Voice 21 development in Year 4
In this session we looked at what Voice 21 is and how it supports us in developing our speaking and listening skills. Building practice into our curriculum allows us to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language and listening. We practised using our body language to show that we are listening, experimented with adjusting our tone, volume and pace and how to nest our ideas. We focused on learning the ‘Talk Tactics’ which included: Instigate, Build and Challenge. Through this we used diagnostic questions to develop these three key focuses.
Year 6 - Parliament Week
This week, year 6 have spent some time getting to grips with Parliament and how the country is run. They discovered that Parliament is split into two houses: House of Commons and the House of Lords, and this Friday the children will actually get the chance to put some questions to Baroness Wilcox, who sits in the House of Lords. They will have the chance to ask questions about her role and the House of Lords itself. This is a fantastic opportunity which will be enriched further when we actually visit the Houses of Parliament during our London trip in March.
Year 4 - Class Worship: How Do We Know Who We Are?
We had an extremely thought-provoking class worship today. We found out about Amur, a Muslim boy in Denmark, using Lyfta. He shared a small snapshot of his daily life and explored the question “Who am I?” The discussion which followed was the perfect opportunity for us to practise our talk tactics and listening skills as we shared our opinions on who Amir is as a person, whether or not we thought he was a good person, and how we could tell. There was a lot of agreement among the children with some building on others’ ideas, and a couple of respectful disagreements.
Year 4 - Smart School Council
The children were very enthusiastic about the Smart School Council question this time. They were asked whether or not they’d like to take part in NO PENS DAY. The answer was a resounding yes, with some children choosing ‘tidying up the war graves’ as an activity. There were many different reasons for their choices, including giving their hands a rest, making time for games and doing things for other people in our community. We’re now hoping for a YES from the rest of the school.
.png)
Whole School Thursday Worship with Rev Ben and Pudsey
In our Thursday Whole School Worship,Christine Baldwin, Community Champion from Asda Bolton kindly brought Pudsey Bear to visit us and say a big THANK YOU for our fundraising for Children in Need. They are currently working on a Fuelling Food Programme so that no child will grow hungry in the school holidays. Asda Bolton have raised ver 34 million pounds for Children in Need. The children were very excited to hear all about the project as well as meeting Pudsey. Following on from the visit, Rev Ben took over and we all showed respect by putting ourselves in our reflective prayer place. We began with the Trinity and focused our first discussion on what does it mean to treat someone with respect. Our answers included: being kind, treating someone just as you would like to be treated,when you are ok with difference and treating people equally. Our Bible story today was - A Jar and A Jug. The story focused on Elijah - Gods special messenger and his struggle with the drought. He trusted God that he would get through it with help from the widow and her son. The widow who believed in another God, didn’t believe they would live until she trusted in Elijah and his promise. God saw the widow as someone important and gave her a special job- to look after Elijah. It means listening to others, caring for them and seeing them how God sees them. We then looked at the important message “ Do to others as you would have them do you” Luke 6;31 We finished our Thursday Whole School Worship with a prayer and then we sang ‘ I can make a difference’
Year 4- Why was the Roman army so successful ?
The focus of our history lesson today was to find out why the Roman army was so successful. We looked at why the Romans needed a powerful army, identifying the equipment of a Roman soldier and Roman fighting formations. We learnt lots of new things including; that the Romans had the largest fighting force in the ancient world, they were the best trained, had the best weapons and were so good that even when they fought against armies that were ten times their size, they still won!
Year 6 - Anti-Bullying Live Lesson
At the beginning of this week, Year 6 took part in a PSHE lesson and a CBBC live lesson that focused on Anti-Bullying Week. The theme this year is ‘Choose Respect’. Year 6 were made aware that disagreements are actually a natural part of life and that we can’t avoid them. However, what we do have control of is the ability to be respectful when we have a disagreement. If we manage to do this, a resolution is easier to find.
Year 4 PSHE - How do we treat each other with respect?
In our PSHE sessions we are focusing on ‘Valuing Difference’. This week we shared different scenarios about how we would deal with aggressive behaviour. The children learned how to recognise potential consequences of aggressive behaviour and suggested how to deal with someone who is displaying this. They showed super communication skillls and discussed conflict resolution and diversity.
Year 3 - PSHE-Odd Socks Day for Anti-Bullying Week
Today, our school celebrated our unique differences by wearing odd socks to launch anti-bullying week! Year 3 joined the live assembly in class, where we learned about the importance of kindness, respect, and a future without bullying. The assembly shared inspiring messages, guest speakers, and interactive activities where children had to discuss scenarios and develop solutions in pairs. This follows from our school worship led by Mrs. Ham, where we explored similar themes.
Whole School Worship: Anti-Bullying and Respect
Our worship today introduced the theme of Choose Respect for Anti-bullying Week. We heard from primary school children from around the country talking about the effects of bullying, the importance of respect and how we can change the way we speak to others. Mrs Ham invited up some of our pupils to act out various scenarios so that we could identify the potential bullying problem and suggest ways to correct it that benefit everyone involved. The children had some fantastic suggestions, which we can all try to use on the playground to resolve conflict. We spent some time reflecting on the meaning of respect and on how others may feel when they are treated with disrespect.
Odd Socks Day at St Barnabas
To launch Anti-Bullying week, we celebrated Odd Socks Day in style today with some brilliant demonstrations of uniqueness. The children showed off their odd socks to their peers and shared reasons for their choices that really showed off their different preferences and personalities!
Reception celebrate Interfaith Week
Reception class were lucky enough to meet Prags who delivered a wonderful workshop exploring Hinduism. We learned about the story of Rama and Sita and we even got to dress up in traditional Indian clothing and dance together. We also enjoyed eating delicious samosas cooked by Prags! It was a great way to learn about a different religion and culture. Thank you so much for visiting.
Year 6 - Hinduism Workshop
Year 6 welcomed Prags into our school today, who led them in a Hinduism workshop. She was very impressed by the children’s knowledge of pilgrimages and she then spoke in more detail about a Hinduism pilgrimage. She explained how the River Ganges is sacred to Hindus and that they believe the water washes sins away. When Prags first went on this pilgrimage, she expressed how it is an emotional event and one that she will never forget. Year 6 listened attentively and showed fantastic levels of respect.
KS2 - Observing 2 minute silence
At the end of break time today, KS2 observed a 2 minute silence to show respect to the fallen soldiers of the World Wars and any conflicts that have occurred since.
Year 3- Guided Reading-A Poppy is to Remember
For our guided reading session today, Year 3 listened to a story "A Poppy is to Remember" by Heather Patterson and Ron Lightburn. This story helped the children understand the significance of Remembrance Day and the symbolism of the poppy. We reflected on the sacrifices made by soldiers for peace, listening to John McCrae's poem, In Flanders Fields.
Year 3- Interfaith Week- Prag's trip to India- Hinduism
Year 3 celebrated Interfaith Week by learning about Hinduism. Prags, who was born in East Africa, shared her experiences of visiting India. She showed pictures of both traditional and modern parts of the country, highlighting its diversity. Prags also discussed the importance of recycling and her love for visiting sacred sites like the River Ganges and the Golden Temple. The girls then wore colourful, sequined skirts while the boys wore jackets and they all learned a dance routine together. The children asked insightful questions about the language and clothing and enjoyed trying the vegetable samosas that Prags brought in. It was great to learn about the traditions and religious beliefs of Hinduism.
Darwen Remembrance Service
Our Year 6 class attended the Darwen Schools Remembrance Service this morning. They were so respectful when observing the two minutes silence and joined in the prayers with enthusiasm. Our head boy and head girl laid a lovely wreath that the class had created with Mrs Stanton which had special prayers for those who gave up their lives so that we could live ours. After the service we found out that the bagpiper used to attend St Barnabas when he was younger so he let us try on his hat. We then placed poppy crosses on our adopted war graves and took some time to say our own prayers for those who lost their lives in the wars. We also prayed for some of our children's loved ones who are buried in the cemetery. What a lovely morning of remembrance!
Year 4 - How did Britons respond to the Roman invasion?
In our history lesson, we continued to focus on Roman Britain. Today we were introduced to Queen Boudicca who was Queen of the Iceni Tribe when the Romans invaded. We shared both primary and secondary sources, discussing how these portrayed Boudicca in different ways. To finish the lesson we created visual representations of Queen Boudicca.
Years 2 and 3-Outdoor Classroom Day- Remembrance Walk
This afternoon, Year 2 and 3 celebrated Outdoor Classroom Day by walking up to the WW1 Memorial Wall in Darwen Cemetery. As they gathered at the memorial wall, they paused to remember the brave soldiers who fought in the War. They thought about the sacrifices made and the courage shown by those for our freedom. Isaac, Bobby Ray, Lyla, Renee Archie, and Heidi shared heartfelt prayers and poems, honoring the memory of those who gave their lives for our country. As they walked back to school. they appreciated God's creation, the beauty of the trees, and the sweet songs of the birds.
Autumn 2 Behaviour Focus: Using Manners
At St Barnabas, we pride ourselves on promoting positive behaviour for learning. Our aim is to give your child the best start in their education and this can only happen if all children are trying their best to follow our 4Be's: Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Ready and Be Respectful. Each half term we will be focusing on a specific aspect of behaviour, which will involve teaching the desired behaviours, supporting the children to show these and awarding values points for effort. This half term, our behaviour focus is using manners. Please see the posters attached for an idea of how the use of manners is promoted around school. A special thank you to our WOW group for demonstrating these behaviours for our school. At St Barnabas, we truly believe that instilling positive behaviours has a profound impact on the children in school, at home and as future citizens. Encouraging these behaviours at home will provide your child with a greater opportunity for success, as research indicates that positive behaviour for learning often leads to better outcomes later in life. If you would like to reinforce this at home, we would appreciate your support, as always. Feel free to message with any questions.
Whole-School Worship: Remembrance
At St Barnabas, we always take the time leading up to Remembrance Day to reflect on the people who kept us safe in the past and those who keep us safe now. In worship, we heard examples of people who came from other countries to help defend the UK during the World Wars, and the courage and friendship they demonstrated in doing so. We also thought about how we would like to remember those who lost their lives in war. The children had some lovely ideas, including writing or saying prayers, drawing poppies, visiting memorial sites, attending church services, and even holding a two-minute silence at their weekend football matches. We remember those who gave up their lives for our country and also say a huge thank you to those who work hard everyday to protect us such as the armed forces, the police, firefighters and the NHS. We sang a lovely song of peace at the end of our worship in hope that the world will one day be filled with peace.
WOW Year Group Winners for October
A huge WELL DONE to Year 4 who gained the most walk to school badges for the month of October! It was great to see so many more children gaining their badges this month now we can take part in school through choosing to do the 1K A Day too. Thank you to parents and carers too for all of your support with this super initiative.
Year 6 - PSHE
In PSHE, Year 6 continued their work on relationships. They found out that sometimes we encounter challenges in friendships and that we need to try our best to resolve those challenges. Year 6 provided some fantastic examples of advice and I was extremely impressed by the levels of maturity.
Reception: Painting Skills
Our Reception children have been really working hard on painting like an artist. The children have carefully selected colours and the right amount of paint to create some Rangoli patterns for Diwali. Well done!
Year 4- Why did the Romans invade Britain?
Today we started our new history unit ‘Romans in Britain’. We looked at what an invasion is and explored vocabulary such as empire, celts, enslaved and chronology. The children highlighted key dates on a timeline from 55BC when Julius Caesar unsuccessfully invaded Britain, right up to AD 410 when the Roman army left. Finally we looked at the key reasons for the Romans wanting to invade Britain which included sourcing metals, natural resources and better farmland.
Year 6 - School Council Class Meeting
This morning, Year 6 took part in their class meeting and discussed how their half first term had been. It was great to hear them speak with such openness and justify what they have enjoyed, what could be better and what they are looking forward to as the year progresses.
.jpeg)
Whole-School Worship: Allhallowtide
In our first collective worship of the week, Mrs Ham looked at Allhallowtide through our three spirituality lenses. Lens 1 - Windows: we looked out into the world at a photograph from Bangladesh depicting Christians gathered around graves with lit candles on them and discussed our observations and ideas about what the people were doing and how they might have felt. We had some fabulous ideas such as it must be a place of worship as they could see a cross and candles like we have in our worship, that they might be praying and that they were remembering. Lens 2 - Mirrors: we learned about All Souls’ Day and reflected on how we might remember our loved ones. The children had some lovely ideas about lighting candles and going to a special place. Lens 3 - Doors: we learned about All Saints’ Day and thought carefully about how we could be like saints. The WOW group introduced our behaviour focus for this half term , which is using good manners around school, and the children immediately put these into action by saying please and thank you, holding doors for each other, and letting people past. What a fantastic start to the new half term!
Reception: Diwali
Reception have been learning all about Diwali this week. Diwali will be celebrated by Hindus on Thursday and we are looking forward to teaching the school about it on Thursday. The children learnt about Rama and Sita and how Diwali is the festival of light. They have made Rangoli patterns, cards, Mendhi, diva lamps and cards. The children have also learnt a special song all about Diwali.
Year 4 - The Great Big Live Assembly
On Tuesday morning, Year 4 joined the rest of the school and over 1000 other schools across the country for the Great Big Live Assembly online. The assembly was a celebration of Black History Month in which we heard from various black celebrities as they talked about people from the black community who have inspired them. There was a quiz about historical figures and a short interview with children from a UK primary school who said we should all be proud of who we are.
Year 6 - Black History Month Worship
Year 6 took part in a worship, that schools across the country joined, to celebrate ‘Black History Month’. We discussed how we can ensure that all children feel welcome in school and explored some inspirational figures. One Individual that stood out to year 6 was Ruby Bridges. She is an American civil rights activist who attended a formerly all-white school at the age of 6. Despite having to be escorted into school and jeered at daily, she battled adversity in order to get the best possible education for herself.
Reception: Black History Month Worship
Today we joined the Great Big Live Assembly all about Black History Month. The children found out that lots of people of colour do not feel safe in the place that they live.There are lots of black heroes such as Saka the footballer and Krish a television presenter who have gone on to be extremely successful regardless of the colour of their skin. We ended our worship with a prayer all about treating everybody equally no matter the colour of their skin. The belief that everybody deserves to feel safe and happy. It is important to make sure that everybody feels special and valued.
