KS2 Racket Sports Club
As part of the KS2 Racket Sports Club, the children focused on table tennis. They developed essential skills such as hand-eye coordination, agility and quick reflexes. Through a range of fun and competitive activities, the children learned how to serve, rally and score. The children gradually improved their technique and confidence. The club also encouraged teamwork, sportsmanship and resilience, as they supported each other in developing their gameplay and understanding of the sport.
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Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we kicked off our worship by looking back at our incredibly busy yet fantastic week, focusing on how we can all flourish together. The stories of the Unforgiving Servant and the Earth Shake were central, allowing us to explore the Christian Value of forgiveness and the importance of seeking evidence. This week was also a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our amazing school during the SIAMS inspection on Tuesday. Mrs. Araujo took some of the children from our WOW group to the prayer tent in the old St. Paul’s Church grounds in Hoddlesden, many of our children enjoyed another fabulous cre8ability, Forest School, Multi-Sports and Choir session and our Year 1 and Year 4 gained valuable insights from an environmental workshop about waste and recycling. Then came the well-deserved recognition for our students! We proudly congratulated our individual value award winners: Reggie, Olly, and Eva in EYFS and KS1, and Naomi, April, Sonny, Mason, Summer, and Freddie in KS2. These children were celebrated for working exceptionally hard across the curriculum and always striving to be their best, both academically and personally. Our attendance winners were also highlighted, with huge congratulations to Year 1 and Year 2 for achieving an outstanding 100% attendance, and Year 4 for an impressive 99.8% attendance. Further congratulations went to India Mill, who were our overall value award winners with a fantastic 669 points, and the children in Year 5 and 6, who clinched the DPSSA Netball league final for the second year running. The celebrations didn't stop there, as we also acknowledged the amazing achievements of our children outside of school. A huge well done to Callie for being ‘Student of the Year’ at Martial Arts, Max for being ‘Player of the Week’ at Little Darreners, and Eva and Alice for representing their dance school in a recent show. Archie was recognised as the ‘Most Improved Player’ for Mill Hill Juniors Football Club, while Marley was ‘Star of the Day’ at the Ed Start Multi-Sports Club. Lydia was awarded Olivia at Rainbows for doing her promise, and Eleanor and Olivia earned a badge for their courage on rides during a trip to Gulliver's World with Rainbows. Alfie competed in a recent tournament, receiving a trophy for being part of the team that won the Europa League and also being ‘Player of the Match.’ In swimming, Jack achieved his Bronze award, Elsie and Vienna received their 200m certificate, and Naomi reached Level 5. Lyla was ‘Star of the Day’ in her lyrical, and Scarlett was named the Under 8s Coaches’ Player for 2024/2025 at Rivington Netball Club. Olivia earned a medal for her football team's unbeaten season, Desmond received the Parents’ Player trophy at football, and James was recognised for being a great team player. Daisy achieved a gold award in a recent gymnastics competition, Peyton earned her yellow belt at kickboxing, and Eliza successfully completed a recent triathlon. To conclude our worship, we were treated to some beautiful prayers from Olivia and Callie, who prayed for peace around the world and offered thanks for our beautiful world and all the wonderful people in our lives, including our school family. Mrs. Ham wished us all a lovely, restful weekend, and the worship ended on a high note with a singalong to ‘My Lighthouse’.
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Collective Worship- Seeking Truth and Evidence
Today's worship began with the children singing the song "Jesus Strong and Kind." Following the song, James, Jack, and Lily from Year 4 signed the Trinity, adding a visual element to the worship. Next, the whole school participated in a "Spot the Difference" challenge. Rev. Matt then shared a message emphasizing the importance of delving deeper to find the truth, stating that the Bible provides accounts based on evidence, not made-up stories. He read the Bible story "The Earth Shakes," with children actively participating by acting out the movements described. To encourage reflection and the concept of "living life in all its fullness," the children paired up for a "Question Time," pondering how they could find out more about Jesus. The idea was put forward that we can learn about Jesus by doing what he did and by exploring historical accounts, reflecting how deeply faith is woven into our experiences. The worship concluded with a prayer asking for help to seek evidence.
