Friday Celebration Worship
We had a fabulous first week back and it was wonderful to see all the children working so hard and settling back into school life so positively. Throughout the week, we spent time reflecting on kindness, thinking carefully about the kind things we have done ourselves and the kindness we have seen in others. This week’s values awards were proudly presented to Luna in Reception, Jasper in Year 1, Noah in Year 2, Archie in Year 3, Bluebell in Year 4, James in Year 5 and Elsie in Year 6. Well done to all of you for consistently demonstrating our school values. In TT Rockstars, Archie and Lyla from Year 4 were awarded certificates for their efforts, fantastic work! Our team values results saw Darwen Tower in fourth place, India Mill in third, Whitehall Park in second and River Darwen taking first place. A huge congratulations to River Darwen, who also won a disco and non-uniform day for achieving the most points last half term, what a brilliant achievement! We were delighted to celebrate a wide range of achievements outside of school this week. Ava was awarded a Level 4 certificate in swimming, while Reggie achieved 50 metres, Mikey 20 metres, Minnie C 10 metres, Isabella achieved Stage 5 and James achieved Stage 1, well done to all our swimmers. Luna earned a yellow belt in kickboxing and Eleanor received a certificate for taking part in a duck hunt. Lydia, Annie, Luna, Thea and Olivia were all awarded badges and certificates in Rainbows for first aid, networking skills, tasty treats and present making. Rosie and Naomi were recognised as seconders in Brownies, taking on an important leadership role. Sophia, Darcy, Daisy and Alexis were all awarded sixer badges in Brownies for their leadership, with Darcy also receiving the Brownies doll for being particularly helpful. Samuel was named Beaver of the Week for his excellent map reading and Isaac was awarded Player of the Week for his fantastic shooting, passing and tackling in football. Congratulations to Reception and Year 3 for achieving the highest attendance this week, keep it up! Finally, we shared some important reminders. Reception families were invited to the upcoming stay and play session and we are looking forward to celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, with children invited to come dressed in green or blue. Year 3 are excited for their upcoming Rock and River Outdoor Adventure trip and we also look forward to the Whitehall Park afternoon tea taking place on Sunday. We ended our worship with thoughtful prayers led by Sophia and Darcy. Well done to everyone for such a positive and successful week.
Year 1 PSHE: Fairness
In our PSHE lesson, we were thinking about fairness. We started by reading a story about Harold the Giraffe and his friends. At several points in the story, we stopped to discuss if the events were fair, unfair, kind or unkind. We shared examples of times we may have found something unfair, such as not sharing toys, not sharing equipment or someone being unkind. Then, we looked at four pictures. The children had to look closely and decide if the pictures were fair or unfair. These pictures helped us to understand four new terms: reality, equality, equity and justice. The children understood that sometimes equality isn’t always the fairest and we should try to be more equitable. This means giving more support to those who need it and less to those who don’t. It was fantastic to see the children problem solving and building on each other’s ideas.
Year 1 Art: Making Towers
In this lesson, Year 1 explored different ways of making towers with paper. They tried different methods such as rolling paper, folding paper, scrunching and bending paper. They have to create towers using the different techniques to understand which one was the best for a stable tower.
Whole School Worship - The Value of Kindness
Today, our whole school worship was focussed on the value of kindness and our Kindness Kite of God rewards kindness. We talk about kindness frequently at St Barnabas, especially as it is one of our 4 Be’s. As we came into worship, a video was playing that showed how kind acts affect the recipient, prompting them to pay the kindness forward so that it spreads. The children spotted some acts of kindness in the video and linked these to the charitable activities we have taken part in as a school family recently. Mrs Ham read some motivational quotes and we all acted out sprinkling a glitter trail of kindness and throwing around kindness like confetti. She then showed us the story of The Good Samaritan and explained that showing kindness isn’t something we reserve just for our friends and family; it’s for everyone. Quotes from the Bible about kindness were read brilliantly by Matthew, Darcy and Charlie from this week's Kindness Kite. We then spent some time reflecting on how we will show kindness this week and beyond, and we finished by singing one of our favourite songs, Rich in Kindness.
Mad Science After School Club- Exploring the Chemistry of Curiosity: pH Levels
We had a fantastic start to our Science club today, delivered by the Mad Scientist, Jo. Our future scientists focused on the power of pH levels, learning how to identify acids and bases using professional liquid indicators and pH paper. The children put on their safety glasses and learned the vital importance of protecting themselves while conducting experiments. From observing the chemical reactions used to clean oxidised coins to testing the acidity of common household liquids. It was inspiring to see the children’s curiosity come to life as they realised that science isn’t just found in a textbook, it is happening in their kitchen cupboards and the world around them.
Year 1 and 2: Hop, Skip and Jump
Year 1 and 2 really enjoyed raising money for East Lancs Hospice. They all participated in hop, skip and jump in the lovely sunshine. It was lovely to see all of their beautiful Easter crowns too.
*Spring Amazing Attendance Awards *
*Spring Amazing Attendance Awards * A huge congratulations to all of the children who achieved an amazing attendance certificate today for having over 96% attendance throughout the Autumn and Spring terms! We are so proud of you!
Whole School Worship - God’s Green Earth
As we approach the end of Lent, Mrs Ham led a special worship to celebrate all the efforts our school community has made to give back by looking after our local area and beyond. We couldn’t believe just how much we’ve all achieved in 2026 so far. Some key actions include: Reception class earning the Ruby Robin Award through building bug hotels, spotting birds and taking part in a wildlife quiz; our collective Big Winter Wander to raise money for the World Fund For Nature; our whole-school tree planting day on Jack’s Key; the WOW group planting two community orchards on school grounds; Mr Fairbanks building bird boxes and placing them around school; the Rota Kids collecting pre-loved teddies and coats for charity; the WOW group creating posters about the community poo bag dispenser located outside school, and putting them up all around the local area; and some of our children and parents choosing to go litter picking to help keep our streets clean. We have much more planned for the future, so keep a lookout for our next initiative. We ended our worship with prayers of thanks for God’s creations and singing one of our favourite Fischy Music songs: Make A Difference. Key Stage 2 stayed behind to hear the winners of the March TT Rockstars battle. A huge well done to the winning classes, Years 3 and 6, and to our class champions: Charlie, Charlie, Isabella and Isabelle.
Year 1 PE: Sequencing
In their final gymnastics session, Year 1 had to put some sequences together. It incorporated all the skills they have been learning. Some of them looked like real gymnasts.
Year 1: Toy Museum
Year 1 loved showing their adults all of their learning in our toy museum. They played with old and modern toys together and taught their parents lots of new facts.
Year 1 DT: Healthy Breakfast Pots
Year 1 created their healthy breakfast pots for their partners. They made sure that they added yogurt, cereal and fruits in layers for a better taste. They worked really collaboratively in their partners to create a pot that they would enjoy.
Year 1 PE: Jumping Skills
Year 1 loved jumping on different apparatus today, including an air mattress which made them go really high. They also practised rolling hoops and throwing and catching equipment .