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PSHE - Growing and Changing in Year 4
Today we had a recap on everything that we have covered so far for our growing and changing unit and then went on to discuss how animals also reproduce. The children had to guess which of the six animals reproduce first to last. We found that butterflies were the first at being able to reproduce at 3-4 hours with elephants being the last at 12-15 years old!
Year 4 Art - Mark Making with Charcoal
In our first art lesson this half term we looked at the formal elements of art and in today’s session we have been using charcoal. The children experimented with different sizes of charcoal, making various patterns. We had some very different pieces and looked like we had been in a coal mine by the end of it!
Year 4 and 6 Rounders
In our joint PE session today, Year 6 buddied up with Year 4 and showed them how to play rounders. The children worked so well together and it was lovely to see Year 6 supporting and encouraging Year 4. What a great way to end the day!
Year 4 - Visit to St Matthew’s
This week was the Year 4 class’s long anticipated trip to meet their link class. After a short minibus ride into Blackburn, we arrived at St Matthew’s CE Primary School to the most wonderful welcome from Doves class. We had a short getting-to-know-you session and then split up into our mixed groups. We had great fun creating handshakes, decorating friendship poems and having a picnic lunch together. We can’t wait to welcome St Matthew’s to our school next week.
Year 4 - Mosque Visit
Whilst we were visiting St Matthew’s, we had the opportunity to enhance our RE unit on places of worship by visiting the mosque next door. We had a tour of the main hall and the washroom and learned about some religious artefacts and practices that are customary to Islam. It was great for the children to see these features in real life so that they could make comparisons with the other places of worship we’ve studied this term. The imam arranged a special surprise as well, allowing all the children to choose a drink, some crisps and a chocolate bar, followed by treating them all to an ice cream from the ice cream van. All in all, I think they had a fantastic day.
Year 4 - The GULP Project - Effects of Sugar
In this week’s GULP session, the Year 4 children were learning about the effect that sugary drinks can have on our teeth. They learned how to make healthy choices when deciding how to hydrate themselves and they started an experiment to see which drinks have the worst effect on our teeth. We will find out the results next week. The second part of the session involved physical activity. The children played invasion team games and discussed tactics, giving them the opportunity to adjust their strategies in order to score the maximum points.
Year 4 - PSHE: Kindness Workshop
On Tuesday, Years 1-6 took part in a kindness workshop delivered by 52 Lives. Following the workshop we were tasked with creating something for somebody else in an act of kindness. The Year 4 class had a plethora of fantastic ideas to make some very thoughtful and imaginative gifts for friends and family. These included chatterboxes containing positive affirmations, cards with moving parts revealing messages of love, paper aeroplanes delivering kind notes, friendship bracelets and much more. Krish from 52 Lives was amazed with the children’s creativity when he came to our classroom to see what we were making. The children were very proud of the items they had made and couldn’t wait to give them to their friends and family members.
Year 4 - PE: Introduction to The GULP Project
One of the weekly PE sessions in Year 4 this half term will be delivered by Blackburn Rovers FC in conjunction with Blackburn with Darwen Council. The GULP Project aims to get children active and also think about the drinks they consume, encouraging them to make healthy choices. This week was our first session in which we completed a sugary drinks quiz and an A to Z of drinks. We also received our free reusable GULP water bottles and were given a brief idea of the exciting activities that we will take part in over the next 4 weeks.
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DPSSA Netball League
After a very soggy evening at Holy Trinity, Team B managed to secure a win and a draw. We had three Year 4s playing up with our Year 6 children away in London and they played superbly along with our Year 5s who worked really hard to drive the game. We can’t wait to find out the results now to see who will go through to finals night next week!
Geography Year 4 - Rivers
In our first Geography lesson for this half term we looked at the key features of the water cycle and identified the longest rivers in the world. The children watched video clips carefully and then labelled a diagram with evaporation, condensation, precipitation and ground water. Once they had finished this they then used a Chromebook to identify the top ten longest rivers in the world and add these to a map.
Whole School- Be the Change: Our Kindness Workshop
This morning, Years 1-6 took part in an inspiring 'Kindness Workshop' delivered by Krish, centred on Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote: "Be the change you want to see in the world." The children explored the three pillars of kindness, being friendly, generous, and considerate, and brainstormed simple everyday actions like smiling, sharing, hugging, complimenting, etc. We looked at powerful, real-life examples from 52 Lives, a charity founded by Jamie in 2013, including Clare from Australia and Andrea from Romania, whose £5,000 operation goal was doubled to £10,000 by kind strangers. This sparked a wonderful discussion about how fortunate we are to have the NHS in our country compared to places where healthcare is very expensive. After watching a video of a young boy comforting an upset football fan after Portugal beat France, the children learned that kindness is actually scientifically proven to make us happier, give us healthier hearts, slow down ageing, and help us live longer. Best of all, kindness is contagious; a single act can spread to 125 people! During the workshop, the children had the opportunity to share kind words with their peers in pairs. They mentioned that giving and receiving compliments felt anywhere from a bit "weird" to really "joyful". At the end of the workshop, the children had a quiz with a series of questions. Arlo, Jack, Molly, Beau, Sophia, Phoebe, Elijah, Eden, Isaac, James, Desmond, Chay, Declan, and Archie did a brilliant job answering the questions, showing great listening skills, and everyone demonstrated our 4 school rules exceptionally well. Afterwards, the children went back into their classrooms to complete their kindness activities. They had a fantastic time making chatterboxes, bracelets, letters, poems, and posters. Lots of kindness has been shared today, and we will definitely continue to share it. We must remember that kindness doesn't cost anything, so we should all use it more.
Wraparound Care is coming to St Barnabas!
🎉 Exciting News! On-Site Wraparound Care is Coming to St Barnabas! 🎉 We are delighted to announce that starting in September 2026, we will be offering our own on-site wraparound care service, exclusively for our children! We have partnered with Progressive (formerly Progressive Sports) to deliver high-quality, activity-focused care right here on school grounds. Progressive is the perfect fit because: They provide a strong sports element, creative, wellness, and discovery activities—all popular choices from our parent survey! We will be working closely with them to ensure their provision meets the same high expectations for behaviour and support that we maintain during school hours. Affordable & Flexible Options: We’ve negotiated affordable rates and flexible sessions for our families: Breakfast Club (7:30 am–8:55 am, including breakfast): £5.00 per session. After School Club (3:20/3:30 pm–6:00 pm, including a snack): £8.00 per session. Reduced Session Price: Only £6.00 if attending after a school enrichment club! A 10% sibling discount is available, and Tax-free/Universal Credit childcare vouchers are accepted. Progressive will also offer holiday clubs during some school breaks. We are confident this new service will offer affordable, convenient and high-quality care. Please read the attached letter for further information.