Year 5 - LBQ
Today in Year 5, the children took part in an interactive LBQ (Learning by Questions) session, where they focused on converting between centimetres and metres and vice versa. This engaging activity allowed them to practise their understanding of measurement in a fun and responsive way, receiving instant feedback to help correct misconceptions and deepen their learning. The children revised the relationship between centimetres and metres (100 cm = 1 m) and applied this knowledge to solve a range of problems, including word problems, reasoning challenges and real-life measurement scenarios. They demonstrated increasing confidence in switching between units, identifying when to multiply or divide by 100 depending on the direction of conversion.
Year 5 - Figurative Language
In Year 5, the children continued their work on the novel Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans, an exciting and humorous story that blends modern life with Greek mythology. Building on their understanding of the plot and characters, the children focused on creating vivid setting descriptions inspired by key scenes in the book. They explored how authors use figurative language—such as similes, metaphors, personification and powerful adjectives—to bring settings to life and engage the reader’s imagination. Pupils then applied these techniques in their own writing, crafting rich, atmospheric descriptions of locations such as Stonehenge at twilight, the Underworld or even scenes from the chaotic life of the main character, Elliot.
Year 5 - The Birth of Moses
In Year 5, the children explored the Bible story of Moses’ birth, learning about how God protected him through the courage and faith of several important women. They discovered the vital roles played by Moses’ mother (Jochebed), his sister (Miriam) and even Pharaoh’s daughter, who showed compassion by rescuing Moses from the river. Through this story, the children reflected on the significance of women in the Old Testament and how their actions were guided by faith, bravery and a deep sense of purpose. The children also discussed the broader theme of how God works through people, especially those who trust in Him during difficult times. They made links between the story and their own lives, considering how they can show faith, kindness and courage.
Whole School Worship - The Unforgiving Servant
The theme in this worship was “forgiveness”. Mrs Ham continued to reveal the meaning behind the Lord’s Prayer, today, focussing on the line “and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us”. To explain what Jesus taught us about forgiving others, Mrs Ham chose to share the story of The Unforgiving Servant with the help of some willing participants. Rev Ben and a couple of the children gave a fabulous performance, showing us that we should replicate to others the mercy shown to us, and that forgiveness should be given as many times as necessary. The children reflected on the story’s moral and shared their opinions about this.
Whole School Worship - How Can We Flourish Together?
Today, in our collective worship, we shared ideas of what it means to flourish. The children had some fantastic thoughts, including being the best you can be, persevering, sharing with others and appreciating what God has given us. We looked at each one of our Christian values and decided how they could help us to learn and grow together. Mrs Ham reminded us of some of the “wows” and the “ows” in the world and we discussed how they make us feel. We reflected on the part we can all play by taking action to prevent the suffering in the world. We ended our worship with a reminder and a celebration of the ways we at St Barnabas have affected change in our communities and in the wider world. These included supporting our local refugees, collecting preloved coats for the homeless, raising money for East Lancs Hospice and collecting tinned food and toiletries for our harvest appeal. The children articulated that we all flourish when we aim to make the world a better place.
Another Week of Achieving Great Things & Living Life in All Its Fullness!
