk by following these gestures: putting their hands on their heads for high risk, folding their arms for medium risk, and putting their hands on knees for low risk. We went through various scenarios like crossing a busy road, drinking from an unlabelled bottle, playing near a railway line, singing in front of the whole school, and playing in the school rounders/netball/football team. We then emphasized the importance of following the rules, using proper equipment, and practising good sportsmanship to create a safer and more enjoyable playing environment.
Year 3- English- Story prediction activity- 'The Last Bear'
In English today, the children made predictions based on the cover and title of 'The Last Bear' book. They made predictions about who the characters might be, what themes the story could have, where it takes place, and what genre it falls into. Following this, Year 3 explored the map of Bear Island. Initially sceptical about its existence, we researched on Google, and the children were fascinated to discover that Bear Island is situated within the confines of the Norwegian and Barents Seas.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Samuel and David
This week in Rev Ben’s Worship, we learned the story of Samuel, Jessie and David. We talked about the qualities God looks for in a king and the importance of having a kind heart.
WOW Group Worship: Respect and Tolerance
Well done to our fantastic WOW Group, who led their first whole-school worship this year today. In recognition of Inter Faith week, they talked about respecting each other’s differences and they taught us about tolerance and how we can show it to one another.
Year 3- Science- The importance of nutrition food labels.
In Science this afternoon, Year 3 have been learning about nutrition food labels. They now know that the labels on the packaging tell us what's in the food, help us pick healthy options, and give detailed info about the different food groups in a product. For their activity, the children were provided with different food packets. They looked at the labels and decided if the food was a good choice for every day or just once in a while. They know it is important to have a balanced diet. The more green light a label displays, the healthier the food is.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by ‘Making a Noise’ as that has been our focus this week during anti-bullying week. We did this whilst dressing in spots and all things Pudsey in support of Children in Need. We then said a huge well done to our superstar value award winners this week who were Iniya, Eli, Lyla in EYFS and KS1 and Sofia, Summer, Lola, Tyler and Archie in KS2. We were also exceptionally pleased to present Millie, Annabelle, Matthew and Bella for getting their pen licenses and Charlie for being a Times Table Rockstars Champ. We then said a huge congratulations to our Year 5/6 football team who achieved the title of Darwen Schools league football champions last night, Whitehall Park for winning the Inter-house dodgeball competition last Friday, our KS1 sports team who attended the multi sports skills festival at QEGS last Friday, India Mill who were overall value award winners this week with 283 points and Year 1 and Year 4 for being our amazing attendance winners this week. Our Well-Being Warriors then presented Edward, Molly, Lottie, Elliott, Grace, Betsy and Isaac for having the best odd socks and shoes on Monday to launch anti-bullying week and we celebrated the achievements of our out of school sports award achievers. Well done to Cali for her ice skating, Albie for achieving his 10m swimming award, Arabelle for being awarded her 50m in swimming, Lyla for achieving a medal for incredible ballet dancing, Sofia for super concentration and accuracy in her dancing, Peyton for achieving her white belt in kickboxing, Quinn for his commitment to tennis, Molly for achieving her fourth belt in martial arts, Betsy for achieving medals for incredible ballet and commercial street dancing, Grace for achieving a medal for her lyrical dancing and Lola for showing improved steps in her acro dancing. Finally, Mrs Ham reminded us about the Scholastic Book Fair being open after school next Monday and Tuesday after school. We then heard from Rev Ben who ended our celebration worship with a beautiful prayer about compassion and kindness. We wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
Scholastic book fair
Our Scholastic Book fair will be back in school on 20th and 21st November after school. Children will be visiting the fair over the next few days and will bring home a wish list of potential books they’d like to buy at the fair. You can purchase books at the fair from 3.30-4.30pm next Monday and Tuesday (20th and 21st). It is the perfect time to purchase books ready for Christmas! Card payments will only be accepted, we unfortunately cannot accept cash.
Year 3- Class Worship- Can a robot do that?
During our class worship, the children discussed the advantages and disadvantages of having robots in our lives. Some of the advantages that the children came up with were, that the robots could clean their bedrooms, help them with their homework and have a little dance with them. The disadvantages they thought that could happen were the robot could get lazy, the robot could get bored or get carried away and throw a house party. We ended our class worship with a prayer thanking God for the technology enhancing our lives and the wonderful world.
FOSB Christmas Fayre Stalls and Raffle Prize Donations
St Barnabas CE Primary Academy will be hosting an Annual Christmas Fayre on Wednesday 13th December 3.30-5.30pm. We are looking for stall holders and local businesses to donate raffle prizes so please email if you are available to help in any way: [email protected] If you would like a stall, they are priced at £10 plus a donation to our raffle. If you would like to help by donating a raffle prize then that would be very much appreciated! It will be a wonderful event for our community, any support would be really appreciated. Thank you.
Year 3 - Computing - Algorithms
This term in computing we are learning all about computer science, coding and algorithms. This week the children had great fun creating algorithms to try and make shapes.
Year 3- Anti-Bullying Week
The whole school kicked off Anti-Bullying Week on Monday by embracing individuality by wearing odd socks and shoes that reflect our unique personalities. Today in class, the children worked in small groups to create shout-out messages, each displayed on a sock.
Year 3- Interfaith week- Rules of living session by a Jewish visitor
As part of Interfaith week, we had a special visitor in our classroom who shared insights into Jewish traditions and the rules of living. The children learnt about the different rules that Jewish people follow. We learnt about the prayers, the Torah and the clothing that men and women wear. The children also got to taste Challah, a delicious and traditional Jewish bread commonly served on the Sabbath.
Whole-School Worship: Odd socks day to launch Anti-Bullying Week
Today, to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week, we were all invited to come to school in odd socks and shoes to express our individuality. We learned how to spot the signs of bullying and what to do if we think someone is being bullied. We saw some brilliant acting skills from some of the children who acted our some bullying scenarios. We talked about the Christian and British values we should be showing to each other at all times. At St Barnabas, bullying is not welcome so we made a noise by shouting that out in different year groups and we loved joining in with Andy and the Odd Socks 'Make some noise' song.
World Kindness Day
On World Kindness Day, we share with you some of our entries to the competition that Blackburn with Darwen were running as part of the Children’s Literature Festival on the theme of kindness. Well done to our wonderfully talented children.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning we started our worship by thinking about remembrance. We put all of the people who serve us each and everyday with great strength and courage in our thoughts. Our heads and deputies said some some lovely prayers for all of those who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives to fight in the wars and all of those who are caught in conflict at the moment. We then observed a two minute silence. Following this, we presented our value award winners for this week. Well done to Lucy, Freddy, Elsie and Alfie in the Juniors and Lennox, Evie and Harvey in EYFS and KS1. We also said a huge well done to River Darwen for being our overall value award winners this week and Year 1, 2 and Year 4 for being our amazing attendance winners. We then moved onto celebrating our Year 5/6 football team who are through to the finals of the Darwen schools league next week after playing exceptional football through the league and we also celebrate our out of school achievers. Well done to Issac for being a super scout and swimmer, Sofia for being a wonderfully creative brownie and designing and making her own t-shirt, Annabel for working extremely hard in her ballet lessons and being a wonderful ballerina, Grace for being a fantastic gymnast, Poppy for achieving athlete of the week and ‘man of the match’ in her most recent football game, Ivy for pushing herself out of her comfort zone in her dancing and achieving a medal and Amelia and Jess for showing super courage and talent in their horse riding lessons. Finally, we ended our celebration worship by singing happy birthday to Alice, Elsie and Sophie and singing ‘A Song of Peace.’ Please remember that we are wearing odd socks and shoes on Monday to celebrate the launch of Anti-Bullying week. Our Well-Being Warriors announced that there will be a winner per class for the funkiest choice of odd shoes. We wish you all a wonderful weekend.
Year 3- Remembrance Day
In their guided reading sessions this week, Year 3 have been learning about Remembrance Day. They have guided information about when the war began and ended and why people wear poppies today. They also talked about the word 'peace' and how everyone wants to have peace in the world. They wrote individual prayers to remember the people who died in the war and the sacrifices they made for our country.
Choir Workshop
Choir took part in their second Let’s Go Sing Workshop with Gaynor and were excited to learn four new songs for the concert. Gaynor commented on how beautiful the children’s voices were and their fantastic effort, so a big well done to Choir for representing our school so brilliantly.
Year 3 - Science- Shadow Puppet Show
For their final lesson on light, the children worked in groups to create a shadow puppet show. They used skills learnt from their previous lessons to demonstrate their understanding on how shadows are formed using props made out of black paper. They worked with great enthusiasm and creativity.
Year 3- Parliament Week
This week, as part of Parliament Week, the children participated by taking a stance and casting their votes for the changes they wish to see. Some of the suggestions were shorter school days, lowered prices for sweets and snacks, more and better playgrounds, and reduced traffic on the roads. The children particularly enjoyed putting their vote in the Big Ben cardboard ballot box. They want people to listen to their ideas and support their rights.
Multi-Skills Sports Club
Today saw the start of our first multi-skills sports club session. The children took part in various activities such as speed bounce, obstacle relays and then finished with bench ball. Every child worked really hard to develop their skills and applied various tactics when working with different age groups.
Odd Socks Day
On Monday 13th November we will be launching Anti-Bullying Week with our usual ‘ODD SOCKS DAY’. After our weekly meeting our Wellbeing Warriors would also like to make it ‘ODD SOCKS AND ODD SHOE DAY’. They will be on the look out for the strangest, most unique socks and shoe combo and there will be a prize for a child in each year group. This will be announced in Celebration Worship on Friday 17th November when the team will be giving an overview of the day and how we have promoted Anti- Bullying Week in school.
Rev Matt’s Worship: God’s Compassion for Gideon
Rev Matt’s Worship this week was about victory against the odds and staying faithful to God. He told us the story of Gideon and how he defeated the Midianites, even though his army was small. He trusted in God and God showed Gideon compassion. We also discussed how we can show compassion to people who need our help.
Save the Date for our Christmas Fayre
Our wonderful FOSB will be hosting our Annual Christmas Fayre on Wednesday 13th December 3.30-5.30pm. Please save the date and come and enjoy lots of stalls, food and games. Our children’s Design and Technology products will also be available to purchase. FOSB are looking for stall holders and local businesses to donate raffle prizes so please email if you are available to help in any way: [email protected]
Year 3- P.E- Superheroes dance
This term in P.E., Year 3 will be learning how to move and dance with partners, focusing on the theme of superheroes. They will use their faces and bodies to show different actions and feelings related to superheroes. In today's lesson, they practised using their faces and bodies to show superhero gestures.
Year 3- Design Technology- Running stitch
The Year 3 class have started their new project in Design and Technology (D.T.). They will make a Christmas-themed pouch by the end of the unit. However, before making the final design the children will be acquiring the necessary skills for pouch-making.Today, the children looked back at what they learned in Year 2, especially how to thread a needle. Then, they practised sewing with a running stitch on a piece of felt. This will help them make their pouch.
Whole-School Worship: Remembrance
With Remembrance Day fast approaching, Mrs Ham began the week with a worship about why and how we remember those who have died due to war and those who serve our country and protect us. She explained the significance of the poppy and we discussed which Christian and British values are shown by people in the armed forces. We ended our worship time with a prayer of thanks to those in the armed forces and prayed for peace around the world as we sang ‘A song of peace’.
Poppy Appeal 2023
From Monday our Heads and Deputies will be selling Poppy Appeal merchandise at break times. The suggested donation for zip ties and reflectors is 50p, standard wristbands £1.00 and slap bands £1.50. Poppies will also be available to purchase for a small donation. Next week we will be focusing on Remembrance Day in our Worships and our Year 6 Heads and Deputies plus some of our WOW group members will be taking part in a special Remembrance Service in Darwen Cemetery. We will remember them.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today we started our worship by lighting our very special candle for those in Israel and Gaza who have very much been in our thoughts this week. Mrs Ham reminded us that we will be focusing on remembrance next week. We will be thinking about all of the soldiers that have fought in the war past and present and all of those that have and are being affected by the war. The heads and deputies told us some of the things that they will be selling next week to support the Poppy Appeal. We then presented our value award winners with their certificates. Our winners this week were Callie, Mila, Alby, Carmen, Matthew, Seb, Layla and Sophie and we also said well done to Matthew, Layla and Will who gained their pen licenses. We then said a huge well done to our out of school achievers. Congratulations to Albie for achieving his 5m certificate in his swimming with no armbands, Annabel for getting Olivia at Rainbows this week for super tidying up and achieving super star status in her ballet and acro, Darcy for achieving stage 3 in her swimming, Daisy for achieving 2nd place in her gymnastics competition, Callie for achieving 10m in her swimming with no armbands, Cassidy for achieving 3 gold medals in her gymnastics vault, floor and all around routines and an additional overall gold medal, Iris for achieving 10m in her swimming and stage 1 in her gymnastics, Desmond for stage 4 and 10m in his swimming, Eliza for achieving girl of the game as goalkeeper in her football, Annabelle for entering in the 18+ category in orienteering and coming in first place, Alfie for scoring a hat trick in a recent football game, Bobby-Ray for achieving the brown and white belt in Karate, Finn for being a cricket superstar, Charlie for achieving the batter of the year in his cricket, Archie for achieving batter of the batter and fielder of the year in his cricket, Grace for achieving several medals and a trophy for her acro expertise and Elsie for achieving a certificate in her tutoring lessons. We said a well done to Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week with 407 points and Year 2 and Year 5 for being the amazing attendance award winners this week. Finally, we ended our worship with some lovely prayers for those in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza and a song about peace. Thank you to those who could attend our celebration worship this week and we wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
Year 3- School Council Meeting
In our class meeting today, set up by the smart school councillors, the children discussed whether we should participate in 'No Pens Day Wednesday'. On this day, the children will not have pens and pencils; instead, we will focus on speaking and listening. Alice led the meeting, and Walter wrote down key notes from the meeting. Every group voted in favour of 'No Pens Day'.
