Reception: Muddy Monday
Reception class looked for signs of summer during their Muddy Monday walk to Jacks Key. We found lots of minibeasts, flowers blossoming, butterflies and the sun was shining too!
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Years 2 & 4 - RE: Exploring the Church
Both Year 2 and Year 4 are currently studying the Church in RE. To develop the children’s knowledge and understanding, Rev Ben invited both classes to church to explore the features and talk about why they might be found in a church. The Year 2 children have been learning about various features and labelling them, which was further developed through experiencing how they are used and why. The Year 4 children have been learning about the similarities and differences between different churches and other places of worship, and they have been finding out about how some common features are connected to the Bible. Thank you for inviting us, Rev Ben. The experience definitely enhanced the children’s learning.
Year 2 and 4 - Visit to St Barnabas Church
This Tuesday afternoon, our Year 2 had the opportunity to visit St. Barnabas Church. This visit was a perfect way to build on our recent RE lessons, where we've been learning all about what makes a church, its origins in the Bible, and the different features you might find inside. The children really impressed Rev Ben with their existing knowledge, confidently sharing what they'd learned in class. They got to explore areas of the church they wouldn't normally see, making the experience even more special. To round off the visit, the children had the chance to ask Rev Ben some excellent questions they'd prepared in their last RE lesson. It was a brilliant way to reinforce all the learning we've been doing and bring our RE lessons to life!
Year 1 Science- Environmental Workshop
Yesterday, Year 1 had a fantastic time at an environmental workshop led by Georgina. She made learning about waste and recycling interactive and engaging, teaching them how to sort materials into the different coloured bins. The children left with some great new facts and shared these at the end of the workshop. Joey and Percy discovered that batteries should be placed in a carrier bag outside the bin to prevent fires. Callie learned that hard and soft plastics need to be separated, with hard plastics for recycling and soft plastics as waste. Olivia noted that hard plastics and metals go in the grey bin, Vienna shared that paper and cardboard belongs in the blue bin, and Haydn added that food waste should be put in the burgundy bin. All of our children received a recycling pack to take home which included a variety of follow-up activities, information for those at home, a certificate and a sticker.
Year 4 - Linking Schools: End of Year Celebration
What a brilliant way to finish our Linking Schools journey! We all had great fun in Year 4 on the Schools Linking Celebration Zoom. We reminisced about all the enriching activities we took part in this year and shared some of our favourite moments, such as playing the whiteboard game, meeting St Matthew’s and making new friends. We have learned so much about ourselves and who we are, as well as learning about our link class. Tolerance, respect and friendship were definitely key themes as we realised that, although we were different to our new friends in many ways, we also had so much in common. There is just one more step for us to complete, which is our social action project. After collating ideas about improving God’s world, we voted for the most popular idea and decided we would act on it - writing to residents of a care home. Look out for more news about our happy post soon.
Year 3-The Great Big Live Assembly: A Journey Into Refugee Lives
Today, Year 3 joined hundreds of schools for The Great Big Live Assembly to mark World Refugee Week. Led by Krish Kandiah, the worship helped us learn about the lives of millions of children who have been forced to leave their homes because of war, violence, or danger. We discovered that over 43 million children and young people worldwide are refugees or displaced. Through stories and real examples, including a live connection with children living in refugee camps, we got a better understanding of the challenges these children face every day. Krish encouraged us to think about what “home” means and how important it is to show kindness, support, and hope to those who have lost so much. The worship helped us reflect on the courage and strength of refugees and inspired us to be more compassionate and aware of global issues.
The Great Live Assembly- World Refugee Day 2025
This morning in Year 4, we took part in The Great Live Assembly for World Refugee Week. 43 million young people and children have had to leave their country for various reasons including persecution and war. We met two children from Kenya - Ajok wanted to be a teacher and had to flee due to civil war. He had to walk over 500 miles to reach his final destination. We then watched an interview with the author Michael Rosen who has recently written On the Move, which uses poetry to highlight the struggles of a refugee. This teaches us that ‘Home is where the Heart is’ and we should really appreciate and support the sacrifices that the refugees across the world have to endure.
