KS2 Christmas Church Service
This morning, we had a special Christmas Church Service led by Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 to celebrate Advent. Year 6 lit the first candle for hope and shared their hopes and dreams for the future. Leonora and Daisy shared their dream of being a teacher to inspire others in the same way that they have been inspired in their own education, Alice shared her dream of being a paediatric nurse to support children in their time of need and suffering, Matthew shared his hope of travelling the world and experiencing the awe and wonder it can offer, Oscar shared his desire to be a kind and respectful citizen as he grows into adolescence and adulthood and Jake shared the hope of being like his parents who love and care for him and inspire him every day to be kind and positive. Year 5 then showed their beautifully crafted origami doves, symbolising peace and hope. They then read their heartfelt prayers, expressing their wishes for peace. Year 4 lit the candle for joy and shared their wonderful metaphors for Jesus through artwork such as Jesus being a torch and a lighthouse. This symbolised the joy Jesus brings us. Finally, Year 3 told us about the final theme of Advent which was love. They spoke about how we are able to share love by being kind and supportive of one another and shared some examples of how Jesus showed love through the miracles that he performed. The candle for love will be lit this Sunday. To end our collective worship, Mrs Ham gave us a few moments to reflect on how we can spread hope, joy, peace and love this Christmas time. We had examples such as smiling, giving hugs and kisses, giving a high-five, making and giving someone a card, encouraging others to challenge and overcome things, letting others join in with our games and giving our friends and family the precious gift of time. She thanked all of the staff for their outstanding commitment to our school family, our parents for their fabulous support and our amazing children for being so well behaved and working so hard. We then heard from Rev Ben who shared a lovely Christmas blessing and we had the pleasure of watching our fabulous Christmas video which showcased all of the Christmas fun we have had over the last few weeks and it brought lots of joy and laughter to the whole congregation.
Year 4 Adventure Art and Trail Quiz Walk
Year 4 have had a great day today taking part in the Advent Art and Trail Quiz Walk. We walked to the Rose Garden first where we did the Advent Trail Quiz and the children worked really well to follow the clues and answer the questions. Next we walked around the garden admiring the beautiful pieces of artwork that the children from St Barnabas had completed. After that we walked to Mrs Gardner's home to enjoy hot chocolate, marshmallows and cream or a hot vimto with a side of chocolate biscuits. Finally, we walked back to the park and went on the playground before heading back to school. The children were great at showing the 4 Bs both in and out of the classroom and it was lovely to watch them all with huge smiles on their faces too.
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Collective Worship- Love at Advent
This morning in our collective worship we walked in to the song 'Wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas' which is from one of Mrs Ham's favourite Christmas films, The Muppets Christmas Carol. We then signed and lit our trinity candles and then lit our advent candles of hope, peace and joy. We then learnt about the fourth candle, which represents love. We watched a special video called from God with love which told God's big story and how he loves us so much that he sent his special son, Jesus. We then reflected on how we can show love to others this Christmas and we had some wonderful ideas such as smiling, giving our time, hugs, food for the homeless, giving presents and showing gratitude for everything we have. We thought about all of the lovely ways we have shown love to others over the last week through singing in care homes, delivering Christmas cards to East Lancs Hospice and bringing joy to others with our Nativity and Christmas Cracker Concerts. We then said a special prayer thanking God for his most amazing gift of Jesus and sang some Christmas carols. Whilst we were singing, Mrs Ham gave every single child in our school family a special gift of a small wooden heart with love engraved on it to remind us that God loves us, she loves us, all the teachers love us and our friends and family love us. She explained that everytime we look at it we can remember how loved we are and it can encourage us to show love to others in all the fantastic ways we thought of earlier.
KS1 Christmas Cracker
We are so proud of our Year 1 and 2 children for their wonderful Christmas Cracker Concerts this morning and yesterday afternoon. It was an absolute delight to see them singing and dancing with such enthusiasm and confidence. They certainly did bring joy to everyone who came to watch. A huge thank you to Miss Flynn for her amazing role as musical director, Mr Norris for the high pressured job of playing the music, Miss Craig, Mrs Hegarty and Miss Lyons for their wonderful props, stage directions and encouraging the children with the actions and to Mr Bloomfield for filming. Thank you to all of the parents and grandparents who came along to show their support. Thank you also for helping the children learn their lines and for providing them with their wonderful Christmas clothes. Thank you to Rev Ben for leading us in prayer and blessing us all. All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/ks1-christmas-cracker-1 The video can be found here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usy-SsMPTGc
Year 3- Class Worship- Love- Christmas Cards
In today’s worship, Year 3 enjoyed learning about the history of Christmas cards, from when the first postcard was made to how they’ve changed over the years. We talked about how things like rising postage costs have led to more people sending digital or hand-delivered cards. The children shared their own family Christmas traditions and thought about the real meaning of the season, focusing on the story of Jesus’ birth. Lyla ended the worship by reading a prayer, thanking God for all the joy and excitement that Christmas brings.
Reception: Year of Prayer
This week, Mrs Wilkinson gave each child in Reception a piece of ribbon. We discussed how we sometimes receive special looking presents with ribbon wrapped around them. We all took it in turns to tie our ribbon to our prayer tree and gave thanks to Jesus who is the best gift ever!
Church Carol Service
A huge well done to our choir and other volunteers from our school family who sang their little hearts out this evening, at our church carol service. It was a lovely service and we are sure that it brought everyone lots of joy. Thank you Mrs Govan for giving up her time to lead our choir. Thank you to our parents and carers who came along to support.
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Whole School Celebration Worship
During this week’s celebration worship, we reflected on the theme of joy this Advent, alongside the lighting of the peace and hope candles as part of our preparations for Christmas. We discussed how joy can be found in simple moments and acts of kindness, and the children were reminded of the many wonderful events that brought happiness throughout the week. These included the Rocksteady concert, where children showcased their musical talents, the magical pantomime Aladdin on Ice, the school Pantivity Production and the festive fun of the Christmas Fair. Our Values Award winners were celebrated with great applause: Harry in Reception, Molly in Year 1, Evie in Year 2, Chay in Year 3, Sofia in Year 4, Elsie in Year 5, and Poppy in Year 6. Their contributions to school life have been amazing and have been reflected in their awards. Year 1 and Year 4 were also recognised as the winners of this week’s attendance award for their commitment to being present and ready to learn. A heartfelt special thank you was given to all the children who contributed their creative talents to produce the stunning Christmas artwork now proudly displayed in the Rose Garden at Whitehall Park. This beautiful display adds a festive touch to the community and each class will now take a trip to the park to admire all the children’s artwork. Prayers were shared during the worship, led by the children, who asked for peace in countries experiencing conflict and war, kindness to those without food or shelter, and blessings for everyone to have a safe, warm, and joyful Christmas. The Team Values Points results were eagerly awaited, with Darwen Tower placing fourth, India Mill third, River Darwen second, and Whitehall Park taking first place for the week. In addition, India Mill was announced as the overall half-term winner, earning a well-deserved non-uniform day and disco celebration as a reward for their hard work and teamwork throughout the term. This will take place on the last Thursday of the term. We proudly acknowledged the remarkable achievements of our children. Lydia was recognised for earning her Rainbows Influencer Skills Builder badge and for taking action to make a difference, while Naomi received her Christmas badge for Brownies. Isabella celebrated swimming 5 meters, and Lyla earned a Medal with Rothwell Arts for her dedication to ballet. Marnie May was applauded for her accomplishments in tap dancing and gymnastics and Grace achieved her Bronze Award for earning multiple badges at Brownies. Olivia was named Star of the Week for her excellent performance in gymnastics and Tristen celebrated earning his blue belt in kickboxing. Scarlett shone with her Netball Shooting Award, while Oliver achieved a swimming award for swimming 5 meters. Elana was recognised for her Rainbows Influencer Skills Builder and taking action and Luna was honored as Dancer of the Day. Alice and Evie were recognised as they performed beautifully in Over the Bridge and Leonora and Desmond proudly represented their swimming competition in the regionals. Well done to all for these incredible accomplishments! The worship concluded on a high note, with everyone coming together to sing joyful Christmas songs, filling the room with festive cheer.
Whole School Worship: Joy at Advent
This week, our advent theme is JOY. We learned about the joy of Jesus’s birth and how we can bring joy into the lives of others this Christmas. We looked at the John Lewis advert about the man in the moon and how the little girl brought joy to the man, who had been very lonely. We also watched an alternative to the original advert about a girl searching for God and when she almost gave up looking, he sent to her his greatest gift: his son, Jesus. We finished with a look at all of the ways our classes have been bringing joy to each other and the community, including litter picking and singing in the local care home and reflected on how we can bring joy to to others this Christmas.
Reception: Bubble Prayers
At the end of our school day, Reception class lit our candle and signed the holy trinity. We then burnt some Frankincense which was lovely and calming for all of the children. This week, for Blackburn Diocese's year of prayer, we focussed on bubble prayers. We discussed what we were thankful for. Some of the children's responses were God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, parents, teachers and friends. It was lovely for the children to stop and reflect which aided them to explore their own spirituality.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on another week in school. This week, we have been thinking about peace and how this is especially important at this time of the year when things can feel busy and chaotic on the run up to Christmas. We also thought about our many highlights such as watching the fabulous Nativity Performances led by Reception, the final dance sessions in KS2 with Rothwell Arts, our fabulous choir and their siblings bringing lots of festive cheer to the residents at Acer Lodge Care Home in Blackburn yesterday evening and our Year 5/6 football team for representing school at Witton Park last night and bagging several wins. We then congratulated Marnie-May, Percy and Fletcher in EYFS and KS1 and James, Desmond, Bella and Jake for being the individual value award winners this week. Furthermore, we congratulated Reception and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen as our overall value award winners this week with 451 points and Year 3 on being the overall ‘Walk to School’ winners for the month of November. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Thea for achieving a super 5m in swimming, Ralphy for being a superstar swimmer and being awarded his Duckling 1, 2 and 3 award and his Stage 1 and 2 award, Reggie and Albie for having the best decorated tractor at the Turton Young Farmers Tractor Run at the weekend, Beau and Haydn for achieving a fabulous 10m in her swimming, James for winning ‘Player of the Match’ at Darwen FC Aces, Hollie for achieving stage 2 in her swimming, Callie for being a wonderful swimmer and achieving her 10m backstroke and butterfly, Stage 8 in her gymnastics and working exceptionally hard at Stage Coach, Archie for being awarded his orange belt in kickboxing, Harriet for achieving 200m in her swimming and Stage 4 water skills award, Grace for being awarded two medals for ballet and acro dancing, Penelope for gaining the ‘Most Improved dancer’ in Acro at Rothwell Arts, Renee for gaining her white belt at kickboxing and her Stage 2 in swimming, Eleanor for achieving her Stage 2 at swimming and Charlie for achieving Stage 4 at swimming. To end our worship, we had two beautiful prayers from Lydia and Harry who said a prayer for refugees and keeping them safe as they flee their countries. We then sang ‘We Three Kings’ and ‘Ding Dong.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Worship with Rev. Matt
During worship with Rev. Matt, the children began with a lively game of musical statues, setting a joyful tone for the session. They then listened attentively to the story of The Men Who Liked to Say No, which illustrated how unwavering faith can triumph over even the greatest challenges. The story emphasised the courage and resilience needed to stand firm in one's beliefs. Following the story, the children engaged in a thoughtful reflection on its message. They discussed the true meaning of Christmas, explored practical ways to do good, even in difficult situations. They shared ideas on how small acts of kindness and faith can make a big difference, connecting the lessons of the story to their own lives. It was a meaningful session that left the children inspired to carry the spirit of Christmas into their everyday actions.
Year 6 - Class Worship
This week, in our class worship, year 6 discussed what it means to feel included. We explored a new incentive from the FA to raise participation of disabled people in football and expressed how we felt about this. The overarching views were positive, but we also explained how this incentive could have happened sooner. We then linked this to school life and spoke about what it means to feel fully included. The word that epitomises this is ‘belonging‘.
Reception Nativity
A huge well done to our Reception children who were amazing in their Nativity this morning. We are so proud of how much their confidence has grown since starting with us in September. They sang and danced their little hearts out and they really did fill our hearts with joy! A massive thank you to Mrs Wilkinson, Mrs Govan and Mrs Thompson for all of their effort into making the production such a success. A special thank you to Mrs Hegarty and Miss Craig for helping get the children in and out of their costumes and Miss Lyons for painting their faces. Thank you to Rev Ben for blessing us all and leading us in prayer at this special time of year, when we remember the birth of Jesus. Thank you so much to all of our Reception parents and carers for providing the children with wonderful costumes and for practising their lines. Thank you also for coming along and showing your support today. We hope you enjoyed it and hope your hearts were filled with joy too.
Collective Worship: Peace at Advent
Our school is starting to get ready for Christmas and has been decorated. There was one final job to do- our youngest child, Annie placed the star on our Christmas tree. This week we started our worship by looking at the Year of Prayer, which we will be taking part in along with lots of other schools from across our Diocese. Our WOW group explained what we would be focusing on this week in classes. All classes will have a go at alphabet prayers. The children will all think about something that brings joy to them. We then looked at our whole school focus which was on the value of peace. Mrs Wilkinson led the children in prayer. Mrs Wilkinson recapped what Christians focus on in the first week of advent: hope. She lit the first Advent candle. We then looked at what we would be focussing on this week which was peace. The children watched a video all about peace. Leonora said that if we experience conflict in school, we could walk away or not argue with our friends and remain at peace. Matthew said smiling brings us joy and peace. We all reflected on what the world would be like if it was always at peace. The children discussed how loving everyone can bring peace. We ended our worship by singing 'We Three Kings' and 'Ding Dong'.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Today, every child in school helped to decorate our real Christmas tree in the hall. They have been busy decorating their classrooms too so it really is beginning to look and feel like Christmas! On Monday, as part of our St Barnabas tradition, the youngest child in our school will place the star on top of the tree in Worship.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on another very busy week in school. On Monday, we started the week by introducing our children to the Diocese ‘Year of Prayer Challenge,’ we’ve had some fabulous clubs such as sportshall athletics, choir, lego and football training, great enthusiasm whilst rehearsing for our Christmas productions and making Christmas products in our D&T units to sell at our Christmas Fair. We then congratulated our individual value award winners. Well done to Minnie, Olivia and Marley in EYFS and KS1 and Cassidy, Peyton, Theo and Grace in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these fabulous children for consistently showing our Christian Values, Barney’s 4Bs and always demonstrating a positive attitude to learning. We also congratulated Elsie, Mollie, Haydn, Joey, Archie, Seb, Mila, Lyla and Heidi for representing school in the KS1 Multi-Skills Festival at St Bedes, our amazing Sports Leaders for supporting this KS1 Multi-Skills event and our fantastic Year 5/6 football team who represented school at BRFC Kids Cup. Despite their defeat, they bounced back amazingly and had two successes last night against St Edwards and Avondale. Well done boys! Furthermore, we congratulated Year 1 and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park as our overall value award winners this week with 296 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Vienna for swimming 100m without armbands and achieving her Stage 4, Arabelle for achieving Stage 5 in her swimming, Haydn for achieving his 5m and Stage 3 in his swimming, Sofia for achieving a medal for demonstrating great perseverance in her commercial dancing, Lyla for her fabulous audition as Glinda in Wicked, Grace for her fabulous dance talent, Eleanor for being a super Rainbow, Mollie for achieving her Stage 1 water skills award, Elsie for achieving 75m without armbands in her swimming, Olivia for getting Emily at Brownies for demonstrating kindness and using her manners, Beau for being awarded her Stage 2 at swimming, James for achieving the team captain arm band this week at football and Matthew for playing and winning in a special tournament for Manchester United at the weekend. We then said a farewell to a valuable member of staff, Mrs Stanton. We thank her for her dedication over the past 18 months in her role as Key Stage 2 Teaching Assistant and previously in her role as office admin. We wish her all the best in her new role as a design and technology teacher. To end our worship, we had three beautiful prayers from Hamza, Leonora and Olivia who said prayers about appreciating all the things that we can sometimes take for granted and being grateful for everything that we receive this Christmas. We then sang ‘Ding Dong' with great enthusiasm! We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 3- Class Worship-The Earthshot Prize winners
Today in class worship, we celebrated the Earthshot Prize winners. This inspiring award recognises people and organisations working to protect our planet. Year 3 were particularly excited, having just cleaned up their local community. We discussed how small acts of kindness, like their community clean-up, can contribute to a healthier world. The Bible reminds us that we are stewards of creation, and responsible for caring for the Earth. We prayed, thanking God for our beautiful world and asking for forgiveness when we haven't been good stewards.
Collective Worship: First Sunday of Advent
Today during worship, Mrs Wilkinson shared the word Advent with the children. We started by discussing what this means. The children said that it was about the countdown to the arrival of the birth of Jesus. It is a time to prepare for Christians. The first Sunday of Advent, Christians focus on hope. We discussed what hope meant and how it is a sign of good things to come. During our reflection we thought about how we can bring hope to people and how we can show love and kindness to others. Cassidy said we could donate to charity, Sonny said we could buy a present for a homeless person and Leonora said we could smile at one another. We prayed to God together and thanked him for sending Jesus at Christmas to give us the hope that the world can be a better place. We ended our worship by singing 'come and join the celebration' and 'ding dong'.
Whole School Worship - Bishop Philip’s Year of Prayer Launch
The St Barnabas school family were thrilled to join a live worship with Bishop Philip this afternoon, along with nearly 60 other church schools in Blackburn Diocese. Lisa and the Bishop met us via Zoom to talk to us about prayer, why we pray and what happens to our prayers. We were fascinated to learn that Jesus knows each and every one of us, and that he hears all of our prayers. We also learned some new ways to pray. These included quiet prayers, for which we were silent and focused on just being with our thoughts, and noisy prayers, for which we shouted out our school name and our own name as loud as we could. Over the course of this academic year, we will be focusing on a new way to pray each week in whole school collective worship, and in our classrooms. We know the children will enjoy exploring prayers along with hundreds of other children across the Diocese.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on our busy week in school and all the fabulous snowy weather that we’ve had. We then congratulated our individual value award winners. Well done to Albie, Millie and Alice in EYFS and KS1 and Naomi, Walter, Jenson and Harry in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these amazing children for showing great enthusiasm across the curriculum, working hard to consistently demonstrate our Barney’s 4Bs and being fantastic role models. We also congratulated Martha, Declan, Harry and Tilly for representing school in the Pantathlon Bowling Competition and Charlie, Darcy, Eliza, Carter, Ivy and Edward for representing school at a Dodgeball Festival this week, Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and India Mill as our overall value award winners this week with 428 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Ava and Hendrix for taking part in Squirrels at Bold Venture Park, Eliza for achieving many rosettes for being a fabulous jockey, Reggie for doing a fantastic pass and being ‘Player of the Week’ at Little Darreners, Thea for showing amazing skill and bar work at gymnastics, Olivia for achieving the team captain arm band this week at football, Harry for achieving ‘Man of the Match’ for showing grit and determination at football, Marley for being amazingly creative, Maggie for achieving her ‘Animal Lover’ and ‘Family Tree’ badge at Rainbows, Desmond and Leonora for being super swimmers and achieving many PBs and Isabella for achieving 5m in her swimming without armbands. To end our worship, we had three beautiful prayers from Finn, Cassidy and James. Finn said a prayer for those who have sacrificed their lives in the war past and present, Cassidy prayed for those who are less fortunate than us including those without toilets and James prayed for us all to have a lovely and restful weekend and for our safe return on Monday. We then sand ‘Sing a New Song’. We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Rev Matt Worship
Today, Rev Matt led a fantastic worship that focused on how we can often lose sight of things that are important. He started with a challenge that involved watching a video with a focus in mind, but in doing so, we missed some other events that occurred. This linked nicely to the story ‘God Sends Fire’ as King Ahab had lost faith in God and decided to worship a false God called Baal. To show everyone that God was the true God, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest. They had to build an altar and ask their God to set it on fire. The prophets of Baal danced and prayed all night, but nothing happened. Then, Elijah asked people to drench his altar with water. He prayed to God, and fire came down from heaven! It burned up the altar and all of the water. Everyone saw this and knew God was the true God. This story can help us remember to have faith in God, even when things are tough, and to always trust that He is in control.
Whole School Worship - World Toilet Day
In worship yesterday, we looked through our spirituality windows and out into the world on toilets. We were shocked and saddened to find out that around 700 children under 5 die every year due to poor sanitation. We heard about Jeremiah in Kenya who doesn’t have access to a toilet. In his community, people would mostly use a hole in the ground or a plastic bag, which some people would tie up and throw on other people’s roofs. We talked about how this affects people’s health and shared ideas of what we could do to help. The children then learned about our Toilet Twinning project for which we raised money a few years go to sponsor the building and maintenance of toilets in Nepal, Uganda, Tanzania, and Afghanistan. We reflected on how we should never take our toilets for granted and thought of ways we could save loo paper and water.
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.
Singing Worship
What a wonderful way to start a new week with a joyous Singing Worship! Our Choir and Year 6 class led our songs with great enthusiasm and helped to teach our reception class two new songs. We all loved getting excited for Christmas by singing 'Ding Dong' and 'Come and Join the Celebration'.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on our very special and busy week in school. This week has seen us celebrate Remembrance Day, Anti-Bullying Week, Inter-Faith Week and Children in Need. We then congratulated our individual value award winners. Well done to Beau, Leila and Roman in EYFS and KS1 and Emily, Olivia, Mason and Daisy in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for working exceptionally hard across the curriculum, demonstrating our Christian Values. We also presented Emily with an additional award for achieving her pen license, our Year 5/6 football team for bouncing back from last week’s defeat and representing school with exemplary behaviour and brilliant sportsmanship which saw them win two matches at the Darwen School’s League last night, Year 1 and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and River Darwen as the overall value award winners this week with 404 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Ava for taking part in Remembrance Day at Bold Venture Park, Callie for always listening and following instructions beautifully during her singing, dancing and acting lessons at Stage Coach, Seb for getting ‘Man of the Match’ and ‘Trainer of the Week’ at football, Elijah for achieving ‘Player of the Week’ at football for mastering a new skill called the step over, Finn for achieving ‘Player of the Day’ at Football and achieving ‘Most Improved Player’ for his cricket team, Quinn, April, Walter, Eve and Percy for attending the ‘Little Potting Club’ at Whitehall Park and achieving an environmentalist award, Beau for achieving 5m in her swimming, Jack for being awarded with his Stage 6 swimming certificate, James for attending the remembrance service with Beavers and Haydn for showing super skills in a recent football match. To end our worship, we had three beautiful prayers from Darcy, Olivia and Mason who thought about fuelling children in need with food and remembering those who sacrificed their lives for us and we sang ‘Build Up’ to reinforce the message of ‘building each other up’ this Anti-Bullying Week. We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
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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 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.
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.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on our week of remembering to honour ‘Remembrance Day.’ We said that we have been thinking about the people who sacrifice their life to keep us safe and/or bring about positive change in our world such as the soldiers, The Royal Navy, the NHS, the firefighters, the police and the charity workers and we observed a two minute silence to pay our respects. We then congratulated our individual value award winners. Well done to Tommy-Joe, Teddy and Archie in EYFS and KS1 and Rosie, Jack, Grace and Hamza in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for always being respectful, kind, well-mannered and exceptionally hardworking. We also congratulated Desmond, Eliza, Daisy, Jack, Sofia and Tristen for achieving their pen licenses, Ted, Sofia, Daisy, Alice, Darcy, Walter and Sonny for representing our school amazingly well yesterday at the Cidari Moon Conference at Blackburn Cathedral, our Year 6 JagTag team for also representing our school superbly at the Soccer Dome on Tuesday and our Year 5/6 football team for representing school well at the Darwen School’s League last night, Year 1 and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and India Mill as the overall value award winners this week. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Ava for her swimming certificate, Grace for passing her jazz exam, Eliza for demonstrating phenomenal skill in her horse riding mounting games and for placing 1st and 2nd in her most recent event, Olivia for achieving Player of the Match in a recent football match, Tristen for achieving his blocks badge and yet another belt in his kickboxing, Fletcher for being awarded with his green belt in genjitsu, Thomas for being a super pool player, Cassidy for being a super gymnast and achieving a silver medal for her vault work, Isaac for being an incredible captain and leading his football team with great confidence and skill, Mila, Eden and Sofia for taking part in a remembrance parade and Sofia for achieving several awards for her Brownies. To end our worship, Mrs Ham reminded us that next Tuesday 12th November is Odd Socks Day to celebrate Anti-bullying and Interfaith week and then next Friday 15th November is Children in Need and the children can wear pyjamas, spots or Pudsey merchandise. Rev Ben said a special remembrance prayer and then we sang ‘A Song of Peace’ to pray for a world of peace. We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Reception: Visiting our Spiritual Garden
Today we are celebrating outdoor classroom day. Reception class are always on the go but we had a wonderful time to sit and reflect in our spiritual garden during our collective worship time. This serene outdoor space was perfect for our children to contemplate love, gratitude, and remembrance. The children were encouraged to reflect on the people they love to foster empathy and connection. The children said that they loved their family, friends and teachers. They also expressed gratitude for God’s beautiful creation, a reminder of the wonders that surround us daily. Beau said that she loved God, Ralphi said he loved the planet, Evie said she could hear the trees blowing in the wind and Oliver said he could hear the birds singing during our moments of silence. We then remembered our poppies and why we were wearing them. Will told everybody it was to remember the soldiers in the war. The class took a moment to remember the soldiers as a sign of respect. As a symbolic gesture, the children used a bubble machine to release bubbles into the sky to heaven. The children really enjoyed this spiritual experience and we are looking forward to the next time we can visit the garden.
Year 1- Remembrance
Year 1 have been busy reflecting on the importance of Remembrance Day whilst making poppies using various media, creating Remembrance moving pictures and writing Remembrance prayers. They have thought about the soldiers that have and continue to fight for our country to keep us safe. They have also kept in their thoughts many people who work bravely and tirelessly everyday to bring about positive change and keep us safe from harm such as the police, NHS, paramedics, Royal Navy and charity workers.
Year 1 Class Worship- Visiting the Spiritual Garden
Today, we took our worship outside for Outdoor Classroom Day. In the Spiritual Garden, we listened to and enjoyed each other’s beautiful remembrance prayers that we have each created in class. Percy said a prayer to thank soldiers for their bravery and keeping our country safe. Ida, Thomas and Mollie followed with a prayer to say thank you for our everyday heroes such as the NHS, paramedics and charity workers and Callie ended with a prayer about remembering those who lost their homes to the Great Fire of London and all the other refugees who are having to flee their homes. We ended our time in the spiritual garden by having a few moments to ourselves whilst we walked around and took in the sights and sounds of nature.
Cidari Moon Conference
Some of our children and WOW group from Year 4 had an amazing day admiring and reflecting on the moon today at Blackburn Cathedral with Mrs Ham and Mrs Araujo. Most of the schools in our Cidari Multi-Academy trust took part and it was a great way to meet new friends. Each of the children took part in a different activity around a big question about the moon with children from other schools. Rev Ben led an opening worship where we learnt about how God created the moon by hand and crowned us all with honour and glory. Bishop Philip encouraged us all to lie underneath the moon art installation and gaze at it whilst pondering some thought provoking questions. Rev Alan closed the day with a fun moon quiz and we discussed how the moon reflects the sun's light and we can reflect God's light . We finished by singing and joining in with the actions to 'our God is a great big God'. Thank you so much to Mrs Gray from St Oswalds, Knuzden for organising the event and to Mrs Araujo and staff from the other schools for leading a number of amazing activities. What a wonderful day of celebrating one of God's most amazing creations!
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.
Year 3- Class Worship- Hopes and Dreams
Today in our class worship, we learned about the incredible achievements of Adriana Brownlee, the youngest woman to climb all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks. We then reflected on our hopes and dreams, both individually and as a class. We discussed the Bible's message of God's love, strength, and guidance, and how these principles can help us to pursue our aspirations. Lyla then read the prayer to the class: Thank God for always being there as we journey through life and giving us hope for the future as we learn and grow. Amen
Remembrance Singing Worship
This morning in our singing worship we focused on songs of peace as we will be remembering all those who bravely gave their lives in the wars this week. We will also be thinking about people around the world who are still be affected by war and conflict and how we can help them. We will remember them!
Poppy Appeal 2024
Our Heads and Deputies have been around to all of the classrooms today to show all of the children the poppy appeal merchandise that will be on sale from Monday at break times. The suggested donation for slap bands is £1.50, bracelets £1.00 and poppy reflectors 50p. Please send money into school in a named envelope or bag. Thank you in advance for your generosity to this worthy cause. Next week we will be focusing on Remembrance Day in our Worships and Year 6 will be taking part in a special Remembrance Service at Darwen Cemetery. We will remember them.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on the wonderful week that we have had in school. We lit a special candle for All Souls Day on Sunday to remember all those who have sadly passed away and reflected on the positive behaviour that we’re seeing around school such as holding open the doors for each other and using our wonderful manners. We also thought about all the amazing experiences that we have had in school such as Reception showcasing their Diwali learning to the whole school, Year 1 and Year 3 visiting Nightingale Farm, Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 fully embracing their dance sessions led by Rothwell Arts and the WOW group for giving the harvest donations to DARE (Darwen Asylum Refugee). Firstly, we congratulated the amazing children who took part in the 6 week Cre8ability programme which has allowed them to explore many of their creative talents such as painting, sculpting and being musicians and learning about their superpower emotional intelligence. We then presented Jasper, Vienna and Maggie in EYFS and KS1 and Ella-Grace, James, Quinn and Matthew in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for working extremely hard across the curriculum, showing a positive attitude to learning and using exceptional manners. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Eleanor who has recently made her Rainbows promise, Ava for achieving her Stage 1 swimming certificate, Fletcher for being awarded with his 25m swimming certificate, Lyla and Darcy for achieving a medal for their incredible gymnastic talent, Lydia and Naomi for receiving a letter from the head of royal correspondence thanking them for their very thoughtful letter to Princess Charlotte, Grace for being an amazing dancer, brownie and physicist, Olivia for being an incredible captain and leading her, Eliza for being an outstanding footballer and Sofia for achieving her intermediate award in gymnastics. We also congratulated our Year 4/5/6 girls football team who attended the DPSSA football league presentation evening last night and coming in 3rd overall, Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners, India Mill for winning the Inter-house sports competition before the holidays and River Darwen as the value award winners this week. We also congratulated River Darwen as being the half-termly award winners for last half-term. They will be awarded with a non-uniform day and disco next week. Our heads and deputies also announced that they will be selling the Remembrance Day merchandise every break time next week to raise money for The Royal British Legion. To end our worship, we sang ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ in celebration of All Saints Day. We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Reception - Diwali
During today’s worship, Reception Class led a special service to celebrate Diwali. The children proudly showcased their beautiful artwork, including vibrant rangoli patterns filling the space with vibrant colours. They sang joyful songs and shared the story of Diwali with the whole school. It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to learn about and appreciate this important Hindu celebration!
Worship with Rev. Matt
During this week’s worship, Rev. Matt engaged the children with a game of ‘Real or Fake,’ encouraging them to think carefully about what they see and question whether images are genuine or not. This led into the story of Elijah, who courageously stood against people worshiping a statue made of sticks and stones, teaching the children about the importance of true faith over false idols. To close, Rev. Matt invited the children to reflect on what they would like God’s help with, creating a moment of thoughtful prayer and connection.
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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!
Enjoying our Spiritual Garden
A huge thank you to our WOW (Worship Our Way) group, Mrs Araujo and Mr Fairbanks for planning and developing our Spiritual Garden. We are loving having time to reflect, admire God’s creations, be peaceful and connect with our friends in it at break and lunch times. Thank you to SACRE for the generous grant we received to create a spiritual garden made from mainly reclaimed and recycled materials.
Welcome back Worship
It was wonderful to welcome the children back into school this morning after the half term break. We had a brilliant singing worship where we created actions for our new song 'life is always better' and our super volunteers led the actions for our 'song of peace'. song. What an uplifting way to start the new half term!
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.