Year 3 - Music - Steel Drums
This term during our music lessons we will be learning how to play the steel drums. The children really loved learning all about the origin of the steel drum and they had great fun having a go.
Whole School Worship with Rev Ben
Rev Ben taught us all about the value of thankfulness this week. He told us the story of the Jews being freed from slavery and how they lost sight of the good things God had given them, so they were left to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. The children loved interacting with the story and shared their ideas on how we can focus on the good.
Whole-School Worship: Allhallowtide & Praying for Peace
This morning Mrs Ham reminded us of the Christian season of Allhallowtide starting with All Hallows’ Eve tomorrow - Hallow means Holy and it is a time to be mindful of the good we can do in the world, All Saints’ Day on Wednesday - when Christians remember the good the saints have done, and All Souls‘ Day on Thursday - when we think of those who have died and are in heaven. We discussed Remembrance day which is coming up shortly, where we remember soldiers who have died in the wars. We also thought about the conflict in Israel and Gaza and prayed for those who are suffering in this war. We watched some newsround videos to learn about how children in Gaza and Israel are being affected and we thought of some ways that we can be like saints and help. Peyton said we can pray to God for them and Darcy, Jack and Naomi said we can donate money, clothes and toys to the children who have lost their homes and belongings. To finish we sang a 'Song of Peace' where we wished for a world where hate and war would cease and the everyone in the world could live in peace.
Year 3- Art- Shading from light to dark
In the final art lesson in the unit on the formal elements of art, Year 3 further developed their skills by patiently practising smooth shading from light to dark. Before filling in the animal template, the budding artists carried out a warm-up activity. They practised shading boxes from dark to light using an HB pencil. They aimed to create smooth, neat, and even shading without any gaps.
Harvest Church Service 2023
A huge well done to our WOW (Worship our Way) group and our choir for leading our Harvest Church service and to Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 for their wonderful contributions. Thank you so much for your generosity shown towards Darwen Food Larder and DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise). All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/harvest-church-service-2023 and the videos are posted on classdojo.
Whole-School Worship: Moses Saves God’s People
This week, Rev Ben led our worship, teaching us all about the story of Moses parting the Red Sea, and how that was all a part of God’s great rescue plan. The children loved acting out the story. We also spent some time reflecting on God’s generosity towards the Israelites.
Year 3- Science - Discovering how shadows are formed.
In science this afternoon, Year 3 discovered how shadows are formed. For their mission assignment, the children worked in small groups and used a torch to cast an object's shadow on paper and trace its outline. They then moved the torch 5cm back and repeated the process, noting how the shadow changed with the light source's position.
Foodie Friends Club- Year 3 and 4
The children had a blast making mouth-watering shaped biscuits. They prepared the dough using ingredients like butter, eggs, and flour, rolled it out, and used biscuit cutters to create different shapes before baking them in the oven.
Whole School Celebration Worship
To start our celebration worship this morning, we reflected on another busy week. We talked about a couple of highlights such as our ‘Hello Yellow Day’ to celebrate World Mental Health Day, A Let’s Sing Together workshop and library visits for years 3 and 5. We then presented our value award winners for this week. Well done to Harry, Eva, Scarlett, Arabelle, Darcy, Reuben, Will and Isaac for demonstrating the 4Bs. We then said congratulations to India Mill for achieving the most value points this week and an even bigger congratulations to River Darwen who are our overall value award winners for this half term who will celebrate with something of their choice next Thursday. Our well-being warriors then announced the six winners for our ‘Hello Yellow’ self affirmations poster competition who were Molly, Mila, Summer, Lucy, Lilly and Alice. Also, we said a huge congratulations to our Y5/6 football team for their superb talent and sportsmanship last night as they won both matches, Reception and Year 5 for being the super attendance award winners this week and Jake in Year 5 for getting his pen license. We then celebrated our out of school achievements. Well done to Marley for her drawing certificate that she achieved at Rainbows, Harriet for achieving 75m in her swimming, Grace for achieving a special honours award in her Jazz, Poppy for getting player of the match in her football, Layla for her football award that she achieved by attending Blackburn Rovers, Alby for reading 6 different books as part of the summer Reading challenge and Vienna for achieving 20m in her swimming without armbands. We ended our worship with a lovely prayer from Rev Ben and a reminder about our Harvest Celebration at St Barnabas Church next Thursday 19th October at 9.30am. Everyone is welcome and we would really appreciate some donations for the local food bank. Thank you for your continued support and we wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
Year 3 - PSHE - Be Internet Legends
Today we joined an online assembly hosted by Google. We talked about how to be internet legends and to stay safe online, how we feel about using the Internet and about limiting our time to try and keep a healthy balance.
Year 3 - Darwen Library-Librarian Detectives
Year 3 had another exciting visit to the library, where the children had the opportunity to explore and discover the collection of books and audiobooks the library has to offer. They were in absolute awe with the range of books the library had. They particularly enjoyed the role of detecting and becoming a member of the library.
Year 3 - Junior Jam Ukulele’s
This week during our music lessons we were learning how to play some actual songs including “Another one bites the dust” and the Harry Potter theme. We also practiced some new chords including A minor, C minor and F major.
Year 3 - Smart School Council - Recycling
For our Smart School Council this week we discussed what would make us recycle more. Our leader this week was Isabelle and our note taker was Daisy. Out of the four options the highest vote was for having all our products recyclable.
Whole-School Worship: Jacob and Esau and God’s Forgiveness
Rev Matt joined us for worship today. He talked about good and bad, and then read the story of Isaac’s sons, Esau and Jacob. We then reflected on how God taught Jacob to be truthful and how He showed forgiveness.
Whole-School Worship: Hello Yellow Day
Today we are celebrating Hello Yellow Day for World Mental Health Day by dressing in yellow. In worship, our Heads and Deputies dressed as Mrs Ham's Minions and they explained all about Hello Yellow Day. We learnt that we all have mental health and there are things we can do when we don't have good mental health. We made each other smile and feel happy by dancing and singing together with the minions to 'Happy'. We then joined a special live assembly with lots of other primary schools in Blackburn and Darwen, which was led by the Mental Health support team. We talked about our worries and how we can shrink them using mindfulness techniques. Thank you to everyone for dressing in yellow to raise awareness of mental health and remember that it is good to talk to our friends, parents, teachers and other trusted adults if we are worried about anything.
Football Practice
This week during our football session we have been looking at spacial awareness within the game. We have been exploring the ways we can transfer play into open areas to create more goal scoring opportunities.
Year 3- Hello Yellow Day
Following our whole school worship to celebrate 'Hello Yellow Day', Year 3 showcased their creativity by making artwork on the theme of kindness, using affirmations and illustrations. We also explored the importance of talking to a trusted adult about any worries they may have.
Foodie Friends Funtime Club
The children had a wonderful time enjoying designing and creating their own healthy fruit skewers. They practised using a knife safely to cut the fruit and carefully placed the fruits on to the skewers. Everyone helped with the cleaning and tidying, then they all got the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Celebration Worship
This morning, Rotakids welcomed us into celebration worship as we came in dressed in the colours of the Moroccan flag. They thanked us all for supporting our non-uniform day to raise money for Morocco who have recently faced an earthquake. They explained that our money would go towards medical supplies and other essentials such as blankets, food and shelter for those who were affected in the earthquake on September, 8th. We then said goodbye to Mr Tierney for his 7 years of service as our fantastic site supervisor. It was clear from the children’s memories that they shared and the video that Mrs Ham had made that Mr Tierney has had a hugely wonderful impact on our whole school family and that he will be greatly missed, especially for the joy and humour that he spreads on a daily basis. The children absolutely loved your goodbye song dressed as Santa Claus… what a way to end your time here at St Barnabas! We also said thank you very much to our amazing choir who sang at The harvest Festival on Sunday. We then said well done to Cici, Phoebe, Renee, Scarlett, James, Grace, Matthew and Charlie who were our value award winners this week and Isaac, James, Mila, James, Naomi, Lydia and Layla for being our out of school sports achievers. Well done to Isaac for showing good sportsmanship at football, James for being beaver of the week, Mila for attending rainbows for one year, James for achieving his stage 4 in swimming, Naomi for being extremely kind at rainbows and getting Olivia, Lydia for joining in and being a superstar at rainbows and Layla for being a wonderful footballer. We then congratulated River Darwen who are our value award point winners this week, Reception and Year 5 who are our amazing attendance award winners this week, our Year 5/6 football team for wonderful sportsmanship last night and winning all 3 games, our play leaders for completing their training and Eden and Esme for achieving their pen licenses. Finally, we ended with some lovely prayers wishing Mr Tierney all the best at his new job at Blackburn college and for those who are facing hardship in Morocco due to the devastating impact of the recent earthquake. Just a reminder that next Tuesday 10th October is Hello Yellow Day so all children are asked to wear something yellow to celebrate World Mental Health Day. We wish you an enjoyable weekend and thank you for all of your support this week.
Let's Go Sing Choir Workshop
Our Choir had their first workshop today in preparation for their 'Let's Go Sing' Concert next year. The vocal coach Rachel was so impressed with their efforts and said they were one of the best Choirs she has taught so far this year - so a big well done to our small but mighty Choir!
Year 3- History- How and why did the Egyptians mummify people?
In our history lesson today, Year 3 explored the reasons behind the ancient Egyptians' practice of mummification and discussed the methods they used to preserve human bodies.The children were fascinated by the additional information they discovered through books, including the intriguing fact that ancient Egyptian priests kept the heart inside the body for the afterlife.
Year 3-Year 6 WOW Group Members Lead Collective Worship
Today was an exciting day for the class as Lucy, David, and Archie from the WOW group took the lead in our class worship. They guided us through a PowerPoint presentation about Guinness World Records. The children had the opportunity to share what they believe should be included in the book, as well as their dreams and goals. Lucy, David, and Archie also discussed the process involved in getting into the Guinness World Records book. It was an inspiring and thought-provoking session! Great work!
Year 3 - Computing - Making Music
During our computing lesson this week we are continuing to create music on the app GarageBand. The children are really enjoying putting together different beats and instruments to create their own songs.
Football Practice
This week’s session the children worked on various techniques associated with keeping possession of the ball. The children then took this technique and practised that within their various games that they played; each featuring a different way of scoring such as, multiple goals, dribbling through gates and achieving more than ten passes.
Year 3- Children's Literature Festival
Today, the Year 3 class walked down to Darwen Library to join in the celebration of the Children's Literature Festival. They had the pleasure of meeting Christina Gambita, an author known for her diverse range of books covering topics such as pollination, healthy eating, plastic pollution, teamwork, mathematical concepts, history, and safeguarding. Ms. Gambita read her book 'Roo and Sarge' to the class which the children thoroughly enjoyed. She also talked about the importance of kindness and how we should be kind to everyone. The children also learnt how to say their names using sign language, which was a wonderful experience.
Foodie Friends Funtime Club- Years 3 and 4- Cornflake Cakes
Today, the children followed step-by-step instructions from a short clip and worked in small groups to make cornflake cakes. The most exciting part was when they got to lick the spoon and the mixing bowl!
Year 3- P.E
Today, Year 3 carried on with the throwing and catching game. We emphasized three important aspects during our activity: Keep your eyes on the object at all times. Position your body to intercept the ball's path. Ensure your hands are ready to meet the object.