Barney’s Break Time Snack Rules
In our Wellbeing Warrior meeting today, the children discussed what should and what shouldn’t be included in our break time snacks as we have had quite a few questions about this from both parents and children. After looking at national guidance and a healthy balanced diet, the wellbeing warriors have decided that the following foods can be brought in for a break time snack: Fruit - fresh/dry Vegetables Frubes ( tube yoghurt) Cheese ( babybel or similar) Plain /yoghurt covered rice cakes Breadsticks Crackers/cracker bread Items that we would like children NOT to bring in: Any chocolate coated items Cereal bars Nuts Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive a free piece of fruit each day. Thank you for your support and understanding. This will begin on our return after half term. If there are any medical conditions that require other items, class teachers and staff will use their discretion. Have a lovely weekend. The Wellbeing Warriors
.png)
Inter-House Sports Dodgeball led by Sports Leaders
A huge thank you to our new Sports Leaders who ran their very first Inter- house competition today. They chose to do dodgeball and every class thoroughly enjoyed it! The children showed each other respect, demonstrated the 4 B’s and encouraged each other every step of the way. We can’t wait to hear who the overall winners are next week
.png)
St Barnabas do Hello Yellow Day 2024
Today in school, we celebrated Hello Yellow Day 2024. Hello Yellow Day is a day when we can show our support for young people and let them know they're not alone with their mental health. Thousands of children came together to make World Mental Health Day that little bit brighter by wearing something yellow and donating to YoungMinds. Right now, the world is a really tough place for children and young people to grow up in. We want young people to know that they don’t have to go through this alone. Things can get better. Because we stand brighter, together. At St Barnabas, we celebrated through our whole school worship led by Mrs Ham and her minion friends, Harry, Hamza, Daisy and Rosie. Each class then used their PSHE session to explore Hello Yellow Day further and it was clear to see that every class made a super effort with their outfits too. What a super day being loud and proud in yellow. #HelloYellow
Walk Once a Week Challenge September Winners - Year 3
Congratulations to Year 3 for having the most children who either walked, park and strode or completed the 1K a day in the month of September. They received a whopping 29 badges in total and will now take their place on the WOW hall of Fame. A huge well done and thanks to all of the parents and carers who have encouraged their children to take part in the scheme. Don’t forget - if you can’t manage the walk or park amd stride, you can always do the 1K a day with your teacher in school so that you have the opportunity to gain your badge as well! The WOW ambassadors highlighted that October is National Walk to School month so it is really important to try and travel more actively to school either in the morning or after school has finished.
Whole School Worship: Courageous Advocacy
Today in worship we continued to explore the meaning of spirituality, looking at adversity in the world, how it makes us feel, and talking about what we can do about it. We discussed how we can turn our sparks into flames, our ideas into actions. The children were really inspired by some of the images and shared some great ideas, such as donating warm clothing to the homeless, picking up litter so that it doesn’t hurt wildlife and donating food to local shelters and charities. We will be putting some of these ideas into action over the next few weeks, through our Harvest festival and our Rotakids initiatives.
National Poetry Day in Year 4
As part of National Poetry Day, Year 4 have written their very own poems based on The Amazon Rainforest. They developed their use of both similes and metaphors to up level their examples. We recited the poems and gave peer evaluations. Once we had finished, we wrote the poems again for a poetry competition called Wonder Verse in which the best poems are selected and published in an actual poetry book. We can’t wait to hear if any of our poems make it to publication so we've got everything crossed. Happy National Poetry Day.!
Rev Ben’s Collective Worship
In today’s collective worship, Rev. Ben began by engaging the children in an interactive challenge, where three children had to use two pieces of paper as stepping stones to cross the hall. This activity set the stage for the theme of the session: perseverance and trust in challenging times. Rev. Ben then shared the Bible story of Moses and the Israelites' long journey through the desert, highlighting the struggles and faith they experienced along the way. After listening to the story, the children were encouraged to reflect and discuss key questions: 'What did God's people do during their journey through the desert?' and 'What are some positive alternatives to complaining when things get tough?' These discussions helped the children connect the story to their own lives, exploring how patience, gratitude, and faith can guide them through difficult situations.
Year 4 - Smart School Council
In our smart school council meeting this week, we had to vote for the act of kindness that we think is most important to show in school. It was a tough decision with lots of good arguments expressed for the other choices, but after much deliberation, the most votes in Year 4 were for helping adults around school. We also put forward some great suggestions for school improvement.
Year 6 - Class Meeting
Year 6 discussed how we can show kindness in our school community. Each group justified which options they thought were the most important, but accepted that they could all play a huge role in promoting kindness throughout our school family.
Year 4 PSHE - Team work
In our PSHE sessions we are looking at Me and My Relationships. This week we focused on teamwork and how we can show this both in and out of the classroom. We discussed how this links to our 4 B’s, Christian values and British Values too.
Year 6 - Picture News Worship
Year 6 took part in a virtual worship which followed on nicely from our class worship. It focused on the clean up and the importance of community in the aftermath of this summer’s riots, that took place up and down the country. We discussed how we can all come together, no matter what our background, and work towards a common goal.
.jpeg)
Year 4 Picture News Big Celebration Assembly
This morning we got the chance to take part in a virtual Picture News Big Celebration Assembly. We started with a picture which we had previously looked at in our class worship on Wednesday which showed the volunteers that had come together to clean up after the recent riots. We linked this to how we serve our school community and discussed British values. We always make sure that we welcome our community by showing our 4 B’s. Following this we heard from Boston St Nicholas School in Lincolnshire who highlighted how we can shine our light in so many different ways . It was lovely to share this special time to reflect and pray and we look forward to highlighting how we really do matter within our special school community.
Sports Leaders 2024-2025
Our new Sports Leaders were presented with their new smart jackets this morning and are raring to go! We look forward to planning and supporting events both in and out of school for Inter and Intra school events. In today’s meeting we have already planned our first Inter- House Sports event for the whole school which is super exciting.
Year 4 PE - Team Building and Problem Solving
To start off our new PE journey in Year 4 we had a one off lesson on team building and problem solving. We split the class into four equal groups which each group designated a “leader’. They then relayed a set of instructions to their team so that they could tackle various problems and work collaboratively. Each team actively encouraged each other and showed great will and determination to overcome each problem. It was great to see them discussing tactics and applying different approaches within groups. Next we look forward to starting our Boccia and Handball units and hope to build on the many successes of today's lesson.
Class Worship- How can communities help each other in times of difficulty?
During our class worship, Year 3 looked at a story about the summer when riots occurred in England and Northern Ireland, causing damage to cars and buildings. We defined the term 'communities' and discussed the importance of everyone feeling welcome and safe within their community. The children reflected on their differences and similarities, recognising that our school community is special because it is made up of so many different individuals with unique interests. We discussed our British value of mutual respect and tolerance, considering how our words and actions can impact others. We then sang ' When I needed a neighbour' and ended the worship by thanking God for our school community.
Whole School Worship: Jesus the Good Shepherd
We were all so happy to have everyone back for our first day of the school year. In our first worship we recapped and celebrated all of the amazing ways we live out our school vision and what Jesus meant when he said we should have life in all its fullness. We heard about His teaching of the sheep and the gate and learned that He wished for all of us to use Him as our gate to God; that we can have a good life if we follow His word. We then recapped our 4 B's school rules and our Christian Values. Our teachers will be looking for our children to demonstrate these in order to gain values points each day and get on our 'time to shine' board. We reflected on what we are looking forward to this year and how we will achieve great things and live life in all its fullness.
Year 4 - Creating our Class Rules
What a fantastic start to Year 4 we have had! Everyone was placed on our Time To Shine board and 4 people were chosen to sit on the Star Worker cushions. Here we are, writing our class rules. Everyone contributed a rule based on our 4 Be’s: Be Ready, Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Respectful. We can tell already that it’s going to be a great year.
Reception: Our school rules
Today, we introduced our school rules: The 4 B's. We explored what be ready, be kind, be respectful and be safe meant. We all discussed how we need to be kind and share toys with each other, look after and tidy our classroom, listen to each other and sit beautifully on the carpet to name a few. We all then made a handprint to say we would follow our school rules.
Whitehall Park Disco
Whitehall Park team enjoyed a disco in the school hall at break time today. They received the most house points this term. The children enjoyed some sweets, danced and also played musical bumps.
Friday Celebration Worship- Whole School
Today, in celebration worship, we began by signing the Trinity and discussing the busy week. Mrs Ham thanked the children who sang at Blackburn Cathedral for the celebration of Cidari's 10-year anniversary. These children were recognised for demonstrating our Christian value of courage. All classes were praised for their transition day to new classes. They showed bravery and respect throughout. The class teachers presented value awards to the following students for always doing the right thing and trying their best in everything: Joey from reception, Harry from Year 1, Harry from Year 2, Darcy and Ivy from Year 3, Eden from Year 4 and Brooke from Year 5. Well done!. Year 1 and Year 4 won the attendance award this week. Well done for ensuring you are always in school, ready to learn. We also celebrated children for their extracurricular activities outside of school. Many showcased their trophies, medals and certificates in swimming, football, ballet, brownies, dancer for the year, gymnastics, performing arts, horse riding, Iron Kids Run, and lifeguarding skills. The Wellbeing warriors presented the children with walk to school badges and we sang' School Rules' which the children enjoyed. To conclude our worship, prayers were led by Lilly, Olivia and Mrs Ham.
Year 4 - Linking Schools: Final Visit
This week saw the final meeting with our link school, St Matthew’s. It allowed Year 4 class to be the hosts and what amazing hosts our children were! We spent the day working in teams with our friends, playing problem solving games using hoops and bean bags and building sturdy towers from newspaper and masking tape. We were so proud of them all for making the Kestrels Class welcome. Some of the children even requested that we stay in touch next year.
.png)
Inter- House Athletics Star Athletes
Huge congratulations to our ‘Star Athletes’. The children have all taken part in our Inter-House Athletics event this morning. It was great to see everyone involved and special thanks to our Sports Leaders for organising it at the last minute so we didn’t miss out with our sports day being postponed.
Inter- House Sportshall Athletics with Years 3 & 4
Year 3 and 4 absolutely loved their inter-House Sportshall Athletics this morning. They did various events which included sack race, egg and Spoon, obstacle relay and sprints with a baton exchange. Thanks to the sports leaders for organising.
Year 4 - Linking Schools: Mosque Visit
Whilst visiting our link class in Blackburn, we visited the Jamia Ghosia Mosque, where some of our friends go every day after school. We explored the main prayer hall and learned about some of the religious symbols inside the mosque. We also visited the wash room (wudhu) and learned about how Muslims carry out ablution prior to praying. We will be talking about this further in our RE lesson next week. Thank you to the leaders at the mosque for welcoming us and answering our questions.
Year 4 - Linking Schools: Developing Friendships
Year 4 class had a fantastic time at St Matthew’s on Tuesday. The children made some lovely friendships, taking part in collaborative activities and games, and having a picnic together. Our time at St Matthew’s came to a close by joining the Linking Network’s celebration Zoom meeting. We can’t wait to welcome our friends to St Barnabas next week.
.jpeg)
Year 4 - Linking Schools: Poem Dedications
Whilst visiting St Matthew’s, we decorated poems about the power of working together. We then dedicated these to a friend from our link class and they did the same for us. We had a great time decorating the poems and loved exchanging them with our friends.
.jpeg)
Year 4 PE Athletics in the sun
In our PE session yesterday we had our first athletics session. We worked in teams to develop our agility, speed and body awareness. We also practiced the events that we will do next week in our Sports Day such as sprint, egg and spoon, sack race and obstacle relay. We used batons for handovers and some of the children really pushed themselves out of their comfort zones.
English- Year 3- Refugees from Sudan and Libya
Today in Year 3, we welcomed two refugees. Zinab from Libya and Samah from Sudan. They both had to leave their families because it was not safe in their countries. Zinab and Samah told us about their struggles and worries about fitting in here in the UK. They were very grateful to the UK for providing them with housing and support. They also reminded us to be thankful that we don't have wars, and that we have safe places to stay and food to eat. The question and answer session helped the children understand the challenges refugees face, which they could then portray in their writing.
Year 4 - Class Worship: Supporting Refugees
In our class worship in Year 4, we learned about the rights of the child and how these protect us from harm and cruelty. We read some first hand accounts of refugees fleeing their countries and tried to understand what actions might have led to their escape and how they might have felt in that situation. The children then discussed how they could help refugees in their community and elsewhere in the world. The class came up with some very considerate ideas.
Year 3- Class Worship- Refugees Welcome
During our class worship today, we learned about Milad from Syria, who had to flee his country because of the war. Milad was forced to leave his older brother behind and was separated from him for over a year, not knowing if he would ever see him again. We also examined the conditions of the refugee camps and the large number of people living in them. Additionally, we discussed the British value of individual liberty, recognising that everyone has the right to live somewhere safe and that we can choose to help refugees. We then thanked God for keeping us safe and prayed for all those who have to leave their homes because of war.
Reception: Refugee Worship
Today our Ducklings had a worship focussing on refugee week. We discussed what a refugee is and how they may feel. Harry said they may feel sad, Percy said they might be hungry, Callie said they might be worried and Phoebe said they might be scared. We remembered why we donate to DARE and how important it is to be kind and to help others. We discussed what we could do. Olivia said we could donate, Skye said we could buy them a present and Haydn said we could give them a hug to make them feel better. We are lucky to have such kind Ducklings, well done for all contributing to a very thoughtful worship. At the end we sang my lighthouse about how God will always look after us and guide us to safety.
WOW Badge Winners for May
Huge congratulations to all of the children who have managed to ‘Walk Once a Week’ or ‘Park and Stride’ once a week during the month of May. We saw so many children receiving their badges but we can only have one overall class winner and that went to Year 5 ….again! Well done to all involved and keep up the hard work.
.jpeg)
Year 4 - The Big Debate - Should parents be able to access their children’s social media?
As part of our class worship this morning, we completed our big debate on whether or not parents should be able to access their child’s social media accounts? We know that social media can have both a negative and positive impact on children. We also found that OFCOM completed a survey in 2020 which showed that 30% of children aged 5-7 years had a social media account! Reasons for ‘should’ were : It could protect the child from danger It can support with mental health if the child is struggling to deal with issues It can correct negative behaviour ( the parent can intervene) Reasons for ‘shouldn’t’ included: It’s invasion of privacy They can learn their own way about e-safety There are other ways of checking on your child Overall our class voted 22 people for their parents checking and only 5 opposed it.
DPSSA Netball Finals Night
This evening we took part in The Darwen Primary Schools Netball Finals event at Darwen Vale. We had three really tough games winning our first 5-2, drawing our second 1-1 and again winning our final game 5-1. This saw us gain joint top place finishers. Unfortunately it then went down to a goal difference of just three goals so we came away with silver medals. The children played brilliantly and are such a joy to watch. Great team spirit and true St Barnabas encouragers. Well done Team B - you have really done yourselves proud!
Year 6- Islamophobia Workshop
This week, year 6 took part in an islamophobia workshop. They discovered what islamophobia is, why we have islamophobia and how we tackle the issue. The overriding theme from the workshop is that it exists from a lack of education around the Islamic faith and it can be tackled through education. This will allow the children to make informed choices as they go out into the world.
Year 4 Class Worship - Is it fair to judge others based on first impressions?
In our class worship this morning we used Picture News and looked at if it is fair to judge others based on first impressions? We discussed the all girls football team from Bournemouth who were undefeated all season in a league dominated by boys. We shared our ambitions and goals with each other and looked at how we can exceed expectations.
Year 4 History - Extracting and Interpreting information from Viking Artefacts
As part of our final history lesson, we looked at how we can make observations about artefacts and how to deduce information about Viking life. The children worked hard to complete knowledge tables on what the artefact was, what it was made from and what it could have been used for. We have really enjoyed our history unit on the Vikings and loved linking it to our fact files in our English lessons too.
