Collective Worship: Year of Prayer
This morning in our Collective Worship, some of our WOW (Worship our Way) group members told everyone about the special way we would be praying in class this week as part of Blackburn Diocese's Year of Prayer. In class we will be saying special fingerprint prayers to say thank you to God for making us all unique and special, just like our fingerprints. They then handed out ink pads for each class. Then we moved on to our whole school year of prayer focus and this week it was special toe prayers for our friends. The children enjoyed wiggling each of their toes whilst saying prayers for 5 special friends. Sofia put the special toes sticker onto our Year of Prayer poster. We then sang some of our favourite worship songs and each class had the chance to perform the actions at the front. This week we warmed up our voices by singing and dancing to Sing a new song to the Lord and then we sang Jesus strong and kind, Waymaker, Life in all its fullness and finished with Build Up.
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Reception: Muddy Monday
Today our Reception children braved the cold and went outside for an observational walk to Jack Keys. We focused on spirituality this week and really focussed on what we could see, hear and smell. We stopped and looked around at all of God's beautiful creations. It was lovely to take a moment to really focus on what is all around us. We had a wonderful afternoon and we were really impressed with the children's resilience with the weather and the amount of walking we did.
Holocaust Memorial Day Worship
Our first collective worship of the week had a serious and somber tone as we held in our thoughts and prayers all of the Jews who suffered in the Holocaust. We looked out of our spirituality windows to learn how the Nazis did not show love to their Jewish neighbours like God commanded but instead treated them really badly during World War II. We watched a BBC interview with a Jewish survivor, who described some of the personal tragedies he faced at the young age of 6 when his family sent him away to save his life from the Nazi regime. He shared how he travelled on the Kindertransport and a British family showed him love and compassion and became the light in the dark. Through our spirituality mirrors we were able to reflect on how hearing of these events made us feel, and how the Jews must have felt back then. Finally, through our spirituality doors we learned of the many survivors who have worked tirelessly to make people aware of the devastation that was caused so that it would never happen again. We reflected on how we should always love our neighbours regardless of whether they look like you, pray like you, speak like you or think like you and stand up to anyone who is being mean to others.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on another busy week in school. This week, our school staff have had some Makaton training which was wonderful and we can’t wait to roll some of the key signs out across school. We’ve also enjoyed some fantastic Life Education sessions led by Karen and Harold the Giraffe and Reception, Year 1, 2 and 4 have continued with their wonderful dance and gymnastics sessions led by Rothwell Arts. We then congratulated Hadi, Samuel and Eve in EYFS and KS1 and Joshua, Layla, Millie and Will in KS2 for demonstrating an outstanding attitude to learning, pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and always showing our Christian Values of respect, friendship and courage. Furthermore, we congratulated Reception and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen as our overall value award winners this week with 304 points and our Year 5/6 football team who represented our school amazingly well last night in the DPSSA football league winning 6-2 in their first game and 7-1 in their second game and achieving 2nd place overall- well done boys! We then congratulated Ava for being awarded ‘Star of the Day’ at Multi-Sports Club, Olly for swimming an incredible 50m, Samuel for developing his confidence in swimming and swimming with only a one-arm disc, Grace for achieving a distinction in her ballet exam and a platinum award for scoring 90 or marks in her classical ballet exam, Eliza for being a phenomenal horse rider, Sofia for achieving ‘Star of the Week’ at musical theatre and Millie for being awarded with her a Stage 1 swimming certificate. We then heard from our well-being warriors who launched a competition. They are inviting our whole school to design a badge for our ‘WOW’ campaign. The theme for this is ‘Walk With Joy’ and the designs must be big, bold and colourful. There will be a winner in each year group (Rec-Year 6) who will receive a special prize from Mrs Gardener and the well-being warriors and the overall top 5 designs will be sent off, printed and made into one of the ‘WOW’ badges for the 2025/2026 ‘Walking to School’ campaign. Examples of badge designs could include wildlife or pets, local buildings or landmarks and hobbies. We also heard from our Rotakids in Year 5 who told us about a non-uniform day that we will be having next Friday 31st January to raise funds for food, shelter and first aid supplies for those in America who are being affected by the LA wildfires. Please make a minimum donation of £1 for this worthy cause. To end our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Archie, Max and Phoebe who prayed for those less fortunate than ourselves, including those in America who are amidst the wildfires and having to live through fear and heartbreak. We then sang our 'Life in all its fullness' song and thanked those who could attend celebration worship. We thank the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
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Rotakids Non-uniform day to support those affected by the LA fires.
As part of Year 5 RotaKids, we are determined to make a difference and support the 180,000 people who have been affected and forced to flee their homes due to the devastating LA wildfires. On Friday, 31st January, RotaKids will be hosting a non-uniform day to raise money for those impacted by this tragic event. We encourage everyone to get involved by wearing their favourite clothes and contributing to this important cause. We kindly ask for a minimum donation of £1, but any additional contributions will be greatly appreciated. This will be available on parent pay next week. Every penny raised will go towards helping families rebuild their lives and providing essential supplies to those in need. This is a wonderful opportunity to teach our children the value of helping others and making a positive impact on the world around us. Thank you for your generosity and support, Year 5 RotaKids
Reception Street Dance
This week we have been revisiting the moves we have learned so far in our sessions with Jess. We have been practising our bounce and rock, cool dude faces and the Smurf. The children are really starting to understand how to put the moves together to create longer sequences. We can’t wait to see the finished result in a few weeks!