29th September- Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our celebration worship by congratulating our value award winners this week for always demonstrating the the 4Bs, wonderful manners, an incredible attitude to learning and working extremely hard across the curriculum. Well done to Eddie, James, Finley, Jack, Jenson, Evie and Beau. We then said well done to River Darwen for being our value points winners this week putting them in 1st place and Year 1 and 3 for being the amazing attendance award winners this week. Our well-being warriors then told us all about World Mental Health Day 2023 on the 10th October to raise awareness for mental health. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. These were Annabel for being very sensible at rainbows and her character work as Rapunzel, Noah being this week’s player of the match at football, Mila and Cassidy for being extremely creative and drawing wonderful pictures at Rainbows and Layla for getting player of the match at football. We then followed by congratulating our play leaders on completing their play leader training yesterday. They learnt how to set up and manage lots of practical activities that they can lead on the infant yard with the infants. We ended today’s worship by singing happy birthday to Marley, Bobby-Ray, Noah and Beau and with some lovely prayers from Seb, Darcy and Noah. Darcy and Seb prayed for the people facing hardship in Ukraine and Morocco and Seb said a prayer of gratefulness to say thank you for everything that we have. Thank you for all of your support this week, and your very kind donations to our MacMillan coffee morning. Thank you to those that could also attend. We wish you an enjoyable weekend.
Year 3 - Class Worship- Thanking God for creating the universe and everything in it.
In our class worship, we explored the joy of discovering new places and celebrated India's historic moon landing near the south pole. We also explored famous explorers from the past and thanked God for creating the universe. We ended our class worship by singing, 'He's Got the Whole World'.
Year 3 - French - How are you?
Today in our French lesson we have been learning how to answer the question “how are you?” We now know how to say we are good, ok, not so good and angry.
Year 3 - Maths- Representing numbers and partitioning numbers to 1,000.
In Year 3, we've been learning about numbers up to 1,000. We used the base 10 system and pictures to help us understand how numbers work. This allows us to see that hundreds are ten times bigger than tens, and tens are ten times bigger than ones. We have also been practising making numbers differently to understand these ideas.
Year 3- Science- Investigating how you can stay safe in the sun.
Today in our science lesson, we acted like scientists and investigated how the sun affects special beads that change colour when they meet UV light. We also tested if sun cream works. To do this, we used UV beads and put different factors of sun cream on them. Then we went outside to see how the beads reacted when the sun touched them. This showed us that the sun gives us energy, but it can also be bad for our skin if we don't protect ourselves. Too much sun can give you a sunburn. The beads without sunscreen changed color, the ones with lower factor sunscreen changed a bit, but the ones with factor 50 stayed the same color, showing that they were well protected.
Football Practice
During this session of football the players looked at technical drills with opposed and unopposed challenges during their games. They worked really hard on the technical aspects of the game and built their work into some games at the end of the session.
Foodie Friends Funtime Club
The children had a fantastic time making their very own crumpet pizzas. They enthusiastically took on the roles of mini chefs, skillfully peeling and slicing onions, as well as chopping a red pepper. It was great to see them applying the claw and grip techniques they've learned in previous year groups. For toppings, they chose their own ingredients, they had grated cheese, basil, red onion, pepper, and tomato passata. The most exciting part was when we put the crumpets in the oven. They were all amazed by how little time they needed to prep and cook.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started saying thank you to our teachers for starting their after school clubs this week. We have had choir, football, foodie friends, performing arts, netball and an infant sports club and the children have thoroughly enjoyed them. We still have a few places left in choir so please sign up if your child is interested. We then said well done to our value award winners this week for always demonstrating the Christian values particularly friendship, respect and courage and working exceptionally hard across the curriculum. These children were Lottie, Leo, Eden, Daisy and Alfie. We then congratulated River Darwen for gaining 250 value points this week putting them in 1st place, Year 1 and 5 for being the amazing attendance award winners this week and David, Archie, Carlton, Skye, Daisy, Ruby, Leonora, Annabelle, Luca and Grace for being our new WOW group members for this academic year. We look forward to you all taking a lead in various worships and helping to organise events in the Christian calendar. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Annabelle for her blue Peter badge for her music, Jenson for achieving his 100m in swimming, Scarlett for lots of amazing rainbow badges and a swimming badge, Archie for achieving 20m in his swimming and ‘smashing it’ at Go Ape, Isaac for his perseverance over the last 5 years at Scouts, Oliver for demonstrating lots of new skills and achieving a new belt at kickboxing and Annabel for gaining a certificate for always working hard on many new skills at acro. We ended our worship with a lovely prayer centred around thankfulness from Rev Ben and a singalong to ‘If I was a butterfly.’ Please remember that we will be having our MacMillan coffee morning next Friday 29th September after celebration worship and you would be all very welcome. Cake donations would be very much appreciated and a donation to Macmillan can be made on parent pay. Thank you for all of your support again this week and we wish you an enjoyable weekend.
Year 3- Class Meeting- What are you most looking forward to this year in school?
Today, in Year 3, we had our first class meeting that has been set up by the school communication team. Darcy was our 'Class Leader' and Desmond took the role of 'Notetaker'. in small groups they discussed the key question ' What they are most looking forward to this year in school'? Three of the groups are looking forward to learning new things and the other two groups are looking forward to making new friends. Their teamwork was outstanding, great work Year 3!
Collective Worship with Rev Ben - Noah’s Ark
Today, we started with a fun game of floating and sinking in our collective Worship with Rev Ben. He then told us the story of Noah and his Ark and his mission to rescue God’s creation. We considered how we could help to take care of God’s world.
Football Club
This week, football practice started for all KS2 children. The sessions were divided and the children played a variety of football matches with many restrictions placed upon their game in order to target a particular skill set. The children took part in: a two touch passing zone game to target skill within an opposed setting, 1v1 mini games to target and look at attacking and being positive with the ball and finally a game whereby the children had to complete a certain number of passes before being able to score. This worked on space awareness, moving forward with the ball and inclusivity within the game. All the children had an amazing time and showed an amazing attitude towards the game.
Year 3- What did the ancient Egyptians believe?
Today, Year 3, as historians, explored the world of Egyptian gods and goddesses. They discovered why these gods and goddesses were so important to ancient Egyptians, using the Egyptian creation story as an example. They also learned about the extraordinary qualities that made each god and goddess unique. Additionally, they discovered the meanings behind the symbols and characteristics associated with their chosen god or goddess.
Collective Worship- In the beginning
This morning in Collective Worship, we continued learning about God's Big Story with Worship across the Diocese. Today we started right at the beginning of the Bible and focused on God's creation. This built on our Worships with Rev Ben and Rev Matt as we have been focusing on God's generosity in creation. After watching and joining in with the Worship across the Diocese video, we also watched a cartoon about God's creation. We then reflected on our favourite creations and Mrs Ham threw the inflatable earth and asked us to share our favourite creations with the whole school if we caught it. We shared so many of our favourite wonderful creations such as trees, flowers, people, food, fish, mountains, the sea, the sun and the sky. We then sang one of our favourite songs about creation, 'If I were a butterfly' where we thanked God for all of his wonderful creations.
Foodie Friends Funtime Club- Years 3 and 4
Our young chefs from Years 3 and 4 made microwave peanut butter and jam brownies today in the Foodies Friends Funtime afterschool Club. The children worked in small groups and followed a recipe. They first discussed the importance of washing their hands and making sure the surface was clean to work on. They then carefully weighed the ingredients and made the mixture. They then poured their well-prepared mixture into a glass dish and popped it in the microwave for 5 minutes. They had an absolute blast and can't wait to come back next week.
Year 3- Art- Working with wire
This afternoon, the children have been working with wire, bending and twisting it to create the form of a fish, using smaller pieces of wire to add features.
After school clubs- Autumn 1
Good morning parents and carers, here is a reminder about the after school clubs for this half term. Some of the clubs are nearly full but there are still places at several clubs. If your child will be attending a sports based club, they will need to bring sports clothes to wear and suitable trainers or football boots for football club. If the club is on their PE day, they can stay in their PE kit. A reminder that the children in Years 1 and 2 need to be collected from the circular infant yard at 3.20pm and children in Years 3-6 need to be collected from the circular infant yard at 3.30pm. If you give them permission to walk home, please message the club leader. A quick note that the performing arts club is for Year 6 at the moment to give them priority for the end of year production and to cast the main parts. However, if we have low numbers then it will be opened to older year groups.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our celebration worship by saying a huge well done to our value award winners this week for showing the Barney’s 4B’s, hitting the ground running in their new classes and always having a positive attitude to their learning. Well done Albie, Naomi, Walter, Daisy, Walter, Annabelle, Leonora and Seb. We then said a special well done to Whitehall Park this week who were our award winners this week, Reception and Year 5 for being the amazing attendance winners this week and Hamza, Harry and Daisy in Year 5 for gaining their pen licenses. We then moved on to say a huge congratulations to our out of school superstars. Well done to Alice for achieving 20m in her swimming, Alexis for achieving lots of badges at Rainbows, completing the Summer Reading Challenge and achieving 25m in her swimming, Carmen for completing the Summer Reading challenge and even reading an extra 9 books than she needed to, Renee for completing the Summer Reading Challenge, Frankie for completing the Summer Reading challenge and achieving stage 2 in his swimming, Annabelle for being awarded a special badge for her keyboard playing, a Blue Peter Badge for her musical talent and and a ‘Swim England’ award and medal, Summer for being awarded 50m in her swimming, Elijah for achieving 100m in his swimming without armbands, Eliza for achieving 4 rosettes in her horse riding, Jack for achieving 5m, 10m and stage 3 in his swimming, Ruby for participating in a 2 week swim and lifeguard camp and achieving her level 1 and 2 in snorkelling and her bronze and silver awards at Brownies and Charlie for achieving his 5m at swimming. We ended our worship with a lovely prayer from Rev Ben and a singalong to ‘Our God is Great Big God.’ Thank you for all of your support this week and we wish you an enjoyable weekend.
Year 3- Make a Splash in Their First Swimming Lesson
Year 3 had an incredible start to their swimming lessons today. The instructors divided the children into two groups, taking into consideration their prior swimming experience. We were immensely proud of their confidence and dedication. We look forward to witnessing their continued progress in the water over the coming weeks.
Year 3- Be Internet Legends Back to School Assembly
Today, the Year 3 class joined the live assembly delivered by 'Be Internet Legends'. During the assembly, the children learned about online safety, how to protect themselves and using strong passwords. Five key points that were highlighted throughout the session were; Sharp, Alert, Secure, Kind and Brave — these are designed to equip children with the key skills needed to stay safe online including critical thinking and empathy.
Year 3- Maths- How to access T.T Rockstars?
The Year 3 class were introduced to T.T Rockstars today. They successfully learned how to access and log in to the platform and had the opportunity to play a single game. They were super keen to get home and continue practising. T.T Rockstars is an engaging online platform designed to help students improve their multiplication and division skills through fun and interactive games.
Tuesday Collective Worship with Rev Matt
Rev Matt came to lead our worship and told us the story of Adam and Eve, and how God showed his generosity, staying with them even after they disobeyed his orders. We also discussed how we can show generosity this week.
Monday Collective Worship- God’s Big Plan
We started our worship by paying respect to all of the victims who lost their lives 22 years ago in the devastating 9/11 terrorist attack in New York. We lit a candle and said a prayer. Mrs Ham then reintroduced God’s Big Story to us and we looked at each concept and discussed what they mean: Creation (the beginning of the world), Fall (when people started to sin) , People of God (People in the Old Testament of the Bible), Incarnation (Jesus was sent to create peace on Earth), Gospel (spreading the good news of Jesus), Salvation (Jesus is crucified and appears as a spirit) and The Kingdom of God. We then watched a video which started with creation. We talked about our favourite things that God created. Rio said’ The sun and the moon to create light and dark,’ Sienna and Elliott said ‘The people’, Maliki said ‘The animals’ and Sonny said ‘The food.’ Followed by the Fall when people started to destroy the world. Then God gave us the People of God such as Moses and Abraham who were sent to teach us how to be good people. However, people didn’t listen so God sent Jesus to us in the flesh and this is what incarnation means. Bishop Philip explained that incarnation means that Jesus came as one of us, to share our life and so that we could share in his life and learn from his actions, stories and explanations. Bishop Philip then explained the definition of Salvation as Jesus coming to save us from a place of danger (the fall) by dying on the cross. As Jesus died on the cross and came back to life, he was our rescuer. He died for all of us brought us to a place of safety. We all look forward to learning more about God’s Big Plan in our collective worships and our RE lessons this academic year. Finally, we ended our worship by singing, ‘Our God is a Great Big God.’