Year 6 RSHE
On Friday, year 6 took part in an RSHE session with Karen from Coram Life Education. This session focused on how the children’s bodies can change and how they can keep safe as they grow up. Year 6 listened attentively and acted in an extremely mature manner.
Year 4 - Linking Schools: Kindness Chatterboxes
In Year 4, our preparations are in full swing as we anticipate the arrival of our link class from St Matthew’s in Blackburn. In our final half term, St Matthew’s Year 4 class will be spending a day with us and we’ll also be spending a day at their school completing collaborative learning activities. Our chatterboxes contain kind acts and affirmations that we hope will help our visitors feel welcome in our school.
Year 4 - Smart School Council
Special school trips were the main discussion point in Smart School Council this week. Once our notary and debate leader were chosen, the class were presented with a debate about school trips. The children were presented with 4 options for possible future school trips and they had to try and agree on one per group as each group was only allowed one vote. The options were football match, beach, museum/art gallery and theme park. And the winner was… …theme park! We then went on to pledge to take action on 6 school improvement ideas.
Year 6 Class Worship
Yesterday, our class worship was led by our WOW group members Luca and Archie, who did a superb job. The focus was all about how the past can help us learn about modern life. From the past, we can learn from mistakes, the consequences of actions and how they have impacted the world, and be inspired by positive outcomes.
WOW leading Class Worship in Year 4
The WOW group led our Class Worship this morning and Year 4 really enjoyed taking an active role alongside them. The children posed various questions and asked how the past has helped us learn new things for the future and how we may have experienced life changing events. The children shared some really heart warming experiences and we closed the worship with some beautiful prayers.
Year 5 and 6 Hop, Skip and Jump for East Lancs Hospice
Last Friday, year 5 and 6 took part in a fundraiser for East Lancs Hospice. It involved them hopping, skipping and jumping around the school yard. They took part with such enthusiasm. Well done year 5 and 6!
Y4 Class Worship - Can you learn to persevere?
As part of our class worship this week, we looked at if we can learn perseverance. We looked at how Jasmin Paris who became the first female runner to complete what is thought by many to be the world’s toughest race. She crossed the line in March with less than 100 seconds to spare. The main point that we discussed is how this will go on to inspire others and test the limits of people’s capabilities. We also looked at inspirational quotes from famous people and finally wrote our own.
Walk to School Summer Worship
As part of our new Walk to School initiative, we took part in a virtual worship this morning. It was to highlight events that will be taking place over the summer term. We also looked at how children travel to school in different countries and found that some children have to go to school in a boat and some children in China have to climb 2500 ft up a mountain side using a rope ladder! The schools that took part, shared why walking to school helped us and we said that it helps us to clear our mind, be with nature, how it helps to keeps us fit and de- stress. The events that are due to take place are Walk to School Week 20-24th May and the WOW Top Ten Challenge when schools try to increase their walks and gain a top ten place on the leader board which is 3-28th June. Our WOW ambassadors are looking forward to promoting these exciting events and will be planning something very exciting!
The Pupils’ RE Conference 2024
Mrs Araujo and two of our W.O.W. group members enjoyed a fun-packed day at the RE conference. They met the author of the story The Dove Stone and explored the prayer themes revealed in the book. They even had the opportunity to create their own prayer stones from clay. All in all, it was a fantastic day, and our children were fantastic ambassadors for St Barnabas.
WOW Badge and Class Winners for March 2024
A huge well done to all 120 of our WOW badge winners for March 2024. What a super effort everyone has made. We have all tried really hard to either walk or park and stride once a week in the month of March which was a little taster session as we did it over the 2 weeks! A big congratulations to Year 5 as they have the most badge winners. We look forward to seeing who has earned a badge for April in a couple of weeks.
Year 4- The Big Debate - should we put restrictions on fast food intake?
In our Class Worship this morning we took part in The Bg Debate which asked; Should the amount of fast food people are allowed to eat be restricted? We learned lots of new facts including- 37% of all American adults have a least one fast food meal per day and that in the UK, 26% of all adults are classes as obese. We also questioned who judges what fast food actually is? Not all fast food is viewed as unhealthy and it also helps poorer families as some fast food is cheaper. As a class we voted that WE SHOULD restrict the fast food and the children debated both sides of the argument very well!
Year 4 Go on Residential to The Anderton Centre
Well that’s a wrap! What an amazing adventure we have had at The Anderton Centre. The children have loved tree climbing, archery, fairy den building, night line guide line, bushcraft, marshmallow toasting, team building, XL stand up paddle boarding, midnight feasts, sleepovers (with not much sleep) and AI food. The children have really challenged themselves, attempting things that have really pushed them out of their comfort zones. Team Gardner, Team Araujo andTeam Lyon’s were a pleasure to take and conducted themselves in true St Barnabas style, showing our four Bs along the way at all times. A huge thanks to the parents and carers for allowing us to share such a magical experience with them, labelling every item under the sun and all with the packing skills of a scout leader! We now have very tired children but they have made memories that will last a lifetime! For all of the photos, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-4-anderton-centre-residential
Inter House Dodgeball Event
The Inter House Dodgeball competition was a huge success. Every single child across school took part and represented their house teams. It was fantastic to see the children getting involved, working as a team and having lots of fun. A massive thank you to the Sports leaders who ran the event and congratulations to both of our winning houses which were the yellow and green team - Whitehall Park and Darwen Tower
Year 4 History - King Alfred the Great
In our History lesson today we looked at various interpretations of Alfred the Great . We started in 793AD when the Vikings sailed down from Scandinavian lands to the North East coast to Lindisfarne. Here they savagely attacked the monks and robbed them of their treasures. 50 years on over 3000 Vikings arrived but King Alfred had something to say about that! He gathered his army and they fought a gruesome battle and this is when Alfred gained his King Alfred the Great title. One that no other king has ever received.
Year 4: Down Syndrome Awareness Day 2024
In our Class Worship and PSHE sessions today, we focused on Down Syndrome Awareness Day. World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD), 21 March, is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012.Typically, a baby is born with 46 chromosomes. Babies with Down syndrome have an extra copy of one of these chromosomes, chromosome 21. We also looked at how we are all unique and have very special qualities. This is why we are supporting this day by wearing our odd socks.
Year 3- PSHE- What is a community?
Today in PSHE, Year 3 discussed the concept of "community." We explored what this term means to each of us. To visually represent this, Sophie and Elliot sketched a 'Community Web' diagram in the PSHE scrapbook and extended lines outward, representing the different communities the children belong to. These included their family, school, sports teams, brownies, cubs, swimming, neighbourhoods, and more. We explored the idea that individuals can belong to multiple communities, each with its unique characteristics and lifestyles. We also emphasised the importance of understanding and recognising this diversity within communities and showing respect.
The Big Lent Walk in Year 4
This afternoon, Year 4 went on their Big Lent Walk around our local area. We walked past both Mrs Gardner’s and Mrs Singleton's houses on our journey. The children loved being out in the fresh air and working together to add more km to our whole school total. We are so proud of them as we were also in our World Book Day outfits which included onesies, dresses and dressing gowns. Collectively we walked 92.8k - WELL DONE Year 4
Year 3- Class Worship-R.E- How does Jesus change lives?
In today's class worship and Religious Education lesson, Year 3 explored the story of Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector, which meant he collected taxes for the government. However, many disliked him because he was known to cheat people out of their money. When he met Jesus, everything changed. He felt sorry for tricking and lying to people in the past. After hearing the story, the children generated questions asking Zacchaeus about how he felt during different parts of the story. Then they got into the role of Zacchaeus and answered those questions, imagining his feelings. The story of Zacchaeus teaches us that people can change for the better. Even if someone has done wrong things in the past, they can choose to make things right. When Zacchaeus met Jesus, he decided to be honest and kind instead of cheating people. It shows us that it's important to say sorry when we make mistakes and try to be better people. We learnt that everyone deserves a second chance, and it's never too late to do the right thing.
Year 3- PSHE- Families and Friends
During our PSHE lesson this afternoon, Year 3 discussed what "family" means to different people. We emphasised the importance of respecting everyone's idea of family. Then, in small groups, they got a picture of a family and made up a story about them. They were reminded to be respectful and think about different kinds of families. We spoke about stereotypes, and how stereotyping isn't good because it makes people think everyone in a group is the same. But people are all different. Stereotypes can make us treat others unfairly because we don't see them as individuals. It's important to understand everyone is unique and not judge them based on stereotypes. This helped the children understand that families can be different and that's okay.
Year 3- Collective Worship- Should we learn sign language at school?
Today in Year 3's class worship, we explored different ways of communicating, including prayer to connect with God and the importance of British Sign Language. The children feel learning sign language at school is vital to support the deaf community, break down barriers, and promote understanding between different communities. They also discussed the importance of respect and celebrate difference. We ended our worship by thanking God for creating each of us uniquely different.
The Big Debate Club - Should all children receive pocket money?
This morning we took part in Smart Schools Council Big Debate. It asked us to discuss whether children should all be given pocket money or not? We found that the average pocket money for 11-16 year old is on average £16.30 per week which seems an awful lot, especially with the cost of living crisis! The children debated confidently and used their speaking and listening skills to get their points across. As a class we decided that not all children should receive pocket money for a variety of reasons and if children are old enough they should earn their own money by getting a part time job which will benefit them greatly.
Year 4 History - Who were the Anglo Saxons and the Scots?
We started our new history topic on Anglo Saxons this afternoon where we looked at identifying where Angles, Saxons and Jutes came from and then we went on to why Anglo Saxons chose to invade Britain. They travelled on longships and some of them were invited by the Romans but some were raiders. Britain offered plentiful resources and the children worked hard to investigate other reasons as to why invading our land was so popular.
Year 2 History
We began our new History topic of Monarchs by looking at what a monarch actually is and what they do. We discussed our current monarch King Charles III and his roles and responsibilities. We designed a crown with symbols that represent what a Monarch’s job is. For example, writing a speech, money to show wealth, handshakes to show him meeting with other people and a bible to show their faith.
Dress to Express 2024
What a fantastic day we’ve had celebrating Dress to Express! It was lovely to get together as a whole school to raise awareness for Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Every single member of our school family certainly dressed to express themselves and made themselves heard as we all have a voice. Well done to all of the children that spoke about why they had chosen their outfits and how it allowed them to express themselves.
Year 3/4 Key Steps Gymnastics Competition
What a fantastic afternoon we have had at St Bedes taking part in the Key Steps Gymnastics competition. We entered the individual competition plus the girls and the mixed teams. The children have worked incredibly hard to memorise three routines both at home and in school. Today when they performed all three routines, they all had a huge smile and did it with pure Barney’s determination and perseverance. We are so proud of all nine of them for representing our school in such a great way! Also a huge WELL DONE to our girls team who came away with a bronze medal!
Year 6 PSHE
In PSHE, year 6 focused on the qualities of good friends. We started by discovering that it is okay for friends to have different views and interests. We did this by presenting a series of statements and noticed that there were so many differences within our year 6 class: some agreed and some disagreed with the statements. We ended the lesson with the children explaining what they felt were the most important qualities of friendship. Not only did they have to list the quality, but justify why it is important.
.png)
Year 3- Class Worship-To drive or be driverless?
During our class worship today, we watched this week's story. According to the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, there's a possibility that by 2026, motorists might find themselves completing journeys in driverless vehicles – cars that can navigate without human control. Year 3 are worried about the idea because they felt uneasy and thought it could be unsafe not having a driver. But, we used this chance to discuss the British Value 'Rule of Laws'. The children were reminded about how everyone must follow the rules when driving to keep things safe. We thanked God for the wonderful world and everything in it. To conclude our worship, the children sang the hymn, 'Our God is a Great Big God.'
Year 3- Class Worship- Is an e-reader better than a book?
Today in class worship, we watched this week's story on reading. Year 3 had the opportunity to read from cereal boxes, leaflets, letters, magazines, game instructions, and emails. Some children like reading on screens, especially cereal boxes during breakfast. But most think reading from a real book is better because you can touch and feel it, and some books have cool stuff you can touch and smell. We acknowledged that learning to read requires perseverance and resilience, qualities for which we can take responsibility and we are lucky to have many chances to read. Books can take us to new and exciting places, and we're thankful for the gift of reading, thanking God for everything, especially the ability to learn to read.
Year 6 Class Worship
Today, in our class worship, year 6 listened to the story of Philip and Nathanael. They discovered that these two individuals, although friends, had very different personalities, but that this can often lead to stronger friendships. Following this, we noted down what year 6 value in friendship and discussed how we all have the right to choose our own friends.
Year 4 English - identifying and discussing dilemmas
In our English session we have started our new unit - Stories with Dilemmas but first we needed to identify what a dilemma was! We looked at moral dilemmas based on the clip ‘French Roast’ and then highlighted consequences. Afterwards we looked at poems that each have a dilemma and tried to identify these. It was great to see the children fully engaged and immersed in speaking and listening activities too.
Year 3- Whitehall Park- Singing Christmas songs and admiring the Artwork
This morning, Year 3 have been out admiring the wonderful artwork created by some of the children from our school. During the visit, they sang Christmas songs, spreading festive cheer to the members of the gardening club. They were amazed by how well they sang their hearts out. They also had the opportunity to have a play in the park before heading back to school.
.jpg)
Year 2 - Curling Competition
This afternoon, children from year 2 took part in an inter schools curling competition at St Bede’s. This was a new sport for our children and they certainly enjoyed it. We played 9 games against other schools from Blackburn with Darwen with some very close games along the way. We have some excellent curlers in year 2 and importantly they represented our school superbly showing true sportsmanship throughout. We just missed out on the medals in 5th place but the children should be really proud of themselves.
Y4 English - The Diary of a Roman Soldier
Over the past few weeks, the children have been working hard on sentence stacking to develop their diary writing skills. We focused on the life of a Roman soldier and our success criteria included using personification, adverbs, fronted adverbials and inverted commas. They have now published these on the chrome books and we look forward to passing them on to another class to read and evaluate.
Year 4 Dance Self Evaluation
Following the completion of our dance unit in PE, today we watched our final piece and then completed a self- evaluation form. We marked ourselves against specific criteria using the red amber green system.
Year 2 - RE
This week, we completed our RE topic looking at Holy books from different faiths. We have been learning about the Bible and understood that different faiths have their own book which they follow. We looked in more detail at the Jewish Torah and the Islamic Qu’ran. We spotted similarities between how religions see their holy book as special and one that should be looked after. We also found that each book contains rules and stories which are used to help people be good citizens.
Year 4 Smart School Council
In our Smart School Council session we discussed if we should be able to buy healthy snacks at break time. The vote was a unanimous yes as everyone thought that this was a great idea and we can pay on parent pay beforehand to help things run smoothly.
Year 3- Class Worship- Who is responsible for Antarctica?
WOW! Year 3 were amazed as they learned about drastic changes in Antarctica's weather because of melting snow and ice. Penguins are struggling to find a place to live, because plants and flowers are being replaced by ice and snow. A polar explorer named Robert Swan is extremely worried about these changes, he wants schools to encourage children to recycle more. Year 3 have volunteered to become champions of Antarctica, and they have promised to recycle more. They hope their actions will have a ripple effect on the environment and the world. We ended the class worship by thanking God for giving us the wonderful world.