Harvest Church Service 2024
Thank you to our Wow group, EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 classes for leading our Harvest celebration at church today. I have uploaded some videos to class dojo and additional photos can be found here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/harvest-church-service-2024 It was wonderful to see so many of our families in attendance. A huge thank you to you all for coming to watch and thank you to all of our families for your continued support this half term. Thank you for all of your kind harvest donations, these can be continued to be sent in during the first week that we are back at school. Wishing you all a wonderful half term, Mrs Wilkinson
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.
Year 1 Class Worship- Black History Month
This week in Year 1, we have listened to the stories of some extraordinary people in Black History. We watched a video about Olaudah Equiano who worked as a slave for many years before buying his freedom. We learnt that once he was freed, he was incredibly brave and fought for black slavery to be abolished. We also learnt about an inspirational man called Laurie Cunningham who fought against many challenges to become one of the first black footballers to play for England. Finally, we read a book about Rosa Parks who was a very courageous woman who made her famous stand (while sitting) on the bus, helping to bring about freedom and equality for black people. Year 1 are looking forward to reading more of the ‘Little People, Big Dreams’ books.
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.
Monday Worship: Harvest Appeal
This week is Recycle Week so we will be thinking about all of the rubbish we throw away and how it could be rescued and reused or recycled. Bobby-Ray said what one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure! Thank you for all of the donations of coats we have had so far for our Rota Kids Wrap Up Appeal. Mrs Ham showed us two bin bags that at first she thought was rubbish but they were filled with coats that can be donated to the homeless. Mrs Ham then introduced the Bishop’s Harvest appeal which our WOW group have chosen to support this year at Harvest along with DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise). We started by exploring our spirituality window and looked at a photo of the classrooms of a church school in Multan in Pakistan. We stopped and reflected on what is great about our classrooms. Lottie loves the amount of paper, Ella-Grace said our teachers, Callie said our books, Eleanor said our friends, Jacob said the opportunities to learn, Olivia said the view of Darwen Tower and Will said everything. There are some boys and girls in Multan in Pakistan that are unable to go to school and some who do but don't have many resources in their classroom. We took some time to look at a picture and reflect on what we could see. The classrooms in Multan do not have any chairs, tables, pictures, windows or toys. The children reflected and felt empathy for the Christian children in Multan who did not have the same experience and resources as we all do at St Barnabas. We then started to think about what we could do to make a difference to their lives. The Bishop’s Harvest Appeal has helped the children to receive books, solar panels and hand washing facilities in the past. Rosie said we could do a sponsored run and James said we could collect books. Bishop Philip has asked us all do to a Harvest Heptathlon . We need to think of seven things we could do to help the children in our area and also the boys and girls in Multan. Over the next few weeks, we will be thinking about how we can help and make a difference. We ended our worship by singing ‘I can make a difference’.
Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by thanking everyone for dressing in yellow yesterday for World Mental Health Day. What a fabulous day we had! This week, we have also been thinking about courageous advocacy. Well done to our Rotakids who are being courageous advocates by collecting coats to keep people warm this winter and our WOW group for collecting harvest donations for DARE (Darwen Asylum Refugee Enterprise). We then presented Ralphy, Skye and Ella in EYFS and KS1 and Lyla, Harriet, Ruby and Noah in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for working extremely hard across the curriculum and always demonstrating our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, being safe, being kind and being respectful) and our school Christian values. We also congratulated our Year 5/6 football team who worked exceptionally well as a team in the Kids Cup Heat on Monday during all of the group stages and will now be competing in the final in the 23rd November, our Year 4/5/6 girls football team who played amazingly well in the DPSSA football league last night, Year 1 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners for the second week running and River Darwen as the value award winners again this week. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Lyla and Carmen for achieving their Stage 5 in swimming, Tristen for achieving his green and white belt in kickboxing and completing the BwD Summer Reading challenge, Maggie for being a superstar rainbow and being awarded Olivia this week and Isabella for being a fantastic swimmer. Finally, we had some beautiful prayers from James, Iris and Elijah to pray for those who have been affected by the hurricane in Florida and to give thank you this Harvest time and then we sang ‘Sing a Song of Harvest.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Rev Matt’s Whole School Worship
Today, during Rev Matt’s worship, the children were captivated by a short clip showing the powerful moment when Moses received the Ten Commandments. The video illustrated how, with people's disbelief in God, dramatic lightning and clouds appeared, revealing the presence of God as he delivered these sacred laws. Through this visual and the accompanying story, the children were guided to understand not only the importance of the commandments but also the broader significance of rules in our lives. This reflection helped them recognise that rules, much like the Ten Commandments, are there to keep us safe, fostering a sense of responsibility and care for one another within our community.
Year 3- Class Worship- Celebrating Black History
During our class worship, we honoured Black History Month by exploring the remarkable life of Olaudah Equiano. Once enslaved, Equiano overcame extraordinary challenges to become a prominent abolitionist. We also celebrated the achievements of Nigel Clarke, a pioneering Black footballer, and Betty Campbell, the first Black headteacher in Wales. As we reflected on their inspiring stories, some children shared their aspirations and dreams, such as footballers, teachers, hairdressers and a doctor. We also discussed the resilience and determination it takes to overcome adversity, drawing inspiration from Betty Campbell's journey. We thanked God for providing us with opportunities for education, sports, and loving families.
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.
Whole School Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by thanking everyone for their very generous Macmillan Coffee Morning donations last Friday. The heads and deputies will be announcing the final amount later today. We also lit a candle for gratefulness to say thank you for all of the wonderful things that we have in our lives including our loved ones and the beautiful nature around us. We then presented Ava, Isabella, Callie and Mila in EYFS and KS1 and Martha, Carmen, Edward and Will in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for working extremely hard across the curriculum and always demonstrating our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, being safe, being kind and being respectful) and our school Christian values. We also congratulated Walter and Alice in Year 4 for gaining their pen licenses, all of the children who have achieved their ‘WOW’ badges this month for walking to or from school at least once a week, Year 1 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and River Darwen as the value award winners this week with 549 points. We gave our girls football team a huge round of applause for their three amazing wins last night and particularly congratulated our Year 4 members of the team who stepped up into the Year 5/6 team. Finally, we congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Beau, Jack and Lyla for completing the Summer Reading challenge, Darcy for being awarded Star of the Week at gymnastics, James and Grace for gaining their Stage 5 swimming certificates, Leonora and Desmond for their fantastic swimming whilst competing for Blackburn Centurions, Isaac for being awarded Soccer HQ Player of the Day for demonstrating fantastic football skills, Daisy for being awarded 3 medals in the Paris Olympic Competition at gymnastics, Harriet for swimming 100m in her swimming, Fletcher for celebrating his uncle, Charlie for being a super football star, Laila for being the Player’s Player of the Match at football and Brooke for being awarded the Opposition Player’s Player of the Match. Finally, we had some beautiful prayers from, Renee, Callie and Mason and sang ‘If I was a Butterfly’ in celebration of ‘World Animal Day.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
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.
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Year 3- Class Worship-How important is it to know about the author behind the book?
During our class worship, Year 3 explored a story from Picture News about a book vending machine at Linlithgow Academy in Scotland. The machine offers children access to a diverse selection of over seventy books. The children discussed their preferred books and authors and why they liked them, with suggestions including humorous books, books that enhance vocabulary, and books that provide insights into historical events. We thanked God for allowing us to read books and learn from them, including the Bible and books written by other people.
Whole School Worship: What is Spirituality?
In our Tuesday worship, the theme was spirituality and what it means to us. Mrs Ham talked about things that we can see (physical/ material things) and things that we just feel (spiritual things). We played a fun game where we had to put on a pretend pair of binoculars if it was something physical/ material that we can see or cover our eyes if it was something spiritual that we can't see. We had things like connecting with nature, a big house', money, connecting with friends, inner peace and believing in a God. She introduced the ‘windows’ looking out on the world and how we should take time to learn, to gaze, to wonder and admire and ask ‘why?’ We looked at some of the ways we can live life in all its fullness and today we particularly focused on being 'grateful' for all of God's creations. We also explored how taking notice is one of our five ways to wellbeing too. We looked at some of God’s creations in a video and discussed our favourite ones with our partner. There were lots of 'WOWs' and 'aahhs' at some of God's amazing creations. We finished with a prayer thanking God for all of his creations and sang 'If I were a butterfly' to sing thank you to God. Across this academic year, we will continue to further explore what spirituality means to us at St Barnabas.
Singing Worship- Harvest
What a joyous way to start a new week at St Barnabas! We first discussed why we sing and we had some wonderful answers such as : to communicate with God, to learn new words and vocabulary, to learn new sign language so we can communicate with those who can't speak or hear, to have fun and to say thank you to God. Today some of our fabulous volunteers taught Reception class some of the signs and actions for some of our Harvest songs that we will be singing in our Harvest Festival on Thursday 17th October. We sang 'If I were a butterfly' and 'Sing a song of Harvest' to thank God for all of the wonderful living things he created such as animals, plants and trees.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by thanking everyone for their very generous Macmillan Coffee Morning donations, saying a huge thank you to our wonderful teaching assistants on National Teaching Assistant day and saying a special prayer and thinking about both our Cidari family of schools and local schools on ‘National Pray for Schools Day.’ We then presented Olivia, Reggie, Joey, Lydia and James in EYFS and KS1 and Olivia, Lana, Luke, Ted, Eden, Summer, Brooke and Charlie-Rose in KS2 as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for being fantastic role model for their peers, having a fantastic work ethic and always demonstrating our Barney’s 4Bs (being ready, being safe, being kind and being respectful). Then, we heard from our well-being warriors who told us about ‘Hello Yellow Day’ coming up on Thursday 10th October and asked us to make a contribution on ParentPay in return for dressing in yellow to promote positive mental health. We also congratulated Year 2, Year 3 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and River Darwen as the value award winners this week with 410 points. Finally, we congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Hendrix Elijah, Maggie and Callie for completing the Summer Reading challenge, Ava for being awarded her ‘Little Puffin’ certificate at swimming, Scarlett for being achieving an award for her positive contribution to West Pennine Netball, Maggie for achieving a super drawing award, Bobby-Ray for achieving his white belt at kickboxing and stage 1 at swimming, Lyla for achieving two gold awards at gymnastics, Isabella for earning her brown belt at kickboxing and achieving all of her badges at Rainbows and moving up to Brownies, Peyton for red and white belt at kickboxing, Bella for achieving ‘The Little Darreners’ Player of the Week,’ Iris for being a super swimmer, Marley for being a yoga superstar, Charlie for achieving his brown belt at kickboxing, Olivia for achieving her Stage 6 swimming certificate and Layla for achieving a special rosette for being a super horse rider. Finally, we said the Grace and we sang ‘We Can Make a Difference.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Rev Ben’s Worship: God the Rescuer
Rev Ben came in today to talk about rescuers. He began with a dressing up challenge in which 2 teams had to create their own superhero. Mind Reader won the most votes as the best superhero. Rev Ben linked this to a great rescuer from the Bible: Moses. He told us about God recruiting Moses to talk the Pharaoh into setting his people free. It was a difficult task but, with God’s help, he achieved it. The children spent some time thinking about what made Moses a rescuer and what made Jesus the ultimate rescuer.
European Day of Languages 2024 - Harvest Songs
Today, in singing worship, the children were introduced to some Harvest-themed songs in different European languages. This was in celebration of European Day of Languages, which will take place on Thursday. We have set the children a challenge to learn part or all of one of these songs. They can do this for next week. We are not expecting them to know it by Thursday. There may be some value points available to those who try! :) Here are the links: Harvest songs Portugal - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2iZZ9GBUFE Germany - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzQraV8d1Q France - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjU3YhaM_50
Friday Celebration Worship
During our celebration worship this morning, Mrs Ham began the worship by lighting the candles and reflecting on the many things we are thankful for and grateful for, which led to some children sharing their thankful moments, such as our school, our outdoor area and our families. We then moved on to celebrating a very special member of staff, Mrs Pendlebury who is sadly leaving us today to enjoy her retirement. She has been with us for over 25 years. Heads and Deputies expressed some of their fond memories shared with Mrs Pendlebury. Rosie, expressed by stating that Mrs Pendlebury is one of a kind, Daisy remembered a time when Mrs Pendlebury kindly gave her a hat to wear on a class trip to rock and River. Harry and Hamza recalled moments when Mrs Pendlbury almost fell off a chair which they found amusing. We also watched a short video celebrating Mrs Pendlebury’s time at our school, filled with wonderful memories, a true legend. Mr Bloomfield and Mr Prescott shared a few words too, though no words can capture or express how much Mrs Pendlebury has meant to the school. Her grandchildren Jack and Beau, helped present Mrs Pendlebury with gifts and flowers from the school and staff. Mrs Ham then shared the awards that children received outside of school, including achievements for Charlie, Molly and Isabelle swimming, Isabella, Annabel and Phoebe for the summer reading challenge, James football, Grace dancing and Ella-Grace scouted for Manchester United. Reception and Year 5 won the attendance award. Darwen Tower gained an extra break for the most value points received this week. We then had prayers from Naomi, Sonny and Oscar and sang Mrs Pendlebury’s favourite songs, ‘Welcome everybody’ and Our God is great big God’.
Rev Ben's Collective Worship- Moses
Collective Worship - 19.09.24 During this week's worship session, Rev. Ben shared the story of Moses and the burning bush. He explained how, when God gave Moses a mission, Moses initially struggled to obey, feeling unsure and inadequate for the task. However, God revealed his power and presence to Moses, showing him the way and helping him develop trust. With God's guidance, Moses was able to achieve far more than he ever thought possible. The children engaged in thoughtful discussions, exploring questions like: What might it look like for you to recognise God's presence in your life? Some children reflected on seeing God's presence in acts of kindness, through nature, or in moments of peace when they feel supported by their friends and family. Others spoke about sensing God during quiet times or prayer, feeling that God is guiding them in difficult situations. When asked, Why do you think Moses was hesitant to follow God's instructions? The children expressed that they could relate to Moses’ fear and uncertainty. Some mentioned how Moses might have felt unworthy or scared of failing, while others said that like Moses, they too sometimes feel afraid when they are asked to do something new or hard. The group agreed that trusting God, even when they feel unsure, can help them overcome their fears. The final question, How does it change things for you, knowing that God is always with you? brought a range of responses. Some children said it gave them comfort to know they are never truly alone, even in hard times. Others felt it gave them courage, knowing they could rely on God’s strength when facing challenges. Many agreed that just like Moses, having faith in God’s presence helps them feel more confident in the tasks they are given, knowing they have divine support.
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.
Whole School Worship: The Good Shepherd
Today, we were learning about Jesus’s parable of the Lost Sheep. We discussed why Jesus said 'I am the good shepherd', and how he will always come to us when we feel lost. Thanks to Mr Bloomfield and some of our younger children for acting out the story so brilliantly. We reflected on how we can life live in all its fullness knowing that Jesus is always watching over and protecting us, just like a good shepherd does for his sheep.
Reception: Our First Worship
Today, our Reception class took part in their first whole school worship in the hall. They showed lots of respect entering the hall and loved being with our whole school family. Mrs Wilkinson led a singing worship and the older children helped them to sing songs with lots of actions. We sang Hello, Build up, Our God is a great big God, Build up and I can make a difference. Thank you to our choir for helping lead worship.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our first celebration worship of this academic year by signing the trinity and talking about our extremely busy couple of weeks in school, especially focusing on our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, being safe, being kind and being respectful) and our school values. We then presented Thomas and Fletcher in Years 1 and 2 and Alfie, Eliza, Ella and Leonora in KS2 with certificates for being our value award winners this week. Well done to these children for starting the academic with an amazingly positive attitude, demonstrating fantastic behaviour for learning and consistently displaying our school values. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Harry for completing the Summer Reading challenge and being awarded a huge trophy for demonstrating kindness at SportsCool Summer club, Albie, Samuel, Renee, Carmen, Olivia and James for completing the Summer Reading challenge, Grace for being awarded the lyrical and jazz winner of the week, 3rd place for song and dance and a silver medal for her acro, Sofia for achieving Star of the Week at gymnastics club, Maggie for being a super Rainbow and working exceptionally hard to achieve all of her badges and Marley for achieving all of her badges at Rainbows and moving up to Brownies. We also congratulated Reception, Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and India Mill as the value award winners this week with 427 points. Finally, we had some lovely prayers of thankfulness and appreciation from Leonora, James and Lennox and we sang ‘Shine.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Rev Matt 's Worship - Moses
Collective Worship - 12.09.24 During this week's worship session with Rev. Matt, the children engaged in a meaningful and reflective activity. Rev. Matt began by reading a Bible story. The tale centered on a baby boy placed in a basket and gently set adrift along a riverbank. This story unfolds against a backdrop of great hardship for the Hebrew people, who were oppressed under the rule of the Egyptians. The Egyptian king, fearing that the Hebrew people might rise against them, had decreed that all Hebrew infants be killed. Amidst this dire situation, a courageous act of compassion emerged. The baby, destined for death, was discovered by none other than the Egyptian king’s daughter. Moved by the child’s innocence, she decided to save him and raise him as her own, naming him Moses. Under the watchful eyes of God, the baby was spared and later grew up to become the leader who would free his people from their suffering. Following the story, the children participated in a thoughtful discussion. They paired up and pondered a question: What are some ways they can show respect to their teachers, friends, or family members? The children shared numerous ideas, reflecting their understanding of Christian values. They suggested acts such as actively listening, showing kindness, and embodying respect in their interactions. Their responses demonstrated the importance of treating others as they themselves would wish to be treated, a principle at the heart of our Christian Value of Respect. Through this worship session, the children not only learned about a significant biblical figure but also explored the practical application of respect and kindness in their own lives.
Our new Heads and Deputies
Introducing our new Heads and Deputies! We are so proud of our new Head and Deputy Head boys and girls as they have made a great start to the school year already with a meeting with Mrs Ham planning out how they can support our school family , they have been involved in our worships and today they counted up all of our values points across school. On Friday they will be announcing the winning house teams in our Celebration Worship and they have lots of exciting things planned for our school in the coming months. Well done Harry, Hamza, Daisy and Rosie!
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.
Whole School Worship: Paralympic Values
We began our Monday worship with a race this week, except the race wasn’t very fair. One person was running the race, one was hopping and one was blindfolded. We discussed why this wasn’t a fair race and then we watched some athletes’ performances from the Paralympics. We were amazed to see people with no arms playing the piano, flying aeroplanes, brushing their teeth and driving cars etc and then we reflected on how we can learn from the Paralympians and have a 'yes, I can' attitude. We learned about the Olympic and Paralympic values and how some of the values are the same or similar to our Christian Values., We discussed how we can do anything with hard work, determination and self-belief and read in the Bible that with God, all things are possible.
Rev Ben’s Worship- Trust
Rev Ben welcomed us back to school by reflecting on our school holiday and what we were most looking forward to this school year. He then told us the Bible story about Abraham going on a journey but he didn't know where he was going but he put his trust in God. Rev Ben said that our life can be a wonderful journey if we put our trust in God and remember that he is always with us. We then discussed with our partners how we can make the most of this year and live life in all its fullness. We finished with a lovely back to school blessing and sang a special back to school song.
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 3- First Day in Year 3
Year 3 had a wonderful first day back at school and were full of excitement about joining the juniors! We began the day by writing prayers for the new academic year, with children expressing their hopes for sharing love and kindness, supporting their families, and fostering a caring school community. We also built upon our school’s 4 B’s — Being Kind, Being Respectful, Being Safe, and Being Ready — with thoughtful ideas from the children, such as walking safely around the school and avoiding swinging on chairs. They practised lining up in alphabetical order with great enthusiasm and did an excellent job! In the afternoon, we explored our science unit on Light, where the children explored and compared natural and artificial light sources. It was a fantastic start to the year!
Staff Team Holy Communion Service
What a wonderful way to start a new school year with a special service of Holy Communion for our staff team this morning. Thank you so much Rev Ben for leading the Eucharist today and for saying special prayers for our new school year. We also enjoyed listening to the Bible reading of John 10 and reflected on our role in looking after and protecting our children and enabling them to achieve great things and live life in all its fullness.
Year 6 Leavers Service
This morning we said a special goodbye and good luck to our Year 6 children. It has been a fantastic seven years with them and they should be so proud of all the great things they have achieved. The following memories video shows how much they have lived life in all its fullness throughout their journey at St Barnabas. We wish them all the luck in the world at their new high schools and hope they will continue to shine from the inside out. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bjd1YKm-gFs&feature=youtu.be All the photos from today can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-6-leavers-service-2 We also said a goodbye and thank you to Miss Baxendale. Her new school are so lucky to have her as she is a star! Thank you so much Miss Baxendale for your hard work and dedication to our school family over the last seven years. Thank you parents and carers for all of your wonderful support. Thank you also for your lovely words, cards and gifts. It has been a pleasure to have all of your amazing children in our school family and we hope they all have a well deserved rest. Wishing you all a fabulous Summer holiday and fingers crossed the weather stays like this. Many thanks, Mrs Ham
Whole School Awards Ceremony
This morning, we had a special award ceremony to celebrate a fantastic 2023-2024 academic year here at St Barnabas. First of all, we said a huge well done to Harvey and Miss Reynolds. We thank Mrs Reynolds for the amazing support that she has given to Harvey and the rest of our school family this year and we celebrate all of the wonderful things that Harvey has achieved. We wish him lots of luck at his new school. We then moved on to our Progress Award, Star of the Year and Children’s Champion winners in Years Reception-5. We congratulated Olly in Reception, Eli in Year One, Martha in Year 2, Alfie in Year 3, Elsie in Year 4 and Betsy in Year 5 with the Progress award, Elsie in Reception, James in Year 1, Naomi in Year 2, Alice in Year 3, Declan in Year 4 and Matthew in Year 5 as the Stars of the Year and Edward in Reception, Evie in Year 1, Alfie in Year 2, Daisy in Year 3, Annabelle in Year 4 and Harry in Year 5 as the Children’s Champion. Well done to all of these children for their incredible effort this year. Mrs Gardener and Mrs Ham also presented two of our Year 4 children with special awards. We said a massive congratulations to Annabelle who won our Protecting the Planet award. This is an award that Rev David left after retiring a couple of years ago. It goes to Annabelle for her fantastic commitment to preserving the planet. They also presented the Sharon Kay Cup for Kindness to Bella for her kind, caring, loving and empathetic nature. Mrs Ham, our current Heads and Deputies and Sports Leaders then presented Harry as our new Head Boy, Hamza as our new Deputy Head Boy, Daisy as our new Head Girl and Rosie as our new Deputy Head Girl for next academic year and Matthew, Freddie, Austin, Ezmae, Brooke and Poppy as our new Sports Leaders for next academic year. Well done to all of these children for their very successful applications-we are sure that you’ll all do a fantastic job in your new roles! Mrs Ham then presented all the children in school who have achieved 96% attendance across this academic year- a huge well done to these children for their commitment to learning. Finally, the Rotakids then presented Darcy and James as the sweet jar winners. Thank you to all of our children who guessed the number of the sweets in the jars to raise money for East Lancs Hospice and well done to Darcy and James for guessing correctly. We are so proud of our whole school family for their hard work and dedication, they really have achieved great things and lived life in all its fullness.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Talents
Today, Rev Ben set a task for our volunteers: to carry a balloon from one side of the hall to the other without using their hands. He shared the story of Paul and the shipwreck and talked about the Christian belief that it is their task to share the good news of God and His Son, Jesus. We also considered the talents God gave us and how these talents can be used to serve God and others.
Rev Matt’s Worship - Seeking Truth
Rev Matt shared with us the fantastic news of his recent ordination. Some of the children even helped with a little re-enactment. He explained that his duty as a Christian is to live a life of truth. We listened to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; three men of faith who were punished for refusing to turn their backs on God in order to worship an image of the king. Rev Matt spoke about how it isn’t always easy for us to stand by our beliefs and we discussed times when this might be particularly difficult.
Growth Mindset Assembly
Today, our school had a very special assembly by Liz from Growth Mindset. The children explored the differences between fixed and a growth mindset. The children understood the advantages of growth mindset and how we can channel our growth mindset to overcome challenges and hurdles that we face daily. Liz shared a story about her uncle David who overcame many challenges to compete in the Para Olympic Games which demonstrated the powers of growth mindset. The children were faced with a variety of scenarios and shown how a growth mindset can help achieve and succeed. Just remember: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” A huge thank you to Liz from Grow Your Mindset!
Fundraising - East Lancs Hospice
A huge well done to the whole of St Barnabas, we have raised a massive £277.30 for the East Lancs Hospice through our Hop, Skip and Jump event and our Barney's Got Talent Show. The money will be used to help care for those in need and will support the wonderful staff that do an amazing job within the health care system.
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.
Rev Ben’s Worship - Living a Life of Truth
This week, in Rev Ben’s worship, we learned the importance of telling the truth and we discussed the consequences of lying. We found out that part of being a Christian is aiming to live a life of truthfulness. We also reflected on ways we could stay truthful in our daily lives.
Rev Ben’s Worship
In Rev Ben’s worship, we looked at what it means to describe something and we started with a challenge: Lucy, Hamza, Poppy and Isaac had to describe something to their partner without using the chosen word or actions. Rev Ben then spoke about how God describes things to us and that the Bible speaks God’s truth. The worship was concluded by the children expressing their favourite bible stories and what they feel the purpose of the Bible is today.
Year 3- Collective Worship- What makes a good friend?
During our class worship, Year 3 discussed the qualities of friendship. The children suggested someone you can trust, humble, caring, understanding, kind, encourager, supportive and someone who enjoys hanging out with you. We then watched a short clip inspired by singer, Taylor Swift, who is in the midst of her world tour, one superfan, Devon, has made hundreds of friendship bracelets to donate to people in care homes. She hopes to inspire all generations to get involved in the bracelet craze. We discussed that everyone is different so the friendships we choose are different too. It might be that people have similar hobbies, beliefs, or values that make them friends. The Bible teaches us many things about friendships and being a good friend. We also thanked God for all our wonderful friendships and how God helps us show love through kindness, patience, honesty and forgiveness.
Cidari 10 Year Celebration
A huge thank you to the singing superstars who sang at the Cidari 10 Year Celebration last night at Blackburn Cathedral. Bishop Philip and Mr Ashworth, our CEO, praised the children for their fantastic enthusiastic singing. I’ve also been sent some lovely emails from members of our multi academy trust family saying how wonderful the children were and how they are a credit to our school. Thank you parents for your support and commitment to our school family.
Barney's Got Talent
To celebrate World Music Day, Mrs Ham supported by our Heads and Deputies (Lucy, Skye, Isaac and Wilson) presented a very special Barney's Got Talent this morning. We are collecting donations that will be going to East Lancs Hospice to support the wonderful work they do. All of the talents that we witnessed from our school family were absolutely incredible and we commend all of the children for being so courageous and sharing these talents with such a large audience. A huge well done to Callie the Tangled Twin , Super Summer the Gummy Bear, Haydn and Percy as the Football Friends, Olivia and Lydia as the Barbie Girls, Ballerina Annabel dancing to the instrumental version of ‘Dance Monkey,’ Super Ted and Electric Elijah with their amazing street dancing, The Friendship Band of Iris and Naomi singing ‘This Girl is on Fire,’ Jack, Ella-Grace and Chay as The Conga Monkeys, Miles, Daisy and James as The Brilliant Believers singing Believer by the Imagine Dragons, Toffee Tristen singing Pure Imagination dressed as Willy Wonka, Sparkly Sofia singing ‘Beautiful Things’ by Benson Boone, Dramatic Darcy singing ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri, Mason and James as the MJ Boys singing ‘Shotgun’ by George Ezra, Amazing Annabelle as a magician , Graceful Grace dancing to ‘ABC’ by the Jackson 5, Beau, Jess, Laila, Brooke, Charlie-Rose and Betsy dancing to ‘Who Runs the World? (Girls)’ as the 6 Golden Stars, Eliza as The Joyful Joker, Outstanding Oscar playing and singing ‘Believer’ on the Piano, R’Kid Seb singing ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ by Oasis, Archie the Arrow thrashing Mr Bloomfield at darts and The WWE Wrestlemania team of Charlie, Carlton and Alfie. Wow! What a lot of talent. Thank you to the parents who could attend our Barney's Got Talent, we hope you enjoyed the performances. For those who couldn’t, Mr Bloomfield kindly recorded it and this will be shared with you all. We wish you a lovely restful weekend. Thank you for your continued support.
Whole School CO Safety Worship
Steph visited us to talk about how we can stay safe at home. We watched a video of Safety Seymour and the CO crew and learned about the dangers of CO - Carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas that can’t be detected by our senses alone. We have to be careful if we have gas fires or log burners and check them yearly to make sure they are clean. If we suspect there is a CO leak, then we must contact the gas emergency services to come and check. We must also check our boilers and gas cookers for any changes - if the flame turns floppy and orange it means CO is being produced and a gas safe engineer needs to look at it. Always get an adult to turn it off straight away. If we breathe in CO we might feel unwell and it can be very dangerous so we must remember the 3 safety steps: have our appliances tested regularly, look for signs and symptoms of feeling unwell and install a CO alarm at home.
Rev Matt’s Worship: God’s Great Creations
Rev Matt began his worship this week with a challenge for us all to vote for “the best one for the job”. He showed two people or animals and asked which would be the best runner, the best fire fighter, the best world leader etc. He then read a poem from the Bible about nature and how precious God’s creations are. We spent some time discussing our favourite creations and how we could take care of them.
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.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning in celebration worship, we started by signing the trinity and discussing a very busy first week back after the half-term holidays. This week, we have had a worship about St Barnabas, the encourager and how St Paul was originally called Saul and how he changed his behaviour, a worship from Rev Ben about Jesus being a compass and helping us to find the way when things become difficult and a wonderful Father’s Day Stay and Play in Reception Class. This week also saw a group of our Year 6 children taking part in The Darwen Primary Schools Netball Finals event at Darwen Vale and coming away with joint first but second on goal difference, a group of our Year 6 children for taking part in a BwD cricket competition at Darwen Cricket Club and coming an overall 8th and Year 5 class for being the class who walked to school the most in May. This week, we also said a huge well done to Haydn, Carter, Bluebelle, Miles, Elsie, Ruby and Isaac who were awarded as our value award winners this week for always striving to do their best and showing respect and kindness and we also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our attendance winners and Darwen Tower as our overall value award winners this week with 275 points. We then moved on to hearing about what great things our children at St Barnabas have been achieving outside of school. Well done to Charlie for achieving his brown belt in martial arts, Ella-Grace for being awarded with a trophy for demonstrating fantastic football skills, Callie for working extremely hard and showing amazing skill in her gymnastics, Carter for achieving his silver award at swimming, Amelia for running 5k in the Race For Life and raising £600 for Cancer Research, Olivia for being an amazing Brownie, Daisy for achieving 2nd place at a recent gymnastics competition, Finn for achieving ‘Player of the Week’ at football, Lyla for achieving 10m in her backstroke, Isabella for achieving her brown belt in martial arts and 20m in her swimming, Eliza for achieving ‘Player of the Season’ in her football and being invited back to Blackburn Rovers after trialling out for their girls team, Leonora for swimming amazingly for the centurions and achieving both ‘The Funkiest Hairstyle’ and ‘Heart of Gold Award’ from the club she went to while on holiday, James for achieving a silver medal at Jiu Jitsu for demonstrating very powerful kicks and punches, Maggie for achieving a fantastic 50m in her swimming, Edward for being a super reader and achieving 100% in his reading eggs quiz, Tristen for achieving yet another impressive kick-boxing belt, Miles for achieving 3rd place in a recent football tournament, Annabel for being an incredible tap dancer and achieving her first steps certificate and Summer for achieving a first class medal for demonstrating incredible skill in her gymnastics. Finally, we ended our worship with two beautiful prayers from Jack and Leonora thanking all of our amazing staff for all that they do and praying for those who are in the midst of war and conflict. We also sang, ‘Build Up' as this week we have been thinking about how we can be like St Barnabas and encourage each other and build each other up. Thank you as always for those who could attend celebration worship today and we send an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for their continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend when it arrives and we hope all of the Dads and Grandads have a wonderful Father's Day on Sunday.
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.
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Year 3- PSHE- Drowning Prevention Week- Water Safety in the home
During our class worship, we learned about water safety at home. The children watched the water safety animation and discussed danger signs and when to shout for help. We also took a moment to thank God for keeping us safe around water in our homes, pool, and beaches.
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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.