Year 3- P.E- Playground games in the 20th century
Today, in our PE lesson, the children played games like the ones kids played in the past, like in the 1940s, 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s. A group of 5/6 taggers chased after the other children and tried to tag them. When a child gets tagged, they have to stand with their feet apart and their arms stretched out to the sides. Another child can free them by running under their arms or crawling under their legs. The children had an absolute blast! For the warm-up, the children played a fun game led by Mr. Frostie and Mr. Sunshine. The game involved running, jumping, skipping, galloping, and hopping around.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our first celebration of the year by reminding ourselves of our 4 B’s (Be ready, be kind, be respectful and be safe). We then talked about some highlights of the week including the production of the Jungle Book. We talked about our favourite parts. Daisy said, ‘When the lion fought the tiger and defeated him,’ and James said, ‘When Mowgli burnt the tiger's bottom off.’ We then celebrated the wonderful out of school achievements that our St Barnabas children have achieved over the summer holidays. We said well done to James for swimming 5m, Tristen for his red belt in kickboxing, Carter for being a fantastic fox at football and achieving stage 1 in his swimming, Eliza for being amazing at football and winning a football competition during the holidays and for wonderful horse riding, Poppy for running for Blackburn Harriers, Annabelle for being an amazing archaeologist, completing the summer reading challenge and achieving her stage 7 at swimming, Leonora for her super swimming, Grace for coming 3rd in her song and dance and completing the summer reading challenge, Jenson for achieving his 50m at swimming, Isaac for coming 4th in the British Championships in Derby for his BMX racing, Betsy for achieving the most points at Sports cool summer club for helping out with the younger children and always showing kindness, Finn for his trophy at football and achieving his 100m at swimming, Molly and Annabel for completing the summer reading challenge, Annabel for finding her brave and skydiving in the summer holidays with her brother and Renee for completing the summer reading challenge and achieving her stage 4 at swimming. We then congratulated Reception and Year 4 for being the amazing attendance winners this week and introduced Neve, Eden, Annabelle and Ella as our well-being warriors for this academic year. Finally we ended our worship with a beautiful prayer from Rev Ben and a sing along to ‘Shining From the Inside Out’ as a whole school. Thank you to those parents who could join us for celebration worship this week and we wish you all a lovely weekend when it arrives.
Year 3- Swimming- What to expect?
This afternoon Year 3 had a talk with one of the swimming instructors at Darwen Leisure Centre, ready for our first swimming session on Friday, 15th SEPTEMBER. The instructor answered any questions the children had about swimming lessons and explained what to expect. We also had a good chat about pool safety and we shared some of our thoughts and worries about going swimming. The children are super excited about their first swimming lesson next week.
The Jungle Book
Years 1-6 have had an amazing morning watching The Jungle Book production. They joined in so well and were transfixed throughout. Our Year 6 children got to take part in a special workshop afterwards where they learnt about the different roles that are needed in a theatre production as they will be performing The Jungle Book at the end of the year. A huge thank you to our FOSB for their generous donation towards the cost of the production and a massive thank you to you all for supporting our FOSB events. Without your generosity we wouldn’t be able to provide these sort of memorable opportunities for our children, as our school budget is very tight. For all of the photos, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-gallery-category/our-gallery
Celebration Worship Begins
Dear Parents and Carers, You're very welcome to join us for our first Celebration Worship of the year tomorrow morning at 9.05am. Our class teachers will be letting our children know how impressed they are with how well they have started the year. We have had a fantastic start so far and we are proud of all of the children. We have seen wonderful walking, legendary lining up and the children have been following our Barney's Brilliant Behaviour Be's (4B's)- Be ready, Be Kind, Be Safe and Be Respectful. As ever, if your child has an award from out of school, they are very welcome to bring it into school so we can present it to them on the golden podium. From next week our Heads and Deputies will be counting up the Values points from each class and the Values Winners will be awarded in Celebration Worship on Fridays. Parents will be informed on Wednesdays if their child is the values winner. However, you are all welcome to attend our Celebration Worship every week or whenever you are free.
Year 3 - Junior Jam
We have thoroughly enjoyed having Junior Jam back this week. We have been learning how to say “My name is…” in French along with recapping some words we learnt in Year 2. In computing we have been making some fantastic music and beats on Garage Band and in music we have be learning how to play the ukulele.
Collective Worship with Rev Ben and Rev Matt
In worship today, Rev Ben got us all thinking about being creative and our greatest and most generous creator - God. We enjoyed watching two teams of children compete to create the best animal from just sticky tape and newspaper. We also reflected on how we can be generous with our creations in school this week.
Year 3 - Science - Sources of Light
For science this week we looked at all the different sources of light. We talked about what light is natural and what is artificial.
Monday Collective Worship-Welcome Back to School
This morning, we all met for our first collective worship of the academic year and it was lovely to all be back together again after the summer holidays. First, we reminded ourselves of our vision, our Christian values and our British values. Then, Mrs Ham then introduced our four golden rules. These are: To be ready, to be kind, to be safe and to be respectful. We then discussed what these key phrases meant. Be Ready: Jack said having a smart uniform, Miles said looking at the speaker, Ella-Grace said being at school on time, Alice said being prepared with the correct equipment and Sonny said being ready and following instructions if the fire alarm goes off. Be Kind- Freddie said helping each other, Daisy said supporting others such as charities and refugees, Alice said encourage others to join in your games, Wilson and David said look after the environment such as not littering and making bug houses, Renee said sharing your toys and equipment. Be Safe- Chay said always staying where an adult is, Molly said keeping safe with our equipment such as walking with scissors upside down, Charlie Rose said walking to places within school and Jack said following the instructions of the teacher. Be respectful- Bella said let adults through the door first, Dougie said show respect towards the environment including animals, Darcy said do not talk over the teacher. Mrs Ham reminded us that we need to line up smartly so she wanted to see 'legendary lining up' and 'wonderful walking' around school by walking sensibly, smartly, safely, silently and smiling at the same time. Mrs Ham then explained our new behaviour system. All children will start every lesson on green (ready to learn) with the aim of moving up to yellow (time to shine) throughout the day for showing good behaviour , demonstrating our Christian values and a showing positive attitude to learning. However, there will also be pink which means time to think. If a child is not demonstrating a positive attitude to learning or making the right choices then they will be given two warnings. If the behaviour still persists after these warnings then the child will move to pink and will be asked to reflect on their behaviour by filling in a pink reflection sheet during their break time. We hope that this time to reflect will allow a child to move forward positively and make better choices. We are all looking forward to another super year at St Barnabas and are aiming to achieve great things through learning and growing together in a love-filled Christian family!
Back with our friends
We have had great fun in the sun with our friends. It’s been great to catch up and reconnect after the Summer holidays.
Legendary lining up
Today we showed Mrs Ham our legendary lining up after discussing our school rules this morning in Worship. We know that we need to line up sensibly and smartly to keep ourselves and others safe and to be ready to learn. We have also been showing our wonderful walking around school. Well done everyone!
First day in Year 3
Year 3 were super excited about reuniting with their friends and talking about what they did over the summer. The children couldn't wait to go out for a break in the KS2 yard and have fun on the trim trail. They also visited the school library to select books for their personal reading enjoyment in the classroom. Alongside this, we created our own classroom rules, building upon the four golden rules Mrs. Ham highlighted during this morning's worship. In the afternoon, the children went on a shape hunt around the school, identifying, drawing and labelling the different shapes that make up the objects they find in everyday objects. For example, a door shaped like a rectangle, a classroom window shaped like a square and the netball goal ring shaped like a circle.
First day back
We have had a fantastic first day back in school. Our teachers are so impressed with how well we have settled into our new classes and we have all been showing brilliant behaviour.
Year 6 Leavers Service
Congratulations to our amazing Year 6 class for being such superstars over the last seven years. It has been a privilege to have you as part of our school family and we are so immensely proud of you all. We wish you all the luck in the world as you all go off on your new adventure to high school and we know that you will achieve great things and shine from the inside out. I really hope today has made you realise how precious you are and that you from here with confidence. We also said thank you to our wonderful volunteers who support our school family so brilliantly. Thank you Carol, Fran and Glenda. We also said a huge thank you to Rev Ben. This time last year our WOW group interviewed Rev Ben and we have loved having him as part of our school family over the last few months. We sadly said thank you, good luck and goodbye to Miss Horsfall and Miss Wilkins, who have both been covering maternity leaves this year. They have been amazing and have fit right into our school family. We also said thank you and goodbye to Mrs Kay who is leaving her welfare role at the same time as her son leaves Year 6. Thanks for being a star Mrs Kay! We then said thank you to Miss Bentham who was with us short term and has secured a permanent role in another school closer to her home. Thanks Miss Bentham! Lastly but certainly not least, we said thank you, goodbye and good luck to Miss Ashworth, who has recently moved to Yorkshire. She has been an absolute star and we wish her all the luck in the world in her new school. We are sure she won’t miss the long commute to St Barnabas but we know that St Barnabas will always have a special place in her heart. Thank you so much to our parents and carers, you have been wonderful and we couldn’t do what we do without your support. On behalf of all of the staff I would like to thank you for your support, kind words and gifts. Finally, I would like to thank your truly amazing children for their huge smiles, enthusiasm and positivity. They have worked their socks off all year and it has been another brilliant year. I consider myself so lucky to lead such a wonderful school with the best staff team in the world, the most amazingly supportive parents and the most charismatic, delightful children who brighten up our days. Wishing you all a fabulous Summer holiday and we look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday 4th September. Take care and God bless, Mrs Ham
End of Year Awards Ceremony
This morning we had a very special awards Worship to celebrate all the great achievements of our children and our school this year. Quinn received an award for being our planet protector by looking after our world and God’s planet in so many different ways, thank you for your contribution Quinn! We were so proud (and some of us a bit emotional!) to present Ezmae with the Sharon Kay award for always showing kindness and generosity to her peers, what a credit to the school! For our Progress awards, we said a huge congratulations to Lola, Bobby, Tilly, Charlie, Jacob, and Eddie, who have wowed us with their progress this year. We also had our Star of the year awards where Sophie, Ruby, Sofia, Arabelle and Frankie shone like the super stars they are. Our Children’s champion awards were chosen by each class to reiterate the importance of Democracy. Well done to Lyla, Scarlett, Ivy, Lily-May, Joshua and Mason, who have clearly impressed their peers! Finally, we had our Amazing attendance awards. We can never expect children to have 100% attendance as we all get poorly sometimes or have big events in our lives, so our school target for attendance is over 96%. So many of our children achieved this target, well done! Well done to all the award winners and all our other children in school who have shone in their own way this year. We hope they are all as proud of themselves as we are!
Year 3 Rock and River
Yeah 3 have had a fun filled day at rock and river outdoor pursuits! The aim of the trip was for the pupils to challenge themselves and push themselves outside of their comfort zone, whilst learning to work as a team. We started the morning off with some high ropes, rock climbing and zip lining finishing with the air bag jump before lunch. In the afternoon we had a fantastic session on the lake, taking part in rafted canoeing, paddle boarding and swimming! The class represented St Barnabas superbly and we hope the children have created life long memories!
Year 3 Low Ropes and Zip Lining
The class particularly enjoyed the low ropes course this morning, as part of their rock and river trip! We had some extra time, so the instructors opened up the zip line for the class to complete! It was great to see the pupils grow in confidence and encourage others, whilst completing the low ropes course!
The WOW Group’s Messy Parables
This week, the W.O.W. Group finished off their Messy Parables workshops with our final two choices, The Wise and Foolish Builders and The Widow’s Offering. The children understood the stories well and had great fun making stained-glass style windows or a coin purse. Well done to all WOW members for leading exciting, engaging and thoughtful workshops.
Year 3&4 Multi Sports Club
This week in multi sports club, years 3&4 took part in indoor kurling. The children learnt and understood the rules of the sport and improved their technique and understanding of kurling.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning in celebration worship, Mrs Ham started by praising all of our children for their courage and positivity during our whole school transition day yesterday. All of the teachers were super impressed with the creativity, attitude to learning, behaviour and manners that all of the children showed in their new year groups. We then said well done to our Reception and KS1 value award winners who were Connie, Bobby-Ray, Jack and Eliza and our KS2 value award winners who were Edward, Alice, Oscar and Freya. We said a huge well done to our High 5 netball team who represented BwD at the Lancashire School Games at Stanley Park on Tuesday and got through to the quarter final. We also celebrated lots of out of schools sports award winners. Well done to Ruby and Archie for entering and competing the Iron Kids Competition, Daisy for being a fantastic gymnast, Lyla and Sofia for their ‘Going Places’ dancing trophy and Sofia for being outstanding at Musical Theatre, Eliza for demonstrating wonderful football skills, Isaac for his ‘potential and success in the arts’ trophy, Peyton and Cassidy for being superstars at rainbows, Summer for achieving stage 6 at swimming and level 2 at gymnastics and Grace for wonderful improvement in her ballet, a gold award in jazz and being the overall classical dancer of the year. We congratulated Reception and Year 6 for being the attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park for being the Value Award House Point Winners this week. Lastly, we heard some beautiful prayers from Hamza, Sofia and Jack and sang Sing a New Song to the Lord. Thank you to the those who could join us for celebration worship this week and we wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
Our Year 3 to Year 4 Transition Day
What a fantastic day we have had getting ready to move into our new Year 4 class. The children have worked their socks off creating marvellous masterpieces ready for display including dream jars, class rules and jigsaw pieces . We also managed to squeeze in making our very own bookmarks, and creating guitars for our Times Tables Rockstars leader boards. Finally we looked at where we will visit for our Year 4 residential and then we voted for our new Well-being Warriors. A jam packed day and we can’t wait to see you all back in class in September for our new journey!
