.jpg)
Scrumptious Production to EYFS and KS1
EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 had the pleasure of watching the production of Scrumptious today. They absolutely loved it and enjoyed the story book production.
Year 1 D&T- Wacky Windmills
This afternoon, Year 1 proudly completed their Wacky Windmills as part of their Design & Technology unit. They carefully attached the sails to their structures and added colourful decorations to finish their creation.
Year 1 Class Worship- Picture News
Yesterday, during their class worship, Year 1 explored this week’s Picture News theme: What Makes Somewhere a Good Place to Live? We began with a story about a group of Australian scientists who discovered evidence that humans lived in high mountain regions over 20,000 years ago. This led us to reflect on how those early people made the most of the resources around them to survive. We then considered how a “good” place to live can look different for everyone—even today—and the importance of respecting other people's homes and needs. To end our worship, we gave thanks for our own loving and comforting homes, and offered prayers for those facing difficulties where they live, including those affected by war, flooding, or the lack of basic necessities such as clean water, gas, or electricity.
Year 1 History- The Types of Shops in Darwen Town Centre
As part of their history learning, Year 1 took a trip into Darwen Town Centre to investigate the types of shops found on the high street today. They recorded their findings using a tally chart, which revealed that takeaways and cafés were the most common, followed closely by hairdressers and beauty salons, supermarkets, and bargain stores. The children also spotted several pharmacies and a number of vacant shops. Next, they will use this information to compare the modern high street with the types of shops that existed in Darwen during the 1950s.
Whole School Worship - St Paul: Amazing Grace
In Rev Ben's collective worship this week, he started by asking us all to think of the most important thing someone ever said to us. The children shared examples of words of wisdom and good news, such as being told about a new sibling. Rev Ben shared some of the most important words St Paul ever said about the grace of God and being justified by Jesus's death, resurrection and ascension. He used role play to explain the complicated concept of grace and that God's grace isn't something which can be earned. The children acted out scenarios in which someone received something by working for it, and someone received the same thing just because the person chose to give it to them. Rev Ben went on to say that God's love is given to us all; we don't have to earn it. He reminded us that friendship with God develops from faith in Jesus.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning's worship reflected on a very busy, yet rewarding week. all of our children got the opportunity to transition into their new year groups, we welcomed our new Reception starters into school, our Year 2 and Year 4 students enjoyed their visit to St Barnabas Church and many children also participated in another engaging Cre8ability session. Mrs. Govan thanked all entrants for the recent Rota Kids Art Competition, congratulating Luna, Beau, Olivia, Skye, Alayna, Lyla in EYFS/KS1 and Naomi and Edward in KS2, whose artwork will be displayed at the Darwen Heritage Centre over the Summer holidays. Our athletes achieved great success: Our Year 3 ,4 5 & 6 Athletics squad were winners at Witton Athletics on Monday evening, and a group of Year 3 and 4 children excelled in the Quad Kids competition, qualifying for the Lancashire School Games at UCLAN next Tuesday! We also celebrated our individual value award winners: Annie, Hendrix, Oliver, Noah and Carter in EYFS/KS1 and Lana, Isabelle and Grace in KS2 for consistently following Barny’s 4Bs and showing growth. Additionally, Year 1 and Year 3 were attendance winners, India Mill was the overall Value Award Winner, and Olivia, Leo, Lilly earned their pen licenses. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Beau, Thea, Annie and Olivia for achieving their Explorers badge at Rainbows and Annie for being awarded Olivia at Rainbows, Thea for being a super gymnast, Willow for achieving backwards flip on the bars at gymfinity and for showing extreme kindness by donating her beautiful long hair to the Princess Trust, Reggie for achieving 20m in his swimming, Marley for ‘Star of the Day’ at the Edstart Multi-Sports Club for super listening and demonstrating outstanding dodgeball skill, Harry for showing super skill and teamwork in a football tournament and Mason for working towards the purple stage at The Darts Academy. To finish our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Harry, Lilly and Callie who prayed for those in the midst of conflict and war, homeless people and those in Heaven. Mrs Ham wished us all a lovely restful weekend and we had a singalong to ‘The School Rules Song’.
Marvellous move up day!
We have had a super ‘move up day’ today and all of the children have met their new teachers and took part in lots of different transition activities. It was wonderful to welcome our new Reception class and their parents into our school family too this morning.
Whole School Worship with Rev.Matt
Today’s worship began with an exciting race, where three pairs of children took part — each child carrying a partner on their back. This fun activity led us into our Bible story: “Was Paul worried?” In the story, we saw how Paul remained strong — not just for himself, but for others too. Even in difficult times, he encouraged and supported those around him. We reflected on the idea that sometimes, we are called to look after others, especially in important or challenging situations. The children then discussed the questions: How are others strong for you? How can you be strong for someone else this week? To conclude our worship, we were reminded that being strong doesn’t always mean being the loudest or the fastest — sometimes, true strength is shown through kindness, patience and standing by someone when they need us most. We left worship thinking about how we can be a source of strength and support for others in the week ahead.
Year 1-Year of Prayer- Mirror Image
This week, as part of the diocesan Year of Prayer, Year 1 took on a prayer challenge called 'Mirror Image.' Each child stood face-to-face with a partner, taking turns to mirror each other's movements. Afterwards, they prayed to Jesus, asking for help to reflect his love, kindness, generosity, and respect by sharing it with others.
Year 1 to Year 2 Transition Day- Self Portraits
Today was a great transition day for our incoming Year 2 class! They drew some fantastic self-portraits for a new classroom display. They worked incredibly hard, carefully tracing the outlines of their faces and features before colouring them in with felt tip pens. The results look brilliant, and we can't wait to get them up on display!
Year 1 to Year 2 Transition Day- English- Exploring Riddles
During their transition day, our current Year 1 children (soon to be Year 2) kicked off a new poetry unit. They absolutely loved exploring riddles, carefully investigating the clues. They then challenged themselves to create their own clues for various objects, using adjectives and similes. We were incredibly lucky to have Freddie and Oscar from the current Year 6 class in our room, who did some fantastic modelling of similes to help the younger children. The Year 1s then impressed us with brilliant examples like: "A snake is long and thin like a hosepipe," "A snake is green like a gecko," "An apple is round like the world," "A crab is snappy like a crocodile," and "A coin is shiny like the moon."
Year 1 to Year 2 Transition Day- Phonics Bingo
Today, during their transition day, our current Year 1 children (soon to be Year 2) enjoyed an exciting game of phonics bingo. Last year, as they moved from Reception to Year 1, they focused on Phase 2 and some Phase 3 sounds. This year, they confidently tackled all the Phase 5 sounds, including alternative graphemes, which they've recently been learning and applying in their writing. It was brilliant to celebrate their progress and test their knowledge of these many sounds!