Worship with Rev. Ben
Today’s worship with Rev. Ben began with a lively game of Captain’s Orders. In the game, forgiveness was straightforward—a simple cue to face the window—but in real life, forgiving someone is often much harder. Rev. Ben explained that one of the things Jesus taught us is that forgiveness can be challenging because we may not always have the right perspective. The children then listened to The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, which highlighted that true forgiveness comes from the heart. Through this parable, Jesus illustrated the importance of showing others the same grace and forgiveness that we receive. Afterward, the children engaged in a thoughtful discussion, exploring key questions such as: What did Jesus want people to learn about forgiveness from the parable? and How could this story help you in situations where you need to forgive others? The discussion encouraged the children to reflect on the value of forgiveness and how it can bring peace to their lives and relationships.
Reception - Ways to make 5
This week, we have been looking at numberblock five and the parts it is made up of. We used the unifix cubes and two different colours to explore how we can make different towers of five. We could see that 1 and 4, 2 and 3, and 5 and 0 are some of the ways to make five. We know that the numberblocks are made up of lots of different parts which make a whole!
Reception Picture News
This week in our class worship we have been looking at Picture News and thinking about the terrible wildfires that are happening in Los Angeles. We talked about how hard it must be for the people who live there to flee their homes and sadly thought about the people who have lost their lives too. Not only this, but the animals who are seeking shelter from losing their habitats. We finished by saying some ‘please’ prayers to ask God for help during this difficult time.
Reception: Class Worship
We started our worship with our trinity. Lisa from Blackburn Diocese then asked us to repeat a prayer after her- God is amazing, all of the time, Amen. We listened to a story from the Old Testament called God sends fire. It made our eyes go wide and our mouth go wow! Bishop Jill explained the meaning of the story. Fire is a strong image in the bible and it represents the fiery love of God. When we ask for God's fire from heaven, we are asking for our hearts to be filled with his love. It is the sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. We prayed and learnt together the Makaton sign for fire. We finished our worship with a song we learnt yesterday in singing worship called 'Who is the king of the jungle'.
Reception: PSHE
Karen from Life Education visited Reception today. She explained how we need food, drink, exercise and sleep to stay healthy. Karen explained how we need to make sure germs don't get in by washing our hands with soap and water. We might need some medicine and we need to ask a grown up. We watched a video of Harold. Before he ate his breakfast, he washed his hands. Karen brought Harold's wash bag to show the children what he uses to keep clean. Harold has a flannel, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste. Karen explained how it is very important to brush our teeth at least twice every day. Harold felt a little bit sad. Karen explained that if you feel a bit sad, you could cuddle a toy, play with a friend or talk to someone. Talking really helps when you feel sad and it can help you to feel better. Karen discussed a good bedtime. She explained how it is important to get an early bed time. We then took part in a calm and relaxing activity. At the end, we got to meet Harold, what a treat! Harold sang a song to us all about looking after our bodies and mind. Thanks Karen for a wonderful session.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our Celebration Worship by reflecting on another busy week in school. This week, we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and thought about how we can all make a positive difference in our world. We have enjoyed focusing on the theme of building each other up as part of our Year of Prayer, Reception, Year 1, 2 and 4 have enjoyed dance and gymnastics sessions led by Rothwell Arts. Reception have enjoyed a visit from Rev Ben to learn about the role of a vicar and we have enjoyed various after-school clubs such as basketball, multi-sports, foodie club, Rocksteady and choir. We then congratulated Will, Hollie and Charlie in EYFS and KS1 and Arabelle, Daisy, Charlie and Rosie in KS2 for making a fantastic start to the Spring term by working extremely hard across the curriculum, always striving to improve and demonstrating our Christian Values and the Barny’s 4Bs. Furthermore, we congratulated Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, India Mill as our overall value award winners this week with 750 points and our Year 5/6 football team who represented our school amazingly well last night in the DPSSA football league against Ashleigh and St James’. We then congratulated Ella for achieving her Stage 2 swimming certificate for swimming across the pool with no armbands, Freddie for being awarded with his 10m swimming certificate, Callie for achieving her Stage 5 swimming certificate, Thomas for swimming an incredible 50m, Lyla for being a super gymnast and achieving a silver medal, Haydn for being awarded a huge gold trophy for his skilful tackling in football, Lydia for being awarded with Olivia at Rainbows for showing super respect and tidying up, Leonora and Iris for participating in a recent gymnastic competition and demonstrating great skill and Brooke for being selected for Blackburn Rovers Girls’ team. To end our worship, we prayed for peace in the world and said thank you for all of the things that we are lucky enough to have. We then sang ‘Build Up’ and thanked those who could attend celebration worship. We thank the rest of our school family for all of your continued support and we wish you all a lovely weekend.