Image of KS2 - Football Club
18 Nov

KS2 - Football Club

On Tuesday, as part of KS2 Football Club, the children took part in a range of indoor activities due to the awful weather. They played games such as Zone Ball, which helped them develop their spatial awareness, teamwork and quick decision-making. The activities also encouraged them to think tactically about movement, positioning and how to create space during a match.

Image of Year 6 - Steady Hand Game
18 Nov

Year 6 - Steady Hand Game

Today, the children began designing their steady hand games with a festive Christmas theme. Using all the knowledge they have gained about electrical circuits, they then started to construct their own loop and buzzer games, applying their understanding of components, conductors and how to create a complete circuit.

Image of Year 6 - Interfaith Week
17 Nov

Year 6 - Interfaith Week

This week we celebrated Interfaith Week with Miss. Kachwalla, who shared what being a Muslim means to her and how her faith guides her daily life. During her workshop, she introduced the children to the key beliefs and practices of Islam, including the importance of kindness, community and prayer. The children asked thoughtful questions and showed great curiosity. To end the session, the children enjoyed tasting a selection of traditional foods from her culture, giving them a wonderful chance to experience and appreciate something new.

Image of Year 6 - Anti-Bullying
14 Nov

Year 6 - Anti-Bullying

As part of Anti-Bullying Week, the children took part in a PSHE session where they explored what bullying is and how it can impact a person’s feelings and wellbeing. They discussed the importance of speaking up, supporting others and helping to create a safe, respectful environment for everyone. The session ended with a fun, hands-on activity in which each child shared something kind about another person before passing a piece of string across the circle. By the end, the whole class was connected by a web of string — a powerful reminder of how kindness can link us all together.

Image of Friday Celebration Worship: Children in Need
14 Nov

Friday Celebration Worship: Children in Need

This morning in our celebration worship, we gathered as a whole school family to mark Children in Need, offering heartfelt thanks for the generosity shown in raising awareness and funds for such a worthy cause. This week, we have also celebrated the start of Anti-Bullying Week by wearing odd socks, a joyful reminder of the importance of uniqueness and individuality. Together, we reflected on how love, friendship, generosity and kindness can help us use our power for good and stand against bullying and nurture one another’s mental health. Throughout the week, our after-school clubs have brought great excitement and creativity, with children enjoying board games, football, forest school, Warhammer painting and a lively Let’s Go Sing workshop. Reception delighted in a terrific Trekking Tuesday, Year 3 welcomed Rev Ben and enjoyed a memorable visit to Nightingale Farm, and all classes began their new Design & Technology units as they prepare to create products for the Christmas Fair. Our worship continued with the presentation of awards. We celebrated our Value award winners Alfie, Beau and Haydn in EYFS and KS1, and Joshua, Luke and Mason across KS2, for demonstrating an excellent work ethic, thoughtful listening, teamwork, independence and our Christian values. We congratulated the whole of Year 3 for representing our school so beautifully during their farm visit, Darwen Tower as the overall value award winners with an impressive 233 points, and Year 2 and Year 3 as our attendance champions. We then celebrated our out of school star achievers. We celebrated Bo for earning both ‘Player of the Week’ in football and ‘Best in the Cast’ at Made for Stage, Haydn for his ‘Player of the Week’ award and an incredible 27 goals in just seven games, Ralphi for achieving his 5m swimming badge, Poppy for her wonderful dancing, Isabella for being ‘Star of the Day’ in acro, Hendrix and Maggie for completing Stage 1 gymnastics, Jack for his courage and skill as ‘Player of the Match’ with Blackburn Eagles, Marley for her dedication to Brownies, Grace for exceptional success across her dance competition, Freddie for swimming a fantastic 25 metres, Evie for achieving her laughter, communication, drawing and promise badges at Rainbows, Lydia and Naomi for demonstrating kindness, helpfulness and bravery at Rainbows and Brownies, and Ohana in Reception class for swimming an impressive 75 metres. We also celebrated our Year 5/6 football team for their two brilliant league wins last night in the DPSSA Football League and for representing our school proudly at the Blackburn Rovers Senior Ground on Wednesday as part of the KS2 BRFC Kids Cup. Mrs Ham and Mrs Govan then awarded certificates to Luna, Beau, Lyla, Skye, Olivia, Edward, Alana and Naomi for their success in the Spring Vale Ramblers Club Art Competition, with their artwork chosen for display in the Darwen Heritage Centre. Mrs Govan also introduced our Christmas ADVENTure Trail Art competition, inspired by the Nativity story and soon to be showcased in Whitehall Park, with a chocolate treat awaiting all who take part. We closed by thanking Renée, Callie and Harry for their beautiful prayers and offering our appreciation to everyone who joined us in worship, as well as to our whole school community for their continued support. We wish you all a peaceful and restful weekend as we look forward to the busy and joy-filled weeks leading up to Christmas.

Image of Sportshall Athletics Trials
14 Nov

Sportshall Athletics Trials

Today we held the first one of our Year 5/6 Sportshall Athletics trials. The children practiced long jump, triple jump, obstacle race, speed bounce and the baton exchange in relays. Everyone worked so hard and showed a great attitude when trying out new skills! What a great way to end the week!

Image of KS2 Football Team
13 Nov

KS2 Football Team

Tonight our KS2 football team competed in the DPSSA Football League, playing two fantastic matches. The boys showed great teamwork and determination, beating Sudell 5–0 and St James’ Darwen 6–2. A brilliant effort from everyone, well done, boys!

Image of Year 6 - Geography
13 Nov

Year 6 - Geography

In Geography today, Year 6 explored DigiMaps to develop their mapping and geographical skills. Using digital maps, the children navigated towns and cities across the UK, locating and identifying key places. The children compared their human and physical features with those of Darwen, exploring how different environments are shaped by people and nature. The children showed great curiosity and teamwork as they discovered the similarities and differences between urban and rural areas across the country.

Image of Year 6 Junior Jam French
13 Nov

Year 6 Junior Jam French

In French this week, Year 6 learned words and phrases to help them describe their daily routine on a school day. They played games, sang songs and had lots of verbal rehearsal time to help them to learn the new vocabulary.

Image of KS2 BRFC Kids Cup
12 Nov

KS2 BRFC Kids Cup

A huge well done to our KS2 football team, who represented the school brilliantly at the BRFC Kids Cup! They played exceptionally well and narrowly missed out on reaching the quarter-finals.

Image of KS2 Football Training
11 Nov

KS2 Football Training

This week, we began our football training for the half term. We focused on game-based sessions with specific rules designed to enhance players’ style of play and support their overall development within the game.

Image of Year 6 - The Human Heart
11 Nov

Year 6 - The Human Heart

Today, we began our new science unit on Animals Including Humans, focusing specifically on the human heart. The children used their talk tactics, particularly their talk tokens, to discuss and debate whether the heart is the most important organ in the human body. They thoroughly enjoyed sharing their ideas and demonstrated excellent oracy skills throughout the discussion. Following this, the children took part in an experiment to explore how the heart responds to exercise, recording their results carefully. Later in the lesson, they investigated the structure of the heart in more detail, labelling its different parts and learning about the functions.