Rev Matt’s Worship: The Resurrection
Rev Matt came in to lead our worship today and tell us about the biggest surprise in the Bible: the resurrection. Rev Matt began with a mystery box game in which children had to feel an object in a box and guess what it was. He talked about how, even though we may worry about what’s coming, the surprise can often be the best thing. This is how the women felt when they visited Jesus’s tomb after his death. They were worried when they noticed Jesus was missing and the ground began to shake, but were overjoyed when Jesus appeared and spoke to them.
Reception: Stories Jesus Told
This week, the children in Reception listened to the parable, ‘The Wise and Foolish Builders’. The parable explained how you should listen to Jesus. The children enjoyed pretending to listen and not listen to see what happened when building a house on a hard and soft surface.
Collective Worship- Road to Emmaus
This morning in our Collective Worship, we watched the latest Worship Together video from Blackburn Diocese. Lisa asked us to think about a time that we have run to share some exciting news with our friends or family. Archie said when he received a darts contract, Ella-Grace said when she won in a football 3x3 competition, Seb said when he won a dance competition, Luca said when he got a 171 in darts, Scarlett said when it was her birthday, Lyla Grace said when she got a fish and Alfie said when his team scored a goal. We then heard about the story of Jesus appearing to some of his followers on the road to Emmaus and how they ran back to tell the disciples. We then delved deeper into the story by watching a cartoon of the story to help us visualise what it must have been like for Jesus' disciples when he appeared to them and then disappeared. Bishop Philip explained how the disciples were happy as they knew that Jesus would always be with them and He is with us all the time. Lisa led us in a running prayer today and we all joined in with lots of enthusiasm. To finish our Worship we sang 'Let me walk beside you', said Jesus one day, which helps to explain how Jesus is with us when we are walking, sitting, standing and resting and we had some wonderful volunteers to show the younger children the actions. We then reflected on how we have lived life in all its fullness this week and Annabelle shared that she volunteered to be pushed into the freezing cold water during the Year 4 residential, Charlie said he jumped into the water twice, Jenson said he was brave in the water which felt like -25 and Isaac shared that he took part in some filming which pushed him out of his comfort zone. I wonder how we will live life in all its fullness this week?
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Year 4 Go on Residential to The Anderton Centre
Well that’s a wrap! What an amazing adventure we have had at The Anderton Centre. The children have loved tree climbing, archery, fairy den building, night line guide line, bushcraft, marshmallow toasting, team building, XL stand up paddle boarding, midnight feasts, sleepovers (with not much sleep) and AI food. The children have really challenged themselves, attempting things that have really pushed them out of their comfort zones. Team Gardner, Team Araujo andTeam Lyon’s were a pleasure to take and conducted themselves in true St Barnabas style, showing our four Bs along the way at all times. A huge thanks to the parents and carers for allowing us to share such a magical experience with them, labelling every item under the sun and all with the packing skills of a scout leader! We now have very tired children but they have made memories that will last a lifetime! For all of the photos, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-4-anderton-centre-residential
Year 3- Class Worship-Dealing with disappointment
During our class worship, we talked about coping with disappointment. Before watching this week's story, I had prepared a large parcel box containing a pencil. The children were very excited and curious about its contents. However, to their dismay and disbelief, they discovered only a pencil inside. They had hoped for glue sticks, new books, or even slime. Afterwards, we watched a story about families travelling to Glasgow for an event inspired by "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." The event promised chocolate fountains, Oompa Loompas performances, and tickets priced at £35.00 per person. Unfortunately, upon arrival, families were met with empty rows and walls covered in black fabric. The organisers eventually cancelled the two-day event, leaving many disappointed. The children shared times when they felt disappointed and how they overcame it. We also discussed the story of Jeremiah from the Old Testament, who spent decades delivering God's message, even when he faced opposition from his own family and people. Jeremiah's unwavering hope and trust in God inspired us to persevere in spreading goodness. Together, we thanked God for giving us the strength to handle disappointment and for guiding us to learn and grow from these experiences
Year 3- BIG Debate Club
In our class debate this morning, we discussed if it was better to be a teacher or a pupil. We had some great conversations, especially because some of our pupils have family members that work in schools and see them working hard in the evenings and holidays. Some pupils thought it was great to be a pupil because at break times they can play with their friends and eat with their friends at lunch time. They didn't like the idea of marking books and assessments. They discussed that being a teacher is tough but can also be lots of fun because they can teach what they enjoy the most. We then discussed the importance of teaching a range of subjects to prepare them for the future.
Reception - Bird feeders
Alongside our ‘Spring’ week, reception have been learning about ‘migration’ when the birds leave in Winter to find warmer countries. Now that it’s Spring, the birds will be returning from their migration back to the UK in search of food again so we spent the afternoon making bird feeders using pipe cleaners and cereal hoops to welcome the birds back. We will hang some of them on the tree in our Reception yard in the hope we may have some visitors.
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Thank you parents and carers!
Thank you to everyone who attended parents’ evening last night. We had 85% of our parents attend which was great, especially with it being the first day back after the Easter holidays. It was lovely to welcome you back into school again and we hope you enjoyed hearing how your child has progressed since the last parents’ evening in December. Thank you for your patience when waiting for appointments and for your ongoing support. If you weren’t able to attend last night, please contact class teachers via class dojo to arrange a 5 minute phone call. There will be NO Celebration Worship tomorrow morning sorry due to the shorter week and Year 4 being on their residential trip to the Anderton Centre. A quick reminder that parents and carers are always welcome to join us for our Family Celebration Worship on Friday mornings, which will start next Friday. Refreshments will be available from 8.55am and worship will start at 9.05am. We look forward to seeing you and thank you for your continued support.
Easter Reflection Worship
It was wonderful to welcome our school family back after our Easter break. In our collective Worship we reflected on the events of Holy Week and joined in with a rhyming Bible story about when Jesus appeared to his disciples and we watched 'The Awesome Easter Surprise' video. We reflected on how Jesus must have felt telling his friends that he would be leaving them but we discussed how this was all part of God's plan and how God sent his son Jesus as a rescuer and saviour. We looked at our God's Big Story canvases and identified that the Easter story came in the salvation part. We then thought about how Jesus asked his disciples to love one another and live life in all its fullness. We talked to our partner about how we can live life in all its fullness, which is our school vision, and make Jesus proud of us. We had some really thoughtful answers such as: show love and respect to everyone including your pets, neighbours and parents, look after our world by picking up litter, donate clothes, toys and food to those who don't have as much as we have, challenge yourself, go outdoors and look at God's creations, be happy, play nicely with your friends and be grateful for everything we have. We finished our Worship with a prayer and sang Give me oil in my lamp to sing Hosanna to Jesus.
Reception - Spring activities
Reception are learning all about the season of Spring this week. They have kicked off their first week back by completing lots of Spring challenges. They have made playdough flowers, followed instructions to draw a Spring rabbit, created a collage of a spring flower and used forks to print tulips in the paint area. What busy bees!