Another busy week at St Barnabas!
Wow, what an extremely busy week at St Barnabas! We’ve had KS1 and KS2 SATs, Year 3 and 4 PGL and this morning we had some fabulously uplifting workshops focusing on how we can support our own mental health as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. Erica from the Lily-Jo Project taught us all about being a hero of our own mental health and explained that are three different kinds of health: Physical Health Spiritual Health Mental Health HERO actually stands for: H- Help others E- Exercise R- Relaxing O- Opening up We had such an awesome time dancing and singing along and we are so proud of the way everyone joined in. We want to remember the very important phrase- Be yourself and shine your light and we are unstoppable! For further information on how you can support your child’s mental health & fun resources and games for children please click on the following link: https://www.thelilyjoproject.com/parents/ For more information about today’s workshops and the great things that have been achieved this week, please see our news page on our website. https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news Our PGL gallery is: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-4-and-5-pgl-2022 Well done to all of our children for living life in all its fullness and particularly to Year 6 for trying their best in their SATs and for tackling them in such a calm and grown up way. We really are going to miss you when you leave as you have been such a fantastic class! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and I’m sure there will be lots of tired children after such a busy week. I hope the sun shines for you all, Mrs Ham
EYFS and KS1 Mental Health Workshop
This morning, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 had the pleasure of welcoming Erika and Pete from the Lily Jo project for a fun and energetic workshop focusing on our mental health and wellbeing. Erika talked about our three types of health. The first which was our physical health, the second which was our spiritual self and the third which was our mental health. Erika told us that today we would be focusing on our mental health. She explained that our mental health is our our thoughts, feelings and emotions and it is our responsibility to look after it. However, sometimes we struggle with this like being on a rollercoaster. Sometimes we are on the top of the rollercoaster feeling amazing, somewhere in the middle or on the bottom of the rollercoaster feeling down and blue. After this, we learnt how to become a hero of our mental health. We learnt all of the tricks and tips for this. They were: 1) Helping others. We shared ideas such as sharing your toys, giving people a hug, helping at home with the dishes, asking your teacher if they need help and standing up for something that is wrong. 2) Exercising such as taking part in swimming, cycling, play football, running, jogging, jumping or playing with your friends. 3) Relaxing such as watching TV, having a nap, reading a book, having a bath and doing breathing exercises. 4) Opening up by talking to a grown up about how you are feeling. Helping, exercising, relaxing and opening up spells the secret code of HERO. Then, Erika introduced her three very special friends who shared their experiences with us to help us become unstoppable heroes. Marcus was feeling sad because he was being bullied online. People were leaving him nasty comments online. However, he stood up against this and chose to be kind to people to show that kindness is stronger than hate. Jade was feeling worried because she wants to be an amazing singer. However, she got worried about standing on the stage in front of lots of people. She then opened up to someone she trusted to conquer her fear and be brave enough to display her talent. Tyler was feeling angry because he doesn’t know how to express his feelings and emotions. However, he found the strength to open up to someone close to him which made him feel positive and more confident talking about his feelings. Then we listened to and joined in with a couple of songs. The first one was called ‘Unstoppable’ and we said I am unstoppable (pointing at ourself), you are unstoppable (pointing at a partner) and we are unstoppable (pointing in the air). We watched a video of an unstoppable child called Skye Brown who loved to skate and sing. Although people said she was too small to skate, she proved them wrong and went on to be a very successful skater in the Olympics. This proves that with hard work and determination we can be successful. The second song was called ‘Be the Change’ and we all had a boogie and sing along as exercising and singing is good for our mental health. We also enjoyed the message of us being in control of our own mental health.
The Lily Jo Project - KS2 Workshop
We had the pleasure of taking part in The Lily Jo project Workshop this morning. It taught us all about being a hero of our own mental health. Physical Health Spiritual Health Mental Health HERO actually stands for: H- Help others E- Exercise R- Relaxing O- Opening up We had such an awesome time dancing and singing along . We want to remember the very important phrase- You being you, makes me feel YEY! Be yourself and shine your light #mental health #mindmatters #mentalhealthawareness #thelilyjoproject
Year 1- Experiencing a Mock Baptism
This afternoon, Lillian welcomed us into St Barnabas Church to experience a baptism first hand. Lillian baptised baby Poppy and made the parents, godparents and other guests make promises to look after Poppy and teach her to be kind and respectful. We also made a promise to be good role models to her. Lillian showed us the font and blessed Poppy with the water to symbolise that she had been baptised. Lillian told us that it isn’t only babies that get baptised but you can in fact be baptised at any age. Lillian also showed us the baptism candle which represents the light of God and the baptism register which has all of the names of people that have been baptised in St Barnabas church for many many years. We said thank you to Lillian for showing us what happens at a baptism and making us feel so welcome. We then went back to school and had a little party to celebrate Poppy’s baptism. We sang the song ‘Shine From the Inside Out,’ enjoyed a drink of juice, a biscuit and played some fun party games.
Year 2 D.T: Pinwheels!
This week in Year 2, the class followed a set of instructions, to make their own pinwheel. We have been thinking about how windmill's use the wind's speed to provide energy and the children made their own pinwheels, to see how to make sails and to mimic a real windmill!
Year 3 - RE - Comparing breaking rules to breaking the law and any consequences
Year 3 have been working in groups to consider the consequences of breaking rules to those of breaking the law. For example, would going to jail be a consequence of breaking a rule or the law?
Year 4 PSHE -Mental Health Awareness Week
In our PSHE session this week, we looked at Mental Health Awareness Week. We discussed how to promote good mental health and how talking to people really helps us.
Year 4 Information Texts - Ancient Egypt
We have been looking at Information texts in English this week. We have started our sessions by looking at key elements of texts and summarising key information under headings such as mummification, gods, Tutankhamen and the pyramids.
Year 1- Lowry Inspired Artwork
This afternoon, Year 1 have been looking at artwork by LS Lowry. We noticed that his artwork was often based around a city landscape. We spotted buildings such as terraced houses, churches, shops and factories. We were then inspired by Lowry to draw some of these types of buildings that feature in Darwen such as India Mill, the row of terraced houses where the laundrette is positioned and Darwen Market Hall. First, we took our time to draw the outline of our building/s thinking about the size and shapes and then we took our time to add details to our buildings such as windows, roofs and doors. We can’t wait to use Duplo next week to make a print of our chosen building.
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Mental Health Awareness Week - Year 5
The theme this year for 'Mental Health Awareness Week' is loneliness. Therefore, as a class we discussed what loneliness meant to them and what things they would associate with the word. We talked about why might people be lonely and what we could do help someone that might feel lonely. The children then made a loneliness flip book which they could refer to if they ever felt lonely.
FOSB Summer Fayre
Calling all local business, youth clubs, charities, entertainers (ALL STALLS WELCOME!!!)
DPSSA Netball
A huge CONGRATULATIONS to our netball team who have had another super evening taking part in the DPSSA Netball League @ DVHS. Some fantastic play and great teamwork saw them come away with two awesome victories of 9-0 and 8-0.