Whole School Collective Worship- Archdeacon David
This morning in worship, we welcomed Archdeacon David who visited our school to lead collective worship. Archdeacon David asked us what we think it means when we say that Jesus is the light of the world. We had responses such as it means that Jesus leads us and guides us in the right way, that Jesus lights up the world and makes it a nicer place for us all to live and Jesus is the light of the world by encouraging us to be peaceful, respectful and kind. Archdeacon David told us that we also have the special power of being the light of the world too. He reminded us that Jesus said, ‘When I go back to heaven, I will leave you a special thing called the holy spirit. I want you to shine as a light in the world to make the world a better place.’ Archdeacon David left us to reflect on how we can achieve this. He said that next time he visits, he will give us the opportunity to tell him how we have been shining as a light in the world just as Jesus does and asks us to do. We finished our worship by singing 'Shine from the Inside out'.
Year 2-3 Transition Day
Soon-to-be Year 3 has been amazing. The children made their own personality swirls by showing their unique qualities and the things they like. It was a fun way for them to express themselves and be creative. They also made bookmarks for themselves, which they can use when in September. They felt very grown up when they sat on the big chairs ready for the next stage of their education. They also had a chance to explore the KS2 yard, which they absolutely loved. Lastly, the children talked about what they are excited about for September. They can't wait to learn new things and have new experiences at school. They are really looking forward to it!
Year 2-3 Transition Day- Creating Personality Swirls
They had a fantastic time creating personality swirls! It was a wonderful opportunity for them to express themselves and showcase their unique qualities. During this activity, the children wrote down words that described themselves, such as their hobbies and interests. Some of the words they shared were reading, walking, listening to music, playing games, and enjoying delicious food. It was wonderful to see them express their individuality through these words. Additionally, the children had the chance to colour their swirls using their favourite colours.
Year 3 French
Year 3 have been building their knowledge regarding ‘fun facts’ about France, they were able to correctly recall facts and also match up facts to images/ landmarks. Well done Year 3!
Year 3 Computing
During computing Year 3 were talking about GPS, considering the positives and negatives to using GPS. They then went on to use GPS to track down people who had stolen some money from a bank.
Year 3 Music
During music Year 3 were using both hands to play a tune, holding C with their left hands and playing the tune with the right. Everyone had a really good try and the tunes sounded brilliant. Well done Year 3!
Year 3- Basketball
This afternoon in PE we worked on our dribbling/ movement in basketball. We challenged ourselves to see if we could change direction and go around cones to work on controlling the ball.
Monday Worship: St Barnabas and St Paul and Welcome to Rev Matt
Today, Rev Ben led our worship and we welcomed Rev Matt who will be working at St Barnabas Church too. We began our worship by thinking about a time where something happened to us and where we couldn’t wait to tell others about it. Amelia couldn’t wait to tell others when her Mum had a baby. Mason couldn’t wait to tell others that he had been on the television! We thought about how St Barnabas and St Paul were generous about the message about Jesus and how they told Jesus’ story to people for the first time. Rev Ben shared a video with the children about their story. On Saturday, Matt became Rev Matt and was ordained at Blackburn Cathedral. Rev Matt wanted to become a vicar because he wanted to spread the word of Jesus and to find out more about Jesus. Rev Matt spent three years at vicar school. He said he was most excited to learn more and for the children to learn with him. We gave Rev Matt a huge St Barnabas welcome. We ended our worship by singing ‘story of the cross’.
Friday Celebration Worship
Wow! We have had another week with lots to celebrate both in and out of school. The Rotary Club came in to praise and thank our year 5 children for their contribution to the community, their school and the wider world. They were presented with a certificate for all of their fundraising for our school and supporting a number of charities this year including Cancer Research, The Teddy Trust and DARE (Darwen Asylum Seeker and Refugee Enterprise). They also raised money for Turkey, Nigeria and Ukraine. Well done Year 5! Also a huge well done to our value award winners this week who have been working hard across the curriculum and demonstrating a wonderful attitude to learning. These were Mila, Piper-Jo, Lennox and Carter in the infants and KS1 and Ruby, Daniel, Freddy, Isaac, Harlow and Louie in the Juniors. We also celebrated lots of in school sporting success. Our Year 5/6 boys and girls gymnasts for attending a competition as two separate teams at St Bedes High School on Tuesday. They were amazing! Our Year 5/6 cricket team who came 3rd overall at a recent cricket competition, our Year 6 tennis team who came 1st overall, the Year 4 football team who took part in a festival and won every game and the Year 3/4 and Y5/6 DPSSA cross country team for their determination and courage and coming 2nd place overall. We also congratulated our out of school sports award winners. Well done to Ella-Grace for trying her absolute best and getting Star of the Week during her football training and competition, Isabella and Charlie for getting their orange belts at martial arts, Carter for getting the Fantastic Fox of the day at football, Lyla for gaining level 1 in her tap dancing, Jenson for completing his stage 6 at swimming, Marley for her kindness at rainbows, Olivia for getting the managers player of the year trophy at football, Isaac for his trophy for demonstrating fantastic football skills, Charlie Rose for being a superstar gymnast and Ivy for being a superstar cheerleader, Georgie for taking part in her first competition for dancing, Harriet for completing her 10m in butterfly and 10m in breaststroke, Eliza for getting to the finals of her football competition at the weekend and Eva, Katie, Sadie and Charlotte for coming 1st place in their recent football tournament. We said a final well done to Reception and Year 3 for winning the amazing attendance this week and India Mill for achieving the Value Award Points Winners this week. Thank you to our parents and grandparents that could attend and we wish you all a wonderful weekend.
Year 3 Science: How is water transported within plants?
This term in Science, Year 3 are building their knowledge and understanding of plants and how they grow. This week, we thought about how water is transported within plants and how this is used In photosynthesis. We then set up our own class experiment, where we put some flowers into coloured dye and over the next couple of weeks, we will be observing what happens to the petals, as the water is transported within the plant.
Year 3 Class Worship
During class worship this week, we thought about bravery and how we show bravery in our day to day lives. We also learnt about the 4 children in the news this week, who survived for 40 days on their own, before being rescued. We spoke about how the children would have had to show so much bravery and courage over this time. We had a think about our Rock and River visit in a couple of weeks time and how we are going to show bravery and encourage our peers, by building each other up and pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone!
Darwen Primary Cross Country Finals Night
What a fantastic turnout for the final race night for DPSSA Cross Country! Team B pushed themselves so hard and showed true determination even with a few falls along the way. We worked brilliantly as a team and managed to secure second place overall. We also had success with Sophie coming second place overall in the girls Y5/6 races and also a second place overall for our Y5/6 Girls squad: Sophie, Charlotte, Aisha and Lucy. Well done to everyone involved!
Summer Reading Challenge
This morning, Angela from Blackburn and Darwen library service, came to talk to us all about an exciting Summer reading challenge and the wonderful prizes that can be won for reading 6 books over the holidays. Dear Parent / Carer, Your child has been invited to join Ready, Set, Read! the Summer Reading Challenge 2023. This is a national library reading game, which will introduce your child to the joy of reading for pleasure and help to develop his/her literacy skills throughout the summer holidays. Once enrolled each member reads 6 library books (or eBooks / eAudio), with stickers or a prize awarded for each book that is read and returned. Those who complete the scheme will receive a medal and a certificate. To enrol, simply come to your nearest Blackburn with Darwen library and complete an application form between 1st July & 30th September. Your nearest library is: Darwen Library, Knott St, Darwen, BB3 3BU. Website & map: www.blackburn.gov.uk/libraries/libraries-blackburn-darwen/blackburn-central-library Enrolment in the scheme is free of charge, and involves children borrowing books on a library card. If your child does not yet have a library card, we would encourage you to take this opportunity to enrol them as a library member. This is a quick process, and you will simply be asked to complete and sign another form. However, those children without library cards may still join the Summer Reading Challenge, and temporary arrangements will be put in place to allow them to borrow books. We look forward to welcoming you and your family to our libraries during the summer. Yours faithfully, Adele Karwat, Service Manager: Libraries & Archives
Year 3&4 Multi Sports Club
Years 3&4 have been taking part in after school multi sports club. This week the children have been focusing on invasion games, developing their technique, skills and tactical movements within a competitive game.
W.O.W. Group - Messy Parables - The Mustard Seed
Last week was the W.O.W. group’s first Messy Parables session. We read the Parable of the Mustard Seed, talked about how one little thought or belief can grow into something great, and made our own self-belief badges. All in all, a brilliant first session, with a few biscuits thrown in for good measure. This week, the parable is The Unforgiving Servant.
KS2 Sports Day
A huge well done to all of our KS2 classes for their determination and encouragement at our annual Sports Day. It was a brilliant morning and everyone tried their best. Thank you so much to all of the parents and carers who came along to support. A massive thank you to our Sports Leaders for setting up and running the races and to all of our staff team for their support. We all thoroughly enjoyed the Mums and Grandmas, Dads and Grandads and Toddler Races too. Well done to everyone who took part, you were great sports!
Whole School Multiplex Movie Night-
We would like to take this opportunity to thank parents, carers and staff for your incredible support and enthusiasm during our recent movie night. We are thrilled to inform you that our dedicated Rotakids, along with our smart school councillors, have fulfilled their promise and successfully completed their final project. Through their combined efforts and hard work, organising a successful multiplex movie night, together we have managed to raise an impressive sum of £580.60 after the cost of food! This significant amount will contribute towards the school minibus, which will greatly benefit our students by facilitating transportation to sports events, competitions, and other important activities. This achievement is a testament to the incredible community we have at our school. Your dedication and willingness to contribute have made a significant impact on our fundraising efforts. Together, we have not only created a memorable and enjoyable event but also managed to raise much-needed funds.
Year 3 Worship: Refugee Week
This morning, we had a very special class worship. We took part in the ‘Great Big Live Assembly’ where we went live to a refugee camp in Jordan. We learnt about the daily life in a refugee camp and listened to a Q and A, where pupils around the country asked Mohammed and Seedra questions about their lives as a refugee.
Year 3 History: Who were The Celts and how did they survive in The Iron Age?
This term in History, Year 3 have been learning about historic Britain and how it evolved from The Stone Age, through to The Bronze Age and The Iron Age. This afternoon, we learnt all about The Iron Age and The Celts. We then completed a research activity, where the class had to investigate how The Celts survived, during the Iron Age.
Monday Collective Worship with Rev Ben
This morning, Rev Ben led our Monday Collective Worship. Our theme for this worship was St Barnabas and his generosity. We started off by playing a game called, ‘Guess the Value.’ We had two teams at the front who had to guess the price of various items such as a tin of beans, a playstation 5, a loaf of bread, a car and Harry Kane. The audience then had to say whether they thought that the cost was higher or lower. This gave us all an insight into the value of various items, big and small. We learnt that all the first Christians were generous but St Barnabas was especially generous. He owned a field and sold this to give to the church and therefore to other people. He did this because he wanted to do as Jesus had done and give to others. Rev Ben asked us how we could be generous just as St Barnabas was. We said that we can give something that we don’t want or use anymore to charity such as clothes and toys, do a sponsored walk, run or a bake sale to raise money for charity or buy an extra item when we go shopping to give to someone less fortunate. Generosity is one of the fruits of the spirit so this is the song that we sang to end our worship.