Roman Battle Formations in Year 4
In our history lesson this week we discussed why the Roman army was so successful. We looked at why they were so powerful and disciplined. We then looked at how they used manoeuvres and drills to create various formations so that they could protect themselves from every angle in battle. We finished with a real life drill to see if Mrs Gardner could get through the children’s wedge formation that they created with their own shields. Not one boulder (ping pong ball) got through so well done Year 4 - it was a huge success!
Year 4 History - Why was the Roman army so successful?
In today’s history lesson we focused on why the Roman army was so successful. We investigated how the army was broken down into units with a legion having 5000 men, Cohorts then had 480 men and Century’s had 80 men in each group. Finally this was broken down into 10 groups of 8 soldiers who lived, ate and slept in tents together. We also looked at tactical Roman manoeuvres such as the Wedge and Testudo formations. The children can’t wait to finish their shield designs so we can try out the formations to see which would have worked the best in keeping the enemy at bay!
Year 6 Class Worship- Kindness
Today, in class worship, year 6 focused on kindness. We discussed that, even though we may be one person, we can still make a big difference. We watched a video all about acts of kindness and that if we show it to someone, the chances are that those people will then show kindness to others.
.png)
Year 3 - P.S.H.E- The Risk Robot
Today in P.S.H.E., we looked at our third lesson on 'Keeping Safe'. I described different risky situations, and the children had to decide whether the situation was a high, medium, or low risk by following these gestures: putting their hands on their heads for high risk, folding their arms for medium risk, and putting their hands on knees for low risk. We went through various scenarios like crossing a busy road, drinking from an unlabelled bottle, playing near a railway line, singing in front of the whole school, and playing in the school rounders/netball/football team. We then emphasized the importance of following the rules, using proper equipment, and practising good sportsmanship to create a safer and more enjoyable playing environment.
Year 4 - Linking Schools: Poems
The class are LOVING our linking work. We have a couple of pieces ready to send to St Matthew’s now, including these poems we’ve been working on. We have been thinking about the things we love and the things that make us unique. We hope Kestrels Class enjoy reading them.
WOW Group Worship: Respect and Tolerance
Well done to our fantastic WOW Group, who led their first whole-school worship this year today. In recognition of Inter Faith week, they talked about respecting each other’s differences and they taught us about tolerance and how we can show it to one another.
.jpeg)
SPAR Lancashire School Games Launch
Our Sports Leaders and PE lead Mrs Gardner have been lucky enough to represent Blackburn with Darwen at the launch of the Lancashire School Games today at SPAR Headquarters. We also met the Olympic Athlete Holly Bradshaw who won Bronze for pole vault at the last Olympic Games. Our Sports Leaders did both the borough and Team B proud!
Odd Socks and Shoes Day at St Barnabas
Wow! A huge THANK YOU to you all for taking part in Odd Socks and Shoes Day to launch Anti-Bullying Week. There were so many wacky and unique combinations. The Wellbeing Warriors found it so very hard to choose one winner from each class, but after much deliberation, they will be announcing the winners in Celebration Worship tomorrow.
Year 6 Class Worship- Anti-bullying Week
In year 6, we carried out a class worship on anti bullying. We listened to the song ‘Brave’ by Sara Bareilles and discussed how we have to be brave when we are exposed to bullying, whether we are being bullied or are witnessing it. We discussed how it is linked to our British values: how everyone is individual and how we should tolerate differences rather than target people for liking different things. We ended our worship by relating back to this year’s theme, ‘Make a noise about bullying’, and discussed who we could speak to if we ever come across any forms of it.
Year 4 - Odd Socks and Shoes for Anti-Bullying Week
In Year 4, we were proud to show our individuality through our odd socks and shoes on Monday. Just look at those funky feet! After our worship on anti-bullying, some of the children shared how they would help someone who was being bullied. What a kind and supportive bunch we have in Year 4.
Year 4 - Judaism Workshop
We had a special visitor in school on Tuesday. Samantha came to teach Year 4 a bit about the Jewish day of rest: Shabbat. The children were fantastic! They listened with interest and asked some insightful questions. They enjoyed trying on the traditional garments and looking at artefacts, and they particularly loved tasting some challah bread.
Year 3- Interfaith week- Rules of living session by a Jewish visitor
As part of Interfaith week, we had a special visitor in our classroom who shared insights into Jewish traditions and the rules of living. The children learnt about the different rules that Jewish people follow. We learnt about the prayers, the Torah and the clothing that men and women wear. The children also got to taste Challah, a delicious and traditional Jewish bread commonly served on the Sabbath.
Reception: Muddy Monday
Today our Ducklings visited the war memorial at Whitehall park. We had a look at the photographs and pictures of soldiers, their uniform and their armour. We noticed that there were only boy names so we discussed why. A few of our children found their forenames too! We then walked back to school through Jack Keys so we could get a little muddy!
Whole-School Worship: Odd socks day to launch Anti-Bullying Week
Today, to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week, we were all invited to come to school in odd socks and shoes to express our individuality. We learned how to spot the signs of bullying and what to do if we think someone is being bullied. We saw some brilliant acting skills from some of the children who acted our some bullying scenarios. We talked about the Christian and British values we should be showing to each other at all times. At St Barnabas, bullying is not welcome so we made a noise by shouting that out in different year groups and we loved joining in with Andy and the Odd Socks 'Make some noise' song.
Year 6- Remembrance Service
Some of our Year 6 children took part in a special service of Remembrance this morning at Whitehall Cemetery. We are so proud of the way they joined in the service showing their respects and thanks to those who lost their lives during the world wars. After the service they had to find our adopted war graves plus two others and laid special poppy crosses on them. We took a few moments to pray for all of those who gave up their lives for us and also remembered loved ones that might have passed away who are laid to rest in the cemetery.
.png)
Sports Leaders Event - Whole School Inter House Sports
Our Sports Leaders led our Inter House Sports event today and what a huge success it was! Every single year group from Reception all the way up to Year 6 took part. The Sports Leaders decided to start with a bench ball event and organised the timetable and refereed each game. We can’t wait to hear who the overall winning house team is next week in Celebration Worship!
Year 3- Remembrance Day
In their guided reading sessions this week, Year 3 have been learning about Remembrance Day. They have guided information about when the war began and ended and why people wear poppies today. They also talked about the word 'peace' and how everyone wants to have peace in the world. They wrote individual prayers to remember the people who died in the war and the sacrifices they made for our country.
.png)
Year 3- Parliament Week
This week, as part of Parliament Week, the children participated by taking a stance and casting their votes for the changes they wish to see. Some of the suggestions were shorter school days, lowered prices for sweets and snacks, more and better playgrounds, and reduced traffic on the roads. The children particularly enjoyed putting their vote in the Big Ben cardboard ballot box. They want people to listen to their ideas and support their rights.
Year 5&6 War Memorial Visit
Today in their class Worship Year 5 and Year 6 took a special trip to the war memorial to pay their respects to those people who gave their lives up for our freedom. The children held a two minute silence to consider all those people and all those who have been affected by the wars. The children all wrote prayers on poppies and decorated them. They placed their poppies next to the memorial for all visitors to read. Year 5&6 also placed their amazing prayers outside of our school to show their respect to make others think about all those who have been affected.
Year 6 Parliament Week
In year 6, we spent some time thinking about parliament and how the country is actually run as part of parliament week. We looked at how the Houses of Parliament are split into two houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords and discussed some current issues that are close to the children’s hearts and what they would like to see the government do to address them. I’m sure we will find out even more when we go to the Houses of Parliament on our trip to London in March.
Reception - All about Diwali
Reception have been learning about Diwali, the festival of light which is celebrated by Hindus every year. They have been busy making Diwali cards, Rangoli patterns and Diwa lamps.
Whole-School Worship: Remembrance
With Remembrance Day fast approaching, Mrs Ham began the week with a worship about why and how we remember those who have died due to war and those who serve our country and protect us. She explained the significance of the poppy and we discussed which Christian and British values are shown by people in the armed forces. We ended our worship time with a prayer of thanks to those in the armed forces and prayed for peace around the world as we sang ‘A song of peace’.
Year 4 Smart School Council
In today's Smart School Council session, we discussed if we should take part in National No Pens Day on Wednesday 29th November. The children looked at whether it would be a good idea to focus more on speaking and listening activities all day or not. It was a unanimous vote with all six groups voting to take part and suggesting great reasons to do so. We can’t wait to hear the whole school outcome!
Jake Berry Visit- Parliament Week
Year 5 and 6 welcomed our local MP, Jake Berry, into school on Monday and he led an engaging workshop and Q&A session. During the session, he spoke about how laws are created and the various traditions that are upheld in parliament. Year 5 and 6 represented the school superbly and asked some very mature questions, that were kindly answered open and honestly by Mr Berry. What a great way to launch Parliament week next week!
Whole-School Worship: Allhallowtide & Praying for Peace
This morning Mrs Ham reminded us of the Christian season of Allhallowtide starting with All Hallows’ Eve tomorrow - Hallow means Holy and it is a time to be mindful of the good we can do in the world, All Saints’ Day on Wednesday - when Christians remember the good the saints have done, and All Souls‘ Day on Thursday - when we think of those who have died and are in heaven. We discussed Remembrance day which is coming up shortly, where we remember soldiers who have died in the wars. We also thought about the conflict in Israel and Gaza and prayed for those who are suffering in this war. We watched some newsround videos to learn about how children in Gaza and Israel are being affected and we thought of some ways that we can be like saints and help. Peyton said we can pray to God for them and Darcy, Jack and Naomi said we can donate money, clothes and toys to the children who have lost their homes and belongings. To finish we sang a 'Song of Peace' where we wished for a world where hate and war would cease and the everyone in the world could live in peace.
House Team Winners - Autumn Term 1- River Darwen
This morning, River Darwen celebrated winning this terms Values Points Challenge. Over the past seven weeks the children have managed to collect the highest amount of points awarded for showing our Christian values and following the 4 B’s. The children had a disco dance off and sweet treats to celebrate. Well done River Darwen!
Down Syndrome Awareness in Year 4
In our class worship today we watched a video about a young boy named Oscar. Oscar has Down syndrome and today we focused on Down Syndrome Awareness Day. Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome. Chromosomes are small “packages” of genes in the body. We wrote prayers giving Oscar and Lenny a special mention and discussed how we are all unique. As Dr Seuss quotes “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
Hello Yellow Day Poster Competition Winners
This morning in Celebration Worship, our Wellbeing Warriors announced the winners of the Hello Yellow Day Poster Competition. Huge congratulations to our Key Stage 1 Winners : Mila and Molly and Key Stage 2 Winners : Summer, Lily, Lucy and Alice. Thank you so much to everyone that took the time to create a poster. They were of such a high standard and lovely, bright and colourful with wonderfully positive affirmations on them.
Be Internet Legends - Wellbeing Worship in Year 4
In the Be Internet Legends Wellbeing special Worship this morning, we looked at how we can look after our digital wellbeing. We discussed lots of ideas and focused on the importance of finding a balance with our on screen use. Year 4 absolutely loved taking part in the group chats and were amazed when we got two personal shout outs! We are going to look at the top 5 tips again in our PSHE session tomorrow and design posters that share these messages.
Year 6 PSHE
During ‘Hello Yellow Day’, year 6 were looking at triggers. We focused on what makes them feel angry, stressed and upset. We discussed how it is really important to be aware of these triggers and to have some positive coping skills when they are activated. Year 6 suggested some of the following strategies: count down from 10 to 0; go and do something you enjoy; draw a circle on the palm of your hand and surround yourself with positive people.
Whole-School Worship: Hello Yellow Day
Today we are celebrating Hello Yellow Day for World Mental Health Day by dressing in yellow. In worship, our Heads and Deputies dressed as Mrs Ham's Minions and they explained all about Hello Yellow Day. We learnt that we all have mental health and there are things we can do when we don't have good mental health. We made each other smile and feel happy by dancing and singing together with the minions to 'Happy'. We then joined a special live assembly with lots of other primary schools in Blackburn and Darwen, which was led by the Mental Health support team. We talked about our worries and how we can shrink them using mindfulness techniques. Thank you to everyone for dressing in yellow to raise awareness of mental health and remember that it is good to talk to our friends, parents, teachers and other trusted adults if we are worried about anything.
Reception: Learning about Islam
This week our Ducklings learnt all about Islamic prayer beads. They are what Muslims use to pray to God. They are called ‘Subha’. We had a look at a variety of prayer beads and learnt that there are 99 beads which represent a name that is given to God. Some of the names include the kind, the light, the strong, the first, the guide and the loving. Thank you to Miss Kachwalla for bringing her prayer beads in.
Play Leader Practical Session
Our Play Leaders have now completed their final practical training session and are ready to go. The Year 1 and Year 2 children joined in with various warm ups, differentiated games and activities. All they need now is their scheduled timetables, whistle and uniform - we can’t wait to see them in action!
WOW group led Class Worship
In our Class Worship session this morning, our WOW group members Luca, Annabelle and Grace used Picture News to lead the session. We focused on ‘Record Breakers’ and is it correct that anyone can break a world record? We learnt that over 30,000 applicants submit their achievements each year but only 2,638 were selected to be published in the Guinness World Records 2024 . We prayed for the ability to show perseverance and determination along with all of the special people involved in trying to break records.
Year 3-Year 6 WOW Group Members Lead Collective Worship
Today was an exciting day for the class as Lucy, David, and Archie from the WOW group took the lead in our class worship. They guided us through a PowerPoint presentation about Guinness World Records. The children had the opportunity to share what they believe should be included in the book, as well as their dreams and goals. Lucy, David, and Archie also discussed the process involved in getting into the Guinness World Records book. It was an inspiring and thought-provoking session! Great work!
Monday Worship: Black History Month
This month it is black history month. Mrs Ham told us how some African children were sold as slaves and would have to work and could not go to school. They would not earn any money but were forced to be slaves. The Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman wanted to make a difference and stop slavery. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln, the president of the USA stopped slavery and freed them all. Black history month reminds us of all the black people who made and continue to make a difference to change the world such as Martin Luther King Junior, Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela. We watched a video to find out more information about a group of black children who made a difference in their town by having peaceful sit ins in restaurants that were just for white people. They had to show our Christian value of courage when standing up for what was right. We ended our worship by reflecting on how we can stand up to things that are unfair and we sang 'I can make a difference'.
Well Being Warriors Poster Competition
Good morning In our Worship this morning our Well Being Warriors launched their poster competition for Hello Yellow Day on Tuesday 10th October. They would like the children to design a brightly coloured poster that includes positive affirmations and promotes Hello Yellow Day 2023. The competition will be for KS1 and KS2 with a prize for each. All entries will need to be handed to Year 4 Well Being Warriors by Friday 6th October with name and year group on the back. We can’t wait to see your entries - good luck everyone! From Mrs Gardner and The Well Being Warriors
Year 4 Class Council - What makes a good teacher?
