Year 3-Rock Your Socks For World Down Syndrome Day
Year 3 enthusiastically celebrated "Rock Your Socks" this afternoon for World Down Syndrome Day! Cassidy did a fantastic job teaching the children Makaton signs, and they were excited to learn new ways to communicate with Lenny, Cassidy’s little brother, who has Down syndrome. The children were fully engaged as they explored different ways to connect and communicate with individuals with Down syndrome. As part of our celebration, we learned about common misconceptions surrounding Down syndrome and took time to recognise and celebrate the incredible achievements and contributions of individuals with Down syndrome.
Rock Your Socks For World Down Syndrome Day
Year 1 enjoyed rocking bright and funky socks today to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day. We are very lucky in our class as we have Lenny who allows us to learn about and celebrate the amazing qualities of a child with Down Syndrome every day. However, we did take the opportunity to revisit and explore some of the things that we need to be mindful of and things that we can do to help children with Down Syndrome such as using gestures and signs to communicate, repeating words and phrases multiple times, being helpful, kind, encouraging and patient. We finished the day with Lenny handing out sweets for his friends to celebrate a special day. Thank you very much Lenny!
Year 5 - Structure of the Earth
Year 5 used boiled eggs to explore the structure of the Earth, using the shell, egg white and yolk to represent the crust, mantle and core. This hands-on activity helped them visualise the Earth’s layers and understand their composition in a fun and engaging way. As they carefully peeled the shell, they discussed how the Earth’s crust is thin and fragile, just like the eggshell. They then examined the egg white, comparing it to the mantle, which is semi-solid and moves slowly over time. Finally, the yolk represented the core, helping the children grasp the concept of the Earth’s hot, dense center. The activity sparked curiosity and led to great discussions about plate tectonics, volcanic activity and the role of the Earth’s layers in shaping our planet.
Year 5 - Year of Prayer
Year 5 took part in a special Year of Prayer activity, playing ‘The Floor is Lava’ while reflecting on gratitude and thankfulness. As they moved between safe spaces, they shared what they were thankful for, recognising the joy, happiness and blessings in their lives. A wonderful way to combine faith, fun and reflection!
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and reflecting on another extremely busy yet fantastic week in school. First of all, we thanked everyone for rocking their socks for World Down Syndrome Day and continuing to support ‘THE BIG LENT WALK.’ The kilometres walked across school are ever increasing as is the money that we have raised and we are extremely grateful- thank you! Please continue to let either Mrs Wilkinson or Mrs Ham know if you have walked anywhere and please send photos if you can. This week, we have had a wonderful week learning about Lent in collective worship, Reception, Year 1 and 2 had a special visit from Local Author Janek Puzon, Reception had an exciting firefighter visit, we’ve enjoyed a variety of after-school and lunch-time clubs and Year 6 spent two days exploring London. We then moved onto congratulating this week’s individual value award winners. Well done to Freddie, Cici and Charlie G in EYFS and KS1 and Bobby-Ray, Tristen and Neve in Years 3, 4 and 5. Well done to these children for consistently showing our Barny’s 4Bs and working hard across the curriculum. We also awarded all of Year 6 as the value award winners this week for representing school amazingly well in London and making the most of the experience. Furthermore, we congratulated our Year 1 and Year 4 class for being our attendance winners this week with 96.7% and 99.6% attendance, India Mill as our value award winners this week with 442 points and our Year 4 football team for three fantastic performances in the BRFC league on Tuesday evening- well done! We then moved on to congratulating our out of school sports award winners. Well done to Hollie for being the Star of the Week at gymnastics, Charlie for achieving his blue belt in martial arts and being the Beaver of the Week, Isabella for also being awarded her blue belt at martial arts, Callie for her amazing performance at Stage Coach, Elijah for being Player of the Week at football, Haydn for achieving his white belt at kickboxing, Lyla for achieving gold in a recent Jazz competition and silver for a lyrical dance, Sofia for coming 3rd place in a recent singing competition and Olivia for being Star of the Week at gymnastics. To end our worship, Mrs Ham reminded us that next Tuesday 25th March is ‘Friends of St Barnabas Non-Uniform Day’ in exchange for a cake or sweet treat to sell at the Mother’s Day Coffee Morning on Wednesday 26th March which you are all welcome to. Then, we all had a singalong to ‘Lord of the Dance.’ We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Year 3- Online Safety- Live Streaming
Year 3 discussed this week's poster about live streaming. Many children were aware of the dangers but were unsure how to block unwanted users. Some mentioned that they ignore or ask who someone is when they join. We also talked about the importance of speaking to a trusted adult, only playing age-appropriate games, and following the guidance of grown-ups when it comes to online safety.
Year 1- Year of Prayer- Thanking God For His Love
This week for the year of prayer, Year 1 played a game of ‘the floor is lava’ but with huge love hearts that were scattered around the room. They had to move around the room only touching the love hearts whilst thanking God for his love for us. We decided that God’s love is especially important to us when we are finding things tricky or we are feeling sad.
Reception - Rock your Socks!
Reception are rocking their socks for World Down Syndrome Day. We have decorated socks in the creative area to show that everyone is special and unique in their own way. We will also be looking at the charity Mencap and what they do to support children with Down Syndrome, alongside learning some new Makaton signs to help us communicate with others.
Year 6- Going Underground
Our Year 6 children have loved travelling around London on the underground tube and escalators. We were so impressed with the way they sensibly and safely walked through the hoards of people commuting to work or sightseeing. They loved it when the tubes set off and stopped and they made sure they held on tight or else they would have gone flying through the carriage! They showed lots of respect to members of the public and used wonderful manners to the guards who let us through the gates.
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Year 6- Thames River Cruise
Our Year 6 children enjoyed seeing some of the famous sights of London from the River Thames. They also learnt about the history of the buildings from our tour guide. Can you spot any you know? All of the Year 6 London trip photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-6-london-trip-2025
Year 6- Food, glorious food!
Year 6 have shared some lovely meal times together in London in parks, restaurants and the hotel. They have enjoyed sampling a variety of food and have focused on their table manners and etiquette. They have had a buffet meal at Pizza Hut, a breakfast buffet at our Premier Inn Hotel, a meal at McDonalds and two picnics. We are so proud of the way they respected the members of the public, who were also dining alongside them. They also showed great independence skills by helping themselves to some of their buffet meals and clearing away their rubbish. They have also developed their conversational skills before moving on to high school. Well done Year 6!
Year 6- Imperial War Museum
In History this term, Year 6 have been learning all about the Second World War and the part that Darwen played in it. It has been wonderful to visit the Imperial War Museum to learn more about the Second World War and the part that London played in it and contrast this to Darwen’s involvement. All of the Year 6 London trip photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-6-london-trip-2025