Friday Celebration Worship
Wow! What a busy first week back into our final half term of this academic year. Our theme this week has been encouragement and Mrs Ham asked us to reflect on how we have encouraged each other this week, and how we will continue to focus on this as we enjoy the last few weeks of the school year and support each other as we transition into our new year groups and up to high school for our Year 6 class. We had lots of out of school stars to celebrate this week. Well done to Ella-Grace, Ivy, Leo, Olivia, Sonny, Charlie and Jack and Desmond for their wonderful football skills, Jake, Will, Bobby and Austin for coming runners up in a football tournament in St Anne’s, Manni and Bobby for their attendance and skill at a recent football tournament, Matthew for his recent success in the Premier League writing competition, Harry for his swimming and cricket success, Lyla for her musical theatre singing performance, Isaac for his piano playing, Iris and Leonora for being fabulous gymnasts, Finn and Ruby for running the race for life and Ruby for also completing the couch to 5k, Grace for performing on the main stage at Darwen Music Live, Mila for showing kindness at Rainbows and Mason for his sensational kickboxing. We also celebrated lots of success in school. As always, we heard from our teachers who presented their Value Award Winners. Well done to Eve, Isabella, Miley, Euan, Ruby, Charlie, Katie and Elsa. We also said a huge well done to our group of our Year 4 children who attended a Quad Kids competition and came second place out of 17, our Year 5/6 cricket team for excellent participation and sportsmanship on Wednesday, our Year 5/6 Netball team who came 2nd place out of all the schools in BwD, Reception class and Year 6 for the best attendance this week, India Mill for being the award winners this week and to Lola, Jake, Esme, Harry, Mathew, Daisy, Freddie and Bobby for gaining their pen licenses. We ended our worship with some lovely singing and dancing to ‘Build Up.’ What wonderful way to end the week!
Latest Newsletter
Good afternoon parents and carers, we have had a super busy week back at St Barnabas. Please see our newsletter for a round up of last half term and photos of our teaching teams for September here. A huge thank you to our FOSB for the wonderful Father’s Day Breakfast on Tuesday and to all of the Dads and Grandads who came along. Thanks also to the Dads and Grandads who came along to the special Reception class Father’s Day Celebration this afternoon. It was lovely to see you all and the children loved telling you why they love you and enjoyed playing with you in their outdoor area. We wish all of our Dads and Grandads in our school family a lovely Father’s Day on Sunday! We have had a very busy week of sports with our Year 3/4 quad kids team coming 2nd out of 17 schools, our year 5/6 cricket team just missing out on the final and our netball team came 2nd in the Darwen netball league. Well done to you all and a huge thank you to Mrs Gardner and Mr Bloomfield for supporting the children and thanks to parents who supported. Next week we are looking forward to our Sports Day on Friday morning. You are very welcome to come along to show your support and encourage your child. Reception class and Year 2 had great fun at Blackpool Zoo on Tuesday. For all of the photos, please click here. For all the class news from this week, please click here. For all the upcoming events, click here. Thank you so much for your generous bottle donations for our FOSB Summer Fayre. We really appreciate your support. Wishing you all a fabulous weekend and thank you for your continued support, Mrs Ham
Year 3 RE- Rules for Living
Year 3 have been learning all about the 10 commandments and why God gave people rules to live by and what their reaction to these rules might of been.
Year 3 School council
Year 3 have had their weekly school council meeting, today's topic was about things which they might miss about year 3, it was great to see tables discussing their ideas, listening to each other and respecting the majority vote.
Year 3 Maths- pounds and pence
Year 3 have revisited the topic of money today, looking at counting pounds and pence. Considering the value of each coin or note, putting them into size order, collating totals and comparing amounts to see which is the largest and smallest.
Wednesday Well-being Club
We had so much fun at our first Wednesday Well-being Club! We had a short walk in the sun gathering flowers and leaves to decorate the woven twigs that we made. We talked about using nature and the outdoor world for our health and well-being and felt very relaxed when we arrived back at school.
Whole School Worship: Encouragement
This morning in worship, we started with an encouragement song with the lyrics 'we all need encouragement, like the air that we breath'. Mrs Ham explained that yesterday was St Barnabas day and he was known as a great encourager. She then reminded us of how we have a special connection with St Paul's in Hoddlesden as we share our vicar, Rev Ben with and how St Barnabas and St Paul had a special connection in the Bible too. We then learnt about how St Paul became a follower of Jesus with the encouragement of his friend, St Barnabas. We then discussed how we can all show courage like St Paul and encourage each other like St Barnabas in the many upcoming events such as sports day, transition days, end of year assessments and productions. We are looking forward to learning more about St Barnabas and St Paul from Rev Ben in his worships over the next few weeks.
Celebration Worship
This week during celebration worship we discussed and reflected over the week of Pentecost. The children enjoyed listening to what each class has been doing over the week and celebrated their achievements and successes during the week. We also had a visit from one of our Cidari Trustees, Jo Venn and it was lovely to show her the great things we have been achieving. A huge well done to all of our values award winners, you are a credit to yourselves and our St Barnabas family.
Sports Stars
A huge congratulations to all of our sports stars this week. Many children participate in a variety of sports and events outside of school. A massive well done to our school's netball team who won the high 5’s netball final this week and our cross country team who worked extremely hard and showed huge amounts of determination to complete the course. Other sporting achievements included, gymnastics, dancing, performing arts, skiing and many more.
Year 3 History: The Stone Age
This term in History, Year 3 have been learning all about the changes from The Stone Age, through to The Iron Age. This week, we Iooked at what changed for people living in The Stone Age, from the Palaeolithic age, through to the Neolithic age. We learnt how weapons and clothing had developed and how at the beginning of The Stone Age, hunter gatherers would move around often, in search for food. As we approached the end of The Stone Age, people lived in settlements and would farm their animals and crops.
Year 3 PSHE: Sugar Smart Promise
This week in PSHE, Year 3 looked at how too much sugar in our diets can effect our health. We looked at the ‘Sugar Smart’ campaign and investigated the amount of sugar in popular drinks. We then looked at our daily sugar limit for our age and promised to swap a sugary drink for a more healthier option, such as water, milk and squash.
Whole School Worship: Pentecost
Today in our worship we learned about the events of Pentecost and how the church began. We had some fab actors acting out when the Holy Spirit descended and flames appeared on the disciples’ heads. We sang a special song to welcome the Holy Spirit into our Worship and reflected on how excited the disciples must have felt when they received the Holy Spirit. We thought about how we could show Jesus' love through our words and actions this week.
Celebration Worship
In Celebration Worship this morning, Mrs. Ham highlighted some of the wonderful key points from our GOOD Ofsted report and thanked everyone for their part in making our school a great place. We also celebrated our values winners across KS1 and KS2. India Mill came first place for the overall points of 562. Lucy and Mason received a pen licence for demonstrating an excellent standard of writing across all subjects. Mrs. Ham gave out awards to the children for taking part in extracurricular activities, this week, the children have taken part in swimming, rugby, darts, karate, brownies, gymnastic, netball, football, horse riding, and Olivia from Rainbow. Year 2 and Year 4 received the 'Amazing Attendance' alert this week. We finished our worship with prayers led by Mrs. Ham and we sang 'Shine from the Inside Out'.
Mad Science Club
Today was the last session of Mad Science Club and the children all really enjoyed learning about the density of different liquids today. They carried out group experiments and watched our science expert carry out an experiment too, whilst learning about how different liquids in our seas and rivers can affect the environment. They experienced first-hand, how difficult it is to get oil out of water and got to take home a little souvenir from the lesson at the end of it too.
Year 3 PSHE Dental Health
Year 3 have been discussing how they can maintain good oral health. This included food choices and also how and how often they brush their teeth. Each child was given a toothbrush and toothpaste, we encouraged the class to make sure they ‘tickle each tooth’ when brushing their teeth, twice a day to maintain healthy teeth and gums.
Year 3 Geography
Year 3 have been exploring our local area, thinking about how Darwen compares to New York. We discovered lots of similarities and differences. The class were so well behaved and respectful while out and about and came up with a variety of ideas, considering not only what they could see, but hear and smell too. Well done year 3!!
Year 3 Prehistoric Art
Year 3 have been building on their mark making skills by creating their individual wall art. We added lentils and grains to cardboard to replicate a cave wall, they then had to dab paint onto the surface and outline their image. Once they had made their markings, they added colours to further develop their image.
KS2 Dinner time fun
This week we fancied mixing it up a bit on the yard, so we set our sports leaders a challenge to set up some different activities. The children have enjoyed playing dodgeball, having a mini sports day and playing with the equipment on the yard.
Year 3 Prehistoric Art: Mark Making
Year 3 have had a fantastic afternoon, using the natural materials collected on our walk earlier this week to experiment with mark making. This term, we have been focusing on prehistoric art and the class will be creating a cave wall painting! We thought about how during Prehistoric times, humans did not have paint and brushes like we do now, so instead would have used natural materials to create their artwork, like we have done today!
Junior Librarians
Today, Annabel brought her favourite story to share with our librarians. The children really enjoyed listening to the story. You can find the 13 story treehouse in our library- why don’t you read it as I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as our librarians!
Mental Health Parent Webinars
The week commencing 15th May is ‘Mental Health Awareness Week’. After much success of hosting some parent webinars back in February for ‘Children’s Mental Health Week’, the Mental Health Support Teams are rolling out some more. The topics for the week will be: My anxious child Helping with exam stress Psychoeducation around worry They’ll take place at 10am and 6pm, Monday 15th to Thursday 18th May and it’s for parents, teachers, carers, children and young people, in fact anyone can join.
Year 3 Art: Collecting Natural Materials
On Tuesday afternoon, Year Three went on a walk to Whitehall Park, where we collected some natural materials to use in our next Art lesson. The children will be experimenting with using natural materials for mark making. We collected a variety of different materials, such as acorns, bark, sticks, leaves, conkers and moss!
Celebration Worship: King Charles III
This morning during celebration worship, we learnt all about the coronation of King Charles III, which will be happening this weekend. We spoke about some of the important things to look out for during the coronation and what it will be like when King Charles is coronated. We also spoke about some of the celebrations that are happening in Darwen this weekend, such as a street party on Monday in the town centre and a party in Whitehall Park on Sunday! We also celebrated all of our successes and achievements in school this week, such as TriKidz and our coronation picnic lunch! We finished our Worship by singing the National Anthem to the new King whilst waving our special coronation flags that our school have bought us. Our Trust have also bought us some special gifts of a commemorative coronation coin, a bookmark and sticker. Thank you Cidari Multi Academy Trust!
Year 3: King Charles III
This afternoon for class worship, we spoke about the coronation of King Charles III and the different events that are taking place to celebrate this exciting event. We also thought about how we should show mutual respect and tolerance to others and respect how we choose to celebrate the coronation.
Year 3 Tri Kidz
Year 3 had a great time taking part in the Tri Kidz session! The class learnt about the different stages that make up a triathlon and were given the chance to cycle, run and swim. We then had a race at the end of the session, where we took part in a whole class triathlon! The children showed so much respect to the instructors and will hopefully be inspired to one day take part in a triathlon race!
Year 3: Coronation Art
To mark the King’s Coronation, Year 3 have created a collage of King Charles III. The class are going to take their artwork home with them, to keep as a way to remember this special historical event for many years to come!
Celebration Worship- Whole School
Another amazing week from everyone. We celebrated amazing attendance awards, awards for extra curricular activities such as; rugby, swimming, beavers and to Oscar for his dedication and outstanding commitment to piano lessons. Isaac was celebrated for receiving a distinction in playing the cornet from Trinity College London. The class teachers gave out value awards to the children that have worked their socks off in and out the classroom and have demonstrated our Christian Values. Whitehall Park received the most value points which put them in first place.Well done! The Year 4 class received the 'National Outdoor Learning Award' for being brave and showing great teamwork at Anderton Centre. The attendance award this week went to the Reception class and Year 4. We ended worship by singing the butterfly song and prayers led by James, Darcy, Luca and Mrs Ham. What a fabulous week. Well done everyone!
Mad Science Club Forces
Today Mad Science Club were learning about forces with Scientific Sarah. The children got to investigate forces using different equipment such as metal spinning tops and large coin machine spinners. They have really enjoyed themselves and can’t wait for next week!
Year 3 Hop, skip and jump
Year 3 have had some fun in the Darwen sunshine, taking part in our school ‘Hop, skip and jump’ challenge supporting the East Lancashire Hospice.
Year 3 English
Year 3 have been looking at a biography text all about Sir David Attenborough. Their challenge was to highlight ‘key facts’ from the text. We then built on this, using the same text, they had to decide if certain key facts were true or false. Year 3 really impressed us by how well they were able to locate and recall information from the text while confidently expressing their answers, giving reasons why they thought the fact was true or false. Well done year 3!
Latest Newsletter
Good morning from a very sunny St Barnabas, please find attached the latest newsletter with upcoming dates and events. The sporting news and visits and visitors can be found here as the files are too large to load onto class dojo sorry. https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/parents/newsletters A quick reminder of the dates that school is closed in the coming weeks. They are all on our website and class dojo events. Monday 1st May- May Bank Holiday Thursday 4th May- School used as a Polling Station Monday 8th May- King's Coronation Bank Holiday Red, white and blue day is next Wednesday 3rd May to celebrate the King's Coronation. The children will be having a special Coronation Afternoon Tea Picnic. Further details of the menu will be sent shortly. Wishing you all a lovely day, Mrs Ham
Charlotte from Elektec- D.T- Year 6, Year 5, Year 4 and Year 3
Charlotte from Eeltkec delivered a great talk about the importance of encouraging women to become electricians and the various types of jobs that electricians can do. She also highlighted the importance of safety when working on construction sites, as well as the value of education in becoming a successful engineer, plasterer, architect, or electrician. It was also great to hear about efforts to promote gender diversity in traditionally male-dominated fields. The children were actively engaged in the assembly and asked lots of great questions. Charlotte shared that meeting the King is definitely a noteworthy achievement. It's great that Charlotte was able to share her success story with the children and motivate them to strive for their own achievements and goals.