In our class worship time we took part in a smart school council session. We discussed what makes a good teacher. Both Summer and Quinn did a great job as Class Leader and Class Note taker . They collected the results from all six groups and it was a tie as two groups chose both ‘a kind and caring personality’ and ‘a motivator who pushes you’ We can’t wait to see the overall school result in the next session.
Year 4 Geography- How can we protect the Amazon?
In our geography session today, we have been looking at how we can protect the Amazon rainforest and the impact that deforestation has on it. We looked at reasons both for and against then moved onto how some of the issues may be solved.
.png)
Year 3- Class Meeting- What are you most looking forward to this year in school?
Today, in Year 3, we had our first class meeting that has been set up by the school communication team. Darcy was our 'Class Leader' and Desmond took the role of 'Notetaker'. in small groups they discussed the key question ' What they are most looking forward to this year in school'? Three of the groups are looking forward to learning new things and the other two groups are looking forward to making new friends. Their teamwork was outstanding, great work Year 3!
Year 4 Be Internet Legends Class Worship
This morning we took part in a live assembly called Be Internet Legends. We looked at the importance of internet safety focusing on being sharp and think before we share. We took part in live shout outs and shared our summer experiences. We will now look at the 3 key reminders regarding our passwords in our next PSHE session: 1- use strong passwords 2- never tell people your passwords 3- don’t share passwords in shared drives
Year 3- Be Internet Legends Back to School Assembly
Today, the Year 3 class joined the live assembly delivered by 'Be Internet Legends'. During the assembly, the children learned about online safety, how to protect themselves and using strong passwords. Five key points that were highlighted throughout the session were; Sharp, Alert, Secure, Kind and Brave — these are designed to equip children with the key skills needed to stay safe online including critical thinking and empathy.
Year 6 - Internet Legends
Today, year 6 took part in the ‘Internet Legends’ workshop. They took part with such enthusiasm, but never lost sight of the message it was tying to get across. They were taught to: - Be sharp and think before you share. - Be secure by using and not sharing strong passwords. - Be kind and respect each other even when you are online. - Be brave by telling a trusted adult when you are in doubt about anything.
Smart School Councillors
We are proud to introduce our ‘Smart School Councillors’ for the year. From Year 5 we have Laila, Daisy, Harry, Oscar and Leonara. Representing Year 6, we have Isaac, Amelia, Lucy, Sophie and Colton. These dedicated pupils will meet fortnightly to discuss school matters. Smart School Council is an important and useful way for our school to provide leadership and development opportunities for all of our pupils. It is an excellent way in which to increase participation, teaching our pupils about democracy, local and global citizenship and accountability. Their mission is to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard and ideas considered.
Year 4 - Creating a Positive Classroom Culture
Our first task as Year 4 pupils was to create a set of class rules to keep everyone safe, happy and thriving in school. We based them around our new school rules: be ready, be respectful, be kind and be safe. So far, our rules have helped us all to create a positive atmosphere, to encourage each other to succeed and to ensure that we are focussed on our learning. Great start, Year 4!
End of Year Awards Ceremony
This morning we had a very special awards Worship to celebrate all the great achievements of our children and our school this year. Quinn received an award for being our planet protector by looking after our world and God’s planet in so many different ways, thank you for your contribution Quinn! We were so proud (and some of us a bit emotional!) to present Ezmae with the Sharon Kay award for always showing kindness and generosity to her peers, what a credit to the school! For our Progress awards, we said a huge congratulations to Lola, Bobby, Tilly, Charlie, Jacob, and Eddie, who have wowed us with their progress this year. We also had our Star of the year awards where Sophie, Ruby, Sofia, Arabelle and Frankie shone like the super stars they are. Our Children’s champion awards were chosen by each class to reiterate the importance of Democracy. Well done to Lyla, Scarlett, Ivy, Lily-May, Joshua and Mason, who have clearly impressed their peers! Finally, we had our Amazing attendance awards. We can never expect children to have 100% attendance as we all get poorly sometimes or have big events in our lives, so our school target for attendance is over 96%. So many of our children achieved this target, well done! Well done to all the award winners and all our other children in school who have shone in their own way this year. We hope they are all as proud of themselves as we are!
Year 4 - Visiting our Link School
Another fantastic experience with our linking class! This week, Year 4 visited St Matthew’s Primary School in Blackburn for our final team project. We visited the Mosque next door to learn about its features, and we took part in team crafts. We have loved our year of linking!
St Barnabas represent the district in The Lancashire School Games 2023
What an honour it has been for our children to go through and represent the district at The Lancashire Schools Games at Stanley Park , Blackpool. After winning the BwD Finals they got the chance to attend the games in Bee Stinger Netball against all of the other districts across Lancashire. We drew one game and won three making it to the quarter finals, which unfortunately didn’t go our way. The children represented both school and district perfectly showing true sportsmanship, determination and encouragement. For such a small school you have achieved great things and all done so with a huge smile on your faces! Go Team B and Go Team BwD!
Year 3 Class Worship
During class worship this week, we thought about bravery and how we show bravery in our day to day lives. We also learnt about the 4 children in the news this week, who survived for 40 days on their own, before being rescued. We spoke about how the children would have had to show so much bravery and courage over this time. We had a think about our Rock and River visit in a couple of weeks time and how we are going to show bravery and encourage our peers, by building each other up and pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone!
Year 4 - Linking Schools Visit Day 1
Last week, we welcomed our friends from St Matthew’s to join us for a day of team building. We had a fantastic day building towers and taking part in team games. We are so excited to visit our link class at their school next week.
Well-being Club
For our well-being club this week we started off by making some lovely apple doughnuts. We all enjoyed mixing the ingredients and chopping up the apples and they definitely enjoyed eating them all up after! We then went on a little walk around the school grounds listening to what different sounds we could hear and if we could find a rainbow of colours in the nature around us.
Year 3 Worship: Refugee Week
This morning, we had a very special class worship. We took part in the ‘Great Big Live Assembly’ where we went live to a refugee camp in Jordan. We learnt about the daily life in a refugee camp and listened to a Q and A, where pupils around the country asked Mohammed and Seedra questions about their lives as a refugee.
Year 1 Class Worship- World Refugee Day
On World Refugee Day, we watched an assembly held by World Vision who allowed us to learn about the lives of refugees and how we can support them. We listened to some refugees from a camp in Jordan who had to flee from Syria. Despite having to leave their homes, they remain very positive and grateful for having a safe place to grow up within the refugee camp. We heard from Seedra, a Syrian refugee, who told us about a typical day for her at the refugee camp. Similar to us, she goes to school, learns to speak English, plays with her friends and then returns home to do her homework and watch some TV. Charities such as World Vision have allowed her to be able to do this and they are very thankful for charities such as this. We were very inspired by Seedra as she continues to hold on to her hope and dream for the future of being a doctor and study hard to achieve this even though she has had a lot of upset in her life. We ended our worship with some beautiful prayers. We prayed to end war in places such as Syria and Ukraine, to keep refugees safe in refugee camps and to thank people for giving things such as clothes, food and toys to help give refugees a better life.
Year 4 - Great Big Live Assembly for Refugee Week
Year 4 enjoyed being part of the Great Big Live Assembly this morning. We learned a lot about refugees and how they are being welcomed into our society. It truly has been a day of welcoming others as we welcomed our friends from our link school too. More photos to follow
Year 5- Class Worship- Refugee Week 2023
Today, Year 5 took part in the Great Big Live Assembly for Refugee Week. During the assembly, we learned about the journeys of refugees from different parts of the world. We had the privilege of hearing from Mohammed and Sidra, two incredible individuals who have had to flee their countries and start anew at the Za'atari refugee camp. Mohammed and Sidra shared their inspiring stories of resilience and courage with us. They spoke about the challenges they faced, but also about their determination to rebuild their lives despite the hardships. Let us continue to foster empathy, understanding, and support for refugees within our school community and beyond.
Year 3 School council
Year 3 have had their weekly school council meeting, today's topic was about things which they might miss about year 3, it was great to see tables discussing their ideas, listening to each other and respecting the majority vote.
Smart School Council in Year 4
In our Smart School Council session we discussed the things that we would miss the most from this academic year. The children had to select from 1- the teachers 2- the person they sit next to 3- a certain topic 4- nothing( bring on the next year). We had a unanimous decision - the children will miss their teachers the most next year!
Year 4 - Linking Schools Preparations
What an exciting time in Year 4 as we prepare to welcome our Linking Schools class! On Tuesday, Kestrel Class from St Matthew’s in Blackburn are due to visit us at St Barnabas for a day of team building and collaborative learning. We have been making name tags, banners, local area maps and preparing a few conversation starters and topics in order to help our visitors feel at ease in our amazing school.
Half- Term Value Points Winners - Whitehall Park
Well done to ‘Whitehall Park’ for winning this half terms Value points Award. They have had a great time celebrating their win this morning by taking part in a multi- sports session which included relay races, football, playground games and trim trail.
Year 5 - Smart School Council - Transitions
Today our meeting leader was Ross and our note taker was Jake. First we discussed the previous meetings question regarding movie choices for our film night. We have taken action with this and have selected a variety of movies for the children to choose from on the night. This week we were discussing transitions and how the children would like to get to know their teachers for next year. The choices were two mornings, a 15 minute Q&A session, a full day or an informational poster. The overall preference for the class was to do a full day transition.
Smart School Council in Year 4
In our Smart School Council session we discussed what would help us with our transition into our next school year. We had four options: move up day, two move up mornings, a fifteen minute Q & A or information poster. The children discussed these options carefully and sensitively but the outcome which most groups voted for was for a full day of transition, rather than just the usual afternoon.
Year 4 - Linking Schools
As we began Phase 2 of our Linking Schools project, we spent some time considering what things in our world that we care about. We wrote our ideas on paper leaves ready to go on our class kindness tree.
KS2 Dinner time fun
This week we fancied mixing it up a bit on the yard, so we set our sports leaders a challenge to set up some different activities. The children have enjoyed playing dodgeball, having a mini sports day and playing with the equipment on the yard.
Year 5 - Class Worship Eurovision
This afternoon we talked about how the UK is holding the Eurovision for the first time since 1998. We talked about how music can affect us emotionally whether it makes us happy and energetic or can make us cry. The children certainly felt a range of emotions when listening to a variety of songs.
Celebration Worship: King Charles III
This morning during celebration worship, we learnt all about the coronation of King Charles III, which will be happening this weekend. We spoke about some of the important things to look out for during the coronation and what it will be like when King Charles is coronated. We also spoke about some of the celebrations that are happening in Darwen this weekend, such as a street party on Monday in the town centre and a party in Whitehall Park on Sunday! We also celebrated all of our successes and achievements in school this week, such as TriKidz and our coronation picnic lunch! We finished our Worship by singing the National Anthem to the new King whilst waving our special coronation flags that our school have bought us. Our Trust have also bought us some special gifts of a commemorative coronation coin, a bookmark and sticker. Thank you Cidari Multi Academy Trust!
Year 6 Red, white and blue day
Year 6 really enjoyed the red, white and blue day that we held in preparation for the king’s coronation. At lunchtime, all of the children ate their dinner on the field during our Coronation picnic.
Year 1- The Coronation photo booth!
We had a super worship this morning all about the King's Coronation followed lots of activities linked to the Coronation. Wishing you all a super weekend celebrating!
Coronation Style Selfies
Coronation Style Selfies with Year 4
Year 5- Class Worship- The Coronation of King Charles III
During class worship this morning, the children watched a short film all about the coronation. We joined Elysha on a journey with her friend to discover the history and importance of the Coronation, the role of the King, and the importance of the Monarchy around the world. The children also learnt that Constance Spry invented the coronation chicken in 1953. She was also asked to arrange the flowers in Westminster Abbey and along the route for Queen Elizabeth's coronation. We spoke about mutual respect and tolerance to the lives and beliefs of others. We ended the class worship with a prayer, thanking God for all the wonderful things we can celebrate.
Year 3: King Charles III
This afternoon for class worship, we spoke about the coronation of King Charles III and the different events that are taking place to celebrate this exciting event. We also thought about how we should show mutual respect and tolerance to others and respect how we choose to celebrate the coronation.
Year 3: Coronation Art
To mark the King’s Coronation, Year 3 have created a collage of King Charles III. The class are going to take their artwork home with them, to keep as a way to remember this special historical event for many years to come!
King's Coronation Picnic
We had a wonderful time at our King's Coronation Picnic. It was lovely to have our whole school family eating and playing together on the top field.
Red, white and blue day for the King's Coronation
We had a special red, white and blue day to celebrate the King's Coronation this Saturday. We have really enjoyed learning all about King Charles and the Coronation this week in school. We hope that everyone enjoys celebrating this weekend.
.png)
Celebration Worship- Whole School
Another amazing week from everyone. We celebrated amazing attendance awards, awards for extra curricular activities such as; rugby, swimming, beavers and to Oscar for his dedication and outstanding commitment to piano lessons. Isaac was celebrated for receiving a distinction in playing the cornet from Trinity College London. The class teachers gave out value awards to the children that have worked their socks off in and out the classroom and have demonstrated our Christian Values. Whitehall Park received the most value points which put them in first place.Well done! The Year 4 class received the 'National Outdoor Learning Award' for being brave and showing great teamwork at Anderton Centre. The attendance award this week went to the Reception class and Year 4. We ended worship by singing the butterfly song and prayers led by James, Darcy, Luca and Mrs Ham. What a fabulous week. Well done everyone!
Year 5 - Smart School Council - Movie Choices
This morning for our class meeting the children were able to vote on what genre of movie they would like to watch at movie night. We had the choice of action, Disney, comedy and sport. The majority vote in class was a sports film but let’s wait and see what the rest of the school vote for.
Year 5 - Hop, Skip and Jump
On Monday we hop, skipped and jumped our way around the MUGA to help raise money for East Lancs Hospice. Today during class worship we have learnt all about East Lancashire Hospice and what they do.
Charlotte from Elektec- D.T- Year 6, Year 5, Year 4 and Year 3
Charlotte from Eeltkec delivered a great talk about the importance of encouraging women to become electricians and the various types of jobs that electricians can do. She also highlighted the importance of safety when working on construction sites, as well as the value of education in becoming a successful engineer, plasterer, architect, or electrician. It was also great to hear about efforts to promote gender diversity in traditionally male-dominated fields. The children were actively engaged in the assembly and asked lots of great questions. Charlotte shared that meeting the King is definitely a noteworthy achievement. It's great that Charlotte was able to share her success story with the children and motivate them to strive for their own achievements and goals.
Year 4 - Taking on the Hop, Skip, Jump Challenge
Year 4 class donned their Easter crowns and took part in some hopping, skipping and jumping challenges for East Lancs Hospice.
Year 4 Smart School Council
In our Smart School Council session this morning, we voted on which movie we would like to watch at the Rotakids movie night. It was a split decision in the end between a comedy or sports film. We look forward to hearing the whole school vote.
Thank you from DARE
Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise have sent their thanks to our school family for our generous Easter Egg donations. They were given out this week to families in need. Thank you to everyone who donated an easter egg and helped to put huge smiles on the children’s faces.
