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 5 - Christmas Cushions
Year 5 are now in the final stages of creating their wonderful Christmas cushions, showcasing their creativity and sewing skills. They have been carefully stitching the cushions together and adding intricate final touches such as decorative patterns to make them truly stand out ready for the Christmas Fair!
Year 5 - Litter Picking
As part of No Pens Day, Year 5 explored the local area, taking part in a litter-picking activity inspired by a suggestion from the Smart School Council. This act of kindness demonstrated fantastic teamwork, community spirit, and a shared commitment to protecting the environment. Back in class, the children reflected on what they had observed, noting the impact of litter on wildlife and natural spaces. They engaged in thoughtful discussions about how to make a positive difference, generating ideas such as increasing recycling efforts, designing impactful posters to raise awareness about the environmental damage caused by littering and making a habit of picking up litter whenever they see it. The activity not only built their understanding of environmental responsibility but also empowered them to be proactive change-makers within their community.
Year 5 - Mountain Life
During geography, Year 5 have started learning about life in the mountains. They began by exploring Lyfta, where they met Simon Mtuy, who lives on Mount Kilimanjaro. Through this platform, the children experienced his way of life, the local culture and how people adapt to living near the mountains. They explored his surroundings and gained insight into his daily life. Afterwards, the children engaged in thoughtful reflection, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of living near a mountain. They considered aspects such as access to natural resources, tourism opportunities and breathtaking scenery. As well as challenges like isolation, harsh weather conditions and limited infrastructure. This reflective discussion encouraged them to think critically about how environment shapes lifestyle.
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.
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.
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.
Year 5 - Rothwell Arts Dance
Year 5 had an amazing time with Rothwell Arts Dance, mastering how to create a bridge and rock while recapping impressive moves like cartwheels and handstands! They showcased fantastic teamwork, creativity, and determination, working together to perfect their skills and express themselves through movement. A truly inspiring session full of energy and fun!
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 5&6 Football Club
Today at football club, Year 5 delved into the tactical elements of football, focusing on space, awareness, and movement off the ball. They participated in an exciting game of handball, where they applied rules such as no travelling with the ball, encouraging their teammates to move dynamically to create space and opportunities to score. The session was filled with energy, collaboration, and lots of learning. As these foundational skills will soon be implemented in football matches to enhance their overall gameplay and team strategy.
Year 5 - Christmas Cushions
Year 5 got creative with their Christmas cushions! The children stretched their sewing skills, using blanket stitches and running stitches to bring their festive designs to life. They carefully measured, cut and stitched, tackling many new skills with perseverance and enthusiasm. From snowmen to Christmas trees, their cushions are bursting with festive spirit and originality. Each one is a unique masterpiece and the pride in their work is clear to see!
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