Year 3- Earth Day
In Year 3 we have been celebrating ‘Earth Day’ by thinking about how we can take better care of our planet and local area. They each made a promise which they will try to stick to, to help our environment.
Year 3 Science
This week Year 3 built on their knowledge of magnets and tested a variety of objects to see if they were magnetic or not. They were able to use different magnets to carry out their experiments.
Amazing Attendance Winners : Spring Term
Well done to all of our children who have attained 96% attendance in Spring Term. We are really proud of you all!
Year 3- Easter Artwork
Year 3 have been on a beautiful walk to the Rose Garden in Whitehall park today. We walked sensibly, taking in the lovely views and stopping to be still, listening to the birds and water close by. Once we arrived we explored the Rose Garden using the paths, looking at each classes art work displays. We then completed a quiz where we answered questions by finding the relevant piece of artwork. We invite you all to visit the Rose Garden during the Easter period and enjoy all of the artwork on display.
Year 3 DT
Year 3 have completed their DT practical work today, after previous lessons thinking about what makes a composite meal, then planning our healthy sandwich, we have compiled all of our knowledge and made our own sandwiches. I think you will agree they look absolutely delicious, well done Year 3!
Whole School Worship with Rev Ben
Today in Worship, Rev Ben spoke about the awe and wonder in the events of Easter Sunday. He asked us about how the resurrection changed Mary Magdalene’s life and how the Easter story may make a difference in our lives.
Easter Artwork in Whitehall Park
The children have all been learning about Easter in RE. As part of their learning, they have created some Easter artwork which is displayed in Whitehall park. It will be displayed over the holidays so it is a great opportunity for you to visit with your family.
Celebration Worship Sports Stars
A huge well done to all of our sports stars who were presented with awards in Celebration Worship this morning. This week Mrs Ham presented awards for the following out of school sports or activities and the children got to stand on the golden podium with pride: Swimming, gymnastics, orienteering, dancing, writing, rainbow badges and the beaver and rainbow of the week. We congratulated our cross country team for their courage and determination at last night's Darwen Cross Country Competition. We thanked our Year 6 Sports Leaders for their successful KS2 inter-house sports competition yesterday as they planned and led it all.
Celebration Worship
Celebrating all of our amazing children in their year groups who received the most value points this week. A special well done to: Reception - Whole class Year 1 - Chay Year 2 - Whole Class Year 3 - Luca Year 4 - Grace Year 5 - Alfie Year 6 - Kaylen Well done to the Reception class who had 100% attendance this week so were the amazing attendance winners along with Year 6! Whitehall Park were out values points winners this week. Thank you to all of the parents and grandparents who joined us.
Year 3 - Kindness matters
Today year 3 have had a zoom call with our kindness coach John, who shared some information about his new book ’The Happy Tank’. We spoke about how it is normal to feel all kinds of different feelings. We tried some calming techniques including controlled breathing, as a class.
Whole School Assembly - Dogs Trust
Today’s assembly was led by Andrew from the dogs trust charity and his mascot ‘Duggie’. Andrew started the assembly by asking the children if they knew what the charity does, the children were keen to answer and said “it’s a charity for dogs who aren’t looked after properly.” Andrew explained that the trust takes in dogs who’s owners can no longer look after them, he said they then re-home the dogs to the most suitable owners to give the dogs the best life. Andrew told us that dogs trust re-home around 14,000 dogs a year. Andrew explained to the children that this assembly is all about learning how to be safe and act sensibly around dogs. Ella,Andrew and ‘Duggie’ demonstrated how to safely act around dogs and showed that you must always ask the owners permission before you stroke a dog.
Year 3 Dogs Trust Workshop
This morning, Year 3 have taken part in a workshop with DogsTrust. We spoke about how it’s really important to provide dogs with a choice. We spoke about the importance of how to behave around dogs and when a dog is eating, drinking or chewing, we must leave them alone and give them space. The class were really engaged with the workshop and we have learnt so much, about how to stay safe with dogs.
Interhouse Sports Competition
Year 3 loved taking part in the Interhouse sports competition this afternoon! The event has been organised and led by the Year 6 Sports Leaders and they did a brilliant job! The sports leaders started with a warm up, before showing the children how to play magic catch!
Year 3 Science - Forces and Magnets
Year 3 have been making predictions on magnet forces, considering the position of both bar and horseshoe magnets to see if they will then repel or attract. Once they made their predictions they worked in small groups to conduct their experiments and report their results. We discovered magnets are a non contact force. Excellent work Year 3!
Whole School Celebration Worship
In our Celebration Worship this morning we commemorated Year 6's trip to London, as well as the wonderful achievements of our pupils across all year groups. The class teachers gave out awards to pupils who have demonstrated our Christian values such as kindness, respect, and courage. We recognised the hard work and dedication of pupils who have excelled in various extracurricular activities, including our recent swimming gala and the Year 4 children for being brave and showing courage at Junction 4 skatepark. We also awarded the amazing attendance award to our Year 1 and Year 3 pupils, who have shown a commitment to their education and a passion for learning. Congratulations to the yellow team (Darwen Tower) for gaining a total of 317 points. This is a great achievement and a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. Well done and keep up the good work! We are incredibly proud of all our pupils and their accomplishments, and we know that they will continue to achieve great things. We want to thank Rev Ben for leading us in prayer and for reminding us of the importance of faith and community in our daily lives. To celebrate our students' achievements, we sang "Shine from the inside out," a fitting tribute to the incredible talents and hard work of our pupils.
Year 3 Super Slime!
To celebrate British Science Week, each class were given the opportunity to vote for a science experiment that they would like to try out this week. Year 3 voted for Cornflower Slime! We have had great fun this afternoon, experimenting with making slime and thinking about if slime is a solid or a liquid, along with learning how slime is different to water!
Year 3: Lunchtime Science Experiment
Year 3 had the chance to take part in a couple of science experiments during their lunchtime today. They looked at skittles colour pattern experiment and the milk, food colouring and liquid soap experiment. The children were really excited by the results and had a super time!
Year 3 Food Technology: Savoury Cracker
In Design and Technology, Year 3 have been practising their cutting, slicing and spreading skills in preparation for making our own sandwiches. We prepared our own savoury crackers and thought about how we need to get ready to cook, by washing our hands and getting our ingredients ready. Before preparing our crackers, we learnt about using the bridge cut and claw grip, to ensure we are cutting and slicing safely.
Year 3 Science: Comparing how things move on different surfaces.
This week in Science, Year 3 have been investigating how objects move on different surfaces. We set up a ramp in class and timed how fast the toy car moved, on different surfaces. We discovered that the car moved fastest on the wood and Cling film and slowest on the sandpaper and bubble wrap. We will now be using our data to create a bar graph with final results!
Year 3: Scholastic Book Fair!
This morning, Year Three visited the Scholastic Book Fair, where they completed their book wishlist. The children spent some time exploring the different books at the fair and then choose their top 3 books , to add to their wish lists. Each child also received their £1 book token from World Book Day!
Year 3 Music - Electric Drums
Year 3 have been building on their beat skills during music, working in pairs and showing real perseverance in picking up the beat and maintaining it.
Year 3 Science: Exploring contact and non-contact forces
This week in Science, Year 3 have been exploring contact and non-contact forces. We started by learning about different types of forces, such as push, pull, air resistance and gravity. We then thought about the effect that different forces can have on an object. Finally, we took part in a range of different activities to investigate contact and non-contact forces, such as kicking a ball, sanding wood and throwing and catching.
Year 3 Maths
Year 3 have been using lollipop sticks to help group numbers in their maths and notice any remainders. We made triangles to represent divisions of 3 and squares to represent divisions of 4. Well done Year 3!
FOSB Mother’s Day Cream Tea
Thank you to all of our wonderful special ladies for attending our Mother’s Day cream tea. A huge thank you to our wonderful FOSB. They are all volunteers and juggle work to make the events a huge success. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes and it is really appreciated by us all. We are very lucky to have you. If anybody would like to help volunteer for any events then we would be really grateful. We hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s Day on Sunday.
North West Air Ambulance Visit
We had the pleasure of welcoming Laura from North West Air Ambulance Charity today. Laura explained that the air ambulance colours are yellow and blue. North West Air Ambulance service is a charity and Laura’s job is to help raise money to keep the ambulances in the sky. The charity looks after over 8 million people and provides free emergency pre-hospital care. In addition to helicopters, the charity also has emergency vehicles. They are used when it is foggy, at night or when it is deemed not safe to fly. Darcy held the emergency bag that the crew carry. It is heavy and has everything they need to treat an injured person. The ambulance also carries blood on board. Wilson showed everybody the jacket that the crew wear and Harry showed the helmet that the crew required to wear. We watched a video which showed an air ambulance in action. Laura explained to us what happens in an emergency. We played Simon says to role play what we should do. If we notice somebody has hurt themselves, we would look around to check if it was safe and then go and find a trusted adult to call to 999. If there wasn’t a trusted adult around, it would be up to us to call. The crew would then be dispatched. Once the helicopter lands, there is a Lucas machine that can perform CPR if necessary so that the paramedic and doctors hands are free to help the patient further. Laura said it is brilliant that we have our invacuation procedure to help air ambulances land safely. Thank you to Mrs Price for teaching the children what to do in an emergency. Air ambulances can land on a beach, a field, a stadium, a car park and a helipad. Laura thanked everybody and said that St Barnabas are now part of the crew! Donations can still be made on parent pay to support this charity and during Lent it is the perfect time to give something back. The charity needs to raise 12 million pounds each year in order to provide the amazing service and it relies solely on donations. Thank you to everybody who has donated so far.
Parents' Evening
Dear Parents and carers, we are holding a face to face parents' evening on Wednesday 5th April in our school hall. Our teachers would also like to share your child's books with you too so that you can see how hard they have been working and you can see what they have been learning this term. Five minute appointments will be available from 2.00pm and 6.00pm. If you are flexible and can attend during school hours and after school, please select in school hours then we can give priority for the after school appointments to parents who are working through the day. Appointments can be booked through the same booking system that we used last year. Please click on the following link stbarnabasdarwen.schoolcloud.co.uk to book an appointment. Please note that the information in the software has been taken from our school management system so please use the information such as title, name, email etc that we have on your child's records. Hopefully you will be able to log in with the same details as last year as those of you who attended last time will already have an account. We politely ask that separated parents try to attend the same appointment so that our teachers don't have to repeat the same information and this also ensures that we have enough appointments for each child in school. However, if there are exceptional circumstances that require you to have separate appointments, please let our class teachers know. Our class teachers and I are really looking forward to welcoming you back into school to share how well your child has progressed this term. Please do not hesitate to message me if you have any issues booking an appointment. Yours Sincerely, Mrs Ham
Let’s Go Sing Performance 2023
A huge well done to our school choir for their fabulous performance at the let’s go sing concert tonight. It was a delight to watch you all sing your little hearts out. Thank you so much to Miss Ashworth and Miss Bentham for their commitment to our choir. Thanks to all of the parents, family and friends who came to show their support. I’m sure the children made you so proud as I know they certainly made me the proudest Headteacher ever. Well done you little superstars!
School closed due to the snow
Good morning parents and carers, Mr Tierney and I are in school now and have assessed the snow situation. The roads around school are awful as there is ice underneath the snow and the road near school hasn’t been gritted. It is still snowing now and not due to stop for several hours. We have taken the difficult decision to close, which those of you who have had children at St Barnabas for a while know, we haven’t taken lightly, as we always try to stay open. However as the children know, my number one job is to keep everyone safe and that includes the children, staff and parents. Several of our staff live far away and are unable to get into school safely and it isn’t safe for our children or parents to be travelling to school. The snow is drifting in places as we seem to have our micro-climate up at St Barnabas! Our teachers will be in touch with remote learning and you are all welcome to join virtual celebration worship at 9.05am. Further details to follow. Please keep safe and I hope the children are able to enjoy the snow once it is safe to do so. Thank you in advance for your understanding. ❄️ ⛄️
Virtual Celebration Worship
Please join us for our virtual Celebration Worship on Zoom at 9.05am. Mrs Ham is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Virtual Celebration Worship Time: Mar 10, 2023 09:05 AM London Join Zoom Meeting https://us04web.zoom.us/j/74490000410?pwd=59agL0Z2XxE89HVTBtMpzNy4EnaaJZ.1 Meeting ID: 744 9000 0410 Passcode: 8CX4At We look forward to seeing you there.