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Rev Ben’s Worship: Jesus is Our Compass
This week, Rev Ben joined us for worship to talk about seeking the truth. He began with a true or false quiz in which the options become progressively more difficult. We discussed why sometimes it’s hard to know what’s true and how it feels to feel lost. We learned that Christians believe that Jesus will always guide them to the truth if they put their trust in him.
St Barnabas Day Collective Worship
It was wonderful to welcome our school family back again this morning after the half term break. Tomorrow it is St Barnabas day so we focused on St Barnabas, the Encourager this morning in our Collective Worship. We also looked at how St Barnabas and St Paul became friends and we thought about how Rev Ben is the vicar at both St Barnabas and St Pauls in Hoddlesden. We learnt how Paul was originally called Saul and he was mean and didn't like followers of Jesus. One day Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and after that Saul became a good person, changed his name to Paul and spread the word of God. Barnabas met Paul and encouraged others to listen to him and to give him another chance as he always saw the good in others. Barnabas and Paul went on lots of missionaries together to spread the word of God and the good news of Jesus. We reflected on how we could be like St Barnabas and encourage each other in the coming weeks. We discussed the bible quote 'encourage one another and build each other up' and had some wonderful answers. We thought about how our vision 'achieving great things through learning and growing together in a love-filled family' can only be achieved if we encourage each other and build each other up. We then finished with a prayer and sang 'Build up one another'.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about our extremely busy week in school. This week, we saw The Little Voices after school club showcase their amazing learning over the last six weeks, Year 1&2 visit BeWILDerwood in Cheshire, Year 2&4 visit St Barnabas Church to learn about the symbols of the church with Rev Ben, amazing learning in computing, music and French through our Junior Jam sessions, and two wonderful worships with Mrs Wilkinson about mental health awareness and Rev Matt about Pentecost. We then presented Percy, Isabella, Euan, Hamza and Archie as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for demonstrating an amazing attitude to their learning. Miss Flynn then presented all of Year 1 as value award winners this week for challenging themselves to try new activities at BeWILDerwood and representing school amazingly well by showing an amazing amount of courage, friendship and teamwork and Mr Norris presented all of Year 2 as value award winners for approaching their recent tests with amazing smiles on their faces and a huge amount of perseverance as well as being amazing on our trip to BeWILDerwood yesterday. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, Whitehall Park as the overall value award winners this week with 329 points, Annabelle, Mason, Jenson and Elsie for achieving ‘Rock Legend’ status for being able to rapidly recall their timetables and to Lily-May for achieving her pen licence for amazing handwriting across all of her subjects. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Callie for being awarded a certificate and trophy for demonstrating high standards of courtesy, respect and a black belt attitude at martial arts, Leonora for her certificate of recognition for her effort in working towards an award in her gymnastics, Iris for achieving her stage 1 grading at gymnastics and all of her hard work that has gone into achieving this, Ella-Grace for being a super football star and being selected as the manager’s player in her football team, showing amazing commitment to her training at Manchester United and achieving 20m in her swimming, Ed for achieving 25m in his swimming, Isaac for playing for being voted as the players’ player in his football team, Archie for running 2km in the Winter Warmer at Witton, Maggie for being awarded Olivia at Rainbows for being a superstar and always being kind, caring and showing wonderful behaviour, Lyla for her commitment to Rainbows and achieving lots of badges, James for achieving his Stage 2 swimming certificate, Annabelle for achieving an incredible gold award in swimming, Sofia for achieving her Stage 1 gymnastics award and Lucy for being awarded the manager’s player of the year. Her manager said although she’s younger than the other players, she certainly makes up for it on the football pitch. To end our worship, we had a message about Barney’s Got Talent from our heads and deputies. They told us that auditions for this will be W/C 10th June and the showcase of these amazing talents will be on Friday 21st June. Finally, we had some lovely prayers from Sofia and Olivia in Year 3 and we sang ‘Our God is a Great Big God.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely and restful half-term holiday.
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.
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Year 3- Collective Worship- First impression
We discussed this week's story about first impressions during our class worship. The children shared what first impressions mean to them and talked about times when someone had the wrong impression of them or when they misjudged someone based on appearances. They also discussed occasions when they try to make a good impression, such as when meeting visitors at school, new students, or their new teacher. We then explored the biblical story where God told Samuel that He had chosen a new king for Israel, who would be one of Jesse's sons. Jesse assumed it would be his eldest son, but God chose David, Jesse's youngest son. This story teaches us that God does not judge by outward appearance but by the heart. Learning the facts rather than making assumptions based on first impressions is important. We concluded by thanking God for giving us the wisdom to see beyond first impressions.
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Year 3- Religious Education-Which of the ten commandments do you think are the most important?
During our R.E. lesson today, we discussed a child-friendly version of the Ten Commandments and talked about their impact both in the past and now. The children shared which commandments they think are the most important and why. We also considered if any of the commandments could be left out, with pupils arguing for and against particular ones. The children felt that all of the commandments were still relevant. They thought that if God sent a new set of Ten Commandments today, the original ones would be kept the same, but new ones could be added. Some suggestions for new commandments included being humble, being kind, and not bullying.
Reception Picture News
For our class worship, we looked at our picture news which showed that recently a group of people in Australia have been given back some special artefacts which were taken from distant relatives of the Gweagal tribe. Long ago, a British explorer took some important tools from the tribe which helped them to fish. The tools have now been given back to the community, back in their rightful place. As a class we discussed what items are special to us, and the rights we have to our own belongings.
Rev Matt’s Worship - Pentecost
Today Rev Matt came in to lead a worship all about Pentecost and being filled with the Holy Spirit. As a challenge, a group of children were chosen to blow up a balloon as large as possible in 30 seconds. He told us about the events of Pentecost and how the disciples received the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is considered the birthday of the church.
Monday Worship: Mental Health
Last week was mental health awareness week and the theme was find your moments for movement. We began our worship by thinking about what mental health is. Isaac said it is about how you feel, Lucy said it was all about your emotions and Seb said it was about how you feel inside, not outside. We watched a video all about how people can look ok but actually may feel scared, worried or anxious and it is important to talk to someone, to exercise or to take time out for yourself. David told everybody how he felt worried about his SATs but he came into school smiling so people may not have known. Mrs Wilkinson led a mindfulness activity for everybody to really focus on their body. We then discussed how we can move more. The children suggested that we could play outside, go swimming, play football and dance. We then took part in a moodbuster get active workout where we all jumped, did star jumps, squatted and ran on the spot repeating affirmations. We then reflected on how we can move more and how we can promote mental health to ourselves and others. We ended our worship by singing Lighthouse to remind us that Jesus is always there to listen to us.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about our extremely busy week in school. This week, we saw Year 6 showing an amazing amount of courage as they faced their SATs, Year 5 having a wonderful 3 day PGL residential at Winmarleigh Hall and lots of amazing lunch time and after school clubs such as Cricket, Little Voices, Mad Science, Choir, Netball and Story and Craft. We also congratulated our wonderful Year 4 tennis team (Jenson, Summer, Annabelle and Quinn) for performing amazingly on Wednesday afternoon and coming in 2nd place out of 8 schools in BwD. What an achievement! Thank you to Mr Foy for training up the tennis team in his lunch times and Miss Baxendale for taking them to the competition. We also congratulated our Year 5/6 Netball team who competed in the DPSSA Netball League on Thursday night. We are hopeful that they will qualify for the final in a few weeks. We then presented Lenny, Archie, Rosie, Layla, Neve and Millie as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for impeccable manners, an amazing attitude to learning and working extremely hard across the curriculum. Mr Bloomfield then presented all of Year 5 as value award winners this week for challenging themselves at PGL and showing an amazing amount of courage, friendship and teamwork and Mr Prescott presented Year 6 for approaching SATs with amazing smiles on their faces and a huge amount of perseverance. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Darwen Tower as the overall value award winners this week with 208 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Summer for being an incredible gymnast, Grace for achieving Star of the Week at Little Voices after school club, Annabel for achieving a Certificate of Excellence from Butterflies After School Club for pushing herself out of her comfort zone by trying new things, Isaac for achieving an amazing 25m in his swimming, Teddy for achieving his red stripe belt at kickboxing, Sofia for achieving an honours in her musical theatre and being highly commended, Lottie for showing incredible swimming talent and achieving her level 4, Archie for achieving his black shirt in darts, James for starting Beavers this week and being awarded Beaver of the Week, Archie for demonstrating a wonderful attitude at football, Oscar for being a super scientist and taking part in various science (biology, chemistry and physics) investigations, Elliott for demonstrating an amazing attitude and wonderful behaviour during his football training and Darcy for being an incredible gymnast. To end our worship, we heard from Rev Ben who congratulated our wonderful Year 6 team for completing their SATs, Year 5 for an incredible few days at PGL and a lovely prayer thanking God for being with us and giving us the love, strength and power we all need. We then sang, ‘My Lighthouse’ with lots of enthusiasm and thanked all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 3- Class worship- What are some of the things that test's can't measure?
During our class worship session this morning, the children watched the week's story about facing challenges and listened to an uplifting poem reflecting on the aspects of life that tests cannot measure. The children then took turns sharing their unique strengths and talents with the class. Among the contributions were horse riding, kickboxing, dancing, singing, and swimming.
Year 4 - RE: The Essence of the Church
After writing an extensive list of what we would need to create our own class church on the playground, we read what Peter said about ”the church” and realised that we actually only needed 3 key elements: people, the Bible, and a place to gather. Once we found a quiet spot to gather, we began our church by signing the trinity. One of the children selected a passage to read and told us all that she thought it meant that Jesus is always with us. We discussed times when it is important to remind ourselves of this, such as when we are worried about an upcoming event. The children then gathered some natural materials to make their own crosses. We finished with a prayer and returned to class singing “My Lighthouse”.
Year 4 - Class Worship: The Great Escape
Year 4’s class worship on Tuesday was all about the Jewish festival of Passover, the last supper and how Moses led God’s people out of Egypt. We learned about how the people were persecuted by the Egyptian King and how God helped them to escape by calling on his special messenger, Moses, to complete a seemingly impossible mission. We discussed the trust between God and Moses and ended with a prayer from Lisa, our friend from the Diocese.
The W.O.W. Group - Planning for our Spiritual Garden
The W.O.W. Group have been working hard on planning for our new spiritual garden. We successfully secured some funding to be able to create a peaceful area with multi sensory features and an eco friendly environment in which children can spend time on calm activities. We hope to attract local birds and insects too. Look out for ways in which you can support us to create this new area over the coming weeks.
Reception: Songs of Praise
Our Ducklings enjoyed our class worship today. We sang two of our favourites, build up and make a difference. We then learnt a new song called ‘We’re all together again’ which is all about everybody being a valued member of our class. The children really enjoyed it and sang beautifully. We ended our worship with some very thoughtful prayers by Edward, Summer, Cici and Hollie.
Reception: Monday worship- The Great Escape
Today our Ducklings started our worship with some call and response from Lisa from Blackburn Diocese. We said God is good, all the time, Amen. We listened to the story from the Old Testament called ‘The Great Escape’. God’s people were saved and freed. Bishop Phillip explained that the story was like us playing a computer game where we were in control. Moses was in control and led God’s people to safety with the help from God. The Red Sea split into two to help God’s people to escape from the army. God sent Moses to free the Israelites. God sent his son to lead us to freedom from sin. Today, we rejoice in the gift of freedom. We all prayed together and thanked God for being with us always. We finished our worship by singing ‘Our God is a Great Big God’.
Year 3 - Class Worship - Passover
Today for class worship we listened to the story of how Moses helped the Israelites escape Egypt and cross the sea to safety. We learnt about how the Jews celebrate this each year and this is called Passover.
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.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about how we have lived life in all its fullness this week. We kickstarted the week on Tuesday with Rev Ben and his worship about the ascension and we’ve enjoyed a variety of lunch time and after school clubs such as Cricket, Little Voices, Mad Science, Choir, Netball and Story and Craft. We also congratulated our wonderful Year 5/6 netball team for performing amazingly on Wednesday night in the DPSSA Netball League and winning both of their matches. As it stands, they are unbeaten and look forward to competing against St Peter’s next week. We then presented Millie, Molly, Cassidy, Nevaeh, Seb, Daisy and Lucy as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for always their amazing attitude to learning and consistently demonstrating the 4Bs and our Christian Values. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park as the overall value award winners this week with 143 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to sisters Lydia and Naomi for getting Olivia at Rainbows for being superstars, Callie for being awarded Bruno Bear at Stagecoach for being a super brave performer, Cici for being this week’s Little Voices after school club superstar, Archie for achieving a certificate for the level of bravery that he showed whilst getting his bloods taken at the hospital, Lyla for achieving highly commended in her Musical Theatre exam, Bluebelle for achieving a fabulous 25m in her swimming, Evie for being awarded with a trophy for her wonderful gymnastics, Olivia for achieving her Stage 5 at swimming, Bindi and Elsie for swimming an amazing 50m, Jenson for being able to swim a phenomenal 800m and his Bronze swimming award, Nevaeh for achieving level 4 in her gymnastics, Tristen for gaining his orange belt in kickboxing and we congratulated Lucy for winning the East Lancs Final whilst playing for her football team Lammack. To end our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Darcy, Oscar and Harry who prayed for people who are less fortunate and those in countries that are currently faced with war and uncertainty. We then sang, ‘Sing a New Song to the Lord.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely (and hopefully sunny) weekend!
Year 5 - Class Worship
This week, Year 5 were treated to a child led class worship by the WOW group that discussed, can the past help us learn about modern life? The children discussed at length about how we can learn from the past and how it can inform our future. Comparing this to everyday lives, understanding that we all make mistakes but learning from them can make us a better all round person.
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 1 Class Worship
Today in class worship, Year 1 explored the question, ‘How are you the same as and different to your friends?’ First of all, the children spoke to a partner and had to tell them something that they like, have or enjoy doing and ask them whether they liked, had or enjoyed doing it too e.g. I have a brother, do you? I enjoy playing football, do you? Or I like to eat pizza, do you? After this discussion, the children had to feedback to the whole class on similarities and differences that they had found. Following on from this, we discussed how we realise that we are all similar in a lot of ways but also very different. The children then completed an activity in pairs where they had to explore colouring 6 trainers in different ways but using the same 3 colours. This highlighted exactly what we had just been talking about. To end our lesson, we touched on the second question which was, ‘How can shops make sure everyone feels represented?’ We talked about how this is important to make everyone feel included despite our differences. The children came up with some wonderful suggestions such as making mannequins have different skin tones, disabilities such as prosthetic legs, being in a wheelchair or missing a limb and displaying mannequins of different heights and sizes. Well done Year 1.
Rev Ben’s Worship: The Ascension
Rev Ben spoke about the exciting events between Jesus’s crucifixion and his ascension. Many see Jesus’s ascension as a sad time, but Rev Ben explained that Christians believe that, although Jesus helped many people whilst he was here on Earth, he can help all of us from heaven. We also spent time thinking about when someone was helpful to us and how we can be helpful to others.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about how we have lived life in all its fullness this week. We kickstarted the week on Monday with two amazing science shows, had a wonderful worship about ‘The Road to Emmaus’ with Rev Matt on Tuesday and enjoyed a variety of lunch time and after school clubs. We also congratulated our wonderful Year 5/6 netball team for performing amazingly on Wednesday night at the High 5s Bee Stinger Qualifiers. They will be attending the grand final in a few weeks. We then presented Alessia, Ella, Bobby-Ray, Desmond, Edward, Jacob and Sophie as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for always working exceptionally hard and demonstrating great enthusiasm, respect and kindness. We also congratulated Reception and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and River Darwen as the overall value award winners this week. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Alessia for achieving her stage 1 swimming certificate, Hayden for winning ‘The Little Darreners’ Player of the week,’ James for also achieving ‘Player of the Week’ as a goalkeeper for his football team, Elsie for achieving a fabulous 25m in her swimming, Annabel for showing both generosity and courage to complete a swimathon to raise money for Marie Curie and Cancer Research, Marley for being awarded with the Rainbow Bronze award, Harry for achieving his green stripe at kickboxing, Molly for being awarded her green belt at jui jitsu, Darcy for achieving her Stage 4 at gymnastics, Daisy for participating in a gymnastics competition in Lancaster and taking 2nd place, Grace for achieving an honours in her classical ballet exam and we congratulated Archie for winning the East Lancs Cup alongside the rest of his football team. We then presented all of the children in school who have achieved their WOW badges this month. Well done to these children for their efforts in walking to school. Finally, we ended our celebration with a wonderful prayer from Rev Ben and a sing along to ‘Shine from the inside out.’ Thank you to those who attended celebration worship and we wish our whole school family a lovely and restful extended weekend.
Rev Matt’s Worship - The Road To Emmaus
Rev Matt asked us to participate in the story of the disciples walking to Emmaus and talking about the sad events of Jesus’s death. We learned about the stranger who joined them and later revealed himself to be Jesus resurrected. Rev Matt involved all of the children in an activity in which they had to work together to keep an inflatable off the floor. He used this to explain the importance of believing, especially without proof, in God and His Son, and that it is this that keeps faith going.
Year 4 Hop, Skip and Jump for East Lancs Hospice
This morning, Year 4 completed their Hop, Skip and Jump for The East Lancashire Hospice Challenge . The children all wore their decorated crowns whilst making their way around our 1k course in order to raise money for this wonderful cause. Donations can be made on parent pay for all those who took part and received their special chocolate treat.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and talking about how we started our week on Monday by celebrating World Earth Day and having a special worship with Willow the guide dog. Some other highlights from the week have been our wonderful worship about forgiveness with Rev Ben on Tuesday, Leonora and David attending the RE conference and our wonderful Year 5/6 netball team for performing amazingly last night and winning their match against St Edwards 13-0. We then presented Thomas, Evie, Martha, Miley, Brodie, Bella, Jake and Jay as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for consistently demonstrating an amazing attitude to learning, always showing kindness and respect to their teachers and friends and working incredibly hard across the curriculum. We also congratulated Reception and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park as the overall value award winners this week with an a wonderful 226 points. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Callie for achieving 3rd place out of 28 people in her recent gymnastics competition on the vault and beam, James for taking part in the St George’s Parade as a Beaver and achieving the chief scout’s special bronze award, Lyla for trying incredibly hard in her dancing, Charlie for achieving the ‘Little Darreners’ Player of the Week award, Renee and Carmen for being brave and challenging themselves on the high rope and the zip wire at Go Ape, Carmen for being very thoughtful at Little Voices after school club, Archie for concentrating and working extremely hard towards achieving his red belt at martial arts, Noah for achieving a trophy for demonstrating incredible skills in his football, Finn for being awarded a certificate for showing skill in his football, Tristen for achieving his orange belt at kickboxing, Luke for being awarded ‘Man of the Match’ in his most recent football match, Jack for achieving his Stage 4 and Stage 5 swimming certificates, Lola for achieving several medals for her dancing including one for completing a recent exam in her acro and another for her commitment to dancing, April for achieving her 200m swimming certificate after working extremely hard to progress to that level, Elsie for attending Brownies for a year, Daisy for her commitment to Brownies by attending for 2 years and achieving lots of badges such as her recent aviation and Scarlett for demonstrating amazing concentration in her jiu jitsu. To end of our celebration worship, we had some lovely prayers from Seb, Lilly, Darcy and Mrs Ham for those caught in war, prayers of thankfulness and prayers about protecting our planet and we sang ‘We Can Make a Difference.’ Finally, we thanked all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Year 3- Collective Worship- Earth Day
During our class worship this morning, Year 3 enjoyed exploring the wonders of our planet and learning what we can do to keep it safe. The children thanked God for creating a wonderful world and how blessed we are to be surrounded by nature on our doorstep. The children made promises on how they will save the Earth. Some of the promises were, to not waste water, to recycle more and switch off lights when they leave the room.
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.
Year 2 - Class Worship
Today we had our class worship! As it has been World Earth Day this week, we used resources from Sir David Attenborough and Children in need. This has linked nicely with our Geography topic of Hot and Cold Places. At the end of the day we watched highlights of Planet Earth III. The episode we chose was narrated by children as anyone can have a voice for nature.
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!
Collective Worship-Forgiveness
This morning in Rev Ben’s worship, we started with a challenge. Dougie and Jake had a minute each to catch as many fish as possible using a rod and transfer them to another bowl at the other side of the room. The whole school gave them lots of encouragement which spurred them on enormously. This then led us on to a story of a fisherman called Peter. In the story, Peter realised that Jesus was more than a friend, he was God as he did such amazing things such as save him from drowning and heal his mother. When Jesus told Peter that he would betray him by not knowing him three times before the cockerel crowed, Peter didn’t believe him. Peter told Jesus that he would never betray him as he was his best friend. However, later in the story Peter did in fact betray Jesus when he denied knowing him three times. Then, the cockerel crowed. This is when Peter had the realisation that he had betrayed Jesus after all and he was extremely upset with himself. He wasn’t sure if Jesus would ever forgive him but Jesus did because Jesus loved him very much. Peter became a forgiven man and he spent the rest of his life telling everyone about Jesus and how amazing he was. He spread the word of God. Rev Ben asked us about the story and what we could learn from this. A lot of our Year 6 children shared their views and said that making mistakes can be good as you can learn, grow and improve and that Jesus will always forgive you for the mistakes that you make. We ended our worship with a lovely prayer and a sing along to ‘Jesus Strong and Kind.’
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.
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Whole-School Worship - Guide Dogs
As it is National Pet Month, Mrs Ham invited some special visitors from the guide dogs charity into our collective worship. They came to tell us all about how guide dogs are selected, how they are trained and how they support blind people in their daily lives. Keith asked us to put our hands over our eyes in order to imagine what it must be like to be blind. Haydn said you might not see things on the floor so might trip up and Cici said you wouldn't be able to see where you were going. We were also introduced us to Willow, a working guide dog, and he showed us how to spot a guide dog by their harness. He also showed us how to spot if a blind person is in need of help. The children asked some great questions about blindness and about the charity. They were especially shocked to learn that each guide dog costs around £55,000! Two of our children have already sponsored a guide dog puppy and hopefully more families might choose to do the same. We ended our worship talking about Earth Day and how we can look after God’s creations. We all agreed that everyday should be Earth Day and we finished by singing 'I can make a difference in this world of ours'.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by talking about why we are all wearing blue today which is for Autism Awareness Day at St Barnabas as part of Autism Awareness Month. Finn very bravely stood up in front of the whole school and told us a little bit about his brother Declan who has Autism. He told us that Declan doesn’t like walking in the rain as he doesn’t like the sensation and he told us that he doesn’t like very loud noises and will therefore sometimes wear his ear defenders. Despite this, Finn said that Declan leads an amazing life and it’s wonderful having a brother with Autism. Harvey, who has autism, also came to the front to show everyone his t-shirt which spread awareness for Autism and he loved blowing the worship candles out. We heard a little about how Harvey loves to sing rhymes and songs just like many of us. We then thought about how we’ve lived life in all its fullness this week with our wonderful worships led by both Mrs Ham and Rev Matt and all of our wonderful after school clubs including Little Voices, Mad Science Club, Forest schools and Cricket and Rounders Club. We then presented Hollie, Lydia, Frankie, Iris, Oliver, Olivia, Talia, Charlie, Betsy and Jake as our individual value award winners. Well done to these children for consistently demonstrating an amazing attitude to learning, always showing kindness and respect to their teachers and friends and working incredibly hard across the curriculum. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, Jack and Sofia for receiving their pen licenses, Darwen Tower as the overall value award winners this week with an amazing 611 points, the children that completed the big plastic count for being super eco warriors, all of the children who have achieved their badge as part of the WOW initiative which involves walking to school or from school at least once a week and we said a special well done to Year 5 who have won the schools walk to school challenge by completing the most walks or park and strides so far. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Lenny for achieving his starfish swimming badge, Ella-Grace for achieving a trophy for coming first in her recent 3x3 football tournament, Sonny, Charlie, Leo and Desmond for winning the cup in their recent football tournament, Iris for being a wonderful gymnast and swimming several lengths to raise awareness for diabetes, Sofia for achieving her level 4 in gymnastics, making her promise at Brownies, being part of Brownies for two years and achieving an award at musical theatre, Betsy for being awarded a medal for amazing ballet, Isaac for being awarded a merit in his swimming, Lyla for achieving her Stage 4 certificate at swimming, Eliza for achieving several rosettes in her horse riding, Alexis for making her Brownie promise and achieving 100m in her swimming, Alice and Grace for achieving their Brownie Promise badge, Annabelle for gaining her silver certificate for demonstrating several skills at swimming, Lydia and Ella for achieving their Level 1 at swimming, Leonora for achieving her 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke in her swimming, Harry and Eli for being awarded their 100m certificate at swimming, Archie for getting Man of the Match during his semi-final football match, Eden for attending Brownies for a year and achieving her Brownie Eid badge, Mila for achieving her badge for visiting the Fire Station at Rainbows, Marley for getting Olivia doll at Rainbows for being kind, Thomas for getting his 15m swimming certificate, Callie for achieving Stage 4 in her swimming and Cassidy for making her Brownie Promise and being awarded her badge. Wow, what a busy week of celebrations that we had! Rev Ben then led us in prayer and to end our celebration worship, we thanked all those who attended and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Mrs Ham's Weekly message
Good afternoon parents and carers, it has been another wonderful week at St Barnabas! It was brilliant to hear in Celebration Worship about how each class has lived life in all its fullness and about all the great things that have been achieved this week both in and out of school. Please click here to read all about it: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news/2024-04-19-friday-celebration-worship Thank you to everyone for your support for autism awareness today by dressing in blue. A special thanks to Finn for being courageous by telling us all about his big brother Declan, who has autism and to our Harvey who loved showing us his special blue autism awareness t-shirt and how he loves to blow out our worship candles. This week we found out that 30 new children will be joining our school family in September and we can't wait to welcome them. Next Friday we are looking forward to our Hop, Skip and Jump in support of East Lancs Hospice. Donations can be made via parent pay. For all of this week's news, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news Thank you for your wonderful support and in particular with our walk to school initiative, which saw lots of children being awarded with their first WOW badge this morning. I would like to wish you all a fabulous weekend and I hope the weather is kinder to us next week. Take care and God bless, Mrs Ham
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!
Reception Picture News
This week for our class worship/picture news, we looked at Banksy’s new Art work that is displayed in London. We talked about how his Art has changed the look of the tree into something special that everyone wants to see and take photos of. We talked about how we can be Artists, but making sure we showcase our Art in the right way - we can’t draw or paint on walls without permission!
Year 3- Collective Worship-Creativity
In today's class worship, we talked about a famous artist named Banksy who published new artwork in London overnight. Year 3 were interested in his art, so we looked at some of his other pieces too. The children then drew something that represents a feeling or idea they have. They had five minutes to do it! Then, they talked about their drawings with the class and explained why they chose what they did. They created things like rainbows, sunsets, animals, and sports because those things represent them. We also explored an extract from the Old Testament. It talked about how Bezalel and Oholiab, had special talents for making beautiful things. They used their abilities to make a special place for people to gather. We ended worship by thanking God for giving us all different talents and ways to show our creativity.
Rev Matt’s Worship: The Resurrection
Rev Matt came in to lead our worship today and tell us about the biggest surprise in the Bible: the resurrection. Rev Matt began with a mystery box game in which children had to feel an object in a box and guess what it was. He talked about how, even though we may worry about what’s coming, the surprise can often be the best thing. This is how the women felt when they visited Jesus’s tomb after his death. They were worried when they noticed Jesus was missing and the ground began to shake, but were overjoyed when Jesus appeared and spoke to them.
Collective Worship- Road to Emmaus
This morning in our Collective Worship, we watched the latest Worship Together video from Blackburn Diocese. Lisa asked us to think about a time that we have run to share some exciting news with our friends or family. Archie said when he received a darts contract, Ella-Grace said when she won in a football 3x3 competition, Seb said when he won a dance competition, Luca said when he got a 171 in darts, Scarlett said when it was her birthday, Lyla Grace said when she got a fish and Alfie said when his team scored a goal. We then heard about the story of Jesus appearing to some of his followers on the road to Emmaus and how they ran back to tell the disciples. We then delved deeper into the story by watching a cartoon of the story to help us visualise what it must have been like for Jesus' disciples when he appeared to them and then disappeared. Bishop Philip explained how the disciples were happy as they knew that Jesus would always be with them and He is with us all the time. Lisa led us in a running prayer today and we all joined in with lots of enthusiasm. To finish our Worship we sang 'Let me walk beside you', said Jesus one day, which helps to explain how Jesus is with us when we are walking, sitting, standing and resting and we had some wonderful volunteers to show the younger children the actions. We then reflected on how we have lived life in all its fullness this week and Annabelle shared that she volunteered to be pushed into the freezing cold water during the Year 4 residential, Charlie said he jumped into the water twice, Jenson said he was brave in the water which felt like -25 and Isaac shared that he took part in some filming which pushed him out of his comfort zone. I wonder how we will live life in all its fullness this week?
Year 3- Class Worship-Dealing with disappointment
During our class worship, we talked about coping with disappointment. Before watching this week's story, I had prepared a large parcel box containing a pencil. The children were very excited and curious about its contents. However, to their dismay and disbelief, they discovered only a pencil inside. They had hoped for glue sticks, new books, or even slime. Afterwards, we watched a story about families travelling to Glasgow for an event inspired by "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." The event promised chocolate fountains, Oompa Loompas performances, and tickets priced at £35.00 per person. Unfortunately, upon arrival, families were met with empty rows and walls covered in black fabric. The organisers eventually cancelled the two-day event, leaving many disappointed. The children shared times when they felt disappointed and how they overcame it. We also discussed the story of Jeremiah from the Old Testament, who spent decades delivering God's message, even when he faced opposition from his own family and people. Jeremiah's unwavering hope and trust in God inspired us to persevere in spreading goodness. Together, we thanked God for giving us the strength to handle disappointment and for guiding us to learn and grow from these experiences
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Easter Reflection Worship
It was wonderful to welcome our school family back after our Easter break. In our collective Worship we reflected on the events of Holy Week and joined in with a rhyming Bible story about when Jesus appeared to his disciples and we watched 'The Awesome Easter Surprise' video. We reflected on how Jesus must have felt telling his friends that he would be leaving them but we discussed how this was all part of God's plan and how God sent his son Jesus as a rescuer and saviour. We looked at our God's Big Story canvases and identified that the Easter story came in the salvation part. We then thought about how Jesus asked his disciples to love one another and live life in all its fullness. We talked to our partner about how we can live life in all its fullness, which is our school vision, and make Jesus proud of us. We had some really thoughtful answers such as: show love and respect to everyone including your pets, neighbours and parents, look after our world by picking up litter, donate clothes, toys and food to those who don't have as much as we have, challenge yourself, go outdoors and look at God's creations, be happy, play nicely with your friends and be grateful for everything we have. We finished our Worship with a prayer and sang Give me oil in my lamp to sing Hosanna to Jesus.
Easter Church Service
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Easter Service this morning. I’ve added some videos and photos to class dojo for parents who weren’t able to join us. Thank you to our Heads and Deputies for leading the service with me and to our KS2 classes for leading the singing. A special thanks to Rev Ben too for leading us in a special Easter prayer. We’ve had a wonderful few weeks in school in the lead up to Easter. Please click here to see all the Easter fun we have had: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/easter-2024 Thank you so much to our children for the amazing walking they have been doing both in and out of school for our Big Lent Walk challenge. As a school family we have walked a fantastic 2383km and raised £215 so far to help fight global poverty! Sponsor money can still be paid in on the following link: https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-big-lent-walk A quick reminder that we break up early today at 2.00pm and return back for the Summer term on Wednesday 10th April.
Rev Matt’s Worship: Good Friday
Rev Matt’s worship this week began with a drawing challenge. A Year 4 child was shown a picture and they had to draw the picture on the back of a Year 5 child. This child then had to draw what they thought the picture was on the back of a Year 6 child, who had to attempt to draw it on flip chart paper. Rev Matt then explained that messages sometimes become distorted when we don’t see the full picture, but it is important to stay hopeful. This mirrors the sadness of Jesus’ death on Good Friday. We must remember that it was all part of God’s plan to save mankind.
