Whole School Worship - How Can We Flourish Together?
Today, in our collective worship, we shared ideas of what it means to flourish. The children had some fantastic thoughts, including being the best you can be, persevering, sharing with others and appreciating what God has given us. We looked at each one of our Christian values and decided how they could help us to learn and grow together. Mrs Ham reminded us of some of the “wows” and the “ows” in the world and we discussed how they make us feel. We reflected on the part we can all play by taking action to prevent the suffering in the world. We ended our worship with a reminder and a celebration of the ways we at St Barnabas have affected change in our communities and in the wider world. These included supporting our local refugees, collecting preloved coats for the homeless, raising money for East Lancs Hospice and collecting tinned food and toiletries for our harvest appeal. The children articulated that we all flourish when we aim to make the world a better place.
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Year 3-Exploring Spirituality Through Refugee Week
Today, as part of Refugee Week, 12 children from Year 3 visited a local church where they had the wonderful opportunity to meet refugees from 17 countries, such as Iraq, Palestine, Greece, South Africa, Afghanistan and Sudan. They listened to powerful, real-life stories of resilience, hope, and strength, gaining insight into these individuals' journeys and the challenges they have overcome. The experience helped to build empathy and deepen the children’s understanding of what it means to seek safety and rebuild a life in a new place. We ate food from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Italy, Greece and drank Arabic coffee. The children sang songs for the refugees. Reverend Gilbert spoke to the children about how our donations to DARE - Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise have helped refugees and ensured they are always welcomed, and they encourage more donations, etc. This visit linked beautifully with our Spirituality school model of Windows, Mirrors, and Doors. Through Windows, the children looked out and learned from the lives of others, seeing the world through different perspectives. Mirrors encouraged them to look inward, reflect on their own lives, and think about how they might feel in similar situations. Finally, Doors inspired them to step out and consider how they can live more compassionately, supporting others and making positive choices in their own lives. The visit was a meaningful extension of our R.E. learning but also connected closely with Mrs Ham’s worship this week, which focused on raising awareness and showing solidarity with people in need. It encouraged our students to reflect on how they can contribute to a more welcoming and understanding world. Overall, today’s experience supported our whole-school aim of helping children to live life in all its fullness, by inspiring them to be open-hearted, thoughtful, and active in making a difference. #RefugeeWeek
Whole School Worship - Resolving Conflict
Yesterday’s worship began with some fantastic news! A representative from East Lancs Hospice came in to tell us that our Hop, Skip and Jump event raised £163. Following this, Mrs Wilkinson introduced this week’s Year of Prayer theme: Favourite Places. We spent some time sharing our favourite spaces and then we talked about how God has created so many amazing and healthy spaces for us to enjoy. This led us on to considering the fantastic outdoor spaces we have around school in which we can enjoy time with our friends. We were introduced to our Year 5 peer mediators and Mrs Wilkinson explained how they are going to help us all resolve any fallings out between us and our friends. We are all looking forward to learning to compromise and play together more harmoniously.
Year 4 - Linking Schools Visit to St Matthew’s
Our Linking Schools project reached its final part on Monday with Year 4 visiting St Matthew’s C of E Primary in Blackburn. We had a fantastic day designing “together towns”, creating poetry about living well together and even joining an assembly with local author, Dan Worsley. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning about our new friends and sharing work throughout this year; it has helped us to realise our similarities and celebrate differences.
Year 2 - Year of Prayer
Today, our class worship looked at amazing people around the world doing their best to keep the world a clean place. We discussed different ways we keep the Earth clean and how we can look after our environment! We wrote a prayer asking for help to keep our planet clean and said thank you for everyone who tries their best to make the Kingdom of God a happy and clean place!
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Year 3 - VE 80 Great Big Live Assembly
Yesterday, Year 3 looked at a presentation that helped the children understand the lead-up to the Second World War. We reflected on the reasons for the World War and the devastation it caused. We recognised how the war ended after six years and listened to a man named Alan, who shared his personal memories of the War. We then discussed our own perspectives and why it is important to remember those who sacrificed their lives. Finally we ended the session with a quiz to test our knowledge about what we learned. Today, the children joined a special "Great Big Live Assembly" commemorating Victory in Europe Day (VE Day). This significant historical event, observed on May 8th, 1945, marked the end of World War II in Europe, bringing immense relief and joyous celebrations after years of conflict. The assembly helped our young learners understand the importance of this day, exploring why it was celebrated with street parties and flags, and underscoring the themes of peace, hope, and the resilience of those who lived through the war. By learning about VE Day, Year 3 gained a valuable insight into the past and the importance of remembering history to build a more peaceful future.