Dear Parents and Carers, What another truly fantastic week we've had, packed with children living life in all its fullness and achieving great things! The enthusiasm and effort from our children continue to make us incredibly proud. *This Week's Highlights* It's hard to pick just a few, but here are some of the wonderful things that have happened: *Our Year 5 Peer Mediators have been outstanding! On Monday morning, they led a Worship all about justice and forgiveness, and then bravely started their new role at break and lunch times, helping to resolve conflicts among children. They're doing an amazing job and have put all their training to good use! *On Monday we also had great fun singing our favourite Worship songs at a live Fischy Music Concert. *Year 3 has been deeply engaged in learning about refugees through the book 'I am Refugee'. As part of Refugee Week, some of them were invited to a special Refugee Week Tea Party by Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise (DARE), and the whole class confidently presented their learning to the Year 2 class. *A massive congratulations to our Year 5 and 6 netball squad who won the Darwen Netball League for the second year in a row! They were undefeated in all their games over the last five weeks – what an incredible achievement!They also won the Bee Stinger Netball a few weeks ago so will be representing BWD on the 8th July. *Reception class enjoyed a spiritual walk as part of their Muddy Monday and appreciated all of God's creation and gave thanks to Him all the way along. *We've seen the exciting start of some of our new out-of-school enrichment clubs, including Forest Schools, Cre8ability, Racquet Skills, Jag Tag, Craft Club, and Multi-skills. It's wonderful to see the children engaging in such a variety of activities. *In our Year of Prayer focus, we explored fruit tea smells in class, taking time to thank God for the amazing variety of fruits and vegetables He created. *During Worship with Rev Matt, we continued our focus on different ways to pray, reminding ourselves that we can pray anytime, anyway, and anywhere. We also dedicated worship time to Refugee Week, with some classes joining the Big Live Assembly for Refugee Week. The absolute biggest highlight of the week was our Sports Day this morning! We were completely overwhelmed by the fabulous turnout of parents, carers, and family members who came along to support and encourage in true St Barnabas style. A huge thank you to everyone who came – your presence truly made it special for the children. We are so incredibly proud of each and every child for their determination, courage, and effort, as well as for the fantastic encouragement they showed each other. For all of the news in detail from each class, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news Next week promises to be another busy and exciting one: Monday: Our Year 6 children will be showcasing their writing to the writing moderators from the local authority. We are super proud of all their hard work! Tuesday: Our SIAMS Church School Inspection will be taking place. We are so excited to show the Inspector our amazing school family and how we live out our vision of 'Achieving great things through learning and growing together in a love-filled Christian family' and how we all live life in all its fullness. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to speak to the Inspector and to everyone who has filled in the survey. If you haven't done so already, there is still time to fill this in. https://forms.gle/KUNHYgF69mgkLtM49 Also on Tuesday, Years 1 and 4 will have workshops from the Environment Agency about how they can reduce, reuse, and recycle waste, a great way to protect our planet. Thursday: Darwen Rotary will be visiting our RotaKids to thank them for their fantastic fundraising and projects this year and to start planning for next year. Please note, we've had to postpone our Barney's Got Talent Auditions by a week as our Sports Day ran over today. Thank you for your continued support – it means the world to us and we couldn’t do what we do without your support. Wishing you all wonderful weekend and I hope the sun continues to shine, Mrs Ham
KS2 Sports Day Winners
We are so proud of every child who took part with enthusiasm, determination and team spirit. Whether running, jumping, cheering or supporting one another, you each showed what it means to “Achieve great things through learning and growing in a love-filled Christian family.” Sports Day is more than just winning races—it’s about celebrating effort, encouraging one another and showing resilience. It was fantastic to see so many parents and carers joining us and a huge thank you to everyone who entered the Toddlers, Mums and Dads races and thankfully nearly everyone came away injury free! Well done to all of our competitors and thank you to the staff, families and supporters who made the day so special. You truly helped create an atmosphere of joy, encouragement and community! All of the photos will be uploaded shortly to here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/sports-day-2025
Darwen Netball League Winners
We are immensely proud of our netball squad for playing amazingly well over the last five weeks in the Darwen Netball League and for winning all of their games. Tonight they played in scorching heat against Avondale, Belmont and St Joseph’s resulting in two wins and a draw, making us the winners of the league for the second year in a row! This is along with winning the Bee Stinger High Fives for the second year in a row too! We can’t wait to represent Blackburn with Darwen in the Lancashire games on the 8th July. A huge thank you to Mrs Gardner for her wonderful coaching and umpiring and thank you to our other teachers who came along to support. A massive thanks to the parents and carers for your support and help with transport. Well done to all the other teams and umpires along with Phil Eastwood, who organised the league. And finally an enormous thank you to our children for always giving it 100%, being so competitive and always encouraging each other. A special mention to the Year 5 girls who have stepped up and played games- this is great preparation for next year! What a fantastic evening of achieving great things and living life in all its fullness!
Year 5 - Striking and Fielding
Today, Year 5 enjoyed an energetic and competitive game of rounders as part of their PE lesson. The session focused on key skills including accurate striking, effective fielding and quick decision-making. The children worked on developing their hand-eye coordination, communication and teamwork. They also explored tactics such as choosing the best positions when fielding, backing each other up and judging when to run or stay on a base.