Worship with Rev. Matt
Today’s worship with Rev. Matt began with an engaging vote about which activities take the most time to prepare for. Rev. Matt then shared a parable told by Jesus, illustrating how we pray and connect with God. The story featured two men who went to a temple to pray: a Pharisee, who proudly listed his good deeds and a tax collector, who humbly asked for forgiveness. The children reflected on the contrasting attitudes of the two men, learning that prayer is not about boasting but about speaking honestly and sincerely with God. Rev. Matt emphasised a powerful message from the parable: Those who make themselves great will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be made great. This served as a reminder to approach life with humility and gratitude, encouraging the children to think about how they communicate with God and with others.
Reception Maths -Ordering
This week we have been focusing on the position of numbers from 1-5. We looked at the pattern of the numberblocks and found that they get bigger by one each time. We then practised ordering the numbers on the dinosaur by thinking about the counting sequence and counting out loud.
Whole School Worship - Who Is My Neighbour?
In our collective worship, we were considering the question, “Who is my neighbour?” We discussed what it means to love your neighbour as yourself (as mentioned in parts of the Bible such as Leviticus and the Gospel according to Mark) and that there are times when it can be incredibly difficult. In hearing about the life of Martin Luther King Jr, as today is Martin Luther King Jr Day, we discovered that, even when it feels impossible to love our neighbour, when we are mistreated, ignored or disrespected as he and other black people have been, we must try harder to follow God’s greatest commandment, just like Martin did. Our children considered this and spent some time reflecting on the Christian Values that Martin demonstrated and the ways that they would like to make the world a better place and make a difference. Some of the children’s examples included: protecting nature, making peace when we have disagreements, putting a stop to pollution and eradicating poverty. We finished with prayers thanking God for Martin Luther King Jr and all that he did to the make the world a better place and asked Him to give us the courage to stand up for what is right. Rev Ben finished with a special blessing and we sang 'I can make a difference'.
Reception- Painting the snow with water colours
Whilst the children were junk modelling using water coloured paints, they came up with an idea of painting the snow with the water colours. We decided to get stuck into some child initiated play. The children had so much fun decorating the snow and becoming artists, mixing colours to make new ones and making pictures and patterns on a different texture.
Reception: The Role of the Vicar
Reception class welcomed Rev Ben into class to talk about how a vicar is special to the Church. Rev Ben shared a video with the children showing how Jesus’ disciples were ordinary people just like him. He brought a bible, a chalice and the oil used to baptise people to show how vicars help people to learn from the Bible and how they welcome people into the church family. Rev Ben brought in his stole that he wears in Church. The children all had a turn at trying it on if they wanted to. Thank you so much Rev Ben, we loved your visit!
Reception: Challenge Champions
This week in Reception, we are focusing on the story, Sharing a Shell. The children have been really busy in provision completing challenges. They have been attempting to write sentences, strengthening their muscles in the fine motor area, creating rockpools, drawing fish, painting using the skills of Pointillism, counting shells to play a subitise game and moulding the playdough to create different characters from the story. Well done!
Collective Worship- Year of Prayer
This morning in our Collective Worship we focused on our prayer for this week of the Year of Prayer from Blackburn Diocese. We discussed and shared our responsibilities in school and at home such as cleaning our rooms, loading the dishwasher, helping look after younger siblings, helping with the cooking and cleaning, counting values points (Heads and Deputies) and planning and leading sports events (Sports Leaders) . We then said together a special prayer for our responsibilities and discussed how God is always with us during those responsibilities and having a smile on face whilst carrying them out benefits others. Mrs Ham then shared the responsibility of selecting songs to sing and choosing children to demonstrate the actions at the front. The children chose to sing 'Life is always better when we share it with each other', 'Waymaker' 'My Lighthouse' and 'Build Up'. Build up is also the theme for our class Year of Prayer this week too. Our WOW group members informed each class of the special build up prayers they would be saying this week.
Reception: Junk Modelling
Our Reception class have really enjoyed our new junk modelling area. They have been using their imaginations to create dens, treasure boxes, jewellery boxes, post boxes and bags. They have joined materials together and embellished their items.
Reception- Winter
Today we explored the snow and ice in groups. We talked about the season winter and what animals we might see in winter, what clothes we might wear, what the outdoors might look and feel like and our favourite and least favourite things about the season. The children came up with lots of their own knowledge about winter we discussed hibernation and animals who hibernate and deciduous and evergreen trees.
Reception PE - Street Dance
Reception enjoyed their first street dance lesson with Miss Jess. They learned some new ‘street’ moves such as bounce and rock, then practised putting these moves to music. We then practised putting some moves together at the end to perform in a small sequence.
Worship with Rev. Ben- God is always listening
Rev. Ben's worship began with an engaging activity exploring creative ways to get people's attention. The children enthusiastically shared their ideas, suggesting: making gestures, creating signs, standing up, dancing, doing something funny, shouting names and waving. Rev. Ben then transitioned to discussing how, in Jesus' day, people had various ways of trying to get God's attention. He explained that Jesus told his people that it was very simple to get God to listen. The children watched a short clip that highlighted some of the ways people believed they could gain God's attention. They concluded that God is always listening, no matter what and that Jesus taught there’s no need for special rituals to communicate with God. Instead, Jesus encouraged everyone to talk to God anytime, anywhere and to speak to God like a friend. Following this, the children engaged in a thoughtful discussion. They explored the question, "What did Jesus say we should do when we pray?" and shared their personal responses to the idea, "If you could ask God for one thing, what would it be?" This reflection helped deepen their understanding of prayer and the nature of their relationship with God.
Snowy start to the Spring term
We have had a snowy start to the Spring term at St Barnabas with a snow day at home yesterday and snow much fun with our friends today! All of the snow fun pictures from home and school can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/snowy-spring-2025-1