Year 4 - Big Lent Walk & Easter Trail
We had a great time clocking up a few miles between us on our walk to the Rose Garden this morning. Once we arrived we completed an Easter quiz and explored the lovely artwork created by our school friends. The children knew so much about the events of the Easter story and really understood the symbolism too. We finished our visit with a walking gallery, deciding on our favourite pieces of art.
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Collective Worship- Salvation
This morning in Worship we learnt about Palm Sunday with Mrs Ham and then we watched the Easter Worship Together across the Diocese video with Lisa and Bishop Philip. We looked at our school timeline of God's Big Story and found where salvation was in the New Testament. We then learnt all about Jesus being our salvation, our rescuer and saviour. We looked at our sorry tree and Mrs Ham read out some of the things we are sorry for (sins) and we asked for God’s forgiveness. We finished with an Easter prayer and Years 3 & 4 performed the songs they will be singing in our Easter Service on Thursday morning.
Year 3- Easter Artwork
This afternoon, Year 3 went for a little Easter walk to the rose garden at Whitehall Park. The children enjoyed guessing which part of the Easter story each class, from Reception to Year 6, represented through their artwork. Once there we all sang Easter songs together too. Our walk covered 2.5 miles, contributing to our Lent journey as well.
Palm Sunday Service
A huge well done to our choir for singing beautifully during our Palm Sunday Service. Congratulations to Oscar and Tristan for showing lots of courage when being thrown in the deep end with their solos. We are so proud of you! Thank you to Rev Ben for inviting us, it was such a lovely service.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by thanking our whole school family for wearing odd socks yesterday for World Down Syndrome Awareness Day and all of our children who have contributed to our Big Lent Walk this week including Year 6 who have walked all over London and Year 1 who walked 3 and a half miles around Darwen on their local history walk. We then presented Fletcher, Maggie, Ella-Grace, Isabelle, Edward, Brooke and as the value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently demonstrating an amazing attitude to learning and demonstrating all of the 4Bs. Then Mr Prescott presented all of Year 6 as value award winners this week for representing the school amazingly well in London. Mr Prescott said that they all got along amazingly well, were incredibly well mannered and showed a genuine interest in all of the places they visited and things that they got to see. Well done Year 6. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen who are our overall value award winners this week and our amazing swimming gala team made up of children from Year 3,4,5 and 6 for coming 3rd place overall and also achieving lots of individual placings. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Holly for achieving both her Stage 3 and 4 swimming certificates, Callie for being awarded the special teddy at stage coach for amazing singing, dancing and acting, Ella-Grace for being being successful in getting into the Man United Girls Football Team, Grace for receiving a letter from the King regarding her letter about the closing down of Waddow Hall, Maggie for showing wonderful commitment to Rainbows by attending for two years, Lola for showing generosity and raising money for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital by completing 50k in March, Annabel for completing her promise at Rainbows, Betsy for achieving a gold medal for ‘throwing herself into the deep end’ in her acro dancing, Scarlett for showing wonderful commitment to Rainbows by attending for two years, Marley for showing wonderful commitment to Rainbows by attending for one year, Arabelle for working hard to achieve her Stage 4 at swimming, Vienna for being awarded her water safety certificate, Harriet for achieving her Stage 4 in swimming, Thomas for being awarded his Level 1 First Aid certificate, being a super chef and a brilliant builder, Annabelle for achieving her Blue Peter Badge for reading and taking part in an orienteering competition, Leonora for completing seven swimming events in a 50m pool last weekend. To end of our celebration worship, we heard from Rev Ben who reminded us all about the Palm Sunday Church Service this weekend where our school choir will be singing and an Easter egg hunt that the church have organised on Good Friday. Mrs Wilkinson also reminded us about the Scholastic Book Fair which is running tonight, Monday and Tuesday after school. We also sang along to ‘Gospel Medley.’ We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Year 1 Class Worship- World Down Syndrome Day
In class worship this morning, Year 1 watched a video to learn and understand more about Down syndrome and then listened to the story ‘This is ME!’ This story helped us to understand that we are all different and have many different interests and qualities that make us all unique. To end our worship, we had some lovely prayers from Annabel and Elijah about showing kindness to each other and appreciating all of our differences that make us unique.
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- Class Worship- World Down Syndrome Day
Today, on 'World Down Syndrome Day', Year 3 proudly wore mismatched socks to raise awareness for Down Syndrome. We learned that individuals with Down Syndrome are just like us-they go to school, have friends, and enjoy everyday activities. We celebrated our differences and thanked God for making us all unique and special.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Palm Sunday
Today, Rev Ben read the story of Palm Sunday and talked about the joy of the crowd when Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. He contrasted this with the anger of the crowd when they were led to believe that Jesus lied about who he was. Determination and perseverance were two key qualities demonstrated by Jesus during that time and Rev Ben asked everyone to reflect on when they will need to show these qualities this week.
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Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our celebration worship by thanking our whole school family for dressing in red to support Comic Relief. We then thought about how we’ve lived life in all its fullness this week with the help of our amazing after school clubs, a wonderful worship with Rev Matt about Jesus being kind towards Zacchaeus and by celebrating British Science Week. Mrs Ham also updated us all on our Big Lent Walk progress. Up to now, we have collectively walked 1239km and raised £215. We believe that we can continue to better this and achieve 2000km and raise even more money. We then presented Summer, Eli, Lyla, Ivy, Ruby, Hamza and Charlie as the value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently demonstrating an amazing attitude to learning and our 4Bs. We also congratulated Reception and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, the KS2 girls who took part in the Girls Football tournament last Friday with Mr Bloomfield to celebrate International Women’s Day and River Darwen who are our overall value award winners this week. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Olivia for achieving her white belt at kickboxing, Sofia for achieving her 8th birthday badge at Rainbows, Carter for achieving his stage 2 at swimming, Annabel for achieving swimmer of the month, Vienna for being awarded an amazing 50m at swimming, Elsie for her incredible swimming and Renee for achieving her Stage 1 swimming. To end our worship, we had some lovely prayers from Olivia, Olivia, Finn and Mrs Ham who prayed for those who have died , are in the midst of conflict and a prayer to encourage us to be both kind and forgiving during this time of Lent. We also sang along to ‘Sing Hosanna.’ We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Easter Singing Worship
We had a wonderful morning singing our favourite Easter hymns and songs. To finish we practised the Spring Chicken song in hope that we get a visit from the Spring Chicken at the end of term.
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Year 3- Collective Worship- Jesus the Powerful Friend
This morning in our class worship, Year 3 watched and listened to the worship together across the Diocese video. The children first explored God's Big Story by exploring the timeline. The story comes from the gospel. After listening to the story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus the children discussed two key questions. What was Jesus trying to teach us and how can we use the story in our lives today. The story taught us about faith, trust and the power of Jesus in our lives.
Rev Matt’s Worship: The Story of Zacchaeus
This morning Rev Matt began our worship talking about soft and hard materials and how some materials can be softened. This led nicely into the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector who had a hard heart and did not treat people very well. However, when Jesus called Zacchaeus to Him and requested to go to Zacchaeus’s house, Zacchaeus changed and had a softer heart. The story taught us that those who struggle are the ones who need our kindness most.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by wishing all of the wonderful women in our school family a Happy International Women’s Day. We then thought about how we’ve lived life in all its fullness this week with a lovely Mother’s Day breakfast hosted by FOSB, a special Mother’s Day celebration in Reception class, a fantastic author visit from R.K. Alker, an amazing day celebrating World Book Day, a visit to King George’s Hall Let’s Go Sing concert for our amazing choir and lots of amazing extra curricular clubs. We then presented Vienna, Charlie, Archie, Carter, Declan, Grace, Bobby and Sienna as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently showing our Christian Values and working incredibly hard across the curriculum. We then had a phenomenal performance from our incredible choir of ‘Dancing on Air’ which was one of their songs at Let’s Go Sing concert. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week, our Year 5/6 football team who attended the Football Festival on Tuesday evening, our amazing librarians for all of their effort and enthusiasm on World a book Day and Grace, Annabelle and James in Year 4 for designing badges for the launch of the WOW initiative. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Jenson for achieving his 400m at swimming, Daisy for getting Emily the doll at Rainbows for being incredibly kind and thoughtful, Eliza for being awarded player of the match in her football match at the weekend, Skye and Rosie for demonstrating incredible skills in their horse riding lessons, Isaac for achieving a 100m medal in a swimming competition, Cassidy for being awarded gymnast of the session and Scarlett for achieving her ‘World Thinking Day’ badge. To end our worship, we had a lovely prayer from Rev Ben, sang happy birthday to those children who are celebrating birthdays today and this weekend and we had a sing along to ‘We Have a King Who Rides a Donkey.’ Mrs Ham also reminded us that it is dress in red for Comic Relief next Friday 15th March. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Mrs Ham's Weekly Message
Dear parents and carers, wow, what another busy week of 'achieving great things' and 'living life in all its fullness'! The highlights have been: *Choir Let's Go Sing concert at King George's Hall *Reception class firefighter visit and Mother's Day Worship *Years 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 Big Lent Walks *Year 5 and 6 football festival *An author visit- RK Alker *FOSB Mother's Day Breakfast- Thank you FOSB! *Year 3 visited by a baker and made apple crumble * World book day- the word costumes were amazing! *International Women's Day girls football tournament *Whitehall Park house team winners non-uniform day and disco *WOW walk to school launch Next week we have a slightly quieter week but are looking forward to: Monday: Launch of the Big Plastic Count Wednesday: Rhyme and story time for Reception class and younger children Thursday: Cross Country competition for our cross country team Friday: Dress in red for Red Nose Day, Comic Relief Darwen Swimming gala for our swimming squad. Thank you so much for your donations and support towards our Big Lent Walk. We have now walked 1088km. Please keep sending in your walks and sponsorship money can be donated here: https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-big-lent-walk For all the latest photos in our gallery, please click here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-gallery-category/our-gallery For all of the latest news from each class, please click here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news or see our facebook page. I've attached a photo of the upcoming church Easter services and your child should come home with an invitation today. We are looking forward to our choir singing on Palm Sunday 24th March and everyone is welcome to come and support. Happy International Women's day to all of our wonderful Mums, Grandmas, female staff and young ladies in our school family. We hope that all of our Mums and Grandmas have a wonderful relaxing day on Mothering Sunday. Rev Ben is leading a special church service at 11.00am on Sunday and everyone is welcome. Wishing you all a fabulous weekend and thank you for your ongoing support, Mrs Ham
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World Book Day in Year 4
What a wonderful World Book Day! We have had a day packed full of enjoyment and the opportunity to showcase our love of books and reading. From reading our new class novel to book tasting to hearing Miss Flynn sharing one of her favourite stories with us, we have loved every second. Thank you to Miss Flynn for organising and the librarians for making the World Book Day Assembly so interactive and fun! Also a special mention for Annabelle who won the WBD bookmark competition for Key Stage 2.
KS2 World Book Day Assembly
Thank you to our wonderful KS2 children for their fantastic engagement with this morning’s World Book Day assembly. Mrs Ham introduced the assembly by telling the children all about the word that she had come dressed as which was ‘onomatopoeia.’ The children then watched a video published by the literacy trust which gave them some top tips for choosing an appropriate book such as deciding if the genre is of interest to them, reading the blurb and ensuring that there are no more than 5 words that they can’t understand on the first page. They then joined in with a three part quiz. During the first round, the children had to identify the title of a book by looking at the front cover. This included book titles such as The Naughtiest Unicorn, Grimwood, Mac B Kid Spy, The Storey Treehouse collection, The Accidental Prime Minister, The Babysitters Club, Loki and Breakfast Club Adventures. The second round consisted of guessing the authors of certain books such as J.K. Rowling, Andy Stanton and Francesca Simon and the third round consisted of playing emoji Pictionary with books such as Goldfish Boy, There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom, Ninja Kid and Daisy and the Trouble With. All of the books that were on the quiz are books that we have in our library so we are hoping that our children now feel inspired to sample a book that they haven’t yet read. The librarians also awarded Annabelle and Miley with their book token as they were the KS2 winners of our ‘Design a Bookmark with Your Favourite Book Title’ competition. Annabelle‘s bookmark showed her love of the ‘The 13 Storey Treehouse’ collection of books and Miley’s showed her love of the ‘Daisy and the Trouble With’ collection of books.
KS1 World Book Day Assembly
Thank you to our wonderful KS1 children for their fantastic enthusiasm and excitement in this morning’s World Book Day assembly. Mrs Ham introduced the worship by telling the children all about the word that she had come dressed as which was ‘onomatopoeia.’ The children then joined in with a picture book quiz. During the first round, the children had to identify the title of a book by looking at the front cover. This included book titles such as The The Smartest Giant in Town, Elmer, The Squirrels Who Squabbled, Who Pooed in my Loo, My Dad is a Grizzly Bear and The Highway Rat. The second round consisted of playing emoji Pictionary with books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Giraffes Can’t Dance, The Gruffalo and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. All of the books that were on the quiz were books that we have in our library so we are hoping that our children now feel inspired to sample a book that they haven’t yet read. Our librarians also awarded Emily and Molly with their book tokens as they were the KS1 winners of our ‘Design a Bookmark with Your Favourite Book Title’ competition.Molly’s bookmark showed her love of the ‘Who Pooed in my Loo?’ picture book and Emily’s showed her love of ‘Stickman.’
Year 3 - The History of Women’s Football
Today during class worship we looked into the history of women’s football. Year 3 were very interested in learning about what women have faced in the past and how the game is evolving to include women. We discussed the importance of encouraging and supporting each other. The boys in class can’t wait to cheer on the girls on Friday when they take part in a football tournament in support of International Women's Day.
Rev Ben’s Worship- Jesus welcomes the children
This morning in Collective Worship Rev Ben started with a fun game where we all had to touch our nose, then stand on one leg, then whilst hopping, then whilst turning around and finally whilst shouting 'Good morning Mrs Ham'. We discussed how the busier you get, the harder it can be to do things. He then read us a story from the Bible about how everyone wanted to see Jesus and how his disciples thought he was too busy and important to see the children. However, they were wrong as Jesus welcomed the children and said that adults could learn from the example of children and that he is never too busy. We reflected on how we are sometimes so busy but it helps us to know that Jesus is never too busy to listen to us. We finished by singing Jesus strong and kind and My God's the King of Giants. Thank you Rev Ben for another brilliant Worship!
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Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship discussing the ‘Big Lent Walk’ challenge that we are currently participating in as a school to fundraise for CAFOD to help to fight poverty globally and boost our mental health and well-being. At present, we have exceeded our 200km target and we are confident that we can double and maybe even triple it so please get involved and send your pictures through to Mrs Ham or Mrs Wilkinson. We also thought about how we’ve lived life in all its fullness this week with the help of our amazing science, running, well-being and messy church clubs and all the wonderful learning in our classes. We then presented Olivia, Renee, Roman, Penelope, Isaac, April, Luca, Ella, Joshua and Oliver as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently following the 4Bs and demonstrating a wonderful attitude to learning. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen who are our overall value award winners this week and Tristen, Daisy and Desmond for achieving their pen licenses. We also said a huge well done to Carter, Ivy, Rio, Molly, Luca, Daisy, Charlie and Matthew for participating in our SIG5 times tables competition and pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Eliza and Carmen for showing commitment and achievement in their keyboard lessons, Eliza for demonstrating fantastic skill in her football, Tristen for a achieving his yellow belt in kickboxing, Mila for getting Olivia at Rainbows for showing lots of kindness and being both helpful and creative, Marley and Maggie for achieving their ‘World Thinking Day’ and some other badges for their commitment to Rainbows, Elsie, Eden and Grace for completing their promise at Brownies and achieving lots of badges for attending Brownie camp and completing several challenges and also to Elsie for working exceptionally hard at her English tuition lessons. We then ended our worship by saying the grace altogether and listening to a song called ‘You’ve Got to Sing’ by the choir that they will be performing at KGH next week. Just a reminder that it is the Mother’s Day Breakfast run by FOSB next Wednesday 6th March at 8.15am-8.45am. The cut off for purchasing tickets will be Monday. It is also World Book Day next Thursday 7th March and we have asked the children to dress up as a word for example courageous, athletic, mythical and disciplined. We can’t wait to see what you come up with. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Year 4 Class Worship - Jesus and the Taxman
In our Class Worship this morning, we looked at the story of Jesus and the Taxman and how your life can be transformed by loving Jesus. We found the story in the New Testament in The Gospels. Zacchaeus was a hated taxman who at first hid from Jesus. He hid in a tree until Jesus invited him for tea. Jesus chose Zacchaeus for a reason. He learnt that Jesus loves you just as you are so go and invite him into your hearts. After realising his wrongs Zacchaeus said that he would pay back everyone that he had stolen from x4 and he would sell half of what he owned and give this to the poor. He remembered that whatever you trust and rely on is probably your God and God shares his love with everyone.
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.
The W.O.W. Group - Messy Church: Faith in Action part 2
The WOW Group Messy Church activities continued this week with the final KS2 Faith in Action session. Participants watched the story of David and Goliath and talked about how David believed in God and himself. They then chose an affirmation bookmark to decorate and take home. Next week the WOW Group will be moving on to the KS1 sessions, with a focus on creation.
Rev Matt’s Worship: Perseverance
Rev Matt’s worship began with a balloon challenge this morning. The aim was for the children to persevere and keep the balloon up in the air for as long as possible. All three contenders did extremely well. He then shared the story of the man through the roof, in which the sick man’s friends had persevered in seeking help for him. After bringing their friend to Jesus they discovered the house was overcrowded, but they refused to give up. Instead they made a hole in the roof and lowered him in so that Jesus might heal him. We spent time reflecting on how we could help our friends, and those in need.
Easter Singing Worship
What a joyous start to the week! This morning we practised some of our Easter songs ready for our Easter church service in a few weeks. Each class took a turn to show our Reception and Year 1 classes the actions. We sang 'When I think about the cross', 'Give me oil in my lamp', 'This is the story of the cross' 'We have a King who rides a donkey' and our favourite Easter song 'Lord of the Dance'. Well done everyone for your amazing actions, beautiful singing voices and wonderful enthusiasm!
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our week in school. We reflected on our wonderful Lent worship with Rev Ben and the launch of our Big Lent Walk to fundraise for CAFOD to help to fight poverty globally and boost our mental health and well-being. At present, we have walked 129.7km and raised £91. We are confident that we can exceed our 200km target and raise even more money so please get involved and send your pictures through to Mrs Ham or Mrs Wilkinson. We then presented Olly, Charlie, James, Iris, Charlie, Lola, Neve, Rosie and Molly as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for consistently demonstrating our 4Bs, working hard and participating whole-heartedly in class discussions. We also congratulated Reception and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week with 619 points. The Year 6 Heads and Deputies announced that over the past two weeks, we have collected 2067 values points as a school-how amazing! We also said a huge well done to Luca in Year 4 who achieved his pen license this week, our Year 5/6 Sportshall Athletics who achieved 4th place in BwD just before the half-term, our KS2 gifted and talented gymnastics team who attended a competition at St Bedes before the half-term and demonstrating wonderful skill and sportsmanship and our Year 3/4 Sportshall athletics team who came 4th place last night at St Bedes. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Charlie and Isabella for being awarded their green belt in martial arts, Grace for achieving several medals in her song and dance and improv dancing, Jacob for achieving his water skills stage 3, Lyla for achieving a medal for her incredible ballet, Finn for achieving 2k Winter Warmer running challenge, Isaac for achieving a medal for great leadership in his performing arts and taking part in some wonderful fundraising, Archie for being awarded a trophy to be proud of for exceptional darts, James for achieving his stage 1 in his swimming, Annabel for her successes in achieving stage 2 in skating and being star of the week at dancing, Naomi for being awarded her Stage 3 at swimming, Mila for achieving her ‘World Thinking Day’ badge at Rainbows, Cassidy for achieving her ‘World Thinking Day’ badge at Brownies, Annabelle for showing commitment and achievement in her keyboard lessons, Eden for achieving her ‘World Thinking Day’ badge at Brownies and Heidi for being awarded her First Aid Badge at Rainbows. We then ended our worship with a lovely prayer about being generous, especially during Lent and sang ‘Build Up.’ We thank our children for another wonderful week and we look forward to next week. Just a reminder that ‘The World Book Day competition’ entries need to handed in by next Friday 1st March so please get your entries in by then and also the Mother’s Day Breakfast that FOSB are running on Wednesday 6th March. You can find further details on Class Dojo. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
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.
Rev Ben’s Worship- Jesus chooses his disciples
This morning in Collective Worship, Rev Ben started with a fun game where we had to guess the superpowers that our wonderful volunteers, Walter, Lottie, Isabella, Charlie-Rose and Matthew acted out. We guessed the superpowers of speed, strength, sports, invisibility and flight. We then followed on from Jesus' 40 days in the desert and we watched a story from the Bible that showed what happened next. We watched as Jesus chose his followers, called his disciples. They didn't have superpowers and were very ordinary and often made mistakes, just like us. Rev Ben told us that the best followers of Jesus don’t have super-powers and God works today through ordinary people who love Jesus and admit it when they get things wrong. He then told us about Ash Wednesday and how that is a time to ask God for forgiveness for the things we have done wrong. Wilson, our Head Boy, volunteered to have an ash cross put on his head. We then reflected on what we can do when we get things wrong and how God will always forgive us. We finished by singing My Lighthouse and My God's the King of me. Thank you Rev Ben for another wonderful worship.
Whole-School Worship: Understanding Lent
In worship today, Mrs Ham explained that Lent is a time in the Christian calendar in which we observe Jesus’ time in the wilderness and prepare for Easter. We discussed what we could do to observe Lent. Some of the children’s suggestions included giving up sweets, chocolate, crisps, time on devices, or giving back by helping at home or making an extra effort to show kindness to others. We also learned more about THE BIG LENT WALK and how each member of our school family can contribute by walking a few kilometres over the Lenten period and raising money that will go towards ending global hunger. More information is available on Class Dojo.
The Big Lent Walk
During Lent, our school are currently fundraising for CAFOD. We are taking part in the big Lent walk where we are collectively trying to walk 200km. Please help us to raise as much money as possible by sponsoring our whole school family. If you have been on a walk, please either sponsor and leave a message with how many km you have walked or send me a message and I can update our page. We will also be walking during the school day in our classes to achieve our target so any sponsorship will be greatly appreciated. Your sponsorship can change lives. Every £1 raised through the Big Lent Walk will help fight poverty globally in countries like Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. This year, CAFOD’s Lent Appeal is helping fishing communities feed their families in Liberia, and SCIAF’s Wee Box Appeal is focused on women and girls in Rwanda facing gender-based violence. Also in Ethiopia, CAFOD and SCIAF are working together to respond to the devastating food crisis there. Years of drought caused by the climate crisis means families are no longer able to cope, but your support means we are working with people right now, providing them with water, emergency food and healthcare. With your hard work and sponsorship this Lent, we can change families’ lives for good and tell poverty to take a hike. Please access our page here where you can sponsor your child: https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-big-lent-walk Thank you for your kindness, Mrs Wilkinson
Celebration Worship- Dress to Express Day
Today, we had a very special worship to celebrate Children's Mental Health Week. We all ‘Dressed to Express’ and danced our way into the hall. We discussed the theme for this year which is ‘Our Voice Matters’ and we watched a video that told us all about the rights and responsibilities that we have such as being free to choose to think what we like and have our own opinions and ideas. Mrs Ham then showed us some pictures of people that have been influential in the past for standing up for their belief. Ross and Wilson named Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parkes, Sonny named Ayanna all of whom worked to end black segregation. Darcy named Marcus Rashford who has been influential in helping to stop racism within football and Charlie added that he has also been helping to support children who are entitled to free school meals. We then heard from some children from each year group about how they’ve chosen to express themselves. Hamza expressed his love of football and fashion, Archie his love of darts, Isaac his love of BMX, Charlie-Rose her love of all things sports, Betsy her love of dancing, Mason his love of smart clothes and attending special occasions such as weddings, Archie his love of football, Grace and Lola their love of gymnastics, Sonny represented all those in the world who live with diabetes, Daisy her love of art and bright colours, Renee’s love of PJ Masks, Olivia’s love of the colour pink and Jewellery, Alfie’s love of playing and watching football, Ella-Grace’s love of dancing and sparkles, Isabella’s loves of wearing pyjamas because you can snuggle and be cosy in them, Naomi’s love of all things pink, Charlie’s love of football, Annabel’s love of Ariel, Joey’s love of Spider-Man and Elijah’s love of superheroes. Mrs Ham then asked some of our members of staff how they had chosen to express themselves. Mr Prescott and Mrs Norris chose to bring their golf clubs to express themselves as golfers, Miss Kachwalla and Mrs Lyons expressed themselves by wearing bright and bold colours to express themselves as creative and Mrs Hegarty wore an apron to express herself as a baker. What a wonderful way to end ‘Mental Health Week.’ We wish you all a restful and enjoyable half-term and we look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday 19th February.
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- Art- Paper Weaving
For our final art lesson, Year 3 explored the work of Anni Albers' weaving techniques. Inspired by her amazing weaving the children picked coloured paper linking back to their mood boards to weave together with another one. Finally, they cut a cross shape and glued it onto their weaving.
Rev Matt’s Worship - Temptation
Today in whole-school worship, Rev Matt talked about temptation and how the devil tried to tempt Jesus in the desert. We thought about what tempts us and what we might do if we wanted to celebrate Lent.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our week in school. We reflected on our very joyous singing worship that we had on Monday with Mrs Ham and our wonderful worship with Rev Ben about ‘Turning To God’ on Tuesday. We then presented Edward, Ella, Joshua, Luke, Eden, Bella, Ivy, Archie and Isaac as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for demonstrating kindness, compassion and an excellent attitude and commitment to learning. We also congratulated Year 4 and Year 1 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our value award winners this week. We then moved on to our out of school achievers. Well done to Holly for achieving her Stage 3 at swimming, Sofia for working hard to achieve lots of new badges at Rainbows including her performance badge, Archie for giving 100% during his football training, Dougie for achieving his white belt at jiu jitsu, Isaac for celebrating his successes in drama and performance with achieving a part in Waterloo Road, Tristen for working hard to achieve his yellow belt in kickboxing, Grace for demonstrating incredible talent in both her acro and lyrical dancing, Jack for achieving Stage 4 in his swimming, Scarlett for getting Rainbow Bear at her netball sessions for demonstrating incredible footwork, Matthew for being awarded with a huge celebratory gold cup for his commitment to a recent tournament whilst representing Manchester United U10s football club, Finn for being elected as the sixer at cubs, Ivy and Betsy for their commitment to both lyrical and acro dancing and also performing an incredible duet together. We then ended our worship with a lovely prayer from Rev Ben and a sing along to ‘Build Up.’ We thank our children for another wonderful week of achieving great things and we look forward to next week. Just a reminder that it is our ‘Dress to Express Day’ next Friday 9th February. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
WOW Group - Messy Church Planning
The WOW Group have been busy planning their lunchtime messy church sessions. This week, they were making posters to advertise the sessions and, next week, they will be explaining what they are all about in worship.
Online Safety Rap Prep in Year 4
In preparation for Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 6th February, we have been looking at developing a rap linked to Online Safety. We rehearsed rhyming couplets and looked at pairs of words that we could use such as click and trick, share and beware, friend and send. The children did really well and pushed themselves completely out of their comfort zones! We can’t wait to hear the finished article next week in the special Safer Internet Day Worship.
Rev Ben's Worship: Turning to God
This week, Rev Ben told us the story of John the Baptist and how he preached about the importance of turning our lives to God. We spent some time thinking about what it means to turn to God.
Songs of Praise Worship
We had a joyous start to the week with our songs of praise singing worship. We practiced a selection of our favourite songs including My Lighthouse, Build Up, Jesus Strong and Kind, the School Rule song, May you find peace and Sing a new song to the Lord. Each class got the chance to choose a song and perform the actions at the front for our Reception class to copy as some of the songs are new to them.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our week in school. We reflected on our ‘Mad Science’ assembly which was amazing and also discussed our learning about Jesus being special in collective worship. We then presented Samuel, Piper-Jo, Emily, Peyton, James, Grace, Austin and Wilson as our value award winners this week. Well done to those children for working exceptionally hard , consistently demonstrating the 4Bs and demonstrating our Christian Values. We also congratulated our Year 5\6 football team who represented Darwen in the County Football Finals last Friday and made it to the semi-final, our Year 5\6 Sportshall Athletics squad who represented our school amazingly well at St. Bedes on Wednesday evening and celebrated a win ready to compete in the final, Summer, Grace and Charlie-Rose for achieving their pen licenses, Reception and Year 3 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and India Mill who are our overall value award winners this week with 322 points. We then moved on to our out of school achievers. Well done to Charlie for achieving 10m in his swimming, Leonora for achieving her honours swimming challenge for swimming 40 lengths in under 20 minutes, Desmond for being awarded with his 25m in swimming, Jacob for being Player of the Week at Judo, Seb for being awarded with a trophy for Darreners Player of the Week at football, Olivia B, Olivia R and Darcy for getting through to the final of their football competition, Cassidy for achieving two new additions to her Rainbow badge collection and moving up to Brownies, Vienna for sponsoring a dog called Sage to become a guide dog, Harriet for being awarded with Morris Dancer of the Week for incredible marching and Lola, Summer and Quinn for wonderful gymnastics. Lola has been working extremely hard to perfect her backwards roll, Quinn has been persevering to achieve a cart wheel and Summer has been using her fantastic gymnastic skills to guide others. We then ended our worship with a lovely prayer from Rev Ben and sang along to ‘My Lighthouse.’ We thank our children for another wonderful week and we look forward to the next two weeks of this half-term. We have some exciting things planned such as a pantomime of Aladdin next Friday 2nd February and ‘A Dress to Express Day’ on Friday 9th February. We thank all those who attended celebration worship and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Mad Science Assembly - Year 4
This morning, we welcomed Mad Science Sarah in our assembly. Scientific Sarah explored static energy using balloons, electric energy using people power where our very own Annabelle lit the plasma ball by creating energy by turning the pedals. Sarah then went on to making chemical energy in a jar. We loved every second of it and Year 4 can’t wait to try out some new experiments in our Science lesson on Monday.
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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.'
Collective Worship- The boy in the temple
We started our Monday morning worship by singing Jesus strong and king and then by signing the trinity and the lighting of the candles. We then watched a video from the Worship Together Collective Worship led by Lisa from Blackburn Diocese. We heard the story ‘the boy in the temple’, which taught us about a twelve year old Jesus who went missing and was found in the temple. He said to Joseph when he was found “ you should have known I was here, it is my father's house after all.” Bishop Philip told us how in this story Jesus tells us who he is and what he has come to do. We then watched an animation of the story and discussed how Mary and Joseph must have felt when Jesus was missing for three days and how Jesus was a little child, just like us. We then finished our worship by singing and signing to two of our favourite songs about Jesus, Waymaker and My Lighthouse.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our week in school. We reflected on our learning about courage and Martin Luther King in collective worship and how much fun we had in the snow on Tuesday. We then presented Ida, Fletcher, Bindi, Harriet, Annabelle, Alice, Alfie and Sophie as our value award winners this week. Well done for being extremely conscientious and hardworking. We also congratulated Maliki, Alfie, Zac and Rio for representing our school amazingly well at a Bowling Competition this week on Monday morning, Ruby, Daniel, Jessica for being rewarded with their pen licenses, Year 1 and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week with 287 points. We then moved on to our out of school achievers. Well done to Isaac for achieving Player of the Match for showing an immense amount of courage by taking the role of goalkeeper in a recent football match for the first time, Arabelle for being extremely generous and sponsoring a dog called Crumble by donating money that she has raised through her swimming to support Crumble in becoming a guide dog, Cassidy for achieving a trophy for showing wonderful perseverance in her bar work at gymnastics, Eliza for achieving a trophy for showing lots of courage and hard work during her football training and matches and Annabelle for working extremely hard towards her bronze award in swimming. We then presented all of our teachers with their first aid qualifications. Finally, we heard some lovely prayers from Jacob, Olivia and Ivy who prayed for peace in our world. We thank all those who attended celebration worship- it is always lovely to see so many of our families attend and we wish the the rest of our school family a lovely restful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support too.
Year 4 Class Worship - Picture News - Is an e-reader better than a book?
