Whole School singing Worship
This morning our children came together to learn about Diwali. We enjoyed some Hindi songs and spoke about the Hindu Festival of Light! We then sang together worshipping God through our Harvest festival songs ready to perform them to you during our Harvest Church Service on Thursday. We look forward to seeing you there.
Year 1 Art: mixed media landscapes
Today Year 1 finished their final mixed media landscape. We were so impressed with the use of materials on the landscapes which showed a lot of thought and understanding. They made sure to use appropriate colours (warm or cold colours) depending on the landscape they created. Year 1 were excited to show the landscapes to one another and they were very proud of themselves.
Year 2 Geography- Continents and Oceans
To conclude our geography unit this half-term, Year 2 pupils created a quiz for the Year 3 children to see how much they could recall from studying the same topic last year. Year 2 wrote three multiple-choice questions each to test their peers’ knowledge. The questions covered topics such as the largest and smallest continents and oceans, as well as the warmest and coolest continents and oceans. They also explored geographical positioning, asking Year 3 to identify locations in relation to the compass points—for example, which ocean lies north, south, east, or west of a particular continent.
Year 2 RE- Similarities and Differences between The Bible, Torah and the Quran
This afternoon in RE, Year 2 rounded off their unit by comparing the similarities and differences between the three holy books they have studied: the Bible, the Torah, and the Quran. We were incredibly impressed by how much knowledge they had retained, particularly about the Torah and the Qur’an. The children thoughtfully identified key similarities and notable differences between the texts, showing great insight and understanding. Well done, Year 2!
Reception: Diwali Super Learning Day
We have had a super Diwali learning day today! We made Rangoli patterns with natural resources that we created, made cards, created Mendhi, made Diva lamps, sang, learnt a Bollywood dance and explored lots of different Hindi artefacts too. What a brilliant day!
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we began our worship by reflecting on what has been a busy but thoroughly enjoyable week. Mrs Ham started by thanking everyone for their wonderful efforts in raising awareness for mental health during last Friday’s Hello Yellow Day. She also expressed her appreciation to all the children who attended the Harvest Church Service at St Barnabas Church on Sunday, accompanied by Mrs Araujo, Mrs Wilkinson, and Mrs Govan. The children sang beautifully and truly gave it their all. We also recognised the many children supporting Rotakids by donating winter coats and shoeboxes filled with essentials for DARE (Darwen Asylum Refuge). Mrs Ham reminded us that we can continue to support important causes by taking part in Bishop Phillip’s Pedalathon, raising funds for Christians in South Africa by getting out on our bikes and putting in some miles. We are also still collecting Harvest donations for the local food bank and DARE. We took time to congratulate our individual Value Award winners this week: Poppy, Olivia and Skye in EYFS and KS1, and Renee, Lyla, Walter and Ruby in KS2, for consistently following Barny’s 4Bs, working incredibly hard across the curriculum, and showing great growth and maturity during their first half-term in their new classes. Our congratulations also went to our Year 2 and Year 3 classes for being this week’s attendance winners. A big well done to India Mill, who were our weekly Value Award winners with an impressive 236 points, and also our overall Value Award winners for the half-term. As a reward, they will enjoy a non-uniform day and disco — with the date to be announced shortly. We were delighted to recognise a number of pupils for their achievements outside of school this week. Well done to Jonas for settling in so well after recently joining Squirrels, and to Phoebe for earning a badge at Rainbows and always bringing positivity and laughter. Callie has been an excellent role model at martial arts, while Elijah was awarded Beaver of the Week for his enthusiasm and willingness to get involved. James impressed with his fantastic fielding in cricket, Lyla performed beautifully in her lyrical dancing, and Sofia was named Star of the Week at acro while also earning several badges at Brownies. Charlie achieved 25 metres in all swimming strokes, Olivia received her Silver Award at Rainbows, Willow showed amazing gymnastics skills, Lydia earned her Gold Award at Rainbows, and Eleanor achieved her Amazing Helper badge. We also congratulated our Year 4 pupils for representing the school so well at the Cidari Earth Conference at Blackburn Cathedral yesterday, and praised our girls' football team for their continued efforts in the DPSSA league. Finally, a reminder that next week is a four-day week due to an INSET day on Friday. We also have our Halloween Spooky Disco on Wednesday evening, organised by FOSB, and our Harvest Church Service taking place on Thursday morning. Please check Class Dojo for more details. Wishing you all a fantastic weekend!
Year 3- Inter House Dodgeball-
Year 3 had a great time taking part in Inter -House Dodgeball . Renee was our star player selected by the Sports leaders. A massive well done to the whole class for giving it their all and to the Sports Leaders for leading it.
Cross Country Trials
Today we held cross country trials for years 3-6. We had a super turn out and every single child that took part tried really hard and pushed themselves out of their comfort zones. The ground was wet which made it even harder but this didn’t deter our super stars. Well done to everyone and a big thanks to our Year 6 Marshalls and sports leaders.
Reception- PE- Jumping
In our PE session we started with a warm up game of ‘traffic lights’ to help focus the children and develop their listening skills. We then went on developing the fundamental skill of jumping by bending both our knees, swinging our arms and keeping our feet together to take off and land steadily in a position with both feet together.
Inter-House Dodgeball
Today we were all lucky enough to take part in our Inter-house sports event which was dodgeball, led by our wonderful sports leaders. Every class from Year 1 right up to Year 6 took part and it was fantastic to watch. We are so lucky to take part in our inter-school events and it was the sports leaders first go at leading every class in a warm up right through to house games. We can’t wait until the next one now when our Reception class can join us too.
Cidari Earth Conference
Seven Year 4 children represented our school family brilliantly at the Cidari Earth conference at Blackburn Cathedral. They participated in activities addressing environmental challenges like plastic pollution, war and conflict, and global warming. The children made new friends by working in groups with students from other schools in the Trust. Rev Ben led an opening worship about God's creation and our responsibility to care for it. After activities, they admired the "Gaia" Earth installation and listened to Bible stories like David & Goliath and Jesus calms the storm, which emphasised faith and courage in tackling these "insurmountable giants." Each group also created prayer stations, which will be displayed in The Temple Gallery at the Cathedral over half term. Families are encouraged to visit and see the Earth installation, photographs, and prayer stations. Some of the children said “It’s been the best day ever!” A huge thank you to Mrs Araujo for planning and leading one of the activities
Year 6 - Road Safety
Today, Year 6 took part in an informative Fire Safety talk that focused on the importance of road safety. The session helped the children understand how to keep themselves and others safe when walking, cycling or travelling near roads. They discussed the importance of wearing bright clothing, using crossings correctly and staying alert around traffic. The children also learned how the emergency services respond to road incidents and why it’s important to make sensible choices to prevent accidents. Everyone came away with valuable knowledge about how to stay safe both at school and in the wider community.