Image of River Darwen’s Team Winning Disco
2 May

River Darwen’s Team Winning Disco

Today, the River Darwen team celebrated their success with a special non-uniform day and disco after earning the highest number of Value points last half term. Their hard work, positive attitude and teamwork truly paid off – well done to everyone in River Darwen! A huge thank you to Mr Bloomfield for leading the disco and to Miss Lohar for her support!

Image of Year 6 - Kooth
2 May

Year 6 - Kooth

Year 6 took part in an online workshop with Heather from Kooth yesterday who explained about the anonymous online resource available to them. The children may want to use this platform as a way to manage stress or talk about things that they may find easier saying to someone who is completely neutral. Heather also explained that stress is completely normal and that actually it can be quite a powerful tool to motivate us.

Image of Choir Lunchtime Club
1 May

Choir Lunchtime Club

We now run Choir on Thursday Lunchtimes in the Reception classroom and have gained lots of new recruits! We were very happy to have so many new children join us across different year groups to create a bigger and more powerful choir. We are hopeful this will continue so we can arrange a summer performance to show off our amazing vocals!

Image of Year 1 Art- Observational Drawing
1 May

Year 1 Art- Observational Drawing

In their Art lesson this week, Year 1 took part in some observational drawings of local landmarks such as the Leisure Centre, India Mill, Darwen Market Hall, the Post Office and Darwen Library. In order to do this, Year 1 replicated the shapes and lines that they could see (and identified last lesson) using good control of their pencil. They started with the outline of the building before adding finer details such as the windows and doors.

Image of Year 5 - Square Root Day
1 May

Year 5 - Square Root Day

Today, Year 5 celebrated Square Root Day through an engaging LBQ (Learning by Questions) session, where pupils explored square roots, identified perfect squares, and practised estimating non-square roots. The activity helped deepen their understanding of inverse operations and built their confidence with this important mathematical concept.

Image of Worship with Rev. Ben
1 May

Worship with Rev. Ben

Today’s worship with Rev. Ben began with a fun game where two teams raced to pass a shuttlecock around the hall and get it back to the start. This linked to the Bible story about Jesus giving us instructions to “pass it on”—just like in the game. The story focused on the Ascension—the moment when Jesus, after rising from the dead and spending time with his disciples, was taken up to heaven. Before he left, Jesus gave his disciples an important mission: to go out into the world, share his teachings, and spread the good news. He promised they would not be alone—God would send the Holy Spirit to be their helper. Even though the disciples felt unsure and a bit afraid, Jesus reassured them that he would always be with them. After the story, the children engaged in thoughtful discussions, exploring questions such as: What did Jesus ask the disciples to do? And How can you trust in Jesus’ promise to be with you, even when you don’t feel brave? Some children shared that they feel brave when they remember Jesus is with them in their hearts. Others said they can pass on kindness and love to friends and family, just like the disciples did. The worship reminded everyone that living like Jesus and sharing his message helps us experience life in all its fullness—a life filled with love, purpose and hope.

Image of Square Root Day in Year 4
1 May

Square Root Day in Year 4

Square Root Day Today we took part in Square Root Day. Square Root Day is when both the day of the month and the month are the square root of the last two digits of the year. It's a milestone for lovers of numbers, logic, and patterns because 2025 is a perfect square year! Represented as 45245^2452 (since 45×45=202545 \times 45 = 202545×45=2025), this rare occurrence makes the year a special point of reflection and celebration for mathematics fans. The children took part in interactive games with Lottie and Nora then did some quick fire questions on square roots. We noticed that there is a pattern with the square numbers which read odd than an even, odd, even. So we can check if when we are multiplying numbers we have the correct answer. Patterns help us to predict what comes next. Following this the hosts did a Q and A and St Barnabas got a live question shout out and asked “ What inspired them to be a mathematician?” Another question asked by another school was “ Who invented the square root?” which turned out to be a school in Ancient Greece. The children loved sharing the session with other schools across the country and did so brilliantly!

Image of Year 6 Junior Jam
1 May

Year 6 Junior Jam

Year 6 really enjoyed their sessions with Junior Jam this week. In French, the children learned the names of jobs in French and had to write sentences containing these job names. In computing, the children were tasked with designing a new banner for the Junior Jam website, using the Logo Founder app. We have moved on to learning how to play a glockenspiel in music, creating our own 8-beat phrases.

Image of Year 6 Maths
1 May

Year 6 Maths

In maths, year 6 have been learning how to convert fractions into percentages using our multiplication and division knowledge. At first, the children thought this topic sounded tricky, but all the class have now become converting experts!

Image of Year 4 PSHE - Mental Health Awareness
1 May

Year 4 PSHE - Mental Health Awareness

In our PSHE lesson we have been looking at Mental Health Awareness. Mental health is everything. Mental health is more than just a small part of our lives.It’s connected to every little thing we do, every place we go and every person around us. Mental Health Awareness Week this year takes place from Monday 12 – Sunday 18 May 2025. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. In our sessions we have been learning how to fill our buckets with all the things that find us joy, writing Kindness poems and planning random acts of kindness.

Image of Year 6 - Year of Prayer
1 May

Year 6 - Year of Prayer

Continuing our Year of Prayer activities, year 6 took part in a reflective walk along the markings on the school yard. We had to follow the lines, reflecting or praying, remembering that we can trust Jesus and ask him to help us to follow the right path.

Image of Year 3- Maths- Celebrating Square Root Day with  Nira  Chamberlain
1 May

Year 3- Maths- Celebrating Square Root Day with Nira Chamberlain

Year 3 joined a live zoom session with Nira Chamberlain to celebrate square root numbers today. They enthusiastically participated in activities around calculating square numbers, showcasing fantastic engagement and a real passion for learning. They even discovered why the unique alignment that creates Square Root Day, like the upcoming May 5th, 2025, only happens a few times in a lifetime! This special day reminds us to recognise and celebrate those rare and interesting moments. A huge well done to Year 3 for their brilliant effort and enthusiastic participation. A big shoutout to Lyla who was chosen by Nira Chamberlain read out a question. ‘Who inspired you to be a mathematician . Nira told us his parents were the inspiration behind his love for maths.