In Class Worship this morning we focused on Picture News, which asked the question - Is an e-reader better than a book? A study from Spain found that print reading could boost skills by six to eight times more than digital reading. Our class was a complete split but the children discussed their ideas behind their choices and then looked at various ways in which we can read. We then looked at what we prefer to read and ordered these from favourite to least favourite. Reading messages from friends came top and reading instructions was our least favourite!
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.
Rev Matt's Worship- Courage
After the fun of finding that it has snowed this morning, we had a whole school worship led by Rev Matt. He showed us lots of different images of people waiting and then read us the Bible story of Anna and Simeon waiting for Jesus. They had to wait a long time, many years, but they trusted in God and knew that he would send his special son, Jesus. We enjoyed joining in with the 'tick tock, tick tock' everytime Rev Matt said the word waited. We then reflected on how Anna and Simeon showed courage and thought of ways that we can show courage this week. We finished singing one of our favourite songs, My Lighthouse. How will you show courage this week?
Martin Luther King Jr Worship
Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day and the 15th January was actually his birthday. In Worship we learnt about how unfair it used to be in America as black people didn't have as many rights as white people and they were segregated. Martin Luther King wanted to make a difference and we watched a video all about the dream he had and what he did to stand up for what he believed in. He did this in a peaceful way and encouraged people to spread love, not hate and judge people by their character, not their appearance. We thought about how Jesus taught us that God wants us to love our neighbours. We reflected on how we can spread kindness and love to our neighbours and discussed our dreams for the world. We had some brilliant ideas such as no wars, world peace, everyone to treat others with kindness and respect etc We finished with a prayer thanking God for Martin Luther King Jr and for the difference he made to the world. We then sang 'I can make a difference' and reflected on how we can make a difference to the lives of others.
Friday Celebration Worship- Spring 1 Week 1
This morning, we started our worship by signing the trinity and discussing our first week in school of 2024. We reflected on our learning about The Epiphany in collective worship, how much fun we’ve had exploring the new outdoor gym and all of our learning during the Life Education sessions with Harold the giraffe. We then presented Skye, Seb, Alfie, Jack, Walter, Tilly, Daisy, Lucy and Amelia as our value award winners this week. Well done to these children for being incredible role models. We also congratulated Oscar and Ivy on achieving their pen licenses and Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week with 436 points. We then moved on to our out of school achievers. Well done to Ella for achieving the Christmas Cup for being an exceptional team player at football, Charlie for achieving Stage 3 and 25 meters in his swimming, Eliza for achieving several badges at Pony Club including learning how to groom horses and provide them with first aid, Marley for achieving 10 meters in her swimming and a badge at Rainbows, Scarlett for getting Olivia at Rainbows for being a team player and doing wonderful tidying up, Sophie for achieving a trophy for Athlete of the match and several medals for representing Blackburn Harriers as part of Lancashire, Annabel for achieving Skate Excel’s grade 1 in her ice skating and Daisy for being a wonderful gymnast. We then heard from Rev Ben who finished our worship with a lovely prayer. We thank you all again for your continued support this week and we wish you all a lovely restful weekend.
Year 3 English- Performing Poetry
Year 3 have been learning about shape poems this week. They chose a poem to write out in a specific shape according to what the poem was about. They then rehearsed their poem in pairs, adding expression and actions. Finally they performed their shape poem to the rest of the class. They were all super brave and even those that didn't really want to do it got up and performed. Rev Ben will be so pleased to hear how Year 3 have shown courage this week, after reflecting in Worship on Tuesday how Jesus is always there to support and encourage us during scary times.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Courage and Epiphany
This morning, Rev Ben came in to talk about courage and how the wise men showed courage on their journey to meet Jesus. The children shared their bravest moments and they enjoyed joining in with the Bible story and especially Rev Ben’s impression of a grumpy and mean King Herod. We reflected on how the wise men showed courage, how we can show courage this week and how it helps us to know that Jesus is always with us. This doesn't mean that the fear goes away but Jesus helps us to face our fears and be courageous, just like the wise men.
Epiphany Collective Worship
It was wonderful to have our school family back together again for our first collective worship after the Christmas holidays. Today we focused on Epiphany which is when the three wise men went to see baby Jesus. Our Reception class Kings helped up to learn about the special gifts that they gave to Jesus and what they symbolised. Gold= King Frankincense= God and Myrrh = Sacrifice. We then watched a short film called 'Far from home' which we thought was about modern day refugees but the more we watched it, the more we realised that it was very similar to the Nativity story. We discussed how Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to flee as King Herod wanted to kill Jesus. We reflected on how they must have felt and how it must feel for those children nowadays who are living in places that aren't safe, such as in Palestine, Israel and Ukraine. We then thought about how we can support refugees who arrive in our country seeking safety. We had some brilliant answers such as give them a warm welcome, donate toys, food, clothes and money etc. We then looked back at some of the generous work we have been doing to support Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise such as donating toys, books and chocolate at Christmas time. We finished with a prayer and sang 'We three kings' and noticed what the three gifts symbolised- King, God and sacrifice, in the song.
Christmas Church Service
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us this morning for our Christmas Church Service. I have attached some photos and snippets for those of you who were unable to join us due to work commitments. A huge well done to our Key Stage 2 children for showcasing what they have been learning in RE this half term and a special thank you to Year 6, who led our service. We thanked Rev Ben and Rev Matt for their service to our school family. We also gave a special gift to Glenda, who has decided to retire from her volunteering role in school. Thank you so much Glenda for everything you have done for our school family over the years. It was wonderful to hear about all the great ways that our children have been spreading love and joy to our community through singing carols, delivering Christmas cards to the elderly and donating toys and gifts to the Rotary Club and DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise). Thank you so much for your generous donations.
Year 3- Class Worship- Are decorations an important part of celebrations?
During today's class workshop, Year 3 discussed the significance of decorations in celebrations. Some children express that decorations are important as they bring joy and help spread the purpose of the celebration. However, the majority felt that spending money on decorations is worthwhile only if they can be reused each year. As we reflected on the discussion, we reminded ourselves that Christmas is a special time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, who is considered the most precious gift. We thanked God for the festive season and, most importantly, for the gift of Jesus. The children decided to end class worship by singing the carol 'Away in a Manger.'
Collective Worship- Love at Advent
This morning in collective worship we focused on Love for the fourth week of Advent and Colton and Sophie lit our fourth candle on our advent wreath. We reflected on how we have been showing love to our community by donating toys and chocolates to DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise) and Darwen Rotary Club and through our wonderful carol singing at our Christmas Fayre, Darwen Market and our church yesterday evening for the Carol Service. We then thought about others ways that we can show love to each other and our community this advent. We had some lovely ideas such as to smile at people, give hugs, donate clothes that are too small for us, show kindness to each other and help out your parents. Mrs Ham said that it was particularly important to show kindness and love to each other this week after such a long term and everyone is feeling tired and excited for Christmas. We watched a clip from Mrs Ham's favourite Christmas film, 'A Muppet's Christmas Carol' and watched how the mean and grumpy Scrooge started to smile and enjoy himself when the Christmas spirit sang 'Wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas' song and others showed him love and kindness. We then joined in with a lovely prayer asking God to help us show love and kindness to everyone around us and to be grateful for everything we receive. We finished by practising our Christmas carols ready for our church service on Friday morning.
Friday 15th December- Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by lighting our advent candles and reflecting on this week’s theme for advent which is joy. Mrs Ham said that our choir brought lots of joy to Darwen Market Hall yesterday and how this week we have also taken part in the Christmas Fayre and Christmas lunch which have also brought lots of joy to us all. We then presented Elsie, Marley, Arabelle, Sonny, Talia, Charlie-Rose and Molly as our value award winners this week. Well done to these children who have been displaying an incredible amount of kindness, respect and trying incredibly hard with their learning. We also congratulated Tyler, Bobby, Ella, Jenson and Talia who have achieved their pen licenses and Reception and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week. Whitehall Park are our overall value award winners this week and are also this half-terms overall winners. We then said a huge well done to four of our Year 2 children who attended a Curling competition. Unfortunately, they just missed out on achieving medals but they represented school amazingly - well done to Isaac, James, Emily and Olivia! We then said well done to our out of school achievers. Well done to Olivia for being an incredible mascot at the weekend during the Ladies’ Blackburn Rovers Football game, Isaac for achieving a medal at performing arts, Ruby for attending Brownie Camp and achieving a gold award in Brownies which is the highest award that a Brownie can achieve and also lots of medals and a trophy for her survival skills in swimming, Alexis for achieving 50m in her swimming, Isaac for achieving 50m in his swimming and his younger brother Teddy for achieving Ducklings stage 3 in his swimming, Alfie for swimming 5m backstroke, Grace for attending Brownie Camp and trying lots of new activities such as caving, zip wiring and climbing, Betsy for achieving a medal in her ballet, Callie for swimming 5m, Carmen for achieving her stage 4 in swimming, Thomas for achieving stage 2 in his swimming and Eden for achieving the bronze award at Brownies and attending the Brownie Camp at the weekend. We then said a huge thank you to our Friends of St Barnabas who continue to run lots of events in school, such as our Christmas Fayre on Wednesday, to fundraise money for school to purchase lots of new and exciting things for our children. We can’t wait for our new outdoor gym. We then heard some lovely prayers from Sofia, Elijah and Mrs Ham and listened to our amazing choir who sang to us all. We thank you all again for your continued support this week and we wish you all a lovely festive weekend.
Rev Ben Worship: Isaiah the Rescuer
Rev Ben led our worship today. We began our worship with a listening game. Rio, Jay, Lucy and Isaac hummed a Christmas song and the children had to use their listening skills to guess the song. Our story from the Bible is all about listening well. Isaiah was a prophet and he came to tell people that God’s people’s hearts needed rescuing. People did not listen. God wanted to rescue people as he was compassionate and loving. God sent Jesus to rescue God’s people but we need to listen really carefully to the Christmas story. Christians believe that if we listen carefully, Jesus can still change us today. Christians believe the rescuer came at Christmas in a manger. We ended our worship by singing ‘Rescuer’.
Joy at Advent Collective Worship
This morning in our Collective Worship we lit our third advent candle for Joy. We learnt that J is for Jesus, O is for others and Y is for yourself. We reflected on the joy that Jesus brought to the world and how he came so that we could live life in all its fullness. Mrs Ham reminded us of some of the ways that we are bringing joy to others by donating books and toys to DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise), making cards for the elderly in care homes and our choir are singing in Darwen Market and in our church. We then discussed with a partner how we can bring joy to others and ourselves this advent. We had some fabulous answers such as give toys and clothes to others in need, spend time having fun with our friends and family and show kindness to others. We also realised that we all find joy in different ways as we had so many different answers for what brings us joy such as playing with friends, chocolate, being with our family, school, reading, etc. We then watched the new John Lewis advert and discussed how everyone finds joy in different ways and has different Christmas traditions. Some children commented that the advert made them think that 'it's not what's on the outside that counts, but what is on the inside'. We finished our worship with a prayer and then practised our Nativity songs ready for our church service next week.
Mrs Ham's Weekly Message
Good afternoon parents and carers, we've had a wonderfully busy week at St Barnabas with the highlight being our Reception class Nativity. The children were superstars and we are so proud of them all. A huge thank you to our staff team for their hard work in ensuring the show was a success and to our wonderful parents for their support with costumes and learning lines and songs. Thank you so much to everyone who came to parents evening this week. We hope you're pleased with how well your child has settled into their new class and the progress they are making. If you weren't able to make it, please contact class teachers to arrange a phone call. I have attached a few reminder posters of the events coming up in the next week and they are here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/events Saturday 9th Dec: 1.00-2.00pm- Carol Service in Darwen Town Centre Tuesday 12th- Year 1 visiting Nightingales Farm Wednesday 13th AM- Christmas clothes, Christmas Jumper and Christmas Fair- 3.30-5.30pm. The children have been working hard in Design and Technology over the last few weeks to design and create products for the Christmas Fair. These can be purchased for £2.00 each on parent pay or cash on the night. Closing date for the Christmas Card competition. Entries will be displayed in Whitehall Park over the Christmas holidays and each class will visit in the last week of term. Thursday 13th AM- Year 3 visiting Nightingales Farm 1.30pm- Choir singing at Darwen Market- All welcome Sunday 17th Dec- 4.00-5.00pm- Church Carol Service. Choir singing (Dress in Christmas clothes) All welcome To see what your child has been learning this week, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news Wishing you all a fabulously festive weekend and thank you for your generous donations of bottles, chocolate, toys and decorations. We are so blessed to have such generous and supportive parents, Yours Sincerely, Mrs Ham
Picture News Festive Fun in Year 4
Today, we took part in The Picture News Festive Fun 2023. We successfully completed the reindeer challenge and designed our very own stockings for Peter Bear. The children especially loved taking part in the interactive quiz and joke telling in the group chat. What a super idea! @picturenews
Friday 8th December- Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by lighting our advent candles and reflecting on this week’s theme for advent which is peace. Mrs Ham asked us to reflect on how we can create peace both at home and in school. We had suggestions such as helping around the house, helping out with younger siblings, making our own bed, tidying up after ourselves and showing kindness to everyone. We then presented Leila, Alice, Chay, Elliott, Quinn, Mason, Harry and Oscar as our value award winners this week. Well done to these children who have been working incredibly hard and showing impeccable manners. We also congratulated Year 1 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week. We then said a huge well done to four of our Year 4 boys who attended a Boccia competition. Unfortunately, they just missed out on getting to the final but they represented school amazingly - well done boys! We then said well done to Ella for achieving her puffin award at swimming which includes swimming 5m, James for becoming the captain of his football team, Tristen for being awarded the best newcomer at kickboxing, Leonora for swimming her first ever 100m and achieving several PBs in her swimming, Desmond for attending his first ever session with Darwen Centurions, Grace for achieving several badges at Brownies, Maggie for a badge at ar Rainbows for attending the ‘Magical Christmas Experience’ and achieving Stage 2 in her swimming, Annabel and Scarlett for also attending the ‘Magical Christmas Experience’ at Rainbows, Sofia for achieving a medal for her incredible dancing, Jacob for attending a magical Christmas experience at the North Pole, Matthew for achieving Student of the Year at Organised Chaos Kickboxing club, Jessica and Amelia for achieving lots of rosettes and certificates for demonstrating amazing talent in their horse riding and Ivy for demonstrating fantastic talent in her gymnastics talent. We ended our worship by saying the Grace and singing ‘We Three Kings’ and ‘Ding Dong.’
Whole School Peace Chain
During our second week of Advent, we are focussing on praying for peace. Throughout the last week, all classes have created a whole school peace chain. Continuing from yesterday’s worship, we discussed different ways that we can find peace. Ruby said that she had listened to her mum this morning to create a peaceful home environment. Darcy said she had shown peace to her younger sibling. Isaac said he had helped his parents and Percy said he had gone to bed earlier. We will continue to focus on peace throughout this week and the whole of Advent. Our peace chain is displayed in our school entrance for you all to see.
Whole School Worship: God the Rescuer
Rev Matt led our worship today. We began our worship by watching a selection of videos to discuss if people were in trouble. Rev Matt told a story from the bible about Abraham. The story discussed how Abraham wanted a child but he couldn’t because he was old. Abraham trusted God and one night God told Abraham that he would have lots of children one day. God’s promise came true and they called their son, Isaac. Rev Matt explained that when Abraham was in trouble, he needed a rescuer who was God. God made the impossible, possible. God is compassionate and will always look after us. Christmas is a time to remember this. We ended our worship by singing ‘Rescuer’.
Peace at Advent Collective Worship
We started our Worship with our youngest child in school, Summer, putting the star on top of our Christmas tree. We then lit our advent wreath candles of hope for the first week of advent and peace for the second week of advent. We reflected on how we could bring peace to others during advent and we had some fantastic answers. We then practiced some of our Christmas songs and each class got a chance to sing on the stage.
Celebration Worship- 1st December 2023
This morning in celebration worship, we started our worship by lighting a candle of hope to represent the first week in advent. We then presented our value award winners with their certificates for showing an exceptional work ethic and demonstrating the Christian Values. Well done to Teddy, Heidi, Isaac, Daisy, Alice, Lily-May, Jake and Rio. We then said a huge well done to River Darwen who were our overall value award winners this week and Reception and Year 5 for being the amazing attendance winners this week. We then moved on to our wonderful out of school achievers. We said a huge well done to Tristen who achieved his red and yellow belt at kick-boxing, Lydia who has got Olivia from rainbows for super tidying up, Seb for achieving his 5m without armbands in his swimming, Elliott for achieving a trophy for incredible football, Evie for being awarded a medal for demonstrating incredible skills in her gymnastics, Grace for achieving a medal in her lyrical dancing, Alby for achieving 50m in his swimming, Ed for achieving 20m in his swimming, Betsy for working extremely hard in her ballet lessons and working hard towards achieving her point shoes and Summer for achieving 20m in her backstroke. To end our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Lilly, Wilson, Isaac and Sofia and a prayer from Mrs Ham about remembering the true meaning of Christmas. We also sang ‘Come and Join the Celebration’ and ‘Little Donkey.’ Thank you for all of your support this week and we wish you all a lovely weekend.
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.
Year 5 - Peace Chains
Year 5 have been creating their class peace chain during our worship. We looked at all the conflict that is happening in the world around us and how it can impact us. We wanted to spread the word of peace to reduce conflict around us and show that a peaceful world is much better than one filled with conflict.
Rev Ben’s Worship- Jeremiah : Down in the well
This morning Rev Ben led our Worship about God's Compassion. We started with a fun listening game where Rev Ben blind folded some children and the rest of us had to make the animal noise of the animal on the screen. The children who were blindfolded were able to realise what it was like to not be able to see, just like the person in this week's Bible story, Jeremiah. We listened and joined in with the Old Testament Bible story all about Jeremiah being stuck in a deep, dark well. We loved joining in with the repeated refrain and we learned that God helped Jeremiah get out of the well. We reflected on how God can help us when we are feeling stuck or in a dark place. We then thought about how God sent His saviour, Jesus to rescue us all and how at this time of Advent, we are thinking about the special birth of Jesus. We finished our Worship singing 'Jesus, strong and kind'.
First week in Advent- Hope Collective Worship
This morning in our collective Worship we focused on Hope as it is the first week in Advent. Lucy and Charlie lit the first candle on our advent wreath and we said special prayers of hope. We watched a lovely video showing how God promised to send his special son Jesus and people had to wait in hope a very long time for Him but 'Good things come to those who wait'. We then discussed with our friends what we were hopeful for in the future and we had some wonderful answers such as 'For there to be peace across the whole world and for everyone to show kindness to each other.' Over the next four weeks we will be focusing on the hope, peace, joy and love that Jesus brought to the world and how we can show that to others too. We finished our Worship by singing a number of Christmas songs to remind us of the importance of Christmas, when baby Jesus was born. Thank you to our wonderful singers who volunteered to model the actions to the younger children.
Celebration Worship - 24/11/23
This morning in celebration worship, we started our worship by presenting our value award winners with their certificates. Well done to Joey, Archie, Olivia, Ivy, Ella, Esme, Wilson and Ross for consistently demonstrating an exceptional attitude to learning and always showing respect, kindness and friendship. Mrs Ham also awarded a special bravery award for Sonny in Year 3. Today marks one year since he was diagnosed with diabetes. This past year, he has taken all of the hospital trips and disruptions to his usual routines in his stride and shown an immense amount of courage. We are so proud of you Sonny! Our head and deputies then awarded Darwen Tower as the overall value award winners this week and Mrs Ham announced Reception class and Year 6 as the amazing attendance winners this week. We then celebrated lots of children who have been achieving great things out of school. Well done to Mila for achieving her drawing badge at rainbows, Eliza for being a superstar horse rider, Annabelle for achieving her drawing badge at rainbows and the rainbows theme award for expressing herself, Desmond for being a super swimmer, Marley for showing kindness, Archie for achieving 20m front crawl swimming, Callie for achieving her stage 3 award at swimming, Penelope for achieving a rosette in her horse riding, Poppy for achieving a trophy for being a fantastic footballer and Skye for displaying lots of new skills in her horse riding lessons. We then applauded Alice in Year 3, Poppy in Year 5, Wilson, Charlie, Lucy and Jacob in Year 6 for their successful entries into the ‘Happy News competition’ which was launched in school a few weeks ago. Mrs Govan then launched our current competition. Mrs Govan explained that Home Bargains are accepting entries into a Christmas card competition that we would love our children to enter into. The winner of the competition will get their Christmas card printed and sold in Home Bargains and the money raised will go to Alder Hey Hospital. What a fantastic cause to support. Finally to end our worship, Rev Ben then said a beautiful prayer and Mrs Ham reminded us about non-uniform day next Friday in exchange for chocolate or a toy for our FOSB School Christmas Fair on Wednesday 13th December. We thank you all for your continued support and we wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
Year 3- Class worship- Peace
During our class worship, the Year 3 class created a peace chain. They are hoping their peace chain travels the world and their messages of peace makes a difference.
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.
Year One Collective Worship
In collective worship, Year One created their paper chain for the ‘Let’s spread Peace Picture News Campaign.’ We reflected on all of the conflict in the world at present. We said some prayers for all of the people and families that are being affected by the war at the moment and therefore aren’t experiencing peace. We then thought about how we could help to create peace in our communities through displaying regular acts of kindness. We came up with ideas such as holding the door open for people, helping people up when they fall, saying kind things to people, asking people to join in our games, sharing our equipment, forgiving people for their mistakes and spreading love through hugs and smiles. We then drew these ideas on a strip of paper and joined all of our strips together to make a whole class paper chain. We can’t wait to connect out paper chain to create one huge one with the whole school.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Samuel and David
This week in Rev Ben’s Worship, we learned the story of Samuel, Jessie and David. We talked about the qualities God looks for in a king and the importance of having a kind heart.
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.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by ‘Making a Noise’ as that has been our focus this week during anti-bullying week. We did this whilst dressing in spots and all things Pudsey in support of Children in Need. We then said a huge well done to our superstar value award winners this week who were Iniya, Eli, Lyla in EYFS and KS1 and Sofia, Summer, Lola, Tyler and Archie in KS2. We were also exceptionally pleased to present Millie, Annabelle, Matthew and Bella for getting their pen licenses and Charlie for being a Times Table Rockstars Champ. We then said a huge congratulations to our Year 5/6 football team who achieved the title of Darwen Schools league football champions last night, Whitehall Park for winning the Inter-house dodgeball competition last Friday, our KS1 sports team who attended the multi sports skills festival at QEGS last Friday, India Mill who were overall value award winners this week with 283 points and Year 1 and Year 4 for being our amazing attendance winners this week. Our Well-Being Warriors then presented Edward, Molly, Lottie, Elliott, Grace, Betsy and Isaac for having the best odd socks and shoes on Monday to launch anti-bullying week and we celebrated the achievements of our out of school sports award achievers. Well done to Cali for her ice skating, Albie for achieving his 10m swimming award, Arabelle for being awarded her 50m in swimming, Lyla for achieving a medal for incredible ballet dancing, Sofia for super concentration and accuracy in her dancing, Peyton for achieving her white belt in kickboxing, Quinn for his commitment to tennis, Molly for achieving her fourth belt in martial arts, Betsy for achieving medals for incredible ballet and commercial street dancing, Grace for achieving a medal for her lyrical dancing and Lola for showing improved steps in her acro dancing. Finally, Mrs Ham reminded us about the Scholastic Book Fair being open after school next Monday and Tuesday after school. We then heard from Rev Ben who ended our celebration worship with a beautiful prayer about compassion and kindness. We wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
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 3- Class Worship- Can a robot do that?
During our class worship, the children discussed the advantages and disadvantages of having robots in our lives. Some of the advantages that the children came up with were, that the robots could clean their bedrooms, help them with their homework and have a little dance with them. The disadvantages they thought that could happen were the robot could get lazy, the robot could get bored or get carried away and throw a house party. We ended our class worship with a prayer thanking God for the technology enhancing our lives and the wonderful world.
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.
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 5 - Anti-Bullying Week
This week St Barnabas have launched anti-bullying week. To mark this occasion the children have come dressed with odd socks and shoes to show that we are all special and unique. During worship time the children discussed what bullying is? What we can do to stop it? If we see bullying, what can be done about it? The children all showed their individuality and personality through their odd socks and shoes.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning we started our worship by thinking about remembrance. We put all of the people who serve us each and everyday with great strength and courage in our thoughts. Our heads and deputies said some some lovely prayers for all of those who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives to fight in the wars and all of those who are caught in conflict at the moment. We then observed a two minute silence. Following this, we presented our value award winners for this week. Well done to Lucy, Freddy, Elsie and Alfie in the Juniors and Lennox, Evie and Harvey in EYFS and KS1. We also said a huge well done to River Darwen for being our overall value award winners this week and Year 1, 2 and Year 4 for being our amazing attendance winners. We then moved onto celebrating our Year 5/6 football team who are through to the finals of the Darwen schools league next week after playing exceptional football through the league and we also celebrate our out of school achievers. Well done to Issac for being a super scout and swimmer, Sofia for being a wonderfully creative brownie and designing and making her own t-shirt, Annabel for working extremely hard in her ballet lessons and being a wonderful ballerina, Grace for being a fantastic gymnast, Poppy for achieving athlete of the week and ‘man of the match’ in her most recent football game, Ivy for pushing herself out of her comfort zone in her dancing and achieving a medal and Amelia and Jess for showing super courage and talent in their horse riding lessons. Finally, we ended our celebration worship by singing happy birthday to Alice, Elsie and Sophie and singing ‘A Song of Peace.’ Please remember that we are wearing odd socks and shoes on Monday to celebrate the launch of Anti-Bullying week. Our Well-Being Warriors announced that there will be a winner per class for the funkiest choice of odd shoes. We wish you all a wonderful weekend.
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.
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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.
Year 1- We Will Remember Them
Year 1 have been thinking about all of the soldiers that have unfortunately died or been injured in the war. They have also been thinking about all of the soldiers that are fighting at the moment and all of families that are being affected by the wars in Gaza, Israel and Ukraine. They have independently printed some pictures in the creative area, created some models in the construction area and shared some lovely prayers with the class.
Rev Matt’s Worship: God’s Compassion for Gideon
Rev Matt’s Worship this week was about victory against the odds and staying faithful to God. He told us the story of Gideon and how he defeated the Midianites, even though his army was small. He trusted in God and God showed Gideon compassion. We also discussed how we can show compassion to people who need our help.
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’.
Poppy Appeal 2023
From Monday our Heads and Deputies will be selling Poppy Appeal merchandise at break times. The suggested donation for zip ties and reflectors is 50p, standard wristbands £1.00 and slap bands £1.50. Poppies will also be available to purchase for a small donation. Next week we will be focusing on Remembrance Day in our Worships and our Year 6 Heads and Deputies plus some of our WOW group members will be taking part in a special Remembrance Service in Darwen Cemetery. We will remember them.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today we started our worship by lighting our very special candle for those in Israel and Gaza who have very much been in our thoughts this week. Mrs Ham reminded us that we will be focusing on remembrance next week. We will be thinking about all of the soldiers that have fought in the war past and present and all of those that have and are being affected by the war. The heads and deputies told us some of the things that they will be selling next week to support the Poppy Appeal. We then presented our value award winners with their certificates. Our winners this week were Callie, Mila, Alby, Carmen, Matthew, Seb, Layla and Sophie and we also said well done to Matthew, Layla and Will who gained their pen licenses. We then said a huge well done to our out of school achievers. Congratulations to Albie for achieving his 5m certificate in his swimming with no armbands, Annabel for getting Olivia at Rainbows this week for super tidying up and achieving super star status in her ballet and acro, Darcy for achieving stage 3 in her swimming, Daisy for achieving 2nd place in her gymnastics competition, Callie for achieving 10m in her swimming with no armbands, Cassidy for achieving 3 gold medals in her gymnastics vault, floor and all around routines and an additional overall gold medal, Iris for achieving 10m in her swimming and stage 1 in her gymnastics, Desmond for stage 4 and 10m in his swimming, Eliza for achieving girl of the game as goalkeeper in her football, Annabelle for entering in the 18+ category in orienteering and coming in first place, Alfie for scoring a hat trick in a recent football game, Bobby-Ray for achieving the brown and white belt in Karate, Finn for being a cricket superstar, Charlie for achieving the batter of the year in his cricket, Archie for achieving batter of the batter and fielder of the year in his cricket, Grace for achieving several medals and a trophy for her acro expertise and Elsie for achieving a certificate in her tutoring lessons. We said a well done to Whitehall Park who are our overall value award winners this week with 407 points and Year 2 and Year 5 for being the amazing attendance award winners this week. Finally, we ended our worship with some lovely prayers for those in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza and a song about peace. Thank you to those who could attend our celebration worship this week and we wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
Whole School Worship with Rev Ben
Rev Ben taught us all about the value of thankfulness this week. He told us the story of the Jews being freed from slavery and how they lost sight of the good things God had given them, so they were left to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. The children loved interacting with the story and shared their ideas on how we can focus on the good.
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?”
Harvest Church Service 2023
A huge well done to our WOW (Worship our Way) group and our choir for leading our Harvest Church service and to Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 for their wonderful contributions. Thank you so much for your generosity shown towards Darwen Food Larder and DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise). All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/harvest-church-service-2023 and the videos are posted on classdojo.
Whole-School Worship: Moses Saves God’s People
This week, Rev Ben led our worship, teaching us all about the story of Moses parting the Red Sea, and how that was all a part of God’s great rescue plan. The children loved acting out the story. We also spent some time reflecting on God’s generosity towards the Israelites.
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.
Whole School Celebration Worship
To start our celebration worship this morning, we reflected on another busy week. We talked about a couple of highlights such as our ‘Hello Yellow Day’ to celebrate World Mental Health Day, A Let’s Sing Together workshop and library visits for years 3 and 5. We then presented our value award winners for this week. Well done to Harry, Eva, Scarlett, Arabelle, Darcy, Reuben, Will and Isaac for demonstrating the 4Bs. We then said congratulations to India Mill for achieving the most value points this week and an even bigger congratulations to River Darwen who are our overall value award winners for this half term who will celebrate with something of their choice next Thursday. Our well-being warriors then announced the six winners for our ‘Hello Yellow’ self affirmations poster competition who were Molly, Mila, Summer, Lucy, Lilly and Alice. Also, we said a huge congratulations to our Y5/6 football team for their superb talent and sportsmanship last night as they won both matches, Reception and Year 5 for being the super attendance award winners this week and Jake in Year 5 for getting his pen license. We then celebrated our out of school achievements. Well done to Marley for her drawing certificate that she achieved at Rainbows, Harriet for achieving 75m in her swimming, Grace for achieving a special honours award in her Jazz, Poppy for getting player of the match in her football, Layla for her football award that she achieved by attending Blackburn Rovers, Alby for reading 6 different books as part of the summer Reading challenge and Vienna for achieving 20m in her swimming without armbands. We ended our worship with a lovely prayer from Rev Ben and a reminder about our Harvest Celebration at St Barnabas Church next Thursday 19th October at 9.30am. Everyone is welcome and we would really appreciate some donations for the local food bank. Thank you for your continued support and we wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
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.
Whole-School Worship: Jacob and Esau and God’s Forgiveness
Rev Matt joined us for worship today. He talked about good and bad, and then read the story of Isaac’s sons, Esau and Jacob. We then reflected on how God taught Jacob to be truthful and how He showed forgiveness.
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.
