Worship with Rev. Ben
Today’s worship with Rev. Ben began with a fun game where two teams raced to pass a shuttlecock around the hall and get it back to the start. This linked to the Bible story about Jesus giving us instructions to “pass it on”—just like in the game. The story focused on the Ascension—the moment when Jesus, after rising from the dead and spending time with his disciples, was taken up to heaven. Before he left, Jesus gave his disciples an important mission: to go out into the world, share his teachings, and spread the good news. He promised they would not be alone—God would send the Holy Spirit to be their helper. Even though the disciples felt unsure and a bit afraid, Jesus reassured them that he would always be with them. After the story, the children engaged in thoughtful discussions, exploring questions such as: What did Jesus ask the disciples to do? And How can you trust in Jesus’ promise to be with you, even when you don’t feel brave? Some children shared that they feel brave when they remember Jesus is with them in their hearts. Others said they can pass on kindness and love to friends and family, just like the disciples did. The worship reminded everyone that living like Jesus and sharing his message helps us experience life in all its fullness—a life filled with love, purpose and hope.
Year 1- Year of Prayer (Follow the Lines)
This week as part of the Diocesan Year of Prayer, Year 1 went outside onto our playground and ‘followed the lines.’ Before doing so, they thought about how we try our best to lead our lives by Jesus’ example. We thought about all the amazing things that Jesus did such as sharing his power to perform miracles such as healing the sick and feeding the hungry. We thought about the Christian Values that this shows such as kindness, generosity and friendship and how we can live out these values each and everyday. Year 1 suggested that we can lead by Jesus’ example by helping each other when we fall over, holding the door open for one another, complimenting each other to spread love and joy and supporting one another with our work. We followed the various lines (the correct paths) on the playground as we thought about all of the things that we had discussed. We also thought about what we can do when we are finding things a challenge. We said that we could pray to Jesus and ask him to help us to make the right decision to take the right path.
Year 1 Maths- Measuring using Non-Standard Units of Measurement
Today in Maths, Year 1 measured the length of various objects using non-standard units of measurement. To do this, they used counters, cubes and paper-clips. Year 1 were extremely accurate in their measurements as they made sure that they started at the very beginning of the object and lined up the counters, cubes and paper-clips accurately without leaving any gaps until they got to the very end of the object.
Whole School Celebration-Living Life to the Full- Afternoon Tea
The afternoon tea, organised by the Smart School Council and RotaKids, was a wonderful celebration of our school family living life to the fullest. There was a lovely selection of cakes and biscuits, some homemade by the RotaKids the day before and some bought in. The children enjoyed chatting, laughing, and drinking hot chocolate together. We're thrilled to share that the event raised an impressive £256, which will go directly towards supporting our school. A huge thank you to everyone who supported the event and to all the staff who helped make it happen. A special thank you to our friends from Darwen Rotary who came along to support too. We look forward to hosting many more in the future!
.jpg)
Collective Worship- Songs of Praise
As part of our focus on prayer this half term, we further explored how one way we can pray is through song. We had a joyous start to the morning singing some of our favourite songs of praise and different classes were chosen to model the singing and actions at the front. We are super proud of our Reception class for showing their Build Up song as they showed lots of courage singing in front of the whole school family. We sang Waymaker, Shine from the inside out, Build up one another, Life in all its fullness and Jesus strong and kind. Most of our favourite worship songs can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/about-us/church-and-worship#tab-5832
Year 1 Geography- Map Work
Today in their geography lesson, Year 1 had to read a map to navigate their way around the school grounds to identify different human features such as the MUGA, peace garden, KS1 playground, carpark and trim trail. In doing so, they used positional language such as in front of, behind, between and next to and describe features of the school grounds that were close to their Year 1 classroom and slightly further away.