Support for Turkey and Syria- non-uniform day
Smart School Councillors Subject: Fundraising for Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief. Following our last class meeting, the children voted to hold a fundraising event on Friday 17th of March, where they will wear the flag colours of Turkey and Syria to show their support for those affected by the earthquakes. We are asking for a minimum donation of £1.00 for each child who participates in this cause, via parent pay. The colours are red, black, green and white. Do not go out to buy anything new, please wear what you have at home. All funds raised will be donated to a reputable charity actively working to provide relief to the earthquake victims. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns. Thank you for your continued support. Smart School Councillors and Miss Kachwalla
World Book Day Competition
During World Book Day, we held a whole school competition to create a book cover. All of the entries were excellent! Well done to: Cassidy in Year 1 Nevaeh in Year 2 Matthew in Year 4 Sienna in Year 5 Charlotte in Year 6 The children will all receive a £5 voucher to spend at our Scholastic book fair which will be at school between 15th-21st March. A huge well done to our winners and for everyone who took part. Just a reminder that our author Raysa Farah’s book is still available on parent pay to purchase. The last date to purchase the book will be next Friday.
Year 3 RE- Palm Sunday
Year 3 have been looking at the story of Palm Sunday. They worked in groups to put the story in order and then use the visuals to create their own descriptive sentences.
Year 3 DT- Taste testing
Year 3 had a very exciting afternoon taste testing different sandwiches.They all had the opportunity to try 4 different sandwiches which they then logged the ingredients for and thought about what they could add to their lunch to make it a healthy meal.
Year 3 Computing
Year 3 have been building on last week's stop motion skills by using a green screen. They created their own stop motions and added their own backgrounds. They worked in pairs and communicated effectively thought out. Well done!
Forest School- Lunchtime Club
What a brilliant first week of Forest School we’ve had! We’ve had an introduction to forest school and some time to get to know each other and our likes and dislikes. The children have been so enthusiastic and excited to give ideas on how they want our new forest school area to look and what they would like to focus on. We have some children who are fountains of knowledge when it comes to mini beasts and wildlife, these children are really excited to create bug houses, bird feeders and bird boxes. We have some children who are keen gardeners who would like to plant some new flowers and vegetables. We are looking forward to seeing what next week has in store for us.
Scrooge by Charles Dickens
This morning all of the children enjoyed watching a theatrical production of Scrooge, which is a stage adaptation of the classic story 'A Christmas Carol', which was written by Charles Dickens. We were so proud of how well they joined in and the performers said they were a fantastic audience and couldn’t praise our school enough for the warm welcome they received. The children said 'It was even better than the film', 'It was amazing', 'I loved the songs' 'Everyone needs to show kindness' and our Year 6 children said this had made them even more excited to go and see the Lion King in London with school in a couple of weeks! The classic story highlighted our school focus on kindness as mean Scrooge learnt to be kind after being visited by three spirits who showed him the error of his ways. A huge well done to Daisy for showing lots of courage when she was chosen to join the actors on stage. Thank you so much FOSB for paying for the performance. It was a delight to see the childrens' faces as they were a picture and made several of our staff team, including myself, rather emotional watching them. What a great end to world book day week!
World Book Day- Staff Swap
As part of our World Book Day celebrations, our teaching assistants swapped classes and read a bedtime story to the children. It was lovely to see different staff members in each class and the children enjoyed seeing a new face too. Our FOSB donated chocolates for every child to enjoy whilst they listened to the story. Thank you.
Year 3 World Book Day - Stories that fill our Happy Tank
To celebrate World Book Day, Year 3 have been sharing their favourite bedtime stories and thinking about the stories that fill up their Happy Tank. Each child has created a book review, for their favourite book. We then shared our book reviews with the rest of the class, to give each other recommendations of books and authors!
World Book Day 2023
Today we celebrated world book day to show how amazing books are and the theme of this year’s celebration is bedtime stories and stories that fill our happy tank. During worship, Mrs Wilkinson, our reading leader, shared a variety of books through ‘the masked book’ quiz. Our school librarians shared clues from their favourite bedtime stories and asked the school to guess their book. Mrs Ham showed us one of her favourite stories, Oliver Twist, and read a 'Little people, big dreams' book about the author Charles Dickens. We learnt how he developed his love of books and became a successful author, writing stories with powerful messages. We are looking forward to a production of one of Charles Dickens famous stories tomorrow, A Christmas Carol, but in a special adaptation called Scrooge. Charles Dickens wanted everyone to know that everyday can feel like Christmas, if we show kindness and fill up each other's happy tanks. Children enjoyed stories from other teachers across the school who shared their favourite bedtime stories or stories that fill their happy tank. A special author came into school to read her latest book. The lion who lost its mane. She shared her amazing story and the message behind the story and her inspiration for making her book. Throughout the day children completed many activities to celebrate this year's themes for world book day, favourite bedtime stories or stories that fill your happy tank. This included: competitions for creating the best book cover, creating art work and reading their favourite stories to each other. Thank you to Mrs Speak, our English link Governor for joining us in our special World Book Day Worship. Happy World Book Day 2023!
Years 3 & 4: Author Visit
Years 3 and 4 enjoyed an author visit this afternoon. Raysa Farah came into school to read her story, ‘A cub without a mane’. She explained how her son has leukaemia and lost his hair. Whilst in hospital, she decided to write her book. Raysa explained that no matter how you look, you are still special and a wonderful person. Our children had the opportunity to ask questions. Mason asked how old her little boy is who is poorly. Raysa told the children that he is aged 3. Hamza asked what happens when you have leukaemia. Raysa explained that you are given medication. When Raysa’s little boy was in hospital, that was the time that she wrote her story. Leonora asked how did her older boy feel. Raysa said that he was angry and upset but once everything was explained, he was happy and really looked after his younger brother. Alice asked if Raysa has written any other books. Raysa explained that she had written a story about a mouse that has lost its squeak which is about speech difficulties. Year 4 told Raysa about a story that they have been reading about speech difficulties and explained how there are 4 different adults who sometimes help or hinder children with speech impairments! Finn told Raysa that he had cut his hair off to raise money to create a wig for cancer. We loved your visit and the children left feeling inspired- thank you so much. Raysa’s book will be available to buy on parent pay for a discounted price. Further information to follow.
Year 3 World Book Day: Design your own book cover competition
To celebrate World Book Day, the whole school have taken part in a 'Design your own book cover' competition. The book cover could be a favourite book, or a book that the children might want to write themselves one day! Year 3 loved creating their own entries and we have had such a variety of book covers, from 'Space Boy' to 'World War Ant'!
World Book Day: The Cub Without a Mane
Today, we welcomed Raysa Farah into our school to read and talk about her new book as part of our World Book Day celebration. Raysa is a successful florist who has now written a story after her little boy was diagnosed with leukaemia. 'My little boy S'aad was diagnosed with ALL in Spring 2022 at the age of two. From this experience I have found strength in writing an empowerment book for children and their carers. I want to help empower young children to feel like they’ve got a voice. The book follows a lion cub who loses his big, wild mane after developing leukaemia, but shows bravery to continue being himself and not let his illness get him down'. If you would like to order a copy of the book Raysa has offered a special price of £6.50, payment can be made through ParentPay. Thank you, Mrs Wilkinson
World Book Day- Staff Swap
As part of our World Book Day celebrations, our teaching assistants swapped classes and read a bedtime story to the children. It was lovely to see different staff members in each class and the children enjoyed seeing a new face too. Our FOSB donated chocolates for every child to enjoy whilst they listened to the story. Thank you.
Live Production of Scrooge
Dear Parents and Carers, on Friday morning we have M&M theatrical productions in school performing Charles Dickens, Scrooge to all of the children. We are really looking forward to the performance and it is a great way to end World Book Day Week. A huge thank you to our FOSB for paying for the production so that all of our children can enjoy a live theatre performance. There will be no celebration worship this Friday so Values points will be rolled over to next week. If your child has an out of school award, please bring it in next week. On Friday Darwen Tower house team (yellow) have voted to have a non-uniform day and disco for achieving the most values points last half term. They can come to school in their non-uniform and they will have a disco and sweets at break time.
Year 3 RE
Year 3 have been looking at the different events within the Easter Story, we then built on this , considering the emotions around each scene in the story. Year 3 used a wide variety of words to convey the different emotions.
Year 3 DT
During design and technology each member of the class was given a picture representing a food item, we then went onto the MUGA where different food group stations were set up. Year 3 were then tasked with placing their food item into the correct food group. They then switched pictures so they had turns in different food groups. We then thought about what ingredients are needed to create a ‘composite meal’.
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.
Year 3 Geography: Where is North America and what is it like?
This afternoon in Geography, we started our new unit on North America. We began by recapping our knowledge and understanding of the 7 continents and 5 oceans around the world, before discussing what we already know about North America. The class then carried out their own research, to find out about North America’s Top 8.
Year 3 Science- How are fossils formed?
Year 3 have been learning all about how fossils are made. We carried out an exciting experiment where the class made their own imprints, recreating the process of fossil formation.
Year 3 R.E- Mother Teresa
Year 3 have been learning about Mother Teresa and the wonderful things she did throughout her life. We discussed how her Christian faith influenced the way she dedicated her life.
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.
Online Safety: Spotify
Is Spotify hitting the right #OnlineSafety notes?
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.
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.
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’.
Forest school sessions for KS2
Dear parents and carers of children in Years 3,4,5 and 6, we are always looking at ways to keep our children physically fit and also to support their mental health and wellbeing. Therefore, starting from next week, 10 children from each class will take part in Forest School sessions at lunch time with Mrs Thompson, our accredited Forest School leader. Year 6 will be on Mondays, Year 5 on Tuesdays, Year 4 on Thursdays and Year 3 on Fridays. Children will still have their MUGA sports sessions with Miss Baxendale too each week. Please see the timetable on class dojo to see which weeks your child will have their two forest school sessions this half term. I will inform you nearer the time of sessions for the rest of the year. The infant children will also be given the opportunity to attend forest school sessions too later in the year. On the day of your child's session, they need to bring in a named carrier bag containing wellies or old trainers plus an old coat, top and jogging bottoms to wear for the session, as they will get muddy. Their first project will be transforming our garden at the front of school. If anybody has or knows of anyone with any spare gardening tools, gardening gloves, seeds, log seats, plant pots etc, please send them into school as we would be very appreciative of any donations. We are sure that the children will love the forest school sessions as they are also a great way to develop children's social skills, teamwork and cooperation whilst having fun.
Whole School- Celebration Worship
Wow! We had lots to celebrate today. During our Celebration Worship this morning, the class teachers celebrated by presenting a value award to the children who have been demonstrating our Christian Values. This week, our overall house values point winner was Darwen tower with 258 points. We also celebrated Years 3 and 4 for their winning at sportshall athletics. Well done to the reception class and Year 3 for this week's best attendance. We also celebrated the children that have taken part in extracurricular activities, well done to everyone! We finished our worship with Rev Ben leading a prayer.
Year 3 Art: Tie Dye
This week, Year 3 have been busy getting creative with tie dye! This term, our focus in Art has been on Craft and we have been focusing on understanding the process a textile designer might take, in order to reach a final design. We created our own mood boards, which showcased our favourite colours, places and people. We then used our mood boards to inspire our chosen colours and designs for our tie dye t-shirts! The children completed each stage of the tie dye process and we will be evaluating our t-shirt designs and discussing what worked well and anything we would change for next time.
Year 3 Tie Dye: The Finished Product!
We are so pleased with our tie dye t-shirts! The children chose their colour theme, based on the moods boards we created in art and it has been great to see the class learn a new craft! As it is Children's mental health week, we have also really enjoyed getting creative and relaxing our minds, with Art!
Year 3 Safer Internet Day 2023
This year for Safer Internet Day, Year 3 have been thinking about what should be kept public or private online. We discussed the importance of keeping personal information private, such as addresses, phone numbers and passwords. We then thought about age restrictions for games and online sites and discussed what we can do moving forward, to ensure that we are using the Internet in a safe way. We also came up with some great activities that we could do during the day, which do not require the Internet, such as playing a board game and going for a walk with our family!
Safer Internet Day
During our worship today we celebrated safer internet day. Safer internet day is celebrated all over the world and it helps children to understand ways of being safe online as the internet is growing as well as social media. Children discussed all the amazing things that they use the internet for and understand that it is an amazing platform to use with lots of positives. Although the internet is a great tool, we have to be careful that we: remain safe, understand age limits, only play games with tho