Celebration Worship
This morning, Rotakids welcomed us into celebration worship as we came in dressed in the colours of the Moroccan flag. They thanked us all for supporting our non-uniform day to raise money for Morocco who have recently faced an earthquake. They explained that our money would go towards medical supplies and other essentials such as blankets, food and shelter for those who were affected in the earthquake on September, 8th. We then said goodbye to Mr Tierney for his 7 years of service as our fantastic site supervisor. It was clear from the children’s memories that they shared and the video that Mrs Ham had made that Mr Tierney has had a hugely wonderful impact on our whole school family and that he will be greatly missed, especially for the joy and humour that he spreads on a daily basis. The children absolutely loved your goodbye song dressed as Santa Claus… what a way to end your time here at St Barnabas! We also said thank you very much to our amazing choir who sang at The harvest Festival on Sunday. We then said well done to Cici, Phoebe, Renee, Scarlett, James, Grace, Matthew and Charlie who were our value award winners this week and Isaac, James, Mila, James, Naomi, Lydia and Layla for being our out of school sports achievers. Well done to Isaac for showing good sportsmanship at football, James for being beaver of the week, Mila for attending rainbows for one year, James for achieving his stage 4 in swimming, Naomi for being extremely kind at rainbows and getting Olivia, Lydia for joining in and being a superstar at rainbows and Layla for being a wonderful footballer. We then congratulated River Darwen who are our value award point winners this week, Reception and Year 5 who are our amazing attendance award winners this week, our Year 5/6 football team for wonderful sportsmanship last night and winning all 3 games, our play leaders for completing their training and Eden and Esme for achieving their pen licenses. Finally, we ended with some lovely prayers wishing Mr Tierney all the best at his new job at Blackburn college and for those who are facing hardship in Morocco due to the devastating impact of the recent earthquake. Just a reminder that next Tuesday 10th October is Hello Yellow Day so all children are asked to wear something yellow to celebrate World Mental Health Day. We wish you an enjoyable weekend and thank you for all of your support this week.
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!
Rev Ben’s worship- God’s promise to Abraham
This morning Rev Ben led our Collective Worship. We first had to guess how many stars were on the screen. We had lots of guesses such a millions, thousands etc. We realised that it is very hard to count stars. We then listened to a Bible Story about Abraham counting stars and how God promised to rescue the world through Abraham’s family. He told him that he would have a big family. Abraham and his wife Sarah were really old so didn’t believe when God said that they would have a baby. But they did have a baby called Isaac, meaning son of laughter. Rev Ben told us that God is always generous and was generous to Abraham and Sarah. That promise that God made to Abraham about having a big family and in his family there would be a rescuer- Jesus, came true. Rev Ben then reminded us about Black History month as we are focusing on that this month. He told us that Jesus said that God loves everyone from every country, of every skin colour and of every language. We finished with a reflection of the story, a prayer and then sang ‘Waymaker’.
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'.
Choir singing at the Harvest Service
Thank you so much to Rev Ben for inviting us to sing at the Harvest Service. We are so proud of our choir members and members of Rainbows and Brownies as they sang so brilliantly. Thank you so much for your generous donations to the local food bank.
29th September- Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our celebration worship by congratulating our value award winners this week for always demonstrating the the 4Bs, wonderful manners, an incredible attitude to learning and working extremely hard across the curriculum. Well done to Eddie, James, Finley, Jack, Jenson, Evie and Beau. We then said well done to River Darwen for being our value points winners this week putting them in 1st place and Year 1 and 3 for being the amazing attendance award winners this week. Our well-being warriors then told us all about World Mental Health Day 2023 on the 10th October to raise awareness for mental health. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. These were Annabel for being very sensible at rainbows and her character work as Rapunzel, Noah being this week’s player of the match at football, Mila and Cassidy for being extremely creative and drawing wonderful pictures at Rainbows and Layla for getting player of the match at football. We then followed by congratulating our play leaders on completing their play leader training yesterday. They learnt how to set up and manage lots of practical activities that they can lead on the infant yard with the infants. We ended today’s worship by singing happy birthday to Marley, Bobby-Ray, Noah and Beau and with some lovely prayers from Seb, Darcy and Noah. Darcy and Seb prayed for the people facing hardship in Ukraine and Morocco and Seb said a prayer of gratefulness to say thank you for everything that we have. Thank you for all of your support this week, and your very kind donations to our MacMillan coffee morning. Thank you to those that could also attend. We wish you an enjoyable weekend.
Year 3 - Class Worship- Thanking God for creating the universe and everything in it.
In our class worship, we explored the joy of discovering new places and celebrated India's historic moon landing near the south pole. We also explored famous explorers from the past and thanked God for creating the universe. We ended our class worship by singing, 'He's Got the Whole World'.
European Day of Languages
On Tuesday, we celebrated European Day of Languages in our worship with a reading of the Very Hungry Caterpillar in French. We learned some Of the French words for fruits in the story and ended with a reflection about things for which we are thankful.
Monday Worship
This week, we practised singing songs for Harvest. It was wonderful to welcome our Ducklings into their first whole school worship. Our older children showed them what to do and helped them with the words and actions. Our choir will be performing this Sunday at church. We would love to see as many of you there to help sing our wonderful harvest songs.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started saying thank you to our teachers for starting their after school clubs this week. We have had choir, football, foodie friends, performing arts, netball and an infant sports club and the children have thoroughly enjoyed them. We still have a few places left in choir so please sign up if your child is interested. We then said well done to our value award winners this week for always demonstrating the Christian values particularly friendship, respect and courage and working exceptionally hard across the curriculum. These children were Lottie, Leo, Eden, Daisy and Alfie. We then congratulated River Darwen for gaining 250 value points this week putting them in 1st place, Year 1 and 5 for being the amazing attendance award winners this week and David, Archie, Carlton, Skye, Daisy, Ruby, Leonora, Annabelle, Luca and Grace for being our new WOW group members for this academic year. We look forward to you all taking a lead in various worships and helping to organise events in the Christian calendar. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Annabelle for her blue Peter badge for her music, Jenson for achieving his 100m in swimming, Scarlett for lots of amazing rainbow badges and a swimming badge, Archie for achieving 20m in his swimming and ‘smashing it’ at Go Ape, Isaac for his perseverance over the last 5 years at Scouts, Oliver for demonstrating lots of new skills and achieving a new belt at kickboxing and Annabel for gaining a certificate for always working hard on many new skills at acro. We ended our worship with a lovely prayer centred around thankfulness from Rev Ben and a singalong to ‘If I was a butterfly.’ Please remember that we will be having our MacMillan coffee morning next Friday 29th September after celebration worship and you would be all very welcome. Cake donations would be very much appreciated and a donation to Macmillan can be made on parent pay. Thank you for all of your support again this week and we wish you an enjoyable weekend.
Collective Worship with Rev Ben - Noah’s Ark
Today, we started with a fun game of floating and sinking in our collective Worship with Rev Ben. He then told us the story of Noah and his Ark and his mission to rescue God’s creation. We considered how we could help to take care of God’s world.
Collective Worship- In the beginning
This morning in Collective Worship, we continued learning about God's Big Story with Worship across the Diocese. Today we started right at the beginning of the Bible and focused on God's creation. This built on our Worships with Rev Ben and Rev Matt as we have been focusing on God's generosity in creation. After watching and joining in with the Worship across the Diocese video, we also watched a cartoon about God's creation. We then reflected on our favourite creations and Mrs Ham threw the inflatable earth and asked us to share our favourite creations with the whole school if we caught it. We shared so many of our favourite wonderful creations such as trees, flowers, people, food, fish, mountains, the sea, the sun and the sky. We then sang one of our favourite songs about creation, 'If I were a butterfly' where we thanked God for all of his wonderful creations.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our celebration worship by saying a huge well done to our value award winners this week for showing the Barney’s 4B’s, hitting the ground running in their new classes and always having a positive attitude to their learning. Well done Albie, Naomi, Walter, Daisy, Walter, Annabelle, Leonora and Seb. We then said a special well done to Whitehall Park this week who were our award winners this week, Reception and Year 5 for being the amazing attendance winners this week and Hamza, Harry and Daisy in Year 5 for gaining their pen licenses. We then moved on to say a huge congratulations to our out of school superstars. Well done to Alice for achieving 20m in her swimming, Alexis for achieving lots of badges at Rainbows, completing the Summer Reading Challenge and achieving 25m in her swimming, Carmen for completing the Summer Reading challenge and even reading an extra 9 books than she needed to, Renee for completing the Summer Reading Challenge, Frankie for completing the Summer Reading challenge and achieving stage 2 in his swimming, Annabelle for being awarded a special badge for her keyboard playing, a Blue Peter Badge for her musical talent and and a ‘Swim England’ award and medal, Summer for being awarded 50m in her swimming, Elijah for achieving 100m in his swimming without armbands, Eliza for achieving 4 rosettes in her horse riding, Jack for achieving 5m, 10m and stage 3 in his swimming, Ruby for participating in a 2 week swim and lifeguard camp and achieving her level 1 and 2 in snorkelling and her bronze and silver awards at Brownies and Charlie for achieving his 5m at swimming. We ended our worship with a lovely prayer from Rev Ben and a singalong to ‘Our God is Great Big God.’ Thank you for all of your support this week and we wish you an enjoyable weekend.
Year 5 - Be internet legends
This morning year 5 participated in the be internet legends live assembly. The assembly discussed all the key aspects of online safety and why it is important to remain safe online. They discussed how the internet was an amazing platform for people and how it has changed to world to make things more accessible to people. The assembly discussed the potential threats that can happen online and how to avoid them and know when to alert a trusted adult of a potential danger. They gave lots of tips and advice how to maximise your online activity while remaining as safe as possible. The key aspects the assembly discussed are: - Be sharp - Be alert - Secure - Kind - Brave
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.
Tuesday Collective Worship with Rev Matt
Rev Matt came to lead our worship and told us the story of Adam and Eve, and how God showed his generosity, staying with them even after they disobeyed his orders. We also discussed how we can show generosity this week.
Monday Collective Worship- God’s Big Plan
We started our worship by paying respect to all of the victims who lost their lives 22 years ago in the devastating 9/11 terrorist attack in New York. We lit a candle and said a prayer. Mrs Ham then reintroduced God’s Big Story to us and we looked at each concept and discussed what they mean: Creation (the beginning of the world), Fall (when people started to sin) , People of God (People in the Old Testament of the Bible), Incarnation (Jesus was sent to create peace on Earth), Gospel (spreading the good news of Jesus), Salvation (Jesus is crucified and appears as a spirit) and The Kingdom of God. We then watched a video which started with creation. We talked about our favourite things that God created. Rio said’ The sun and the moon to create light and dark,’ Sienna and Elliott said ‘The people’, Maliki said ‘The animals’ and Sonny said ‘The food.’ Followed by the Fall when people started to destroy the world. Then God gave us the People of God such as Moses and Abraham who were sent to teach us how to be good people. However, people didn’t listen so God sent Jesus to us in the flesh and this is what incarnation means. Bishop Philip explained that incarnation means that Jesus came as one of us, to share our life and so that we could share in his life and learn from his actions, stories and explanations. Bishop Philip then explained the definition of Salvation as Jesus coming to save us from a place of danger (the fall) by dying on the cross. As Jesus died on the cross and came back to life, he was our rescuer. He died for all of us brought us to a place of safety. We all look forward to learning more about God’s Big Plan in our collective worships and our RE lessons this academic year. Finally, we ended our worship by singing, ‘Our God is a Great Big God.’
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our first celebration of the year by reminding ourselves of our 4 B’s (Be ready, be kind, be respectful and be safe). We then talked about some highlights of the week including the production of the Jungle Book. We talked about our favourite parts. Daisy said, ‘When the lion fought the tiger and defeated him,’ and James said, ‘When Mowgli burnt the tiger's bottom off.’ We then celebrated the wonderful out of school achievements that our St Barnabas children have achieved over the summer holidays. We said well done to James for swimming 5m, Tristen for his red belt in kickboxing, Carter for being a fantastic fox at football and achieving stage 1 in his swimming, Eliza for being amazing at football and winning a football competition during the holidays and for wonderful horse riding, Poppy for running for Blackburn Harriers, Annabelle for being an amazing archaeologist, completing the summer reading challenge and achieving her stage 7 at swimming, Leonora for her super swimming, Grace for coming 3rd in her song and dance and completing the summer reading challenge, Jenson for achieving his 50m at swimming, Isaac for coming 4th in the British Championships in Derby for his BMX racing, Betsy for achieving the most points at Sports cool summer club for helping out with the younger children and always showing kindness, Finn for his trophy at football and achieving his 100m at swimming, Molly and Annabel for completing the summer reading challenge, Annabel for finding her brave and skydiving in the summer holidays with her brother and Renee for completing the summer reading challenge and achieving her stage 4 at swimming. We then congratulated Reception and Year 4 for being the amazing attendance winners this week and introduced Neve, Eden, Annabelle and Ella as our well-being warriors for this academic year. Finally we ended our worship with a beautiful prayer from Rev Ben and a sing along to ‘Shining From the Inside Out’ as a whole school. Thank you to those parents who could join us for celebration worship this week and we wish you all a lovely weekend when it arrives.
Collective Worship with Rev Ben and Rev Matt
In worship today, Rev Ben got us all thinking about being creative and our greatest and most generous creator - God. We enjoyed watching two teams of children compete to create the best animal from just sticky tape and newspaper. We also reflected on how we can be generous with our creations in school this week.
Monday Collective Worship-Welcome Back to School
This morning, we all met for our first collective worship of the academic year and it was lovely to all be back together again after the summer holidays. First, we reminded ourselves of our vision, our Christian values and our British values. Then, Mrs Ham then introduced our four golden rules. These are: To be ready, to be kind, to be safe and to be respectful. We then discussed what these key phrases meant. Be Ready: Jack said having a smart uniform, Miles said looking at the speaker, Ella-Grace said being at school on time, Alice said being prepared with the correct equipment and Sonny said being ready and following instructions if the fire alarm goes off. Be Kind- Freddie said helping each other, Daisy said supporting others such as charities and refugees, Alice said encourage others to join in your games, Wilson and David said look after the environment such as not littering and making bug houses, Renee said sharing your toys and equipment. Be Safe- Chay said always staying where an adult is, Molly said keeping safe with our equipment such as walking with scissors upside down, Charlie Rose said walking to places within school and Jack said following the instructions of the teacher. Be respectful- Bella said let adults through the door first, Dougie said show respect towards the environment including animals, Darcy said do not talk over the teacher. Mrs Ham reminded us that we need to line up smartly so she wanted to see 'legendary lining up' and 'wonderful walking' around school by walking sensibly, smartly, safely, silently and smiling at the same time. Mrs Ham then explained our new behaviour system. All children will start every lesson on green (ready to learn) with the aim of moving up to yellow (time to shine) throughout the day for showing good behaviour , demonstrating our Christian values and a showing positive attitude to learning. However, there will also be pink which means time to think. If a child is not demonstrating a positive attitude to learning or making the right choices then they will be given two warnings. If the behaviour still persists after these warnings then the child will move to pink and will be asked to reflect on their behaviour by filling in a pink reflection sheet during their break time. We hope that this time to reflect will allow a child to move forward positively and make better choices. We are all looking forward to another super year at St Barnabas and are aiming to achieve great things through learning and growing together in a love-filled Christian family!
First day in Year 3
Year 3 were super excited about reuniting with their friends and talking about what they did over the summer. The children couldn't wait to go out for a break in the KS2 yard and have fun on the trim trail. They also visited the school library to select books for their personal reading enjoyment in the classroom. Alongside this, we created our own classroom rules, building upon the four golden rules Mrs. Ham highlighted during this morning's worship. In the afternoon, the children went on a shape hunt around the school, identifying, drawing and labelling the different shapes that make up the objects they find in everyday objects. For example, a door shaped like a rectangle, a classroom window shaped like a square and the netball goal ring shaped like a circle.
D.T Club- Lion King props
The Year 4, 5, and 6 students have worked really hard to create props for our end-of-year performance, inspired by The Lion King. They used cardboard to make masks, giving them special designs and paying attention to the little details. They also used paper mache to make African fruits and Pumba's prop. African fruits have been tied to a stick, which they found in our forest school grounds. It adds a realistic touch to the show. They have made caps for Zazu using real feathers from birds. They also used garlands to create a grassy environment using green ribbons. Together, we have created an environment that encourages creativity, teamwork, and doing our best. The children's fulfilment in creating props with a real purpose is evident, and their hard work is truly commendable.
Year 5- Collective Worship- A Work of Art
During today's class worship, the children explored a collection of art and shared their likes and dislikes. We talked about famous artists and then looked at Gustav Klimt's painting, "Lady with a Fan," which sold for a record-breaking 85.3 million, the most expensive artwork ever auctioned in Europe. We discussed what makes something a "work of art" and thought about the valuable things in their own lives, like family and pets. We also learned about Isaiah, who wrote a book in the Bible, and how he reminded us that we are all special and unique creations, like works of art, made by God's hand. We listened to a song called "He Made Me" and ended with a prayer to thank God for creating us.
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!
The WOW Group’s Messy Parables
This week, the W.O.W. Group finished off their Messy Parables workshops with our final two choices, The Wise and Foolish Builders and The Widow’s Offering. The children understood the stories well and had great fun making stained-glass style windows or a coin purse. Well done to all WOW members for leading exciting, engaging and thoughtful workshops.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning in celebration worship, Mrs Ham started by praising all of our children for their courage and positivity during our whole school transition day yesterday. All of the teachers were super impressed with the creativity, attitude to learning, behaviour and manners that all of the children showed in their new year groups. We then said well done to our Reception and KS1 value award winners who were Connie, Bobby-Ray, Jack and Eliza and our KS2 value award winners who were Edward, Alice, Oscar and Freya. We said a huge well done to our High 5 netball team who represented BwD at the Lancashire School Games at Stanley Park on Tuesday and got through to the quarter final. We also celebrated lots of out of schools sports award winners. Well done to Ruby and Archie for entering and competing the Iron Kids Competition, Daisy for being a fantastic gymnast, Lyla and Sofia for their ‘Going Places’ dancing trophy and Sofia for being outstanding at Musical Theatre, Eliza for demonstrating wonderful football skills, Isaac for his ‘potential and success in the arts’ trophy, Peyton and Cassidy for being superstars at rainbows, Summer for achieving stage 6 at swimming and level 2 at gymnastics and Grace for wonderful improvement in her ballet, a gold award in jazz and being the overall classical dancer of the year. We congratulated Reception and Year 6 for being the attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park for being the Value Award House Point Winners this week. Lastly, we heard some beautiful prayers from Hamza, Sofia and Jack and sang Sing a New Song to the Lord. Thank you to the those who could join us for celebration worship this week and we wish you all an enjoyable weekend.
Whole School Collective Worship- Archdeacon David
This morning in worship, we welcomed Archdeacon David who visited our school to lead collective worship. Archdeacon David asked us what we think it means when we say that Jesus is the light of the world. We had responses such as it means that Jesus leads us and guides us in the right way, that Jesus lights up the world and makes it a nicer place for us all to live and Jesus is the light of the world by encouraging us to be peaceful, respectful and kind. Archdeacon David told us that we also have the special power of being the light of the world too. He reminded us that Jesus said, ‘When I go back to heaven, I will leave you a special thing called the holy spirit. I want you to shine as a light in the world to make the world a better place.’ Archdeacon David left us to reflect on how we can achieve this. He said that next time he visits, he will give us the opportunity to tell him how we have been shining as a light in the world just as Jesus does and asks us to do. We finished our worship by singing 'Shine from the Inside out'.
Monday Worship: St Barnabas and St Paul and Welcome to Rev Matt
Today, Rev Ben led our worship and we welcomed Rev Matt who will be working at St Barnabas Church too. We began our worship by thinking about a time where something happened to us and where we couldn’t wait to tell others about it. Amelia couldn’t wait to tell others when her Mum had a baby. Mason couldn’t wait to tell others that he had been on the television! We thought about how St Barnabas and St Paul were generous about the message about Jesus and how they told Jesus’ story to people for the first time. Rev Ben shared a video with the children about their story. On Saturday, Matt became Rev Matt and was ordained at Blackburn Cathedral. Rev Matt wanted to become a vicar because he wanted to spread the word of Jesus and to find out more about Jesus. Rev Matt spent three years at vicar school. He said he was most excited to learn more and for the children to learn with him. We gave Rev Matt a huge St Barnabas welcome. We ended our worship by singing ‘story of the cross’.
Friday Celebration Worship
Wow! We have had another week with lots to celebrate both in and out of school. The Rotary Club came in to praise and thank our year 5 children for their contribution to the community, their school and the wider world. They were presented with a certificate for all of their fundraising for our school and supporting a number of charities this year including Cancer Research, The Teddy Trust and DARE (Darwen Asylum Seeker and Refugee Enterprise). They also raised money for Turkey, Nigeria and Ukraine. Well done Year 5! Also a huge well done to our value award winners this week who have been working hard across the curriculum and demonstrating a wonderful attitude to learning. These were Mila, Piper-Jo, Lennox and Carter in the infants and KS1 and Ruby, Daniel, Freddy, Isaac, Harlow and Louie in the Juniors. We also celebrated lots of in school sporting success. Our Year 5/6 boys and girls gymnasts for attending a competition as two separate teams at St Bedes High School on Tuesday. They were amazing! Our Year 5/6 cricket team who came 3rd overall at a recent cricket competition, our Year 6 tennis team who came 1st overall, the Year 4 football team who took part in a festival and won every game and the Year 3/4 and Y5/6 DPSSA cross country team for their determination and courage and coming 2nd place overall. We also congratulated our out of school sports award winners. Well done to Ella-Grace for trying her absolute best and getting Star of the Week during her football training and competition, Isabella and Charlie for getting their orange belts at martial arts, Carter for getting the Fantastic Fox of the day at football, Lyla for gaining level 1 in her tap dancing, Jenson for completing his stage 6 at swimming, Marley for her kindness at rainbows, Olivia for getting the managers player of the year trophy at football, Isaac for his trophy for demonstrating fantastic football skills, Charlie Rose for being a superstar gymnast and Ivy for being a superstar cheerleader, Georgie for taking part in her first competition for dancing, Harriet for completing her 10m in butterfly and 10m in breaststroke, Eliza for getting to the finals of her football competition at the weekend and Eva, Katie, Sadie and Charlotte for coming 1st place in their recent football tournament. We said a final well done to Reception and Year 3 for winning the amazing attendance this week and India Mill for achieving the Value Award Points Winners this week. Thank you to our parents and grandparents that could attend and we wish you all a wonderful weekend.
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!
W.O.W. Group - Messy Parables - The Unforgiving Servant
This week in the Messy Parables workshop, the children looked at the importance of forgiveness through the parable ‘The Unforgiving Servant’. They then had fun making bookmarks with a message of forgiveness. Well done to the W.O.W. Group; they are doing a fabulous job organising and delivering these workshops.
Monday Worship: Fruits of the Spirit
Mrs Ham shared some photos of fruit trees and asked the children to name the fruit on each tree. We saw tangerines, pears, pineapples and strawberries to make a few. She told us that in the Bible, St Paul wrote in one of his letters about the fruit of the spirit. Mrs Ham had a fruit bag and asked some children to pick out a fruit from God’s fruit bowl. The children had to think about different fruits and discuss what they mean with a partner. The first was faithfulness. Wilson said if you trust each other then you would be faithful. The next fruit was self-control. Hamza said it is all about not reacting. The third was kindness. Archie said it is about helping people or giving to others. The next fruit of the spirit was love. Darcy said if you show love then they will show it you back. Sonny said giving somebody a hug shows love. The next was goodness which means being really good! The next fruit of the spirit was joy. Grace said if you are a nice person to be around then you will bring joy to others. Gentleness was then pulled out of God’s fruit bowl. Neve said you should be gentle with both your words and actions. Sofia pulled out patience. Daisy said it is all about waiting. Hamza said do not say hurry up! The last fruit of the spirit was peace. Mrs Ham wanted us to have a little peace whilst we reflected on our worship today. We ended our worship by singing ‘Fruit of the spirit’.
W.O.W. Group - Messy Parables - The Mustard Seed
Last week was the W.O.W. group’s first Messy Parables session. We read the Parable of the Mustard Seed, talked about how one little thought or belief can grow into something great, and made our own self-belief badges. All in all, a brilliant first session, with a few biscuits thrown in for good measure. This week, the parable is The Unforgiving Servant.
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.
Reception-World Refugee Day
Today is World Refugee Day, Reception 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 being interviewed about what their lives are like and what their dreams are for the future. Despite having to leave their homes, they remain very positive and grateful for having a safe place to grow up within the refugee camp. Reception asked lots of questions and were very interested. We also had a little chat about how we could raise money or give our unwanted things to charities that can help refugees. We ended our worship with some beautiful prayers.
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.
Monday Collective Worship with Rev Ben
This morning, Rev Ben led our Monday Collective Worship. Our theme for this worship was St Barnabas and his generosity. We started off by playing a game called, ‘Guess the Value.’ We had two teams at the front who had to guess the price of various items such as a tin of beans, a playstation 5, a loaf of bread, a car and Harry Kane. The audience then had to say whether they thought that the cost was higher or lower. This gave us all an insight into the value of various items, big and small. We learnt that all the first Christians were generous but St Barnabas was especially generous. He owned a field and sold this to give to the church and therefore to other people. He did this because he wanted to do as Jesus had done and give to others. Rev Ben asked us how we could be generous just as St Barnabas was. We said that we can give something that we don’t want or use anymore to charity such as clothes and toys, do a sponsored walk, run or a bake sale to raise money for charity or buy an extra item when we go shopping to give to someone less fortunate. Generosity is one of the fruits of the spirit so this is the song that we sang to end our worship.
Friday Celebration Worship
Wow! What a busy first week back into our final half term of this academic year. Our theme this week has been encouragement and Mrs Ham asked us to reflect on how we have encouraged each other this week, and how we will continue to focus on this as we enjoy the last few weeks of the school year and support each other as we transition into our new year groups and up to high school for our Year 6 class. We had lots of out of school stars to celebrate this week. Well done to Ella-Grace, Ivy, Leo, Olivia, Sonny, Charlie and Jack and Desmond for their wonderful football skills, Jake, Will, Bobby and Austin for coming runners up in a football tournament in St Anne’s, Manni and Bobby for their attendance and skill at a recent football tournament, Matthew for his recent success in the Premier League writing competition, Harry for his swimming and cricket success, Lyla for her musical theatre singing performance, Isaac for his piano playing, Iris and Leonora for being fabulous gymnasts, Finn and Ruby for running the race for life and Ruby for also completing the couch to 5k, Grace for performing on the main stage at Darwen Music Live, Mila for showing kindness at Rainbows and Mason for his sensational kickboxing. We also celebrated lots of success in school. As always, we heard from our teachers who presented their Value Award Winners. Well done to Eve, Isabella, Miley, Euan, Ruby, Charlie, Katie and Elsa. We also said a huge well done to our group of our Year 4 children who attended a Quad Kids competition and came second place out of 17, our Year 5/6 cricket team for excellent participation and sportsmanship on Wednesday, our Year 5/6 Netball team who came 2nd place out of all the schools in BwD, Reception class and Year 6 for the best attendance this week, India Mill for being the award winners this week and to Lola, Jake, Esme, Harry, Mathew, Daisy, Freddie and Bobby for gaining their pen licenses. We ended our worship with some lovely singing and dancing to ‘Build Up.’ What wonderful way to end the week!
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!
Whole School Worship: Encouragement
This morning in worship, we started with an encouragement song with the lyrics 'we all need encouragement, like the air that we breath'. Mrs Ham explained that yesterday was St Barnabas day and he was known as a great encourager. She then reminded us of how we have a special connection with St Paul's in Hoddlesden as we share our vicar, Rev Ben with and how St Barnabas and St Paul had a special connection in the Bible too. We then learnt about how St Paul became a follower of Jesus with the encouragement of his friend, St Barnabas. We then discussed how we can all show courage like St Paul and encourage each other like St Barnabas in the many upcoming events such as sports day, transition days, end of year assessments and productions. We are looking forward to learning more about St Barnabas and St Paul from Rev Ben in his worships over the next few weeks.
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.
Celebration Worship
This week during celebration worship we discussed and reflected over the week of Pentecost. The children enjoyed listening to what each class has been doing over the week and celebrated their achievements and successes during the week. We also had a visit from one of our Cidari Trustees, Jo Venn and it was lovely to show her the great things we have been achieving. A huge well done to all of our values award winners, you are a credit to yourselves and our St Barnabas family.
Sports Stars
A huge congratulations to all of our sports stars this week. Many children participate in a variety of sports and events outside of school. A massive well done to our school's netball team who won the high 5’s netball final this week and our cross country team who worked extremely hard and showed huge amounts of determination to complete the course. Other sporting achievements included, gymnastics, dancing, performing arts, skiing and many more.
Year 4 - Recreating Church
After writing an extensive list of what all churches “need”, the children realised that actually very little was needed once we headed up to Whitehall Park to have our outdoor worship. We created a cross from fallen twigs, found a tree stump for a lectern and spent time marvelling at God’s creations all around us. We had some bible readings about Pentecost and the beginnings of the church and some lovely impromptu prayers. A very peaceful morning.
Reception- Buddhist Prayer Flags
In R.E we have been learning all about prayer, this week we have been learning about how Buddhists pray and we have been looking at Tibetan prayer flags. We found out that there are five different coloured prayer flags which represent different elements such as earth, air, fire, space and water. A prayer flag is a printed image on paper or cloth intended to be fixed wherever the wind blows. The flags often contain images of animals along with words of kindness such as the wind horse, dragon, snow lion, tiger and garuda.
Whole School Worship: Pentecost
Today in our worship we learned about the events of Pentecost and how the church began. We had some fab actors acting out when the Holy Spirit descended and flames appeared on the disciples’ heads. We sang a special song to welcome the Holy Spirit into our Worship and reflected on how excited the disciples must have felt when they received the Holy Spirit. We thought about how we could show Jesus' love through our words and actions this week.
Celebration Worship
In Celebration Worship this morning, Mrs. Ham highlighted some of the wonderful key points from our GOOD Ofsted report and thanked everyone for their part in making our school a great place. We also celebrated our values winners across KS1 and KS2. India Mill came first place for the overall points of 562. Lucy and Mason received a pen licence for demonstrating an excellent standard of writing across all subjects. Mrs. Ham gave out awards to the children for taking part in extracurricular activities, this week, the children have taken part in swimming, rugby, darts, karate, brownies, gymnastic, netball, football, horse riding, and Olivia from Rainbow. Year 2 and Year 4 received the 'Amazing Attendance' alert this week. We finished our worship with prayers led by Mrs. Ham and we sang 'Shine from the Inside Out'.
Rev Ben Worship: Ascension
Rev Ben began his worship with a game of charades. We watched the bible story of the Ascension. When Jesus went up to heaven, it made his followers sad. However, Christians believe it is a good thing as Jesus is not limited to one time and place. Everyone, everywhere can speak to him. Jesus is always able to help us. Rev Ben asked us to think about how Jesus serves us from heaven and how we might want Jesus to serve us today. Rev Ben blew bubbles for his prayer time. As he blew the bubbles, we remember how Jesus will always listen to us as he can always hear us because he is in heaven. We ended our worship by singing Waymaker.
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.
Year 2 - Collective Worship
During our class worship year 2 have been looking at whether music has a positive impact on the world and what impact the Eurovision Song Contest has on the world around us. The children came up with amazing ideas and suggested that it has so many positives such as: makes people happy, helps express emotion, different songs for different feelings and improves people’s moods. The children spoke very highly of Eurovision and talked about how it brings lots of countries together and is a change to show of talents on a big stage.
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!
Super Sports Stars!
Congratulations to our super sports stars this week! It is great to hear and celebrate all of our pupils achievements, both inside and outside of school!
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.
Rev Ben Worship: Kings Coronation
Today, we thought about the kings coronation. We began our worship by playing a game. The teams from years 5 and 6 had to get their captains ready for the kings coronation. The children voted for their favourite and it was an even split. Well done to all of the children for being great sports! Rev Ben asked the children to think about what makes a good king. The children said the king has to be kind, generous, honest, dedicated, responsible and respectful. In the bible, Jesus explained how a king is a servant. King Charles needs to serve by showing justice and mercy just like Jesus did. Thank you to Rev Ben for leading our worship today. We are looking forward to our coronation celebrations in school this week.
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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 1- Hop, skip and jump!
Year 1 took part in the hop, skip and jump challenge in order to help raise money for the East Lancashire Hospice, which the children have been learning about today during their class worship. They have really enjoyed the activity and wearing their Easter crowns!
Year 2 Class Worship
During our class worship we have been looking at all the children across the world who aren’t able to go to schools as a result of natural disasters. The children prayed for those in need and made us all appreciate what we have and we came up with many ways in we can help those in need such as raising money for charity and raising awareness.
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.