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Year 3-Exploring Spirituality Through Refugee Week
Today, as part of Refugee Week, 12 children from Year 3 visited a local church where they had the wonderful opportunity to meet refugees from 17 countries, such as Iraq, Palestine, Greece, South Africa, Afghanistan and Sudan. They listened to powerful, real-life stories of resilience, hope, and strength, gaining insight into these individuals' journeys and the challenges they have overcome. The experience helped to build empathy and deepen the children’s understanding of what it means to seek safety and rebuild a life in a new place. We ate food from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Italy, Greece and drank Arabic coffee. The children sang songs for the refugees. Reverend Gilbert spoke to the children about how our donations to DARE - Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise have helped refugees and ensured they are always welcomed, and they encourage more donations, etc. This visit linked beautifully with our Spirituality school model of Windows, Mirrors, and Doors. Through Windows, the children looked out and learned from the lives of others, seeing the world through different perspectives. Mirrors encouraged them to look inward, reflect on their own lives, and think about how they might feel in similar situations. Finally, Doors inspired them to step out and consider how they can live more compassionately, supporting others and making positive choices in their own lives. The visit was a meaningful extension of our R.E. learning but also connected closely with Mrs Ham’s worship this week, which focused on raising awareness and showing solidarity with people in need. It encouraged our students to reflect on how they can contribute to a more welcoming and understanding world. Overall, today’s experience supported our whole-school aim of helping children to live life in all its fullness, by inspiring them to be open-hearted, thoughtful, and active in making a difference. #RefugeeWeek
Year 4 - Linking Schools Visit to St Matthew’s
Our Linking Schools project reached its final part on Monday with Year 4 visiting St Matthew’s C of E Primary in Blackburn. We had a fantastic day designing “together towns”, creating poetry about living well together and even joining an assembly with local author, Dan Worsley. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning about our new friends and sharing work throughout this year; it has helped us to realise our similarities and celebrate differences.
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Year 6 Debt Aware Money Skills Session
Year 6 completed module 6 of Money Matters, this week. This was all based around enterprise - a project or activity which is difficult, complicated or potentially risky. The children learned that an enterprising person is independent, positive, hard-working and resilient and looked at some famous examples. They also discussed what is involved in setting up your own business.
Year 5 - Money Matters
On Wednesday, Year 5 took part in their final session of the Money Matters programme, bringing to a close a fantastic series of lessons focused on financial education. The children have developed their understanding of key money concepts and today they explored the roles of banks, the importance of saving and how to make informed choices when spending. Through interactive discussions and real-life scenarios, the children reflected on how money is used in everyday life and why budgeting is a valuable life skill.
Year 1 Attend the Children’s Literature Festival at Darwen Library
Today, Year 1 had an exciting adventure at the Children’s Literature Festival 2025, held at Darwen Library—and what a fantastic time they had! They had the wonderful opportunity to meet the delightful author Saira Shah, who engaged the children with her inspiring story Super Nani and Captain Yaz. The book explores the heartwarming beginning of a unique friendship between two characters—Yasmin and her Nani—who speak different languages, English and Punjabi. Despite the language barrier, they found a magical way to communicate through gestures, key words, and a dash of imagination, all with the help of Yasmin’s favourite superheroes and a special rag doll. Following the story, we continued with the superhero theme. Our Year 1 children were given a thrilling mission. A meteor was hurtling toward Earth, threatening to erase all the wonderful books in the library. To save the day, the children had to transform into superheroes—choosing their own superhero names and special powers. Working together, they rose to the challenge and saved the library from disaster. A huge thank you to Darwen Library for inviting us to the Children’s Literature Festival 2025, and to the wonderful Saira Shah for inspiring our children and helping to spark a love of reading. We’re excited to share that Saira Shah will be launching her book at Waterstones Blackburn on Saturday, June 28 at 11am. All children are warmly invited to join a special Storytime session, followed by superhero fun! If today’s excitement is anything to go by, it promises to be a wonderful event.