Year 5 - PSHE Friendship
Today in PSHE we talked about the qualities of friendship and what it means to be a good friend. Out of a collection of qualities the children chose what they thought were the best qualities of friendship. They voted that trust, listening attentively and offering to help were the top three qualities.
Easter Eggs for DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise)
A huge thank you to everyone who donated an Easter egg as part of our Lent challenge of showing generosity and kindness to others. On Wednesday they will be given to families in need in our community.
Year 6 Class Worship
In class worship this week, year 6 looked in more detail at the impact of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. We focused on how communities come together in times of hardship and looked in more depth at the tent schools that have been set up in the affected countries. We looked at how this story links to British Values. We discussed that British Values are like a chain and help us to become better citizens and that if everyone stuck by them, the world would be a better place; however, when the chain is broken, issues can arise.
Year 6 PSHE- Autism Awareness
This week has been ‘Autism Awareness Week’ and we have learnt that autism is a condition that affects how a person’s brain works. It may make it harder for people to communicate, make friends and understand social situations. We looked at how we are all unique so the children produced their own hoodie designs to express how they are different to everyone else.
Year 5 - Dogs Trust visit
Today we had our workshop with The Dogs Trust. The class were fantastic and really took on board what was said and asked some fantastic questions. We learnt that we cannot judge a dog just by its breed and that all dogs have their own personalities.
Year 5- PSHE-Celebrating Autism Awareness Week
Last week, our Communication Team set the question for pupils to vote on what they wanted to learn about, and the children voted to learn about autism. We are proud to celebrate democracy and British values by giving our pupils the opportunity to have their say in what they learn. In PSHE today, we celebrated Autism Awareness Week by learning about Marvellous Max, a child with autism. The children were fascinated to learn about the unique qualities that children with autism possess, such as their exceptional memory skills, which can be beneficial for their friends. Being different is awesome and we should all celebrate our unique qualities.
Dogs Trust Visit in Year 4
Today we were lucky enough to have a visit from The Dogs Trust. We had a whole school worship and then a workshop in our classroom. In the workshop, we were ‘Dog Detectives’ looking for clues and evidence. We looked at various scenarios with different dogs including Stan the Staffie, Cassy the Cockapoo and Hector the Husky. What a fantastic way to learn about dogs!
Autism Awareness Week in Year 4
In our PSHE session today, we looked at Autism Awareness Week. We looked at what autism is, how people are at different levels on the spectrum and the many famous people who have autism, including Albert Einstein and Lionel Messi.
Reception- Continuous Provision- The Royal Family
This week the children have been learning all about the royal family. During continuous provision the children haven carrying out different activities in our areas which are all linked to the royal family. We have been painting King Charles in the painting area, we’ve had Buckingham palace and a London scene set up in the small world area, we have been building Buckingham palace in the construction area and we have been making cakes for a royal afternoon tea in the malleable area. We have been really interested in asking and answering lots of questions about the royal family.
Year 5 - Class Worship - Community
Today for class worship we looked at our British Values of tolerance and respect. We discussed our roles in the community and what we may have done to help others. We looked at how the community in Turkey and Syria have come together after the tragic events of the earthquake to ensure children are still able to go to school.
Year 4 - Science: Writing Scientific Questions for an Enquiry
This week we have been learning to ask scientific questions. We voted in our groups for the question on which we wanted to base our investigations.
Whole School Worship: Palm Sunday
Today, we began our worship by watching a video about Palm Sunday. Mrs Ham and the children all read the parable from the rhyming bible whilst we had some talented actors acting the story out. James was the donkey, a vote meant that Mr Prescott was Jesus, Sonny, Alby and Riley were the disciples and Ted and Bobby were the religious leaders. A child from each year group led our prayers at the end of our worship.
Year 6- London Science Museum
Year 6 also visited the London Science Museum and took part in an interactive gallery called Wonderlab:The Equinor Gallery. The interactive experience ignited their curiosity, fuelled their imagination, and inspired them to see the world around them in new and exciting ways. They enjoyed lots of hands on experiments, live science demonstrations and revealed the beauty of the science and maths that shape our everyday lives. They particularly enjoyed the friction experiment using slides with different surfaces that they could zoom down and see which one had the most friction! Kaylen said he felt like he was in heaven as he loves science!
Year 6- The Lion King in the West End
Our Year 6 class and other members of our performing arts club, will be performing their own version of the Lion King at the end of the year. What better way to get some inspiration and tips than to watch The Lion King in the West End at the Lyceum Theatre. All of the children and staff thoroughly enjoyed the performance and were fascinated by the imaginative set changes, amazing costumes and fabulous acting, dancing and singing. We are full of ideas and inspiration for our Lion along production now and can’t wait to perform it.
Year 6- The Houses of Parliament
Our Year 6 class were so fortunate to be able to visit the Houses of Parliament to learn all about our British Values and in particular, democracy and the rule of law. We had a tour and watched a live debate in the House of Commons. Some of our group saw our current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, previous PM’s Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Teresa May, as well as Matt Hancock, who the children recognised from ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’! The Foreign Secretary of State, James Cleverly, also stopped to speak to us and asked us where we were from and if we were enjoying our visit. We visited Westminster Hall, which we recognised from seeing on the news when the Queen was lying in State after her sad death. We then took part in a workshop about how laws are created and we learnt all about Parliament and the houses of Commons and Lords through a fun quiz. We also got to explore democracy through voting and debating. Finally we were visited by our local Member of Parliament, Jake Berry, and had a great question and answer session. We are so proud of the thoughtful questions the children asked him and how they stood up to ask their questions, just like they do in the House of Commons. We are sure that we have a few future MPs amongst our Year 6 class!
Whole School Celebration Worship
In our Celebration Worship this morning we commemorated Year 6's trip to London, as well as the wonderful achievements of our pupils across all year groups. The class teachers gave out awards to pupils who have demonstrated our Christian values such as kindness, respect, and courage. We recognised the hard work and dedication of pupils who have excelled in various extracurricular activities, including our recent swimming gala and the Year 4 children for being brave and showing courage at Junction 4 skatepark. We also awarded the amazing attendance award to our Year 1 and Year 3 pupils, who have shown a commitment to their education and a passion for learning. Congratulations to the yellow team (Darwen Tower) for gaining a total of 317 points. This is a great achievement and a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. Well done and keep up the good work! We are incredibly proud of all our pupils and their accomplishments, and we know that they will continue to achieve great things. We want to thank Rev Ben for leading us in prayer and for reminding us of the importance of faith and community in our daily lives. To celebrate our students' achievements, we sang "Shine from the inside out," a fitting tribute to the incredible talents and hard work of our pupils.
Year 3 Super Slime!
To celebrate British Science Week, each class were given the opportunity to vote for a science experiment that they would like to try out this week. Year 3 voted for Cornflower Slime! We have had great fun this afternoon, experimenting with making slime and thinking about if slime is a solid or a liquid, along with learning how slime is different to water!
Year 6- Food, glorious food!
Our Year 6 children have enjoyed sampling a variety of food whilst in London and have focused on their table manners and etiquette. They have had a buffet meal at Pizza Hut, a breakfast buffet at our Premier Inn Hotel, a meal at McDonalds and two picnics. We are so proud of the way they respected the members of the public, who were also dining alongside them. They also showed great independence skills by helping themselves to some of their buffet meals and clearing away their rubbish. Well done Year 6!
Year 6- London Sightseeing
Whilst in London, our Year 6 class have seen many famous sights. These included Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and the River Thames. Most of our children had never been to London before so we hope this has given them a taster of London and hope they choose to visit again with their family.
London 2023
We are off! Our Year 6 children, Mrs Ham, Mrs Price, Mr Prescott and Mr Tierney are so excited for their trip to London. We can’t wait to visit the Natural History Museum, Houses of Parliament tour and workshop, Lion King Musical, Science Museum, Imperial War Museum and a tour of London sights.
Year 4 Picture News - Should we all be entitled to an opinion?
In our class worship this week we have focused on Picture News. We looked at the news article about Gary Lineker and how his Tweet led him to be dismissed from Match of the Day. We had some great conversations and came to the decision that we should all be entitled to our own opinion, but we need to choose our words very careful as these could be hurtful.
Year 4: Smart School Council - All about Autism
In our Smart School Council session today, we looked at how we can promote awareness of autism, in particular, Autism Awareness Week 2023. The children discussed the options very sensitively and highlighted that some people have siblings that are also autistic and have varying needs.
Year 6- Going underground!
Our Year 6 children have loved travelling around London on the underground tube and escalators. We were so impressed with the way they sensibly and safely walked through the hoards of people commuting to work or sightseeing. They loved it when the tubes set off and stopped and they made sure they held on tight or else they would have gone flying through the carriage! They showed lots of respect to members of the public and used wonderful manners to the guards who let us through the gates.
Year 6- Imperial War Museum
In History this term, Year 6 have been learning all about the Second World War and the part that Darwen played in it. It has been wonderful to visit the Imperial War Museum to learn more about the Second World War and the part that London played in it and contrast this to Darwen’s involvement. We also visited some other galleries including one about the war in Ukraine to highlight that war is still happening. We will shortly be having some Ukrainian refugees visit our school to talk to us about their experience of war and to thank us for the fundraising we have done for DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise). We also visited a gallery about online gaming that showed that children have always been fascinated by war, good stories always have conflict and children have always played war games.
Whole School Worship: Visions and Values
This morning during whole school worship, we revisited our school Christian values and British values and discussed why we have values. We follow the British values of democracy, rule of law, tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, mutual respect and individual liberty in and out of school so that we can feel safe, happy, valued and free to be ourselves. We also reflected on our school vision and the meaning behind ‘Life in all its fullness’ and how Jesus wants us to life live in all its fullness and what that means. We had some great suggestions from the children such as: To be happy, to live your life how you want, not copying others, to show kindness to everyone, to live your best life and to show our Christian Values. We thought about how we can be like Jesus, by showing our Christian values in school and within our community. We thought about the importance of respect and how we can show respect to all those around us. The children enjoyed watching children in another school perform a rap all about respect. Finally, we thought about what makes up our personal identity and what makes you, you by playing some fun thumbs up, thumbs down games to show that we are all different and unique and that is brilliant. Our Year 6 children are looking forward to learning more about our British values, in particular democracy and the rule of law when they visit the Houses of Parliament this Wednesday.
Celebration Worship Value Points Winners
In our Celebration Worship this morning we spent time reflecting on why we came to school in non- uniform- our school council chose to raise funds for families who have been affected by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. We also celebrated our Value Ponts Winners across both Key Stages and it’s so lovely to see how our values are being shown by the children and how they are working hard both in and out of the classroom. We had so many other things to celebrate this morning such as Let Girls Play Football Event, Let’s Go Sing and the verse speaking competition. The list of Super Sports Stars was never ending this week which is so great to see! Attendance Winners were Years 2 & 6 and Value Points Winning house team was River Darwen.
Celebration Worship -Sports Stars
The list of Super Sports Stars was never ending this week which is so great to see! We had children receiving awards for a number of out of school sports such as swimming, martial arts, horse riding, dancing, rugby and gymnastics. We hope that the children are inspired to take part in different sports after hearing from our worthy winners.
Year 1 Police Safety Talk
Today Year 1 met PCSO Gail, PCSO John and PCSO Darren the bear to talk about what the police do, stranger danger and how to stay safe in our community. They asked some super questions, tried on a police vest and were shown the equipment the police wear to communicate and capture evidence whilst working. We looked at how the police get around and the different vehicles they might use. We also all got a photo and cuddle with Darren the bear.
British Science Week Assembly
This week is British Science Week and the theme is ‘Connections’. The children have enjoyed an exciting assembly explaining about the events for the week and also saw some live experiments take place in the hall, as well as some amazing videos of simple experiments they can carry out at home with the help of an adult. They will be voting for their favourite experiment in their classes this week, which will be carried out next week with their class teachers. There is a national poster competition to enter, lunchtime experiments and fun with our year 5 and 6 Science Club team and live online science lessons to take part in.
.png)
Support for Turkey and Syria- non-uniform day
Smart School Councillors Subject: Fundraising for Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief. Following our last class meeting, the children voted to hold a fundraising event on Friday 17th of March, where they will wear the flag colours of Turkey and Syria to show their support for those affected by the earthquakes. We are asking for a minimum donation of £1.00 for each child who participates in this cause, via parent pay. The colours are red, black, green and white. Do not go out to buy anything new, please wear what you have at home. All funds raised will be donated to a reputable charity actively working to provide relief to the earthquake victims. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns. Thank you for your continued support. Smart School Councillors and Miss Kachwalla
Smart School Council in Year 4
In our Smart School Council session this morning, we discussed whether or not we feel like we can share our problems with others. We also discussed our answers in more detail. Georgie was our class leader and Noah was our note taker and they both did a great job!
Year 2 - Collective Worship
During today's worship, we were having a look at all the ways we can looking after our local area. The children were amazing at coming up with brilliant suggestions in how we can look after our local area such as: recycle and not litter, litter picking, protecting animals by creating bug hotels and spaces for food. After worship we ended by saying prayers about people we care about and to all those who have been affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The children made a person out of a pipe cleaner while saying their prayer and placed that on our prayer tree.
Year 5- Collective Worship
During our class worship today, we discussed the importance of looking after wild animals in our local area. Through class discussion, we learned that the children have spotted dears, rabbits, hedgehogs, and squirrels in their areas. The children were shocked and sad to learn that from around 3.5 million to only 750,000 hazel door mice numbers have dropped. We then reminded ourselves about the story from the Bible (Noah's Ark), Noah did what he was asked by God and he cared for the animals. We can care for and protect animals like Noah did. The children have suggested bird feeders, and building homes using twigs and branches on the school grounds during forest school sessions for the animals. Our British Value of' Democracy' teaches children to speak and take action and the children have decided to do just that.
Let Girls Play Campaign
Today to celebrate International Women’s Day we supported the FA’s campaign to ‘Let Girls Play’ by wearing sports kits in school, fun football sessions and 8 girls attended the biggest EVER football session at St Bede’s. It was absolutely freezing but the girls didn’t let that stop them and they really got stuck into the football sessions. We are hopeful to have some future lionesses in our school. Well done girls, we are so proud of you all! ⚽️
Year 4 Penalty shootout to celebrate Let Girls Play Football
In Year 4 today we held a penalty shootout to celebrate the FA’s Let Girls Play Campaign for International Women’s Day !
EYFS & KS1: Author visit
EYFS and Key Stage 1 enjoyed an author visit this afternoon. Raysa Farah came into school to read her story, ‘A cub without a mane’. She explained how her son has leukaemia and lost his hair. Whilst in hospital, she decided to write her book. Raysa explained that no matter how you look, you are still special and a wonderful person. Our children had the opportunity to ask questions. Darcy asked if she had written any other books. Raysa said she had written one other book and it is awaiting approval to be published. Raysa is also a florist so Daisy asked if she liked making flowers. Lyla asked how long it took for Raysa to write her story. Raysa explained it took around a month to write. Eliza asked if Raysa drew the pictures. Raysa explained the role of an illustrator. Her publisher found an illustrator. Raysa then asked the children to draw anything that makes them happy and feel good. We loved your visit and the children left feeling inspired- thank you so much. Raysa’s book will be available to buy on parent pay for a discounted price. Further information to follow.