Monday Worship: Looking after God’s World
Mrs Ham showed the children the big frieze and focussed on the creation. This morning we thought about Earth Day and God’s creation and had a think about all of the things that are damaging God’s creation. We threw globes around the room to think about how we are damaging our Earth. We watched a video of Greta Thunberg who is helping our world. Greta challenged world leaders to take action on climate change. Greta shared some advice to help look after the world and the children shared their ideas of how we can make a positive difference. Finn said “we can stand up for what is right”, Hamza said “use both sides of paper”, James said “stop throwing litter on the floor”, Darcy said “turn the tap off to save water” and Annabel said “switch off the lights”. The children looked through a bin and had a think about what they could do with the items instead of just throwing items into a bin. Eliza chose a bottle. Some of the children said they could use it for junk modelling, you could reuse it or you could use it as a bath toy. Harriet chose a Maltesers box. The children suggested you could use if to make a fairy house or a puppet. Harry chose a plastic bag. Ella said that you could use it as a bin bag and Scarlett said you could reuse it when you go shopping. Rosie chose some paper and the children discussed how it could be used to make a paper aeroplane and then put into the recycling bin. This week, Mrs Ham asked us all to think about how we can help to protect God’s creations and how we can protect our world. We finished our worship by singing ‘God’s world’.
Year 5- R.E- Easter- A visit from Rev Adam
We invited Rev Adam to our class worship today. He shared the life of Jesus which was represented on a cube. Each picture on the shape demonstrated the life of Jesus. The children were able to ask questions that they had prepared earlier. Before leaving, Rev Adam read the 'Ascension Day' which celebrates Jesus's ascension to heaven after he was resurrected on Easter Day.
Year 2 - Class Worship
During our class worship we have been looking at the new alarms that are coming to every phone in the UK to warn people of any emergencies that may be occurring in their local area. We discussed many positives and negatives and agreed that it will save lives.
Rev Ben’s Worship- St George
Today in our Collective Worship Rev Ben talked to us about our Christian Value of courage. He asked us what we thought it means to have courage and we had brilliant discussions with our partners. Some children said it means to be brave, step out of your comfort zone, try new things and believe you can do anything. We then learnt all about St George through a fun quiz. He showed courage, not through fighting a dragon as legend is believed, but through standing up for what he believed. He found his courage by knowing that Jesus is always with him. We reflected on how we could show courage this week and how knowing that Jesus is always with us makes us feel. Thank you Rev Ben for another brilliant worship. We hope everyone has a wonderful St George’s Day on Sunday!
Whole School Worship- Holy Week
This morning the children discussed with each other what they had done over the Easter holidays. This made us think about how we have been ‘living life in all its fullness.’ We then reminded ourselves of the Easter story through watching Bob Hartman's Resurrection Rhyme and we talked about Holy Week. We looked at how Jesus died so we can live our life in all its fullness. We learnt from the rhyme that Easter is not just about chocolate eggs and Easter bunnies, but about Jesus who died to save all of us. Living life in all its fullness is about being kind and respectful to others, following the example of Jesus and his disciples. We reflected on how we can live life in all its fullness this Summer term and how we can love one another as Jesus loves us.
Easter Service
Rev Ben began our worship by leading us in prayer. Mrs Ham and our heads and deputies then led our Easter service 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'. We began with Palm Sunday and then moved onto the garden of Gethsemane. Our news reporters explained what happened whilst year 4 shared their artwork of the betrayal. The reporters continued with their report from Calvary hill. Year 5 shared their crucifixion artwork. When Jesus died, the earth shook. Year 3 shared their artwork whilst we sang lord of the dance. Reporters were then at the tomb where they reported that Jesus’ body has disappeared. Jesus had risen from the dead! A huge thank you to our heads and deputies for reports on the biggest news story ever to be told. Wow group led our prayers at the end of our service. Year 6 then shared their artwork whilst we sang give me oil in my lamp. Thank you to all of our wonderful parents, carers and families who came to our Easter service, it was lovely to be able to share it with you.
Spring Chicken = Mrs Price
It wouldn’t be Easter at St Barnabas without a visit from the Spring Chicken! All of the staff and children had a great time singing and dancing this afternoon to the Spring Chicken song. Then we unmasked the chicken just like the masked singer by shouting ‘Take it off, take it off!’. This year the chicken was Mrs Price as this will be her last chance to join in our Easter celebrations as she is soon flying the St Barnabas nest as she has gained a promotion to Senior School Business Manager at a Special High School in Bolton. We will be so sad to see Mrs Price leave St Barnabas on Friday 21st April as she has worked tirelessly with passion and determination at our school and has supported several schools in our Trust for the last 8 years. We wish her all the luck in the world in her new role and know that she will shine, just like she has at St Barnabas. I’m delighted to announce that Mrs Howarth will be taking on the role of our School Administration Manager and will be supported in the office by a new member of our team, Mrs Cole. She is looking forward to joining our school family after the Easter holidays. On behalf of our whole staff team, thank you so much for your continued support and we hope you have a wonderful Easter holiday.
Whole School Worship with Rev Ben
Today in Worship, Rev Ben spoke about the awe and wonder in the events of Easter Sunday. He asked us about how the resurrection changed Mary Magdalene’s life and how the Easter story may make a difference in our lives.
Year 4 - Easter Artwork Walk
Our Year 4 class, loved visiting the Rose Garden at Whitehall Park yesterday. And what lovely weather we’ve had for it. The children really enjoyed viewing the Easter art created in school, saying prayers and singing songs with the children from Reception class. They even came back to the classroom to write some Easter scavenger hunt clues for the other classes. We hope you and your families have a chance to visit too.
Celebration Worship Sports Stars
A huge well done to all of our sports stars who were presented with awards in Celebration Worship this morning. This week Mrs Ham presented awards for the following out of school sports or activities and the children got to stand on the golden podium with pride: Swimming, gymnastics, orienteering, dancing, writing, rainbow badges and the beaver and rainbow of the week. We congratulated our cross country team for their courage and determination at last night's Darwen Cross Country Competition. We thanked our Year 6 Sports Leaders for their successful KS2 inter-house sports competition yesterday as they planned and led it all.
Celebration Worship
Celebrating all of our amazing children in their year groups who received the most value points this week. A special well done to: Reception - Whole class Year 1 - Chay Year 2 - Whole Class Year 3 - Luca Year 4 - Grace Year 5 - Alfie Year 6 - Kaylen Well done to the Reception class who had 100% attendance this week so were the amazing attendance winners along with Year 6! Whitehall Park were out values points winners this week. Thank you to all of the parents and grandparents who joined us.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
WOW Group - Messy Church Planning
The WOW Group had plenty of ideas for a parable-themed messy church. The children have taken a parable in pairs and have started researching craft ideas and songs to put together a session in the Summer term. Keep your eyes peeled for the date coming soon.
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 5: Collective Worship- See with your heart
During our class worship today, we explored a text about the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, which provides trained guide dogs to people who are blind or visually impaired. They rely heavily on volunteers who help to raise and train the dogs before they are matched with their new owners. The children then participated in a drawing activity while being blindfolded. It was an experience that helped them understand what it might be like to navigate the world without sight. This created an awareness about the challenges faced by the visually impaired. We ended our class worship by singing ' Light up the fire'.
Year 2: Class Worship
During class worship, we had a look the impact that Roald Dahl’s books have on the modern day world. We discussed whether these books should be rewritten to fit in with new rules and regulations in today's society. Children were of the opinion that they: represent a time period, are historical and are still very funny and appealing. Therefore we agreed that they should not be rewritten.
Rev Ben Worship: Gates to Heaven
This morning, Rev Ben led our worship. We began by playing a quiz. The children were split into team 1 and team 2. Rev Ben shared a variety of gate pictures and asked where they were from. Gates included Buckingham Palace, Arc de Triomphe, Ewood Park and Whitehall Park. Well done to Team 1. Rev Ben shared how Jesus is the gate. Rev Ben asked the children to think about what a gate is for and what we think Jesus is saying about himself. Tristen said a gate is about letting people in and out. Harlee thought the gate is there for Jesus to look after people. Jesus is the gate to protect his followers and to keep them safe. Rev Ben shared a photograph of the Thames barrier. It was built to stop parts of London flooding. If there is a high tide, the gates rise and stop parts of London from flooding. Christians believe that when we come to God, we face a barrier. The barrier is the things we have done wrong. However, Christians believe that Jesus takes away the barrier and creates a gate for us to walk through to God. Rev Ben invited the children to pray with him. At the end of our worship, we sang ‘Waymaker’.
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.
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.
North West Air Ambulance Visit
We had the pleasure of welcoming Laura from North West Air Ambulance Charity today. Laura explained that the air ambulance colours are yellow and blue. North West Air Ambulance service is a charity and Laura’s job is to help raise money to keep the ambulances in the sky. The charity looks after over 8 million people and provides free emergency pre-hospital care. In addition to helicopters, the charity also has emergency vehicles. They are used when it is foggy, at night or when it is deemed not safe to fly. Darcy held the emergency bag that the crew carry. It is heavy and has everything they need to treat an injured person. The ambulance also carries blood on board. Wilson showed everybody the jacket that the crew wear and Harry showed the helmet that the crew required to wear. We watched a video which showed an air ambulance in action. Laura explained to us what happens in an emergency. We played Simon says to role play what we should do. If we notice somebody has hurt themselves, we would look around to check if it was safe and then go and find a trusted adult to call to 999. If there wasn’t a trusted adult around, it would be up to us to call. The crew would then be dispatched. Once the helicopter lands, there is a Lucas machine that can perform CPR if necessary so that the paramedic and doctors hands are free to help the patient further. Laura said it is brilliant that we have our invacuation procedure to help air ambulances land safely. Thank you to Mrs Price for teaching the children what to do in an emergency. Air ambulances can land on a beach, a field, a stadium, a car park and a helipad. Laura thanked everybody and said that St Barnabas are now part of the crew! Donations can still be made on parent pay to support this charity and during Lent it is the perfect time to give something back. The charity needs to raise 12 million pounds each year in order to provide the amazing service and it relies solely on donations. Thank you to everybody who has donated so far.
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Virtual Celebration Worship
Please join us for our virtual Celebration Worship on Zoom at 9.05am. Mrs Ham is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Virtual Celebration Worship Time: Mar 10, 2023 09:05 AM London Join Zoom Meeting https://us04web.zoom.us/j/74490000410?pwd=59agL0Z2XxE89HVTBtMpzNy4EnaaJZ.1 Meeting ID: 744 9000 0410 Passcode: 8CX4At We look forward to seeing you there.
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.
Whole School Worship: Rev Ben
We began our worship by taking a moment to remember those who have been affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Rev Ben began his worship by playing a game. 10 children were split into 2 teams and they had to use chopsticks to transport grapes from one container to another. The children worked well as a team and team 2 won! This morning we are thinking about grapes. Jesus said “I am the vine, you are the branches”. We need to stay connected to him in order to keep growing. We watched a short video to help us think about what Jesus meant. Christians believe that Jesus wants us to have fruitful lives. We can do this by sticking close to Jesus. What does being fruitful mean? Ella thinks it means to live a faithful life and Annabel said to be thankful. Rev Ben explained that to live a fruitful life, we need to show the fruits of the spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self control. We had time to think about what Christians believe the secret is to being fruitful. Daniel said connecting to other pupils and to Jesus. Isaac said showing our Christian values and following the 10 commandments. Archie said by putting other people first. We finished our worship by singing ‘way maker’.
World Book Day 2023
Today we celebrated world book day to show how amazing books are and the theme of this year’s celebration is bedtime stories and stories that fill our happy tank. During worship, Mrs Wilkinson, our reading leader, shared a variety of books through ‘the masked book’ quiz. Our school librarians shared clues from their favourite bedtime stories and asked the school to guess their book. Mrs Ham showed us one of her favourite stories, Oliver Twist, and read a 'Little people, big dreams' book about the author Charles Dickens. We learnt how he developed his love of books and became a successful author, writing stories with powerful messages. We are looking forward to a production of one of Charles Dickens famous stories tomorrow, A Christmas Carol, but in a special adaptation called Scrooge. Charles Dickens wanted everyone to know that everyday can feel like Christmas, if we show kindness and fill up each other's happy tanks. Children enjoyed stories from other teachers across the school who shared their favourite bedtime stories or stories that fill their happy tank. A special author came into school to read her latest book. The lion who lost its mane. She shared her amazing story and the message behind the story and her inspiration for making her book. Throughout the day children completed many activities to celebrate this year's themes for world book day, favourite bedtime stories or stories that fill your happy tank. This included: competitions for creating the best book cover, creating art work and reading their favourite stories to each other. Thank you to Mrs Speak, our English link Governor for joining us in our special World Book Day Worship. Happy World Book Day 2023!
Whole School Worship - Fairtrade Fortnight
In Worship today, we began by lighting a special candle and had a moments silence to pray for the families affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Mrs Ham then showed us some foods that she had bought over the last week. We then had to guess why Mrs Ham was showing us these foods and what was special about them. Darci said that they were all fairtrade products and Hamza spotted the fairtrade logo. Mrs Ham explained that today was the start of Fairtrade Fortnight. We joined in with a quiz about fairtrade products, thought about our foods, where they come from and how climate change is affecting farmers and their crops in tropical countries. We also thought about how the Fairtrade Foundation supports these farmers, and how we can do a bit by opting for Fairtrade products. We reflected on how we can show kindness and support our neighbours around the world by buying Fairtrade products and how we can show our Christian values of generosity, friendship and respect this Fairtrade Fortnight and through Lent.
Celebration Worship
Well done to all of our children this week on another busy week in school, working so hard and showing all our Christian values and gaining so many value points. A huge congratulations to Reception and Year 3 for being the amazing attendance winners again this week! Well done Darwen Tower team for winning the overall value points prize which you get to choose, will it be a disco, non uniform, or maybe an extra MUGA session with coach Baxendale? A massive well done to all our class Value Award winners, your hard work and determination really does show both in the classroom and around school, we hope you are super proud of yourselves.
Celebration worship- Super Sports Stars
Well done! Well done to all our amazing ‘sports stars’ this week. It is wonderful to see such a variety of activities being enjoyed. Our Year 3/4 gymnastics team have done us so proud this week representing our school beautifully, your progress is excellent and a direct reflection to your hard working attitude as gymnastics takes practice, perseverance and a positive attitude, which you all show in buckets. Well done!
Year 2 - Class Worship
This week during our class worship we have been discussing the horrific incident that occurred in Turkey and Syria. Children discussed the devastating effects that it must have on family and what we can do and are doing as a country to show our support to all those affected. Some of the ideas we came up with are: - Sending food and water - Providing tents and beds for people to sleep in - Praying for all those affected - Sending specialist teams such as doctors, nurses and teachers.
Rev Ben’s Ash Wednesday Worship
This morning Rev Ben led our Worship. First he lit our special candle and we had a moment's silence to pray for the families in Turkey and Syria who have been affected by the devastating earthquakes. Rev Ben asked us who was the greatest out of four celebrities, Marcus Rashford, Taylor Swift, Princess Kate and Rishi Sunak. The children had a discussion with a partner about who was the greatest and why. We had some super answers and several reasons why each one was the greatest. We then watched a video about the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee which was a story that Jesus told to some people who thought they were great and looked down on others. The Pharisee thought he was the greatest and looked down on others but the tax collector was actually great in God's eyes as he asked for help and forgiveness. Rev Ben explained that Ash Wednesday is when Christian's ask for help and for their sins to be forgiven by God. Rev Ben then talked to us about Christian greatness and we had some time to reflect and discuss what Christians think being great is all about and how we can put that greatness into practice. Again we had some brilliant answers such as showing kindness, friendship, generosity and service to others. We finished our worship with a special prayer led by Rev Ben and sang and danced to My Lighthouse, to symbolise that God is always there to hear our prayers of help and forgiveness.
Shrove Tuesday
As today is Shrove Tuesday, Mrs Ham bought our whole school family pancake bites to eat to symbolise the start of Lent tomorrow. They went down a treat and many of the children were excited to have pancakes at home this evening too. We are looking forward to seeing lots of different ways that we can all give this Lent through demonstrating our Christian values of service, friendship and generosity.
Whole School Worship: Shrove Tuesday and Lent
To begin our worship, we lit a special candle and prayed for everyone in Turkey and Syria. As we entered worship, we watched a video all about when Jesus spent 40 days in the desert. Tomorrow it is Shrove Tuesday. On Wednesday, our altar will change to the colour of purple as we enter Lent and prepare for Easter. Mrs Ham asked the children ‘what makes you you?’ Neve said her freckles, Oscar said playing the piano and cello, Jake said his fingerprints and Grace said her flexibility. Our personality, emotions, behaviour, clothes, family and belongings all make us unique. Mrs Ham then asked ‘what made Jesus Jesus?’ Eliza said he was the son of God, Grace said his abilities to perform miracles, Ella said that he came down from heaven, Finn said his kindness and Leonora said when he rose from the dead. On Wednesday, Lent beings where we remember how Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. We watched a video all about this time. Jesus was tempted by the devil during his time but he trusted in God and didn’t give in to temptation. Jesus knew there was a plan for him. He knew that he was going to die on the cross so that all of our sins can be forgiven. During our reflection, we had a think about what we could do or give up to help us to feel closer to God. Eva said she is going to give up chocolate, Elsa said sweets, Carter said fizzy drinks, Isaac said he will give some of his toys to charity and Declan said his clothes to the charity shop. We also thought about how we could show kindness and which Christian values we could show during Lent. We finished our worship by singing ‘our God is a great big God’.
Celebration Worship- Dress to Express- Mental Health Week
The Year 4 class led our 'dress to express' worship this morning for 'Children's Mental Health Week'. The children had prepared lines about mental health, which they presented with confidence and maturity to parents and the whole school. They spoke about how we can all look after our mental health by doing activities we enjoy. They also shared their favourite clip about kindness and stressed how important it is to be kind to each other and the positive impact being kind has on our mental health. The Year 5 Well-being warriors also presented prizes to our winners from KS1 for their amazing artwork which represented their feelings on a drawing of a jar. They finished by singing their favourite song ' My Lighthouse' and prayers led by Tyler and Grace. Thank you Year 4 and to all of the parents, carers and grandparents who joined us.
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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 2 - Collective Worship
During our class worship we looked at the story with the Wales national football team. They are one of very few national football teams that have granted men and women equal pay. We looked at equality within sports and across the world and we all talked about how anybody can play football. The society we live in is and should be inclusive and we all have the potential to be amazing.
Year 5- Collective Worship
During our class worship this morning, we looked at this week's news on equality and the earthquake which has caused major damage to the families of Turkey and Syria. We discussed equality in detail and mainly focussing on men and women's football team. The children shared their opinions and thoughts on the topic and concluded that humans are equal and Jesus wants everyone to treat each other equally. He also teaches us to challenge individuals and social structures, that do not treat all humans equally. We watched a short clip of the damage that has been caused by the 7.8 magnitude Turkey-Syria earthquake and looked at the support that is already out there. We learnt about how earthquakes are measured and the damage it can cause. We then thought of ways that we could help by sending them a prayer and that we are thinking of them all.
Safer Internet Day
During our worship today we celebrated safer internet day. Safer internet day is celebrated all over the world and it helps children to understand ways of being safe online as the internet is growing as well as social media. Children discussed all the amazing things that they use the internet for and understand that it is an amazing platform to use with lots of positives. Although the internet is a great tool, we have to be careful that we: remain safe, understand age limits, only play games with those who you know, avoid online bullying and be able to recognise ‘fake news’. Children discussed many ways in which we can avoid these negatives and to enjoy using the internet for all its all amazing uses it can have such as: - Do not believe everything you see online - Do not post anything that isn’t kind - If I see something that makes me feel uncomfortable tell a trusted adult, report it and block it - Play with people we know - Most importantly keep having fun! - Understand age limits and respect those limits - Keep microphones and cameras off when online gaming with people who you do not know. One of the aims of the session was to keep talking and to be very open with a trusted adult about your online activity. Whether you have seen something that makes you uncomfortable or whether you have done something you believe is wrong. A trusted adult will always be able to help you and help you to remain safe online. Most importantly we recognised that the internet is an amazing tool that can be used to help us gain knowledge, communicate with people and have fun. As the internet grows and gets more advanced we understand that it is not going away. But remaining safe is the key.
Whole School Worship: Children’s Mental Health Week Launch
What is mental health? Elsie said it is about your mind, Darcy said it is your feelings. Everybody has mental health. Sometimes our mental health might feel poorly like our bodies can feel poorly. One way to help our mental health is through our happy tank. Today we learnt all about happy tapping. We practised together as a school and then repeated after John whilst tapping. Mrs Ham explained how it is ok to feel different emotions. The children showed different emotions such as sad, scared, lonely, upset, ashamed, worried and guilty. Mrs Ham asked the children how you can exercise your brain. Isaac said by learning, Kaylen said by pushing passed your limit and Sophia said by eating healthily. This year, children’s mental health week is all about connecting. Connecting with others is vital for our wellbeing and can support our mental health. This links to our Christian value of friendship. Mrs Ham asked how have we all connected to others this morning. Darcy said she has hugged her Mummy, Harlow said she tickled her brother, Edward said he made his Dad a bacon sandwich, Harry said he spoke to his friend and Iris played with her brother. We listened to a poem called ‘together’. We discussed together why being together is so important. Lyla said if you don’t feel together and feel lonely, you could ask a friend to join in playing. You do not need to be a grown up to change the world. We can make a difference. During our reflection, we are going to have a think about how we can connect more to others. On Friday, we will all come together and will dress to express to show how we are unique and special.
Whole School Worship: Rev Ben
The children in year 6 played a game at the start of our worship. The game wasn’t as easy as it looked! Our children showed the Christian value of encouragement to help the children complete the task. Today, we learned about a man called Daniel. Daniel was taken far from his home and asked to work in a place where nobody believed in God. Rev Ben asked the children to think about how they would feel if that happened to him. Daniel found ways to keep trusting and God looked after him. Daniel showed the king that God was important. In the Bible, when people face a hard time, they praise God and they sing. Rev Ben asked the children why they feel it is important. Jack said that it will fill up your happy tank, Leonora said it will make you feel calm and relaxed, Carter said it can change your mood and Jenson said it can help you to express how you feel. When we find things tough, lifting our eyes up to God can really help us. Rev Ben asked the children to think of a time that it is hard to feel thankful. Iris said that when your Mummy and Daddy say that you can’t have chocolate it is hard to feel thankful. Rev Ben said in those difficult times, to remember that God is always with us. We finished our worship by singing my lighthouse.
Monday Worship: God’s Promise
Last week for our happy tank, we thought about affirmations. Mrs Ham shared Harlow’s affirmation, “You are worth it and are loved”. This week, we learnt about gratitude. We took a few minutes to think about what we are grateful for. Leonora said she was grateful for her life, Eliza said she is grateful for the staff, Ella said she was grateful for her family and Aisha said she is grateful for her hair. Mrs Ham explained how in the bible, God made up to 7000 promises. In Noah’s Ark, God made a promise to not flood the earth again. God’s promise to show this was a rainbow. God promised Mary that she was going to have a baby. God made lots of promises to us all. He said he will love us forever, he will comfort us, he will never leave, he will keep us safe and he will keep his promises. We watched a video that retold the story of Noah’s Ark. God wanted to see kindness. During our reflection, Mrs Ham asked for us all to think about a time when we made a promise and broke it. We had a think about how we felt and what we could do next time. Mrs Ham also asked for us all to think about a time that a promise has been broken and how we felt. We finished our worship by singing Waymaker.
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 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.
Monday Worship: Forgiveness and Friendship
This week, we began our worship with our happy tank. We learnt all about affirmations. An affirmation is when we say a positive thing about ourselves. Our heads and deputies helped Mrs Ham to show what an affirmation was. Our job this week is to think of affirmations to say to make us feel good. Mrs Ham’s affirmation to share was “I am amazing!” The children all joined in with this affirmation. The heads and deputies read lots of affirmations which the children copied to help fill up their happy tanks. Charlotte read an affirmation that said ‘it is ok to make mistakes’. Bobby read out “It is ok to ask for help” and Elsa read the affirmation “I matter in this world”. Today we focussed on our Christian values of friendship and forgiveness. Mrs Ham asked the children if they had ever broken anything. Lots of things can be broken but most of the time they can be fixed. If a book has a rip, Ella suggested that we could use cellotape instead of throwing it away. If a handle falls off a mug, Alfie said that we could use superglue. If we hurt ourselves, Jack suggested that we could use a plaster. Mrs Ham asked the children to think about what we could do to fix a broken friendship. Jesus said if somebody does something mean, you should always forgive them. Jesus told a parable called the unforgiving servant. Our heads and deputies helped Mrs Ham to retell the story. If we do not forgive others, then God will not forgive us. Jesus said that we should forgive people 70 x 7= 490 times! We shouldn’t keep track, we should forgive every time. God always forgives us for big and little things so we need to do the same to each other. For our reflection this week, we are going to have a think about how we can mend a broken friendship and how we can show forgiveness. We finished our worship by singing ‘As one’.
Friday Celebration Worship
We had so much to celebrate this week in our special celebration worship, it was lovely to see so many grown ups attending too. Mr Prescott stepped in this week and announced our attendance winners, well done to Reception and Year 5 classes. After our trials for Sports Hall Athletics we took all 31 children to compete this week. We received amazing feedback that our students were so respectful and represented the school superbly, so well done to you all. Their resilience and determination brought them into second place so we are so proud of you all. Thank you for bringing in your out of school achievements, it is lovely to share your success out of school and see such a wide variety of activities being enjoyed. A huge well done to all of our values winners this week who have demonstrated our Christian and British Values. You are all superstars!
Whole School Worship: Thankfulness
It was wonderful to have our worship led by Rev Ben today. Today, we are going to be thinking about thankfulness. To begin our worship, we played a game of guess the animal. Well done to David, Carter, Ivy, Neve and Aisha for taking part. We are so thankful for God’s wonderful creations which include a frog, monkey, a fish, a panda and a lion. As we guess those wonderful animals, they are all very different. Some are big, some are small, some are colourful, some are loud and some are quiet. However, we are not always good at looking after God’s creation. When we don’t look after God’s creation like we should, he will always forgive us. Rev Ben gave us time to think about what we want to thank God for and we also had a think about how we can show our thankfulness for the amazing world we live in. Archie said he is thankful for us, Alice said she is thankful for all of the trees, Sadie is thankful for food and Carter is thankful for nature. Harlee said we shouldn’t litter, Daniel said we need to switch the lights off and Iris said that we need to care for the animals. Rev Ben led us in prayer and we joined in with a new song called ‘God of Science’. We loved the song! A huge thank you to Rev Ben.
Whole School Worship: Martin Luther King Jr Day
We started our worship with our happy tank and we practised our kindness today. We then thought about what Jesus meant when he said you should love your neighbour as yourself. Elsie said your neighbour means everybody. Mrs Ham read a book ‘Little People, Big Dreams’ all about Martin Luther King Jr. It is important to stand up for what is right and love your neighbour, just like Martin Luther King Jr did. If people like Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks hadn’t stood up for what was right then the world wouldn’t be a nice place to live in. Martin Luther King Jr had a dream that people would judge people on their character rather than their skin colour. We had a think about our character today and how others may describe our character. If we show all of our Christian values then we will have a great character. This week we will focus on treating each other fairly. We will also have a think about how we can help other people to make their lives better and we will focus on showing love and kindness towards each other. Freddie said we could be brave and stand up for what is right, Alfie said we could be respectful, Grace said we could donate items to other people, Jack said we could show friendship and Lyla said we could show courage. We then thought about what our dream for the world would be and we had some wonderful ideas such as no violence, no wars, living in peace. everyone being treated fairly and with kindness etc. We finished our worship by singing ‘Make a difference’.
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.
Planning our class worship for Children’s Mental Health Week
Today we have been looking at how we can plan our very own worship to highlight Children’s Mental Health Week which takes place on 6th-12th February this year. The theme this year is ‘ Let’s Connect’ so we have looked at what we can do as a school community to promote this.
Year 1- Epiphany
On Friday we learnt about Epiphany. It took 12 days for the kings to meet baby Jesus and so the Epiphany is celebrated on the 6th January. Epiphany comes from the Greek word which means ‘making known’. The kings followed a big star which helped to make people know that Jesus had been born. One important thing that the festival of Epiphany reveals is that God doesn’t have favourites but welcomes people from any background and any nationality. Year 1 painted images of the 3 kings on their journey to find baby Jesus.
Monday Worship: Epiphany
Last week we focussed on breathing with the happy tank. This week, we learnt how to reflect. We spent three minutes thinking about something that has happened to us today. Reflection time for ourselves is important and helps us to relax and fill up our happy tanks. On Friday we started our learning about the Epiphany. It took 12 days for the kings to meet baby Jesus and so the Epiphany is celebrated on the 6th January. Epiphany comes from the Greek word which means ‘making known’. The kings followed a big star which helped to make people know that Jesus had been born. One important thing that the festival of Epiphany reveals is that God doesn’t have favourites but welcomes people from any background and any nationality. Mrs Ham read a story from her rhyming Bible all about the kings journey and everyone joined in with actions for the repeated refrain. Thank you to our amazing actors in Year 6. Sadie, Manni, Isaac, Elsie and Carter did a brilliant job. The kings brought gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Gold is a gift fit for a king, Frankincense was given as it is a holy fragrance and Myrrh was given to indicate that Jesus’ death would be important. During our reflection, we thought about our special gifts. This week, we will really focus on how we can share them with others and how we can show respect for other people’s gifts. We finished our worship singing ‘We three kings’.
Whole School Celebration Worship
This morning during whole school celebration worship, we learnt about Epiphany and celebrated our achievements in school this week. It was lovely to hear that some of the children had used the breathing techniques that we learnt on Monday from John, the Kindness Coach's, happy tank programme over the week. Class teachers spoke about our first week back in school and how the children have settled back into our school routine brilliantly. Mrs Ham announced our amazing attendance classes of the week in KS1 and KS2. Well done Reception and Year 4! We then celebrated some fantastic sports stars, both in and outside of school!
Whole School Worship: Happy new year!
It was lovely to have everyone together for our first worship of 2023. Happy new year to everyone! We took a few moments as we lit our advent wreath to think about Jesus and how he came to bring hope, peace, joy and love to the world and how he wanted us live life in all its fullness. A few of our children shared their new year resolutions. Alice said she wants to eat more healthily, Tristen’s is to always have a smile on his face, Sadie is to not talk back to her parents and Kaylen’s is to go outside more. Mrs Ham shared hers which is to be happy. Mrs Ham reminded us all of the kindness coach, John Magee. She introduced us all to the happy tank. We watched a video from John who explained what the happy tank was. One of the elements is to take some time to rest. During this time, we need to focus on our breathing which can help us to find peace. We all focussed together on our breathing for 2 minutes. Beau said that it made her feel calm and Jacob said it made him feel happy. Mrs Ham shared with everybody a happy calendar that we will follow throughout January. We watched a clip from ‘The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse’. At the beginning the fox was very angry but by the end he was happy. He filled up his happy tank by the boy, the mole and the horse showing him kindness. This year we need to really focus on how we can be kind to others and to ourselves. Through that, we also need to think about how we can find happiness and spread it to others. We all said a new year prayer together and ended our worship with the song ‘Shine from the inside out’.
Christmas Service at St Barnabas Church, Lead by KS2
This morning, the whole school came together for our Christmas Service at St Barnabas Church, lead by KS2. Over this term, KS2 classes have been preparing short presentations for the service, about an element of Christmas that they have been focusing on in R.E. In Year 3, the class presented pieces of artwork, focusing on the shepherd's visiting Jesus in the stable and being in the presence of God. Year 4 looked at Christingle's and created a fantastic rap, about the meaning of the Christingle and Jesus being the light of the World. Year 5 spoke about how different countries celebrate Christmas around the World. Finally, Year 6 spoke about Advent and what it means to them. Some children also shared their hopes and dreams for the future. The WOW Group also helped to lead parts of the service and we sang a selection of Christmas Carols as a whole school. Overall, we really enjoyed learning about different elements of Christmas and KS2 presented their learning brilliantly!
Carols by Candlelight
A huge thank you to everyone who came along to the Carols by Candlelight Service. Our choir sang brilliantly and well done to Jenson for his lovely reading. It was wonderful to hear one of previous choir members, Isaac, singing a beautiful solo too. It really does feel like Christmas now.
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!
