Image of Online Safety: WhatsApp Breaking News!
12 Apr

Online Safety: WhatsApp Breaking News!

Breaking news! WhatsApp has lowered its age limit to 13! With potentially more young people joining the chat, it is even more important that parents and educators are fully aware of the risks associated with this platform. Refresh your knowledge and get expert advice on keeping children safe online with our Wake Up Wednesday Guide Download here >> https://bit.ly/3t0WKLY

Image of Year 4 Go on Residential to The Anderton Centre
12 Apr

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

Image of Year 3- Class Worship-Dealing with disappointment
12 Apr

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

Image of Year 3- BIG Debate Club
11 Apr

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.

Image of Reception - Bird feeders
11 Apr

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.

Image of Online Safety: Managing Exam Stress
11 Apr

Online Safety: Managing Exam Stress

“You may turn your papers over … now.” ⏱✏️ With SATs only around a month away, our timely #WakeUpWednesday guide has some expert advice on helping children and young people to manage their pre-test stress.

Image of Thank you parents and carers!
11 Apr

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.

Image of Easter Reflection Worship
10 Apr

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.

Image of Reception - Spring activities
10 Apr

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!

Image of Online Safety: Managing Exam Stress
10 Apr

Online Safety: Managing Exam Stress

“You may turn your papers over … now.” ⏱✏️ With SATs only around a month away, our timely #WakeUpWednesday guide has some expert advice on helping children and young people to manage their pre-test stress

Image of Year 1- Visit to the Rose Garden
28 Mar

Year 1- Visit to the Rose Garden

This week, Year 1 visited the Rose Garden to explore the Easter artwork that our whole school have been busy creating. They spotted artwork that showed Palm leaves to represent Palm Sunday, artwork to represent Judas’ betrayal to Jesus and artwork to represent the last supper, the crucifixion and the resurrection.

Image of Year 1 Easter Egg Hunt
28 Mar

Year 1 Easter Egg Hunt

After celebrating Easter in church this morning, Year 1 came back to school and enjoyed an Easter egg hunt on the KS1 playground.