Year 4 - Class Worship in the Spirituality Garden
We took advantage of the beautiful sunshine and gathered for our class worship in the Spirituality Garden today. This half term, our collective worship theme is the Lord’s Prayer, so we drew some symbols to help us remember and understand it. We then used the symbols to help us recite the prayer. We finished by retelling some of our favourite stories from the Bible.
Year 4 - Year of Prayer: Following Lines
The Year 4s are loving this week's prayer theme. We have been thinking about walking the right path and remembering what Jesus taught us. They followed the line markings on the KS2 playground and thought about how we can walk the right path in our daily lives. I think their favourite part was jumping at the end and shouting, "Amen!"
Whole School Worship - Exploring Prayer
Today’s worship marked the beginning of an exploration of prayer: what it is, why people pray, how, when and where they pray, and why it is an important part of faith. We started by reciting the Lord’s Prayer and signing parts using the Makaton symbols we already knew. Jesus told his disciples this prayer twice when they asked him how to pray. We watched a short video explaining that prayer is simply talking to God and that there are no specific rules when communicating with God. We also learned that he is never too busy to listen to us. The children spent time recapping some of the ways they have prayed including through the Diocesan Year of Prayer, and thinking about what they might want to tell God. We then had some quiet time to say our own prayers to God. Some children said thank you for God’s wonderful creations, some said sorry for making wrong choices, some were thankful for their family and friends and some were grateful for their homes and food. We finished by singing our special Lord’s Prayer song with our Makaton actions.
Year 3- Class Worship- The Beginning of Hope: The Empty Tomb
During our class worship today, we explored the story of the empty tomb from the Bible . The empty tomb was a huge surprise that showed everyone that even though Jesus died, he was alive again, bringing hope and joy after sadness. Following this, the children reflected on moments in their own lives when they experienced surprise and shock. Some of their suggestions included the birth of a baby cousin, the unexpected school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Isaac found out he was going to Italy for a football tournament, Naomi, when she got locked in a toilet at a play centre, Ella-Grace was invited to a Manchester United trial and when Lottie was surprised with a special birthday party. We concluded worship by sending a prayer of joy and thankfulness for Jesus coming back to life, bringing hope and new beginnings to the world.
Year 4 God's Big Story - Class Worship
Year 4 Class Worship - Gods Big Story - The Empty Tomb Today in class worship we started off by discussing if we had ever had a special surprise. We looked at how we made sense of it, what emotions it evoked and how we felt. The children exchanged their experiences with each other and then shared these with the rest of the class. Next we shared the story - The Empty Tomb which came from the Salvation brick, at the very end of the gospels and told the story of Jesus dying on the cross and raising back to life again. Bishop Philip then shared his experiences with us and linked this to the shock that Mary experienced when Jesus died, was buried and then came to life again. If Jesus is alive then love overcame hatred. We can experience love, hope and joy. We can rejoice as Jesus is alive! Over Easter we as Christian’s made a declaration: Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah. We then finished our worship by learning the song - Praise Ye the lord and a short prayer.
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!
Year 4 Residential trip to the Anderton Centre
Our Year 4 children went the Anderton Centre for their outdoor and adventurous residential for one night. They had an amazing time taking part in team building games, archery, paddle boarding, canoeing, climbing and cannonballing into freezing cold water! They developed their resilience and really challenged themselves and it was wonderful to see them encouraging each other too. A huge thank you to Mrs Araujo, Mrs Gardner and Mrs Singleton for giving up their time to support the children. All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-4-anderton-centre-residential-april-2025
Year 3 - Class Worship-Role Models, Faith, and Online Safety
During our class worship today, we reflected on this week's story about Sir Gareth Southgate, the former England football manager, who offered advice on the qualities needed to be a good role model. He also expressed his concerns about the challenges young people face online and the importance of having positive influences in their lives. We connected this to the roles of Head and Deputy in school, discussing how vital it is for leaders to demonstrate our school's Four Bs and uphold our Christian values. The children shared thoughtful ideas about what it means to be a good role model and how we can lead by example. We then explored what the Bible says about role models, focusing on how Jesus is our role model and he sets an example of how to live a life of love, kindness, and compassion. This conversation is also linked to online safety, with a discussion around Instagram. It was encouraging to hear that most children weren’t familiar with the platform. Cassidy read a prayer, thanking God for sending Jesus to guide us and show us what true love and compassion look like.
Year 4 - Big Lent Walk to the Rose Garden
Yesterday, the Year 4s took advantage of the lovely weather and completed a Big Lent Walk to the Rose Garden at Whitehall Park. Whilst there, we spent time exploring the selection of artwork and poetry shared by each class. We helped the Reception children read the poetry and completed challenges to find each part of the Easter story.
Year 3- R.E-Exploring Easter Through Art
This afternoon, Year 3 walked to the Rose Garden at Whitehall Park to admire artwork created by the whole school. The displayed pieces reflect the Easter story and have been inspired by what pupils have learned in their R.E. lessons over the past few weeks. Year 3 took time to pause, reflect, and appreciate the powerful expressions of both sadness and joy, brought to life through art. The visit gave the children a chance to think, feel calm, and feel connected. They thought about how the Easter story teaches us to live life to its fullness. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were proud to see how their learning has been transformed into something so meaningful and creative.
Year 4 - Mother’s Day Cards
We’ve had to save this news from last week as we didn’t want to spoil the surprise, but Year 4 made some lovely Mother’s Day cards for the special people in their lives. They folded origami tulips for the front of their cards and wrote love-filled messages inside. We hope all the mums, grandmas, aunties and special people who received them loved them and enjoyed Mothering Sunday.