Year 4 - Linking Schools: Why Social Action?
As our Linking School project continues, the Year 4s have been considering things in their relationships, the school, the local area, the environment and the wider world that they care about. In today’s session, we listened to the Starfish Story and talked about how small, kind actions can have a big impact on others. We looked at the world around us and decided on some actions we could take to improve it. After sharing our ideas, we voted and decided that we would like to go on a class litter pick, and write to residents of a local care home. We will be carrying out our actions over the Summer Term.
Year 4 Hop, Skip and Jump for East Lancashire Hospice
Today Year 4 took part in the Hop, Skip & Jump initiative that promised fun, laughter, and a chance for the children to get creative; all whilst making a difference to the community and supporting East Lancashire Hospice. We hopped, skipped and jumped our way around the MUGA. Over the last two years, the campaign has raised over £12,000 for East Lancashire Hospice and they have had over 30 local schools and nurseries involved. This year, they want to go one step further and raise over £20,000 for the hospice - so we have done our bit and what a beautiful day to take part in the sun!
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Year 2 - Class Worship
This week in our Class Worship, we heard some news about the government. They're going to open 750 new breakfast clubs all over the country. This made us think about something really important, the United Nations Rights of a Child. One of these rights says that all children should have healthy food to eat. We talked about how the government is trying to help all children have a healthy breakfast, and these new breakfast clubs are one way they can do that. Then, we thought about how lucky we are to have healthy food to eat. We talked about how we don't always have to worry about having breakfast. Finally, we said a prayer to say thank you for all the healthy food we have. It was a time to be grateful for what we have!
Year 4 History- Making Inferences about who was buried at Sutton Hoo
This week in history we have been trying to make inferences about who was buried at Sutton Hoo and what evidence it gives us about Anglo Saxon life. We researched artefacts such as a helmet, having bowl, shoulder clasps, belt buckles and sceptres. We each selected an artefact to look at in more detail and answered questions directly related to it. We described it, added what we thought it was made from, what it may have been used for, who its owner may have been and what it tells us about Anglo-Saxon England.
Holocaust Memorial Day Worship
Our first collective worship of the week had a serious and somber tone as we held in our thoughts and prayers all of the Jews who suffered in the Holocaust. We looked out of our spirituality windows to learn how the Nazis did not show love to their Jewish neighbours like God commanded but instead treated them really badly during World War II. We watched a BBC interview with a Jewish survivor, who described some of the personal tragedies he faced at the young age of 6 when his family sent him away to save his life from the Nazi regime. He shared how he travelled on the Kindertransport and a British family showed him love and compassion and became the light in the dark. Through our spirituality mirrors we were able to reflect on how hearing of these events made us feel, and how the Jews must have felt back then. Finally, through our spirituality doors we learned of the many survivors who have worked tirelessly to make people aware of the devastation that was caused so that it would never happen again. We reflected on how we should always love our neighbours regardless of whether they look like you, pray like you, speak like you or think like you and stand up to anyone who is being mean to others.
Whole School Worship - Who Is My Neighbour?
In our collective worship, we were considering the question, “Who is my neighbour?” We discussed what it means to love your neighbour as yourself (as mentioned in parts of the Bible such as Leviticus and the Gospel according to Mark) and that there are times when it can be incredibly difficult. In hearing about the life of Martin Luther King Jr, as today is Martin Luther King Jr Day, we discovered that, even when it feels impossible to love our neighbour, when we are mistreated, ignored or disrespected as he and other black people have been, we must try harder to follow God’s greatest commandment, just like Martin did. Our children considered this and spent some time reflecting on the Christian Values that Martin demonstrated and the ways that they would like to make the world a better place and make a difference. Some of the children’s examples included: protecting nature, making peace when we have disagreements, putting a stop to pollution and eradicating poverty. We finished with prayers thanking God for Martin Luther King Jr and all that he did to the make the world a better place and asked Him to give us the courage to stand up for what is right. Rev Ben finished with a special blessing and we sang 'I can make a difference'.
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