Years 3 & 4: Author Visit
Years 3 and 4 enjoyed an author visit this afternoon. Raysa Farah came into school to read her story, ‘A cub without a mane’. She explained how her son has leukaemia and lost his hair. Whilst in hospital, she decided to write her book. Raysa explained that no matter how you look, you are still special and a wonderful person. Our children had the opportunity to ask questions. Mason asked how old her little boy is who is poorly. Raysa told the children that he is aged 3. Hamza asked what happens when you have leukaemia. Raysa explained that you are given medication. When Raysa’s little boy was in hospital, that was the time that she wrote her story. Leonora asked how did her older boy feel. Raysa said that he was angry and upset but once everything was explained, he was happy and really looked after his younger brother. Alice asked if Raysa has written any other books. Raysa explained that she had written a story about a mouse that has lost its squeak which is about speech difficulties. Year 4 told Raysa about a story that they have been reading about speech difficulties and explained how there are 4 different adults who sometimes help or hinder children with speech impairments! Finn told Raysa that he had cut his hair off to raise money to create a wig for cancer. We loved your visit and the children left feeling inspired- thank you so much. Raysa’s book will be available to buy on parent pay for a discounted price. Further information to follow.
Years 5 & 6: Author visit
Years 5 and 6 enjoyed an author visit this afternoon. Raysa Farah came into school to read her story, ‘A cub without a mane’. She explained how her son has leukaemia and lost his hair. Whilst in hospital, she decided to write her book. Raysa explained that no matter how you look, you are still special and a wonderful person. Our children had the opportunity to ask questions. Jake asked if her little boy’s hair was growing back. Raysa said that it was. It is very short but it is growing back. It’s not as curly but it is wavy. Lucy asked Raysa if her children liked her book. Raysa said that her eldest, Adam absolutely loves it- he is in reception. Kaylen asked ‘what inspired you to be a florist?’ Raysa explained that she wanted to be a florist since she was 4. Her Mum and Dad loved gardening and she remembered being in the garden from childhood. Raysa went to university first to study psychology but still wanted to be a florist. When she met her husband, she told him her dream and within a month, he created the business and from social media, it became a huge success. We loved your visit and the children left feeling inspired- thank you so much. Raysa’s book will be available to buy on parent pay for a discounted price. Further information to follow.
Sharing Our Love Of Reading in Year 1
During World Book Day, Year 1 read and shared their books from home and our school library with great enthusiasm. They each stood up in front of the whole class to show their chosen book that either ‘fills their happy tank’ or is a great bedtime read. The children read and shared their books with their friends and designed a book cover for their favourite book too as part of a competition. In the afternoon an author came in to read their new children’s story to them and they were able to ask questions and take part in an activity celebrating their uniqueness in their house groups. We also made book buddies that they have taken home with them today amongst other activities.
Year 6 History
This week, in history, year 6 used eye witness accounts to help them describe the impact that air raids had on the town and people of Darwen during World War Two. They found out that businesses and homes were destroyed, 7 people lost their lives and that generally people were in a state of shock. Despite this terrible event, it also brought out the good in people and everyone did their bit to help. One example of this was an injured man being transported to the infirmary on the back of a milk truck.
Year 4 - Linking Schools
Today in our Linking Schools session we were exploring our similarities and differences and preparing for our inter-class Zoom session in two weeks’ time.
Year 5 - Smart School Council. How can we help Turkey and Syria?
In today's school council meeting we discussed the results of the last vote “Shall we have a teacher swap for the day?”. The results from the whole school were in favour of having a teacher swap for a day and the Smart School Council members have set the ball rolling to arrange a day for this to happen. This week's meeting was about how we can raise money to help those affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The class had a choice to vote for either a cake sale, guess how many sweets in a jar or a non-uniform day wearing the flag colours. Year 5 unanimously voted for a non-uniform day, but what will the rest of the school vote for?
Year 5- English- Letter from the Prime Minister
The Year 5 class has been thrilled to learn that our Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has taken time out of his busy schedule to reply to their letters. Last term, the children researched the impact of carbon emissions on fairtrade farmers and our planet. After collating their findings, the children decided to take action and wrote a persuasive letter to the Prime Minister to make a change. The Prime Minister was pleased to hear that young people like ourselves are thinking hard about the future of our planet. He also highlighted that the UK Government is going to continue to tackle carbon emissions. Since 1990, the UK reduced emissions by at least 44%.
.png)
Whole School- Celebration Worship
Wow! We had lots to celebrate today. During our Celebration Worship this morning, the class teachers celebrated by presenting a value award to the children who have been demonstrating our Christian Values. This week, our overall house values point winner was Darwen tower with 258 points. We also celebrated Years 3 and 4 for their winning at sportshall athletics. Well done to the reception class and Year 3 for this week's best attendance. We also celebrated the children that have taken part in extracurricular activities, well done to everyone! We finished our worship with Rev Ben leading a prayer.
Year 5- Smart School Council Teacher Swap
For this weeks council meeting the question was “Would you like a teacher swap in school?”. The majority of the class voted in favour of having a teacher swap saying they would like the opportunity to have new teachers they’ve never had before.
Year 5 - Money Matters
We had some great fun with Mr Souter today when he came to talk to us about managing money. We discussed different types of budgets, deficit, surplus and balanced. We talked about which is the best type of budget to have and decided that a surplus budget allows us to have more of our wants and can help in times of emergency.
Year 4 Smart School Council
In our Smart School Council session this morning we discussed if we would like to do a ‘swap the teacher’ day. As a class, we voted no to a swap but what will the school vote overall?
Year 4 Random Acts of Kindness
As it is National Random Acts of Kindness Day on Friday 17th Feb Year 4 have been out and delivered our very own kindness packs to our local community. Let’s make kindness the norm and put a smile on people’s faces.
Year 5- Persuasive Writing- Letters to the Prime Minister
Over the past two weeks, the children have been researching climate emissions at great length to understand the need to support Fairtrade farmers. Farmers are most affected by climate change. It not only threatens their future but also the food that they produce for our country. The Year 5 class put their points, and evidence collated on paper and have written a persuasive letter to the Prime minister to convince the government to make a change.
Celebration Worship 27.01.23
In Celebration Worship this morning, we remembered all of the victims of the Holocaust as part of The International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We also celebrated our values winners across both key stages. All of our classes across school have been working extremely hard, with a special focus on our ‘Happy Tank’ and filling it with positive affirmations this week. Well done to Years 1 and 3 for this week's best attendance and also to Whitehall Park for their achievement of Overall House Winners for values points this week. We finished our worship with Rev Ben leading us in prayer.
Celebration Worship Sports Stars
A big WELL DONE to all of our Sports Stars this week. What a wonderful range of activities that you have all been taking part in! We would also like to congratulate our school football team on coming runners up in the EFL Utilita Kids Cup this week. We are super proud of you all, showing great team spirit, determination and encouraging each other at every step.
Holocaust Memorial Day
Today our thoughts and prayers are with the 6 million victims of the Holocaust and their families. This morning in Worship we lit a special candle and held a moment of silence to remember them.
Year 5- Class Worship- Social Influencers
During our class worship this morning, the Year 5 class explored the term ' Social Influencer' in detail. The children then came up with a list of people that they look up to and admire, such as; football player, actor, singer, golf player, darts player, BMX rider and a Diablos. We then discussed why they look up to these people in detail. I then showed the children three drinks which I had prepared earlier, In order to influence the children I made them believe that the orange juice was by far the best drink. We then took votes on which drink they would choose to drink, from apple juice, Vimto and orange juice. It was great to see that the children were not influenced by my choice because the majority of the children voted for the apple juice. We then discussed the choices we make, we can choose the people we want to listen to, be influenced by and follow. Jesus always set a good example when he told others to do something, such as to love each other, he did it himself. He asked his followers to do the right thing. Whilst influencers may guide some of our choices, It is important for us to remember both positive and negative consequences. Every child has the right to be protected from social media.
Year 4 Class Worship - How much control do influencers have over our choices?
In our class worship we looked at how much control influencers have over our choices. The latest craze for PRIME was our key topic and we definitely know a lot about it! We discussed that although the influencers may guide some of our choices, it’s important for us to remember to make our decisions with an open mind, considering both positive and negative consequences.
Year 5- P.S.H.E- Negative Effects of Social Media
In PSHE, Year 5 have been discussing the positives and negatives of social media by exploring the impact that online content can have on a person's well-being. We discussed apps, privacy settings, cyber-bullying, trust, friendship, and respect and looked at different scenarios. The children agreed that it was important to have a small circle of friends which whom you know, trust, and enjoy spending time with. In small groups, the children thought of activities a person can take to look after their well-being with a balance of online and offline activities.
Smart School Council in Year 4
As part of our Smart school Council session today, we discussed what makes a better dining experience. Our Class Leader Freddy and Notetaker Grace gave everyone the time to discuss the five different options. In Year 4 we decided that having our lunch in our classroom would make a better dining experience.
Year 5- Facts and Opinions
In writing this week, Year 5 has started a new writing unit. They will develop their voices by producing a persuasive letter to encourage parents and families to buy fairtrade products. Prior to that the children have been identifying statistics from a range of sources and identifying facts and opinions.
Whole School Celebration Worship
During our whole school Worship this morning, a few of our children shared their special gifts from God; being good at skating, swimming, football, gymnastics, basketball and rugby and some children said having loving and caring parents was their special gift from God. It was also lovely to hear that the children have been reflecting on their daily choices which was our Happy Tank focus for this week. The class teachers presented a value certificate to the child/children that has been demonstrating our Christian and British values and making the right choices. Prizes were given out to our 'Road Safety' winners, the entries were from last year and the children were thrilled with their winnings. Mrs Ham celebrated our sports stars for their dedication and commitments for taking part in extracurricular activities. Our amazing attendance classes this week were reception and Year 3 and the winning team for getting the most value points was Whitehall Park, putting them in first place. Rev Ben ended our Worship with a lovely prayer and blessing. What another brilliant week at St Barnabas and the children really have been achieving great things!
Year 3- Class worship
Today Year 3’s class worship focused on managing our feelings when we are under pressure and how we can do our best when we feel under pressure. We held a class discussion, highlighting what emotions we might feel and how by being brave and showing courage, we can all achieve great things.
Year 4 - Life Education Session
Year 4 really enjoyed their session with Life Education. They learned about self-value, self-care, celebrating uniqueness and when it is good to compromise. They also had a visit from Harold the Giraffe. We’re never too old for a visit from Harold.
Wellbeing Warriors - Idling Campaign
Our Well-being Warriors have been out and about today with their campaign posters about the prevention of Idling. See if you can spot them around our school area and encourage everyone to turn their engines off whilst waiting for their children or doing drop offs.
Year 3 Smart School Council Meeting
This week during our smart school council meeting, we discussed the most important part about having a job. The class had some fantastic discussions and overall, we thought that it was important to have a job that you enjoy and to be able to spend time with your family.
Year 4 Smart School Council
In our Smart School Council session we discussed what is the most important thing about having a job. The children worked really well within their group and our Class leader -Harry and Key Notetaker - Josh, led the session like pros!
House Team Value Point Winners - Whitehall Park
Well done to Whitehall Park - our House Team Value Winners for this half term. The children had a fab time celebrating in the disco party this morning.
Celebration Worship
In Celebration Worship this morning we looked at how our children continue to work so very hard in promoting our Christian and British values. We are all so very busy preparing for the Christmas Fair, school performances and Christmas Worship. We had our House Team Winners announced for this half term - Whitehall Park for the second consecutive time- well done. It is so lovely to see all of the children celebrating each others success as we had lots of awards for out of school sports today.
Out of School Superstars
Along with our Values Winners this morning, we celebrated our ‘Out of School Superstars’. It was lovely to hear about all of the different activities that the children have been taking part in. This week we presented awards for dancing, gymnastics, swimming, kickboxing, Beavers and cheerleading. Well done to each and every child that celebrated on the golden podium!
Year 4 PSHE - Prejudice and Discrimination
In our PSHE lesson we looked at the terms prejudice and discrimination. We discussed how we can form ideas about people and judge them before we even get to know them. We also completed a ‘mind reading’ activity based on only a characters name and picture. Some super discussions were had along with some great new vocabulary to add to our word banks.
Wellbeing Warriors New Campaign
Our Wellbeing Warriors have been extremely busy creating new posters to highlight ‘Idling’ around our school and the dangers of it. Idling is the term used for when a car is stationary but the engine is still running. This creates harmful toxic emissions that can make us really poorly. The Wellbeing Warriors want to spread this message, especially to our parents and carers so we will be out with our posters over the next week to promote our new campaign and record any idling that we see, especially directly outside our school boundary.
.jpg)
Year 5 - Collective Worship
In our class worship today, the children have been learning about the ' Street Child World Cup'. Street children are children who depend on the streets for their survival. Year 5 think it is important that we help raise awareness of the street children living in our world. We then looked at the similarities/ differences from our life and the life of people living in Qatar. We also thought about our Christian Value 'Respect' in detail about how important it is that we take this opportunity to learn about other countries and cultures.
Rainbow Support in Qatar - Year 4
In our class worship today, we looked at how many people believe that football should be for everyone and the issues surrounding the England football team being prevented from wearing the One Love armbands to support LGBT+ community.
Year 4 Celebrating Interfaith Week
Year 4 were all fascinated in our Interfaith Week workshop. We loved learning about Islam and tasting some traditional foods linked to the faith. We'd like to say a huge thank you to Barnys' very own Misss Kachwalla for sharing her faith with us.
Year 1- Inter Faith Week
Year 1 had a special workshop yesterday afternoon (Thank you to Miss Kachwalla.) They learned all about Islam. The children found out about the 5 rules that Muslims need to follow, about the Arabic language, the name of the holy book and all about the 2 special Eid celebrations. Year 1 then went back to class to try some Sunnah food in class.
Year 3 Inter Faith Week
This afternoon, Miss Kachwalla spoke to the class about the religion of Islam. Earlier in the week, Year 3 came up with some questions that they wanted to ask Miss Kachwalla, about her religion. The class really enjoyed learning about Islam and exploring some of the similarities between Christianity and Islam.
Year 2 - Inter Faith week food tasting
As part of inter faith week, year 2 have been exploring and tasting a variety of different foods related to Islam. All children have enjoyed inter faith week and have explored the similarities and differences between many religions.
Year 2 - Inter Faith workshop
Year 2 - Inter Faith workshop learning all about Islam with Miss Kachwalla, who is a Muslim. As part of our RE unit we have been looking at faiths across the world and have explored similarities and differences between each faith.