Whole School Worship - Exploring Prayer
Today’s worship marked the beginning of an exploration of prayer: what it is, why people pray, how, when and where they pray, and why it is an important part of faith. We started by reciting the Lord’s Prayer and signing parts using the Makaton symbols we already knew. Jesus told his disciples this prayer twice when they asked him how to pray. We watched a short video explaining that prayer is simply talking to God and that there are no specific rules when communicating with God. We also learned that he is never too busy to listen to us. The children spent time recapping some of the ways they have prayed including through the Diocesan Year of Prayer, and thinking about what they might want to tell God. We then had some quiet time to say our own prayers to God. Some children said thank you for God’s wonderful creations, some said sorry for making wrong choices, some were thankful for their family and friends and some were grateful for their homes and food. We finished by singing our special Lord’s Prayer song with our Makaton actions.
Year 1- Year of Prayer- New Life
This week as part of the Diocesan Year of Prayer, Year 1 planted cress seeds. As we did this, we prayed to Jesus to say thank you for the new life that He brings at Easter. We enjoyed some beautiful prayers to say thank you for the baby animals such as the chicks, rabbits, lambs and calves that are brought into our world. We also said thank you for the beautiful plants that are in bloom, including those that provide us with food.
.png)
Barney's Best Bits- Summer 1 Week 1
Dear parents and carers, I hope you all had a restful Easter break. This past week has been short but incredibly busy, and I wanted to take a moment to welcome you back and share some highlights from our week of living life in all its fullness here at St Barnabas. First, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the parents and carers who attended the parents' evening on Wednesday. We had an impressive turnout, with 92% of you attending. Your involvement is invaluable to your children's education and growth. I would also like to welcome the 30 children and their families into our school family that have gained a place at St Barnabas this coming September. We will be in contact soon with details about our transition. You are very welcome to attend our stay and play sessions over the next three Wednesdays from 9.00am. *Weekly Highlights* St George's Day Celebration: We started our St George's Day celebrations and they will continue into next week as St George’s Day has been moved to Monday 28th April by the Church of England, due to it falling during Easter Week. Reception Class Dentist Visit: Our Reception class had an informative visit from a dentist, teaching them about dental hygiene and care. Year 5 Earth Day Worship: Year 5 presented a wonderful worship on Earth Day, focusing on how we can care for our planet and God's creations. They also prayed a special Earth Day prayer written by Pope Francis, who sadly passed away this week. Year 3 Author Visit: Year 3 had the pleasure of an inspiring visit from author Jay Flynn, which greatly enhanced their understanding and writing of biographies. Voice 21 Visit. In school we have been working over the last year on developing oracy across school. We had a visitor from the Voice 21 project yesterday and she was so proud of the progress that we have made as a school family on developing speaking and listening. A huge thank you to Miss Flynn and Mrs Wilkinson for driving the Voice 21 project and to our staff for their support. It is wonderful to see how much the children’s confidence is growing when speaking in front of others which will stand our children in good stead in the future. For all of this week's news in detail, please click here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news *Fundraising Success* Big Lent Walk for CAFOD: Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Big Lent Walk. As a school family, we raised £214 and walked an impressive 2627 km collectively. Hop, Skip and Jump Event for East Lancs Hospice: We also raised £161 for the East Lancs Hospice through our Hop, Skip and Jump event. Your generosity and support are truly appreciated. *Upcoming Events* Tuesday 29th April: Rotakids and School council afternoon tea Bank Holiday: Please note that school will be closed on Monday, 5th May for the bank holiday. Thursday 8th May- Year 1 & 2 trip to Crocky Trail Red, White and Blue Day: Join us on Friday, 9th May for a Red, White and Blue Day to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Year 6 SATS: Year 6 SATS will take place the week commencing 12th May. Year 5 PGL Trip: The Year 5 PGL trip is scheduled for 12th-14th May. Year 3 Rock and River: Year 3 will have their Rock and River adventure on 15th May. All of the upcoming events can be found here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/events Thank you once again for your continued support and involvement in our school community. I wish you and your family a wonderful weekend and hopefully the sun continues to shine. Warm regards, Becky Ham
