Year 4 PE - Team Building and Problem Solving
To start off our new PE journey in Year 4 we had a one off lesson on team building and problem solving. We split the class into four equal groups which each group designated a “leader’. They then relayed a set of instructions to their team so that they could tackle various problems and work collaboratively. Each team actively encouraged each other and showed great will and determination to overcome each problem. It was great to see them discussing tactics and applying different approaches within groups. Next we look forward to starting our Boccia and Handball units and hope to build on the many successes of today's lesson.
Year 4 Geography - Where is the Amazon Rainforest?
In our first geography lesson of the year we looked at where the Amazon rainforest is in terms of continent and where it sits with reference to the equator and both tropics. The children worked hard to establish which countries the Amazon covered and then they moved on to labelling all seven continents, equator and tropics on a world map. The children used the atlases confidently and worked well in pairs to label accurately.
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.
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
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!
Year 4 - Creating our Class Rules
What a fantastic start to Year 4 we have had! Everyone was placed on our Time To Shine board and 4 people were chosen to sit on the Star Worker cushions. Here we are, writing our class rules. Everyone contributed a rule based on our 4 Be’s: Be Ready, Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Respectful. We can tell already that it’s going to be a great year.
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.
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.
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.