Celebration Worship- Children in Need
Today is Children in Need day so we have all dressed in spots to raise money and make a difference to children in need. Our Well-being Warriors thanked everyone for their support for our anti-bullying week by wearing odd socks on Monday. They also told us all about bullying and about their next project that they will be tackling in school, idling in cars outside school. A huge congratulations to all of our Values winners this week. We are so proud of you all for demonstrating our British and Christian Values. Congratulations to Years 2 and 3 for winning the amazing attendance award this week for the best attendance in each key stage.
Year 5- Odd Socks Day- Anti-Bullying Week-
Year 5 wear 'Odd Socks' to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week. We're celebrating that we are all unique and that being different is okay.
Year 5- Speak Out Workshop- NSPCC
Following on from our virtual assembly, today we had two visitors from the NSPCC team delivering a 'Speak Out Workshop'. The children watched short clips and then had to decide in small groups whether that was bullying or not. We had some great responses. The children exclaimed that sometimes it all depends on the length of time and whether it was a one-off. It is vital that children reach out to stop bullying. They were reminded about talking to a trusted adult or putting a note in their class worry box.
Remembrance Day Worship
Lest We Forget - In Worship this morning we remembered all of the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for us. We had a two minute silence to pay our respects with our school family and our Year 6 class shared their Remembrance Day Artwork. We then moved onto Celebration Worship where our ‘Value Points Winners’ were awarded with their certificates. Well done to all of our children this week!
Celebration Worship Out of School Award and House Team Winners
A huge WELL DONE to all of our children who celebrated achieving great things outside of school. A fantastic result for our school football team too who came runners up in the Darwen Primary Schools Football League. Finally, House Team winners were Whitehall Park with Years 2 and Year 6 becoming Attendance Winners for the Week.
PSHE in Year 4 - Respect
In our PSHE session today, we looked at our Christian value RESPECT and how we can show this to our peers and adults within our school environment. We watched a short video and then highlighted different examples of respect, discussing how it is a positive feeling or action shown towards something or somebody.
W.O.W. Group’s Remembrance Activities
This week, W.O.W. group designed and ran some poppy-themed activities at lunchtimes. Well done W.O.W., your activities were lovely and very well received.
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.
Year 2 - RE - Judaism
The children investigated a variety of Jewish artifacts, explored the Jewish culture and began to compare their growing knowledge to other faiths and religions.
Reception- Cleaning Our Outdoor House
Today the reception children decided that our outdoor house in the yard needed to be cleaned. They used the brushes, pans and bowls to clean with. They worked as a team to decide which areas were dirty and needed to cleaned. This showed our Christian values of respect, friendship, trust and generosity.
Super Sports Stars!
Well done to our fantastic sports starts this week! We had our brilliant Boccia team and our winning football team. In celebration worship, children have the opportunity to bring in any certificates or achievements from outside of school, to talk about and celebrate on the golden podium! Today we had awards for swimming, saddlery skills, being a magician's assistant, jenjitsu, morris dancing and even a card from King Charles! What super stars!
Smart School Council -How can our Peace Garden be improved?
In our Smart School Council session this morning, we discussed how our Peace Garden could be used more effectively. We looked at five options. Will was our class leader and Hamza was chief note maker and they did a fantastic job! We looked at British values, especially democracy as part of our discussion process. Our final decision was option 2- to have peace garden monitors.
.JPG)
NSPCC- Year 5
During our class worship this morning, we watched an online assembly led by the NSPCC, about speaking out and staying safe. We learnt about children's rights and discussed what we feel is most important to us. We all have the right to speak out and stay safe!
Smart School Councils- Year 5 and 6
Our Communication Team is made up of Year 5 and Year 6 pupils. We aim to give everyone a voice, enable everyone to lead change and keep everyone up-to-date and involved.
Rotakids- Year 5
Year 5 has shown respect, trust, and service and demonstrated our British Values (democracy) by voting for the students they think are best suited for the position of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The votes were counted and verified by Mrs. Lyons and the Rotary Club. We now have Isaac as (President), Archie (Vice President), Charlie (Secretary), and Lola (Treasurer). Over the course of the academic year, the RotaKids will engage in important, lively activities that will make a positive difference to our school, local community, and globally.
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?
.JPG)
Year 5- Class Worship- How do you think rules should be decided?
During our class worship this morning, the children were fascinated to learn about the history behind the Lindt chocolate bunnies. The first Lindt bunny saw the light of day in 1952 inspired by a father and a young daughter. Over 150 million chocolate bunnies are produced and distributed in 50 countries. However, Lidl (supermarket) were offering a cheaper alternative to shoppers, therefore Lindt took Lidl to court and won the case. This then opened a discussion about rules, how rules are decided, whether we should follow rules and what might happen if rules were broken. The children agreed that rules are in place to keep us safe and if there were no rules things could get chaotic. ”It's about having the freedom to do what you want as long as it's within the law and you're safe” (British Value)
Year 4 - RE: Is it ever right to challenge authority?
Year 4 debated whether it was right to challenge authority. They then carried out research about people who have famously challenged authority to make a change in the world. We have learned a lot from the efforts of Rosa Parks, William Wilberforce, Greta Thunberg and Oscar Romero.
Celebration Worship - Value Awards
In Celebration Worship this morning we saw lots of children who had demonstrated our Christian values and British values and have worked hard to achieve great things. We can’t believe how quickly six weeks has gone by and all of our children are growing in confidence and maturity by the day! It’s lovely to see how they all support and respect each other both in and out of the classroom. Well done to all of our Value winners this week.
Celebration Worship - Sports Awards and House Team Half Term Winners
As part of our Celebration worship, we saw so many children sharing their fantastic achievements out of school too. Our football team had some fantastic wins at the DPSSA football games last night, showing great sportsmanship and serving our school so respectfully. We also shared the end of this half term “House Team Value Winners” Drum roll………… WINNERS - Whitehall Park - 18 2nd - India Mill - 15 3rd - River Darwen - 11 4th - Darwen Tower - 7 Congratulations to every single child in school for working so hard to demonstrate our Christian values both in and out of the classroom
Year 6- Local police officer visit
Year 6 had a visit from our local police officer who explained that they are now at an age were they are criminally responsible. I feel they have taken away lessons that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. For example, they have learnt how making the wrong decisions at this time in their life can have a detrimental effect on the opportunities they are presented with in the future.
Year 2 - Local History Walk
In our history lessons we have been focusing on local history and the cotton industry. At this point in history, we have looked at why Gandhi visited Darwen. We have begun to explore the reasoning behind his visit- to allow India to become independent and free to make and sell their own cotton. As this was his mission, we went on a walk and explored where the Greenfield Mill used to be (where Gandhi visited) and the house in which he stayed in.
Year 5- Police Officer- Be Ace Talk
Year 5 were super excited about our visit from John (Police Officer). They learnt that children between 10 and 17 can be arrested and taken to court if they commit a crime. The police force has a duty to keep us safe. It is their job to protect us and they are trained to do their job well. We learnt about different types of assaults, crimes and damages to possessions. The children were intrigued to learn about the number of arrests John had made and why. The most common place where an arrest or a warning is made is at the local supermarket where youths walk in and casually walk out with snacks. Sophie and Isaac played the role of lead actors in a crime that could happen in the schoolyard (secondary) and outside of school. The moral of the lesson was, never retaliate, we all have choices to walk away from situations that could cause us harm.
The Big Debate in Year 4
As part of our British Values, we take part in The Big Debate. Today we looked at whether or not police should be given more funding. Would better police funding also reduce crime? Last year crime was up by 2% and we have lost 22% of police since 2010. The majority debated that we SHOULD provide an increase in funding and education around crime.
Year 6 Class Worship
In class worship this week, year 6 have been discussing whether they think competition is a good thing and whether it helps us to achieve more. We spoke about how this links to one of our British values (Rule of Law) because of rules that take place in competitions to make it a level playing field.
Monday Worship- Black History Month
Last week we focussed on being kind to our neighbour. When we came into worship, we listened to ‘Respect’ by Aretha Franklin. We discussed what this meant and looked at how it was one of our Christian values and our British Value, mutual respect. Mrs Ham told us about how many years ago, Africans were captured and taken to America to be slaves. The children all agreed that this was unfair. Mrs Ham then role played with Declan and Elsie to show the children how slaves were treated. They weren’t treated nicely which was very unfair. In 1865, slavery was completely banned. In 1926, Carter Woodson created black history week and now we celebrate black history month every October. We watched a video which showed how Ayanna Najuma who was just 7 years old changed the world! Ayanna did a peaceful protest and went into a white only restaurant and waited until they were served. Ayanna asked for a hamburger and a coke but the waitress said no. They went back on day 2 and 3. By day 3, they were served food and the restaurant became integrated. Ayanna said “my voice was little but it was just as important as everybody else’s voice”. Martin Luther King Junior also stood up for what was right and he fought for a long time for everybody to be treated equally. Finally we watched a song video about Rosa Parks and how she fought for change. This week, Mrs Ham asked the children to reflect on anything that we have experienced that seemed unfair. Did we have the courage to speak up? Can we do this going forward? We finished our worship by singing ‘Make a difference’.
Year 6 Class Worship
Year 6 have looked at how the Individual liberty of the people Pakistan has been affected because of the recent floods. They have also thought about how they can help people even when they are a long way away.
.JPG)
Celebration Worship and Celebrating Values
During our Celebration Worship, Mrs Ham reminded everyone about spreading kindness at school and at home. The children shared some of the kindness that they have been sharing at home, such as, cleaning their bedroom, helping their parents carry in the shopping, opening the doors for teachers and pupils and looking after the environment. We also celebrated the value certificate for each classroom presented to, Year 6 - Eva, Year 5 - Rio, Year 4 - Laila, Year 3 - Grace, Year 2 - Sofiya, Year 1 - Harry and Emily, Reception - Sienna and the winning team this week, Whitehall Park. They have all demonstrated our Christian and British Values throughout the school. A huge well done to everyone. The worship came to an end with a prayer led by Mrs Ham and three children.
.JPG)
Sports Awards- Celebration Worship
During our celebration worship this morning, the children were presented with their sports awards. Last night, a group from Years 5 and 6 represented DPSSA football. They played superbly and gained 1 victory and a narrow defeat. A massive well done to all of our children who also celebrated awards that they brought in from taking part in activities outside of school. We had awards for gymnastics, running, swimming, dancing, reading and martial arts.
.JPG)
Year 5- P.S.H.E- Happy being me
During our P.S.H.E lesson today, the children explored some of the ways similarities and, more importantly, differences can affect people’s attitudes and behaviour. We looked at reasons for people being discriminated against and how it made them feel. We also looked at the early life of Rosa Parks, thinking about the lives of all that suffered during the segregation period. We spoke about the importance of respecting others, even when they are very different from them (for example, physically, in character, personality or background), making different choices or having different preferences or beliefs.
Year 4 Geography-Why does the Amazon matter?
As part of our geography topic, we have been looking at how the Amazon is under threat.We have researched the key ideas on deforestation, animal, plants and tribes. As part our our work today we also designed posters to highlight how these threats can impact on our environment and across the world.
PSHE Setting goals in Year 4
As part of our PSHE session we have been looking at how to set goals and achieve results amicably. We have looked at how to solve various problems using kind words, respect and fairness. The children worked really well to find solutions and also discussed how this links to our British values.
Year 4 - Learning about Rosh Hashana
In RE, Year 4 learned about how Jews celebrate their new year. We listened to a Shofar blowing, tasted apples dipped in honey and wrote Prayers for a sweet year. Shana Tovah to our Jewish friends!
Celebration Worship
In Celebration worship this morning, we prayed for the Royal family during their time of mourning. We also celebrated our Value winners in each of our classes and the winning team this week, Whitehall Park. We congratulated years 2 & 6 who were the attendance winners this week. Well done to all of our children who also celebrated awards that they brought in from taking part in various clubs and activities.
Sports Leaders 2022-2023
Our new Sports Leaders for this academic year 2022-2023. We look forward to seeing this fantastic group lead many different sports in schools through inter school games, attending events and promoting our school sport.
Week 2 -Celebration worship
We had a wonderful celebration worship this morning, recognising those children who achieved the most individual value points along with the team winners, Whitehall Park! It was lovely to see mums, dads, grandparents and carers, joining us. If you are able, please do come along it would be lovely to see you. A brew and a biscuit will also be available.
HM Queen Elizabeth II - Year 5
Year 5 have paid their respects to Queen Elizabeth II by placing their handwritten prayers on the school fence which we have turned into a prayer space. We have spent time in class and worship learning about all the wonderful things that she has done for us. She will be forever in our hearts and missed by all.
Year 4 - Prayers for Her Majesty
Today in Year 4, we tied our prayers that we had written to remember the Queen to the front of school to create a remembrance wall. We thanked God for everything she has done for us and how very special she was.
Our school family tree
Our whole school family created their own unique circle for our family tree. It represents our vision of everyone 'Achieving great things through learning and growing together in a love-filled Christian family'. We love that all of the circles are special and unique, just like our children that God created.
Every picture tells a story- Art- Year 5
This afternoon, the children learnt about the famous street artist Banksy. Banksy is known for his anti-authoritarian art, often done in public places such as the seaside, house walls, and buildings and every picture that he creates has a story to tell. In pairs and in small groups the children looked at the 'Clacton pigeon mural', bearing in mind the absence of 'British Values' in the mural. The famous picture has been considered inappropriate and offensive so the children altered the image to a scene that is more welcoming using dry media.
Year 6 Class Worship
Year 6 class worship on celebrating differences and how toys can be an amazing tool in order to achieve this.
Year 4 - Creating Our Class Rules
Our new Year 4s have settled in really well this week. They have created a set of rules for our class to help us all to stay safe, be ready to learn and be respectful to others.
Collective Worship- Our Values
This morning in worship, we started our worship by reading our school vision, ‘Achieving things through learning and growing together in a love-filled Christian family’ and ‘That they shall have life, life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10). We discussed what this meant and Eva and Harlow said that it means enjoying your life and making the most of it, Mason said it means trying hard and striving to do your best and Jake said it means being the best person that you can be and looking out for others. Mrs Ham then reminded us that in order to achieve our school vision and to make St Barnabas a special environment to grow and learn, we must follow our School Christian Values of courage, friendship, service, forgiveness, generosity, respect and encouragement and the British Values of Democracy, Rule of Law, Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs, Mutual Respect and Individual Liberty. We learnt how each finger on our hand refers to each individual British Value. Mrs Ham then explained that all members of our St Barnabas staff will be looking out for our children demonstrating these Christian Values and British Values and rewarding this behaviour. Please click to read more.....
Learning about the Bible and other holy books- Year 5
This afternoon, the children in Year 5 have been learning about the Bible and other holy books and faiths. We have explored, Sikhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism. The children had the opportunity to try on clothes that are worn by other religions during prayer time. We learnt that the Jews have a special Seder plate. The plate symbolises modern liberation struggles. We also found that prayer beads (string of prayer beads) are used by numerous religions.
Reception: Classroom rules
Today, the children in Reception discussed why we have rules. They shared that we have rules to keep us safe and happy. Together we decided on our rules to help to keep us safe. We decided on ‘high 5 rules’ and if we follow them then we will receive a high 5. Our rules are to be kind, to always tell the truth, to listen to each other, to tidy our classroom and to try our best.