Friday Celebration Worship
*Celebration Worship* Today, we started our celebration worship by signing this week’s Makaton sign which was ‘How Are You?’ and we thanked everyone for their enormous generosity on the lead up to Easter. We walked 2627.6km and raised a wonderful £214 for the Big Lent Walk to help fight poverty globally and we also thanked our whole school for participating in the ‘Hop, Skip and Jump’ to raise money for East Lancs Hospice. The final amount raised will be confirmed shortly. We then reflected on our highlights in school this week. We have enjoyed learning about Earth Day- thank you Year 5 for your wonderful presentation of learning, Year 3 enjoyed a visit from author and quizmaster Jay Flynn, Reception have enjoyed a visit from the dentist and we have also enjoyed joining in with the Diocesan Year of Prayer. This week it was the 'robes of righteousness' which helped us to understand that God is always with us—surrounding us with His love, comfort, and protection. We then moved onto congratulating this week’s individual value award winners. Well done to Mikey, Alayna and Annabel in EYFS and KS1 and Harry, Carter, James and Brooke in KS2. Well done to these children for showing growth, maturity and resilience in their approach to learning by working extremely hard across the curriculum and always demonstrating our Barny’s 4Bs (being kind, safe, respectful and ready). Furthermore, we congratulated our Year 2 and Year 5 class for being our attendance winners this week with 96.9% and 98.5% attendance and Whitehall Park as our value award winners this week with a record 720 points. River Darwen have won the half term award for receiving the most values points and they will have a non-uniform day and disco next Friday. We then moved on to congratulating our out of school award winners. Well done to Ava for achieving a sleepover, swimming and adventure badge at Squirrels, Callie for achieving a medal for showing strength and technique in her amazing vault, bar, floor and beam work in a recent gymnastics competition, Beau for achieving her Stage 3 swimming certificate, Harry for being the Blackburn Eagles ‘Star of the Week’, Fletcher for being awarded ‘Beaver of the Year for 2024/25’ for being an extremely kind and respectful beaver, Lilly for achieving a super effort award during her recent Easter holiday club and making a fantastic start to her performing arts lessons at Little Voices, Annabel for wonderful projection of her voice in her singing lessons, Lyla for achieving a stage 3 award in a recent gymnastics competition, Jack for being Blackburn Eagles ‘Player of the Match’ in his first game playing for them, James for achieving his Stage 6 swimming certificate and Isabella for achieving ‘Player of the Week ‘ for her wonderful goalkeeping in a recent game playing for Little Darreners. To end our worship, Mrs Govan reminded us about an upcoming Art Competition led by Spring Value Ramblers Club to celebrate their 130th anniversary. The deadline is in 3 weeks time. Please find further information on Class Dojo. We then had a singalong to ‘Oh When the Saints Go Marching In’ for St George's Day and had some beautiful prayers from Olivia, Archie and Cici. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend in the sunshine.
Year 1 Art- Identifying Line and Shape
To start their new unit in art, Year 1 explored the work of artist L.S. Lowry. They explored some of his paintings and identified the lines and shapes that they could see. Following this, they moved on to looking at photographs that they took before the Easter holidays of local landmarks within Darwen and again identified the lines and shapes that they could see. From this, the children will be completing some observational drawings of these local landmarks, ensuring that they replicate the lines and shapes that they can see in their drawings.
Year 1 RE- Exploring the Symbols of Baptism
Today in RE, Year 1 explored symbols of baptism. First of all, they explored a chatterbox of items which were revealed one by one e.g. a bible, a certificate, a cross, a candle and a christening robe. The children then had to think about what could connect all of the contents in the box. Once they had worked this out, Year 1 then explored the meaning of the Christian symbols of baptism. They learnt that the water symbolises cleansing, the robe symbolises new life, the candle symbolises the light of God, the certificate symbolises belonging, the oil symbolises the Holy Spirit and the cross symbolises protection.