Librarian Club
Our librarians have been very busy today. They have tidied the library and read stories to key stage one at lunchtime. It has been wonderful to see how enthusiastic they all are.
Year 1- Music
This afternoon in year 1 they have been learning about timbre and different sounds in music. They experimented on the keyboard using different sound effects.
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Year 1 - DT
This afternoon year 1 have been exploring wheels, chassis’s and axles in our DT lesson. We are looking forward to putting all of our skills together to create our own fire engines in a couple of weeks.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Support in School
Good morning parents and carers, please find attached the latest newsletter from the Mental Health Support Team. Mental health and wellbeing is given the highest priority in our school and is a big focus on our school improvement plan each year. We know that if children, staff or parents aren't emotionally well and happy then this can be a barrier to effective teaching and learning. In school both myself and Mrs Wilkinson are trained mental health first aiders who provide support and signpost support to children, parents and staff. We also have an Educational Mental Health Practitioner called Hazel Broadfield who works with us to provide families with support with mental health issues. We also have two trained ELSA's in school, Mrs Hegarty and Mrs Lyons, who provide emotional literacy support to specific children throughout school. Mrs Gardner, our PSHE lead also has a group of Wellbeing Warriors that help to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing and organise events. They are organising an Odd Socks day next Monday and have led a poster competition to launch Anti-bullying week. If you or your child are experiencing any issues linked to mental health and wellbeing, Mrs Wilkinson and I are always available to speak to on either informally on the yard or through arranging a meeting. Alternatively, there are also sections on our website where different services and groups linked to mental health and wellbeing are signposted. https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/key-information/safeguarding https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/parents/community-groups There are also services and groups signposted on the MHST newsletters. MHST run a Parent Support Group. It is an online group which is currently topic based. It is a space where information is shared with discussion between parents. Last group's topic was Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, where we explored what OCD is and how to support your child. There is no pressure to contribute or have your camera or microphone on, there is a chat function to contribute to the session. The next topic is Social Anxiety Wednesday 23rd November 2022 @ 6-7pm online via microsoft teams Please email [email protected] for a link to the meeting.
Monday Worship: Remembrance & Lilian Bader- One of the first black women in the Armed Forces
This week we are going to be thinking about Remembrance Day. Mrs Ham asked “why do we wear poppies?” James said that it is about the world war; Harriet said we raise money; Harlow said soldiers gave up their lives to fight for our country; Leonora said that when the war was over, poppies grew in a field; Kaylen said it is to remember those who passed away and Finn said the red of the poppy reminds us of blood. Mrs Ham lit a remembrance candle. Mrs Ham explained to the children what Remembrance Day is for which is this Friday. On Friday, we will be having a 2 minute silence to think about all of those people that died for us. Mrs Ham shared photographs of war memorials in Whitehall park and Bold Venture park. We watched a video together all about Remembrance Day. Mrs Ham then shared the story of Lilian Bader who died a few years ago, aged 97. Nobody would give her a job because of the colour of her skin. When the Second World War broke out, she was 21. Ladies were not allowed to fight in the war and only white men were allowed to fight. Lilian got a job making food for soldiers but after 7 weeks, she was told she had to leave her job as her Dad was not from Britain. Eventually, Lilian managed to get a job in the RAF and helped to fix the planes. Mrs Ham shared a video so that the children could learn more about her and the difference she made. During our reflection, we said a big thank you to everybody who sacrificed their lives in wars and conflict. We thought about our Christian values of service and peace. We finished our worship by singing a song of peace.
Invitation to Celebration Worships
Good morning, a quick reminder that parents, carers and grandparents are always very welcome to attend our Celebration Worships on Fridays at 9.15am. Potential parents of children who are due to start school in September are very welcome too. Refreshments will be served from 8.55am too. Parents of children who have received the most values points each week will be invited to attend via class dojo but other parents, carers and grandparents are very welcome to attend to hear about the great things we have been learning, attendance winners and sports stars etc. If your child has an award from an out of school club, please send it into school so they can receive their award on the golden podium and our whole school family can show them how proud we are. We look forward to welcoming you into school. Yours Sincerely, Mrs Ham
Year 1- English Hunting for the Gruffalo
On Monday we went for a walk to Whitehall park to hunt for clues to introduce this term's story for English. We hunted high and low for clues of the story until we found the Gruffalo.
Year 1- Whitehall park visit
Our Gruffalo hunt on Monday finished with a trip to the park. Year 1 showed some super fundamental skills while we played on the park.
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Monday Worship: All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints' Day and All Souls’ Day
Today is All Hallows Eve. We noticed that the word 'hallow' was in the Lord's Prayer that we sang on the way into Worship. It means Holy. Tomorrow, it is All Saints day which is a Christian celebration. A Saint is somebody who is really special and has done something really wonderful. Leonora said a Saint is somebody who follows God and Jesus’ example. On Wednesday it is All Soul’s Day and we remember everybody who has passed away. We watched a video about the origin of Halloween and All Hallow’s Eve. It was celebrated thousands of years ago by the Celts. Christians then celebrated it and honoured all of the Saints. Mrs Ham asked the children about the names of different Saints. Ella said Saint Barnabas, Matthew said Saint Paul, Miles said Saint James, Jack said Saint George, Charlie-Rose said Saint Joseph and Sofia said Saint Edward. The children noticed that Saints have halos around their heads. Mrs Ham shared some images of different Saints and which country they were the patron saint of. During our reflection, we thought about what we could do to follow Jesus, live our lives well and be Saints ourselves. We thought about what kind of person we really want to be. We ended our worship by singing ‘Oh when the Saints, go marching in’.
Whitehall Park Values Point Winner’s Disco
Whitehall Park team had a brilliant time at their disco for winning the most values points this half term through showing our Christian and British values. They showcased their best dance moves, played musical bumps, played the corners game and had some yummy sweets. I wonder which house team will win the most values points next half term?