Year 6 Junior Jam - Computing
In this week's Junior Jam Computing lesson, year 6 created their own GIFs using the Keynote app. They worked in pairs, choosing an image and adding some humorous text, then animating their image with a Build-In, Action and Build-Out. At the end of the lesson, they showcased their finished GIFs on the board. This was such a fun and informative lesson and the children really enjoyed it.
Let's Go Sing 2026
* Pure Magic at the Blackburn Ice Arena! * I am bursting with pride this evening after watching our incredible school choir perform at the Let’s Go Sing concert. Seeing them out there, singing their hearts out with such passion, was a moment I won't forget! What struck me most wasn't just the beautiful music, but the sheer enthusiasm and commitment our children showed. They didn't just learn the songs; they mastered every word and every action, performing with huge smiles and brilliant energy. * A Huge Thank You * Events like this don’t happen without a massive team effort behind the scenes: • To Mrs. Govan and Mrs. Wilkinson: Thank you for your tireless dedication, your lunchtime rehearsals, and for championing our young vocalists every step of the way. • To our Parents and Carers: Thank you for braving the cold at the arena to cheer them on! Your support in the stands means the world to the children (and to us). Our children represented the school perfectly tonight, behaving impeccably. They truly found their voices! What little superstars!
Our Whole School Worship-Palm Sunday and Serving Others
Our whole school worship began with signing the Trinity, bringing the whole school together in reflection. To explore the theme of our new Kindness Kite, Jack (Y5), Eliza (Y5), and Olivia (Y4) shared the Fairness Kite, which explained the biblical perspective on justice and treating others equitably. Mrs Ham asked the children to take a moment to reflect on everything we have done as a school to serve others who don't have as much as us. We looked back on our collective efforts to help those in need: Donating clothes, coats for the homeless, and teddies, which were organised by Year 5 Rotakids. Collecting food for Harvest and supporting the Darwen Enterprise Easter Egg appeal. Filling shoe boxes and raising money through sponsored walks. Worship continued with Mrs Ham reading a rhyming Palm Sunday Bible story about Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey, which the children and staff acted out brilliantly. Jesus and his friends were played by Charlie G, Peyton, and Mr Bloomfield. Zac (Year 1) played the donkey that carried Jesus into the city. Iris, Ava, and many other children acted as the crowd, waving palm leaves to welcome the King. Mrs Araujo and Mr Mealor played the Pharisees, representing the religious leaders who disagreed with Jesus and watched the parade with concern. To end our worship, we sang, 'We Have a King Who Rides a Donkey.' We left worship thinking about the example Jesus set and how we can continue to give in service to those around us.
Year 6 - Orienteering
Our Year 6 class have been developing their orienteering and map reading skills this week. During the session, the children worked brilliantly to complete the course, using maps to navigate their way around a series of checkpoints. The children demonstrated excellent teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills; supporting one another, discussing the best routes to take and adapting when things did not go to plan. It was great to see their resilience and determination, particularly when faced with more challenging sections of the course. As the session progressed, many children began to think more strategically, choosing more efficient routes and improving their time. The children also reflected on their performance afterwards, considering what went well and what they would do differently next time.
Year 6 - Building Bridges
Year 6 have begun their new Design and Technology unit on building bridges. The children started by exploring different types of bridges and discussing how their structures help them stay strong. The children looked at examples such as arched bridges and corrugated designs, learning how shapes and materials can make a structure more stable. After investigating these designs, the children created their own bridges using card. The children then tested their models to see how much weight each bridge could withstand, helping them understand which designs were the strongest and why.
Year 6 - World Trade
Today, Year 6 began exploring the concept of global trade and how the United Kingdom is connected to other countries through the exchange of goods. The children investigated a range of different countries and identified the products they export to the UK. Through this, they began to understand how natural resources, climate, and physical geography influence what different countries are able to produce. The children then located these countries and coloured their own world maps using a key to show each product and its country of origin. This helped them to visualise the global distribution of goods and the extensive trade networks that connect continents and oceans. The activity also supported their understanding of imports, exports and trade routes, highlighting the scale and interdependence of the global economy. Towards the end of the lesson, the children began to explore the advantages and disadvantages of international trade. They discussed how trade can support economic growth, provide access to resources that are not available locally and create employment opportunities. They also considered some of the challenges, including environmental impacts, transport distances and the reliance countries can have on goods produced elsewhere.
Choir - Concert Practice
Choir have been working really hard on polishing their performance in preparation for the Let's Go Sing concert at Planet Ice next week. The children have worked really hard to remember the lyrics and actions for a range of different songs and are now excited to perform to a live audience. We can't wait to see them shine!
Year 6 - British Science Week
As part of British Science Week, Year 6 explored the question: What makes great teamwork? The children took part in a practical challenge where they worked in small groups to control a single pen. Each of the children held a peg, and the pegs were clipped to the pen. Without touching the pen directly, they had to communicate and work together to draw a series of pictures that were given to them. This activity encouraged the children to think about the importance of communication, patience, listening and cooperation. They quickly realised that successful teamwork requires everyone to contribute, share ideas and support one another in order to achieve a common goal. The challenge also showed how scientists and engineers often rely on teamwork and collaboration to solve problems and create solutions.
Netball Club
In our second week of netball club this half term we focused on improving our technical skills, tactical awareness and physical fitness. We did this through playing full games in which children switched positions regularly to establish zones on the netball court. Not long now until the league starts after Easter !
Whole School Worship - Sharing What We Have
Our kindness kite focus for this week, ‘Shared what they had’, linked perfectly with today’s story, the Feeding of the 5000. Before sharing the story, Mrs Ham asked children to about times they have shared with others. These included smiles, toy and clothing donations and even car sharing. After watching the story, the children reflected on the benefits of sharing and how God provides for his people in abundance, just like how the small amount of food multiplied upon Jesus’s faithful request to God. In reflection, we considered what we could share with others throughout Lent and made pledges to do so. We brought our worship to a close by sharing our wonderful singing voices with one another, practising some Easter songs for our upcoming service.
Year 6 - Is Macbeth a good person?
Today in Year 6, we rounded off our unit on Macbeth with an oracy-focused lesson centred on a concept cartoon exploring the question: Is Macbeth a good person? The cartoon presented a range of viewpoints about Macbeth’s actions and motivations, encouraging the children to evaluate different perspectives and justify their opinions using evidence from the text. The children used their talk tokens to support balanced participation and to encourage purposeful discussion. This helped ensure that everyone contributed thoughtfully to their group conversations. During the discussions, some children took on the role of silent summarisers, carefully listening to the dialogue, gathering key points and identifying evidence from the play. They later shared these summaries with the class, helping to draw together the different ideas that had emerged. The lesson placed a strong emphasis on developing spoken language skills, including building on others’ ideas, respectfully challenging viewpoints, and supporting opinions with textual evidence. By the end of the session, the children demonstrated a deeper understanding of Macbeth’s character, recognising the complexity of his choices and debating whether his ambition, guilt and manipulation by others affect how we judge him as a person.
Blackburn with Darwen Schools Y5/6 Cross Country
This evening was Race Night 2 for the Blackburn with Darwen Schools Years 5/6 Cross Country. Team B dug deep and came away with some great placings with some of the children getting great PBs and much higher positions than in Race 1 so we are very proud of their hard work and progress- well done!