Whole school worship: Peace during Advent
Last week we lit our hope advent candle. Today, Manni lit our peace advent candle. Katie, Eva and Jenson read out our peace prayer. Jesus was sent to bring peace to the world and he is known as the prince of peace. Today, we watched the new John Lewis Christmas advert. Lucy said that the man tried to learn how to skate to make the foster child feel welcome as the child may have felt a little frightened or worried. At the end, the child smiled as they had something in common and she would have felt at peace. For our reflection this week, we need to think about how we can find peace but also how we can bring peace to others.
Whole School Celebration Worship
During celebration worship, we celebrated all of our achievements in school this week! We announced the values awards winners in every class and the attendance winners for KS1 and KS2! At the end of our worship, the youngest child in school had the special job of putting the star on the top of our tree! We also welcomed Miss Horsfall to our school family. She will be teaching in the Reception class whilst Mrs Govan is on maternity leave. Congratulations to all of our children and staff members, for another fantastic week in school!
Celebration Worship: Sports Stars!
Well done to all of our sports stars this morning! It is lovely to see children across school celebrating their achievements, both in school and outside of school!
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Year 5- Class Worship- A gift that costs nothing
After watching 'The Grinch' Christmas campaign, the children explored the real meaning of Christmas and how being with your family was far more precious than receiving a gift. They then came up with ideas that they could make or do that don't involve spending money. Some of the suggestions were; to make a cup of tea, give your time to someone you love and care for, read a story, make your own decorations, give a hug and have a movie night.
Monday Worship: Advent
Our new vicar Rev Ben joined us for Worship today. We welcomed him into our school family by showing him our huge welcoming smiles. Good things come to those who wait. We are waiting for Christmas and now Advent has started. Advent is a time to prepare. Christians needed to have hope when they waited for Jesus to arrive. During lockdown, we saw lots of rainbows. God kept sending rainbows which gave us hope that there would be better times. During Advent, we need to see children showing kindness, friendship, respect, generosity and all of our Christian and British values. Mrs Ham asked the children what their hope is for the future. Elsa’s hope is to travel to every continent in the world, Sadie’s is to be successful in her job, Ruby’s is for peace and harmony, Grace’s is to get good results, Darcy’s is for peace around the world and Seb’s is to be an engineer. We watched a video about the special hope that was sent to the world: Jesus. We lit our first candle on our Advent wreath and prayed for hope. During our reflection, we thought about how we could turn somebody feeling sad into somebody feeling glad. We had a think about how we can show love and kindness to bring hope to others. We finished our worship by singing ‘may you find peace’.
Celebration Worship
This week we have been learning all about peace and harmony. A huge thank you to Miss Kachwalla for delivering our inter faith workshops all about the religion of Islam. Last night, Mrs Ham went to church to welcome our new vicar, Rev Ben. We will be sharing our vicar with St Paul’s, Hoddlesden and can’t wait to see him at school soon. Today, Sophie and Lola announced our anti-bullying competition winners. There were over 200 entries across the borough and 2 prizes were awarded to our school. 3rd place went to Harlow and Eliza and 2nd place went to Wilson. A huge well done! We have had yet another busy week in school. Well done to our values points award winners: Renee, Archie, Miley, Eden, Hamza, Archie and Darci. Our overall house winner for this week is River Darwen, well done! Our amazing attendance winners for this week are Year 2 and Year 4! We celebrated our super dodgeball team and girls football team who played on Wednesday and Thursday night. We also celebrated individual achievements for swimming, football, Rainbows, dancing and kickboxing. Well done to Leonora, Isaac, Eliza, Sofia, Carmen, Noah, Annabel, Cassidy, Ted and Mason. We finished our worship by singing the song of peace.
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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.
Induction of Rev Ben Marsden
This evening Mrs Ham and Mrs Frankish, our Chair of Governors, attended a very special induction service led by Bishop Philip in our church for our new vicar, Rev Ben Marsden. Mrs Ham welcomed him into our school family along with Mr Dugdale, the Headteacher from Hoddlesden St Paul’s and Mrs Hartley from Ashleigh. We are really looking forward to working with Rev Ben and inviting him into our school to join us in our Worships and school events. We know that he will fit right into our school family and we are sure that you will make him and his wife Sarah and their children Naomi and Lydia, feel very welcomed.
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.
Monday Worship: Inter Faith Week
This week we are going to be thinking about how we can bring peace to the world. This links to our British Value of tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. Mrs Ham asked the children which biscuit, superhero and toy they preferred. Mrs Ham explained even if you like different things, you can still be friends and we can tolerate each other. Mrs Ham explained how we are all different which is called diversity. We all watched a film where some characters were unkind. The birds treated the other bird differently because he looked and sounded different. They were not showing tolerance. Peace begins with tolerance and respect for everyone. This week we will be also be showing our Christian value of respect to learn all about Islam as part of Inter Faith week. Our very own Miss Kachwalla will be sharing her faith with all of the children in school. This week we are really going to focus on how we can show tolerance and acceptance to everyone. We finished our worship by singing One World.
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.
Sports stars and competition winners
A huge well done to our winners of the Remembrance Day Art competition. There were so many fantastic entries which made judging so difficult for Mrs Govan and Mrs Ham. Well done to Isaac, Miley, Lucy and Lyla. Thank you to FOSB for providing some wonderful prizes and presenting them to the winners. We had lots of sports superstars this week from in school competitions and out of school. A huge well done to the girls football team for two wins and a draw in their first games of the league. A massive well done to our boys football team who won their heat in the EFL competition at Blackburn Rovers on Monday and are through to the final. We are so proud of our year 4 dodgeball team who represented our school so brilliantly at the dodgeball festival on Wednesday. We had lots of different out of school awards for swimming, Morris dancing, self defence, football and brownies.
Odd Socks Day at St Barnabas
What a great way to spread the message that we are all unique and can show kindness wherever we go. A huge THANK YOU to our Well-being Warriors who managed to visit every class in school to see all of the weird and wonderful efforts. Another thank you must go to all of the children who entered the BwD Anti- Bullying Week Poster competition. Any successful entrants will be announced on Friday so fingers crossed Team B will have some children put forward.
Monday Worship: Anti-Bullying Week
Today is the start of anti-bullying week. We have all worn our odd socks to show that we are all special and unique. Yesterday was world kindness day. The children said that every day should be world kindness day! We listened to Andy Day about odd socks day. The theme for anti-bullying week is reach out which means talk to somebody about bullying to say it is not ok. During anti-bullying week, we will focus on the Christian values of friendship, respect, courage and forgiveness. We will also focus on the British Values of mutual respect, individual liberty and tolerance. Bullying is when somebody does something mean and they keep doing it again and again. James said the victim would feel “really sad and emotional”. Mrs Ham explained the acronym STOP. If someone does something Several Times On Purpose then it is bullying and we should Speak To Other People. We played a game where the children had to put their thumbs up if they thought the action was bullying and thumbs down if they thought if wasn’t. Mrs Ham asked what would happen if they saw bullying taking place. James said he would tell them to stop, Eli said tell the teacher. It takes courage to do something about bullying. During our reflection we thought about how we are all different and how we need to treat each other with respect. We finished our worship by listening to Andy and the odd socks song.
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.
Remembrance Service in Whitehall Cemetery
Our Year 6 Heads and Deputies along with some of our WOW (Worship Our Way) group attended the special service of Remembrance on Armistice Day at Whitehall Cemetery. They laid a special wreath and poppy from St Barnabas and also placed poppies and crosses on our special adopted war graves. We will remember them.
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 6’s visit to our adopted war graves.
Year 6 today visited our school’s adopted war graves to give them a tidy up in preparation for a special service at Darwen Cemetery on Remembrance Day this Friday.
Invitation to Celebration Worships
Good morning, a quick reminder that parents, carers and grandparents are always very welcome to attend our Celebration Worships on Fridays at 9.15am. Potential parents of children who are due to start school in September are very welcome too. Refreshments will be served from 8.55am too. Parents of children who have received the most values points each week will be invited to attend via class dojo but other parents, carers and grandparents are very welcome to attend to hear about the great things we have been learning, attendance winners and sports stars etc. If your child has an award from an out of school club, please send it into school so they can receive their award on the golden podium and our whole school family can show them how proud we are. We look forward to welcoming you into school. Yours Sincerely, Mrs Ham
Celebration Worship
This morning we had our whole school celebration worship. We celebrated all of the fantastic work that the children at St Barnabas had completed and announced our KS1 and KS2 attendance winners! Well done Year 2 and Year 5! Each class teacher presented the values award to a pupil in the class who had achieved the most values points this week. We also had some super sports achievements! Finally, Mrs Ham thanked all of the children who had entered the remembrance art competition and the heads and deputy’s spoke to the school about the remembrance shop and how we can support the poppy appeal this year.
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!
Year 6 Class Worship- NSPCC
Today, year 6 joined in with a NSPCC virtual worship. The theme was all about speaking out if we ever have any worries and the amazing resource available to the children in ‘childline’.
Monday Worship: All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints' Day and All Souls’ Day
Today is All Hallows Eve. We noticed that the word 'hallow' was in the Lord's Prayer that we sang on the way into Worship. It means Holy. Tomorrow, it is All Saints day which is a Christian celebration. A Saint is somebody who is really special and has done something really wonderful. Leonora said a Saint is somebody who follows God and Jesus’ example. On Wednesday it is All Soul’s Day and we remember everybody who has passed away. We watched a video about the origin of Halloween and All Hallow’s Eve. It was celebrated thousands of years ago by the Celts. Christians then celebrated it and honoured all of the Saints. Mrs Ham asked the children about the names of different Saints. Ella said Saint Barnabas, Matthew said Saint Paul, Miles said Saint James, Jack said Saint George, Charlie-Rose said Saint Joseph and Sofia said Saint Edward. The children noticed that Saints have halos around their heads. Mrs Ham shared some images of different Saints and which country they were the patron saint of. During our reflection, we thought about what we could do to follow Jesus, live our lives well and be Saints ourselves. We thought about what kind of person we really want to be. We ended our worship by singing ‘Oh when the Saints, go marching in’.
Whole school Harvest service in Church
This morning our WOW group, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children led our Harvest service in church. Our wonderful choir led the singing during the service. We gave thanks to the farmers and our WOW group reminded everybody about the charities that we are supporting, The Mother’s Union in Burundi and DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise). The children made us all very proud. A huge thank you to all of the parents, carers and family members that attended too, it was lovely to see you all.
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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)
Monday Worship: Blackburn Diocese Harvest Appeal 2022
During the start of our worship, we discussed what literacy and numeracy meant. We then discussed if any jobs do not require us to read and write. It was really interesting which jobs the children thought didn’t require you to read and write but Mrs Ham proved the children wrong! All jobs require you to read and write. Reading is like a key. If you can’t read, you can’t unlock all of those possibilities. You wouldn’t be able to be a teacher, cook, builder etc. We discussed the British Value of individual liberty. We all have rights. We have the right to education and it is free. This year, the Bishop of Blackburn’s Harvest appeal is supporting the Mother’s Union. The Mother’s union is a Christian charity but it shows the British value of tolerance of all faiths and helps everybody. Mrs Ham showed the children 4 tools and the children explained what each tool does. Mrs Ham explained that in some countries, they do not have the tools to do things that we take for granted: our reading and writing. The Mother’s Union helps people in Burundi which is one of the poorest places in the entire world. In Burundi, families live on £1.50 per day. Our Wow group have set us a challenge to raise £1.50 each to help to support families in Burundi. Wow group explained that we can do chores to help raise the money. Monies can then be paid on parent pay. We can also collect tins and cans for Dare. Mrs Ham has also asked if we can write prayers for families in Burundi. This week, we need to think about how we can help other people and help to make a difference. Our choir group led our song at the end ‘The Harvest of Love’.
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
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The Bishop of Blackburn's Harvest Appeal- Burundi Harvest Challenge
This morning in worship, the WOW group launched our Harvest appeal challenge. We are asking for donations of £1.50 from parents in exchange for the children completing 3 helpful challenges at home. Each challenge is worth 50p. The challenges can be any of those mentioned in the poster, or any that you and your child decide at home. Donations will go to the Bishop of Blackburn's Harvest Appeal and this year they are supporting the Christian charity, Mothers' Union, to support the delivery of literacy and numeracy programs to women in Burundi so that they can help earn money to support their families. Donations will be collected by next Thursday 20th October on Parent pay. We are also collecting tins and packets for our local Darwen Refugee and Asylum Enterprise (DARE) to support refugees who have had to flee their homes due to conflict. Please send any donations into school next week. Parents and carers are welcome to join us at our Harvest Festival next Thursday 20th October at 9.30am at St Barnabas church. Our WOW group, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes will be leading the service and the rest of the school will be joining in with songs and prayers.
Monday Worship: Hello Yellow Day
Wow, what an uplifting worship we had. We began our worship with our trinity. Mrs Ham then called upon her minions to help her with today’s special worship. We began by dancing along to ‘Happy’. The roof blew off with all of the fabulous singing and dancing. The minions started by asking the children to show different feelings, for example, tired, happy, sad and loved. The minions explained how you are not alone with your mental health and it is important to talk to somebody. The minions explained that Young Minds is a great campaign about opening up about your mental health. The children watched a video about mental health. It explained how we all have feelings that come and go every day. If feelings become too big then it is important to talk to somebody about them. The minions shared some morning affirmations that we can use. If you say an affirmation, it can make you feel happy, brave, confident, strong and determined. The children said affirmations together such as ‘today is going to be a great day’, ‘I am kind’ and ‘I matter in this world’. The minions explained that you can donate to Young Minds which helps provide a service to help young people with their mental health. The minions have created a competition to design your own emoji. The winning emoji will receive a special hamper prize! This week, we will also have a hello yellow hunt on the MUGA every lunchtime. We finished our worship by singing ‘build up’. A huge thank you to our minions- our head boy, head girl, deputy head boy and deputy head girl.
Celebration Worship
Wow what a jam-packed celebration worship we had this morning - our children have certainly be living life in all its fullness this week! We started by sharing smiles with each other in aid of World Smile Day - Mother Theresa taught us that ‘peace starts with a smile’, so let’s smile at one another and continue spread joy and kindness around our school. There have been so many achievements across school this week! We say a big well done to this weeks value point winners Albie, Bluebelle, Alice, Lola, Bobby, Lucy And Eliza who continue to demonstrate our Christian values throughout school. River Darwen are our Value point champions this week. Keep it up! And what fantastic Sports stars we have in our school - well done to Charlie, Miles, Annabel, Penelope, Leonora, Isabella & Charlie, Eliza, James and Lyla. Congratulations to our DPSSA football team for their 10-2 victory against St James, what a result! Well done Rosie for your super reading too. Year 2 and Year 5 are our attendance winners this week - let’s keep up that fantastic attendance to school. We also shared our Remembrance Day art competition with the school and look forward to seeing some fantastic entries for the chance to win a prize hamper. It was lovely to have Lillian back in school with us to finish with a blessing and a prayer. Thank you. What another tremendous week!
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.
Year 3 Class Worship: Pebble Prayers
This week, the WOW Group provided the class with a new idea for how to pray. In class worship, we focused on Pebble Prayers. Some of the children took turns to come to our class prayer area and complete a Pebble Prayer. The children held a pebble in their hand, whilst saying their prayer and putting the pebble into the water. Thank you to the WOW group for this lovely idea for how to pray!
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.
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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.
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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.
Monday Worship- Jesus taught us to be kind to everyone
It was lovely to see Reception join us for their first Monday Worship. This morning we looked at two stories that Jesus told. Elsa told us that these stories are called parables. The first parable we listened to was ‘The Good Samaritan’. We discussed how the Samaritan was the loving, kind neighbour. Harry said that your neighbour is everybody. We should be kind to everyone, no matter if they like different things, follow a different religion or look different to us. Next we listened to the parable, ‘The Lost Sheep’. We learnt that we need to care about each other. God loves everybody no matter what. Reception class told Mrs Ham that we are all unique and we should celebrate this. During our reflection, Mrs Ham asked us to think about how we can show kindness all of the time. We finished our worship singing ‘when I needed a neighbour’.
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.
Year 2 - Class worship
Year 2 - Class worship. We prayed for all the royal family and discussed the new king. We talked about how we would make the world a better place if we were in that position.
Year 3 RE: Harvest
In RE, our topic this term in Year 3 focuses on the festival of Harvest. This week, we started by thinking about some key questions, such as ‘Why do we celebrate Harvest?’ and ‘Who are we actually giving thanks for?’. Following on from this, we then looked at how Harvest is explored and mentioned in The Bible.
Anti-Smoking and Vaping- Whole School Assembly
This morning, we had a visitor from public health Blackburn and Darwen. The children were asked a series of questions related to keeping ourselves healthy. All the children got involved and asked lots of questions and listened attentively. We all learnt that a recent study which was carried out in Blackburn and Darwen that shops were selling illegal vaping and illegal cigarettes. These drugs can be very harmful, they can cause heart disease, lung disease, cancer, hearing loss, dental problems and it can kill us. The children ended the assembly by singing "We can all make a difference in this world of ours". So, no to smoking and vaping!
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.
Amazing Awards in Celebration Worship
We celebrated our sports and reading stars this week in ourn Celebration Worship. We had awards for a number of out of school sports such as rugby, highland games, swimming, dancing and horse riding. It was lovely to see so many children pushing themselves out of their comfort zone to achieve great things and encourage others. What little superstars! We also had our amazing attendance winners for the week and they were Year 1 and Year 4!
Year 2 - Sending prayers for the Queen
Year 2 putting their prayers for the Queen outside the school gates to celebrate her life.
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.
Collective Worship- Launching Our 30 Day Kindness Matters Challenge
This morning, Mrs Ham started our worship by lighting a special candle to remember Her Majesty who sadly died on Thursday after serving our country for 70 years and to think about and pray for our new King Prince Charles III. We also started off our worship by singing the song ‘Kindness’ by Fischy Music to start off our theme of Kindness. Mrs Ham told us that to kickstart our new academic year, we will be taking part in the Kindness 30 day challenge just as we did last year. We discussed why being kind is so important because it can make people feel loved. It is also contagious and can create a ripple effect. We listened to John the Kindness Coach who introduced the 30 day challenge to us and day one of the challenge which is, ‘Don’t say mean words or perform mean gestures to others.’ We then watched a video and talked about the acts of kindness that we could see. Ella-Grace said she saw the man sharing his money so that the little girl could go to school, Harry said he helped the plants to grow by watering them, Carter said he fed the hungry dog and Seb said that he helped the lady with her very heavy cart. Mrs Ham asked us what the effect of this man’s kindness was and we said that people felt loved, valued and special and this is exactly why we should all be kind. We then listened to a story called ‘Kindness Grows’ which shared a special message about friendship and looked at our new display in the library which supports the message that we are all one huge family and need to love and support one another through kindness. Finally, Mrs Ham asked us to reflect on what we can do this week and every week moving forward to create that ripple effect of kindness to make our school an amazing place to be and we sang ‘Rich in Kindness.’ It was also lovely to have Lillian back in worship with us to give us all a blessing.
Celebration Worship- Celebrating the life of Queen Elizabeth II
This morning in worship, we celebrated the life of our longest service monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. We held a special two minutes silence and looked at some photographs of Queen Elizabeth II throughout her reign as Queen. We watched a special edition of Newsround that told us all about the Queen's life. We also looked at a lovely picture of several rainbows that were sent by God yesterday on the day of her death. We recognised this as a sign of her now being at peace with her late husband Phillip in heaven. We thought about the Christian value of service and how our Queen has served our country and the commonwealth for over seven decades which included her carrying out her state and national duties well into her 90s. We discussed how we can take inspiration from Queen Elizabeth II as she lived life in all its fullness just as our school vision encourages all of us at St Barnabas to do so. We then sang the national anthem. The first verse we honoured Queen Elizabeth II in heaven by singing ‘Queen’ and for the second verse, we sang it with ‘King’ to commemorate the new King, King Charles III. We ended our worship with some beautiful prayers from Sofia, Mason, Harlow and Seb who prayed for Queen Elizabeth II in heaven, King Charles III and the people of Ukraine. We also joined the choir in singing the song ‘Sing’ which was created by Gary Barlow to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
Year 2 Class Worship- Inclusivity
Year 2 focused on inclusivity in their class worship this morning. They looked at the new range of Barbie and Ken dolls that are now available to buy in shops. This included the first Ken doll with vitiligo, and a Barbie doll with a prosthetic limb and another with a wheelchair. They also look at the new Barbie doll that Strictly Come Dancing star Rose Ayling-Ellis has also unveiled with a hearing aid. Year 2 talked about how this is wonderful and helps children from different backgrounds and with different disabilities feel included. They ended the worship by singing ‘We Can Make a Difference’ and by saying some beautiful prayers.
Celebration Worship- Fridays at 9.15am
Dear Parents and Carers, you are very welcome to join us for our Celebration Worship each Friday at 9.15am. Refreshments will be served in the hall from 8.45am. This week class teachers will be sharing how well the children have settled into their new classes. From next Friday we will be presenting awards to the child who receives the most Values Points in each class and there will also be class attendance awards. Parents will be contacted on the Wednesday evening and invited to Celebration Worship on Friday. Please send in any awards from home such as sporting clubs, library challenges etc and we will present them to the children and they can stand on the golden podium whilst our school family shows them how proud we are of them. Please note that the Reception class will not be joining us this Friday or next Friday as they are being settled into big school.
Year 6 Class Worship
Year 6 class worship on celebrating differences and how toys can be an amazing tool in order to achieve this.
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.....
Year 3: Prayers of Hope
Today in R.E, Year 3 thought about some of their aspirations and hopes for the new academic year. Each child wrote their own prayer of hope to add to our prayer tree, in the worship area.
Our First Whole School Worship- Celebrating 50 Years of St Barnabas
This morning, Years 1-6 gathered together for our first whole school worship of the new academic year and it was wonderful to have all of our children back together again looking smart in their school uniforms. Mrs Ham told us all that our current school building was 50 years old yesterday and this week we will be taking part in some activities to celebrate this. Please click to read more.....
Year 6 Leavers Service
Thank you so much to the Year 6 parents and carers who joined us in church this morning for our Year 6 leavers service. Here is the memories video that I put together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoYNb7KAtck What an emotional day! Here are a few videos of our Year 6 celebrations. For all of the photos of the Leavers Services please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-6-leavers-service
Celebration Worship and End of Year Awards
Wow, what a celebration worship! We started off by saying a huge well done to The RotaKids for their fundraising efforts this year. Together with Miss Kachwalla and Mrs Lyons, they have raised an amazing £939.00. With this money, they have bought playground equipment for KS1 and KS2, board games for wet playtimes and donated money to Macmillan Cancer support, Christian Aid and East Lancs Hospice. We then had heard from our Reception to Year 5 teachers who presented their end of year awards for progress, star of the year and pupils’ pupil. A huge well done to all of these children, you have certainly worked extremely hard this year and deserve all the success that you have achieved. A special well done to Sophie in Year 4 for being awarded the Sharon Kay cup for Kindness. What an achievement! We then celebrated and said well done to our children who have achieved success out of school this week. We congratulated Freddie for winning a football tournament, Lyla-Grace who will be starting reception next year for her super tap dancing, Isaac for success at beavers, Lola who received a letter from the queen to say thank you for her jubilee celebration card, Lola, Scarlett, Penelope and Carmen for their swimming success, Eliza for her football and cricket success, Grace for her dance success, Archie for players’ player for football and his darts success and Amelia for her gymnastics success. We also said a huge well done to children who have achieved awards in school. We congratulated our Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 children who attended Witton athletics on Monday evening for wonderful sportsmanship, encouragement and coming 1st place, our Year 3 swimmers for their efforts this year during their swimming lessons and the Year 6 children said a very special thank you to Mrs Gardner for all of her time, continued effort and sports coaching during their time at St Barnabas. They brought her close to tears. Finally, we ended our worship with some beautiful prayers and a blessing from Lillian.
Class Worship- Year 5
During our class worship, the children have watched the resignation speech delivered by our current Prime Minister. We discussed about his feelings and why he felt it was the right time to step down from his role. Some of the children were quite sad watching the speech because they felt that everyone makes mistakes and Mr Johnson commented about this being the best job ever. However, some children felt that it was really important to stick to the rules that you make and maybe it was time for him to step down.
Monday worship: Hope
Today in our sunny outdoor Monday worship, we looked at the word ‘hope’. Mrs Ham read out a bible passage about hope. During these next few weeks, we will be thinking about our Year 6 and we hope they will continue to shine when they move to high school. We discussed our hopes. Lyla said that she hopes she can go in her paddling pool, Harry hopes that everyone has a roof over their heads, Dominic said he hopes that COVID stops and Aidan hopes to be a doctor. Mrs Ham shared a piece of artwork by Banksy that says ‘there is always hope’. Some children agreed with this but some children didn’t. Ella said “things don’t always go your way”. Instead of just saying ‘I hope’, we could do something to make things happen. We could also ask God for help if we ever think there is no hope. We ended our worship by singing ‘we need hope’.
Year 2 St Barnabas Church Visit
Year 2 have had a lovely afternoon visiting Lillian and Glenda at St Barnabas Church! Lillian spoke to the children about the different things that happen in a Church and the different things that you will find in a Church, like the altar, font and lectern. We then created our own crosses and created our own class family of people. The children also managed to have a quick play on the organ!
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning in celebration worship, we heard from our Infant and Junior teachers about how all of our wonderful children have been living life in all its fullness and preparing to move up to their new year groups in September. We also heard about the amazing time that our Reception and Year 2 children had on their trip to Blackpool Tower and Blackpool Zoo and our Year 6 children on their recent trip to London. Well done to these year groups for making the most of the experiences and representing St Barnabas amazingly well. We heard from some of the children in Year 6 who shared their London highlights. Dominic enjoyed the absolutely incredible acting during the Matilda performance, Noah enjoyed the boat cruise and learning about all of the famous landmarks and Sienna enjoyed singing the national anthem outside Buckingham Palace. We then congratulated many of our children for their sporting achievements. In the infants, we celebrated James, Lottie and Grace with certificates for their swimming success, Martha for being the star of the week at gymnastics, Alice for super listening and concentration at Rainbows and Eliza for taking part in the Bolton Iron Kids 1K run last weekend and gaining 9th place. In the Juniors, we celebrated Ted on for his sports success at Turton young farmers and our Year 6 Bee Stinger Netball Team who represented Blackburn with Darwen at Lancashire School Games on Tuesday. Mrs Gardner commented that the team embraced the experience and had a blast. Finally, we ended with some beautiful prayers from Mason, Seb and Lily and a blessing from Lillian. Also, just a reminder that it is our St Barnabas Summer Fair. FOSB have been working incredibly hard to make this a success and they look forward to welcoming you all tomorrow for a fun filled day on the school field.
Year 2 R.E: Jacob's Dream
This term in R.E, we have been exploring The Church and why it is a special place for Christians. We starting by thinking about our own special places and how we feel, when we are in our special place. This week, we looked at how holy and special places are represented in The Bible, with the story of Jacob's Dream. We read the story together and discussed the key messages, such as how in Jacob's Dream, he found his special place, talking to God and dreaming about heaven. The children then created their own artwork, representing Jacob's special place.
Year 3 Class Worship - Love one another
Year 3 have been learning about the Ten Commandments and that Jesus said that if we love one another as he has loved us then we would automatically keep the Ten Commandments. The children wrote some prayers and ended worship by singing “If I needed a neighbour”.
Year 4- The Big Debate
Today we took part in ‘The Big Debate’ where we looked at the question - Should mothers stay at home and look after their children? We looked at points for why some children agree and some children disagree. The children were very mature in their reasoning, but we had the majority of the class adding that mothers should have a choice about being a stay at home mum.
Monday Worship: The Lord’s Prayer
Today we discussed where the Lord’s Prayer came from. It is a special prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. We discussed how we will hear this throughout our lives. To start our worship, we said the Lord’s Prayer altogether. We then discussed what this prayer meant in more detail. We discussed what having the best Daddy in the world would be like. David said “funny”, Mathew said “helpful”, Dominic said “cool”, Jacob said “playful”, Kaylen said “someone who listens” and Elsie said “brave”. Mrs Ham continued and said someone who is strong, patient, gentle and dependable. Everyone in the whole world has a special Dad in heaven. God is there to support you, help you and will always listen to you. Today we watched a video called ‘The Prodigal son’. We learnt that one son spent the money on nice clothes, a holiday, parties and nice food. After he has spent all of his money, he had to go back to his dad. He felt miserable, full of regret and embarrassed. Instead of his Dad punishing him, he welcomed him back with open arms. His Dad forgave him for his actions. Mrs Ham explained that in the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for forgiveness when we do things wrong. God will always forgive us as long as we ask for forgiveness and learn from our mistakes. We reflected today on how sometimes we use God’s name inappropriately. We need to think carefully about how we use those words as they are very special and very holy. We then watched a video of the parable of the mustard seed. We discussed what we think about heaven. Grace said “dreamy”, Lily said “calm”, David said “fluffy clouds”, Ella said “peaceful” and Seb said “comfortable”. The mustard seed grew into a big bush and all of the birds were welcome to come to it. This is just like heaven where everybody is welcome. Small things can make a huge difference. This links with our kindness tree, small acts of kindness can make a huge difference and our school can reflect heaven on earth. This week we will focus on how we can live life in all its fullness just like God would want us to. We ended our worship by singing ‘The Mustard Seed’.
Celebration Worship
This morning in celebration worship, we heard from our EYFS, KS1 and KS2 teachers about how we have been living life in all its fullness. All of our teachers mentioned how all of the children showed wonderful resilience and encouragement at our sports day last week. We then celebrated some sports achievements that have been happening in school. On Tuesday, we had three of our Year 5 children take part in a gymnastics competition at St Bedes and on Thursday, we had some boys attend the Year 4 Football Festival at Green Lane. Both teams represented school amazing well and showed true St Barnabas spirit. Then we celebrated some out of school sports awards. In the infants, we awarded Lyla in with a certificate for swimming 15m without armbands, Elliott for player of the week at football, Alexis for super listening at Rainbows, Eliza for achieving brilliance in her horse grooming, Annabelle for improving her speed in cycling and Eden for attending the Jubilee Sports Day in the Lake District. In the the Juniors, we celebrated Archie, Ross and Charlie for their footballing abilities . They played at a tournament in Blackburn and got to the finals for Mill Hill Juniors. They didn’t come first but they got the fair play award which is absolutely amazing- Well done boys! We also congratulated Manni for achieving a yellow belt in jiu jitsu. Finally, Lillian ended our worship. She asked us what we were thankful for and we said thank you for our teachers and school staff, our houses, our amazing world, our school, our trees, everyone that is alive, churches, our families, our food and drink, our toys and teddies. We also said a beautiful blessing, ‘May God bless you and keep you.’
Whole School Singing Worship led by St Barnabas Choir!
Well done to our school choir for planning and leading our whole school singing worship this morning! During choir club on Monday, the children decided on their favourite worship songs and we voted on 5 songs to sing in worship today! The school particularly enjoyed singing My Lighthouse and School Rules!
Darwen Library- Summer Reading Challenge 2022
This morning, Angela who works at Darwen library visited school to invite us all to participate in ‘The Summer Reading Challenge 2022.’ The challenge is free of charge and involves children reading 6 library books between 1st July and 30th September, including picture books and audio books. There are various prizes awarded for each book that is read and returned, and those who complete the challenge will receive a certificate and a medal. If your child completes the challenge, we would love for them to be bring these into school so that we can present them during whole school celebration worship. Anglea told us that there is something for everyone at the library. However, if there is a specific book that the children are looking for but they don’t have it, it’s her promise that they will get it for them on request. If your child does not yet have a library card, the library can quickly and easily enrol them as a library member for free and no ID is required. Children without library cards may still join the Summer Reading Challenge, please enquire at Darwen Library about this. We hope that as many of our children as possible will take on the challenge. Happy reading!
Year 1 - Refugee Week
In Year 1, we watched an animation called ‘Make them Feel at Home.’ This video told a story about a young refugee named Santa and a toy dinosaur named Dino and their difficult journey to find safety in the UK. The video helped us to understand how difficult and nerve-racking it must be for refugees having to leave their home and move to a new place that is unfamiliar to them. We reflected on this video and thought about ways in which we can help to make refugees feel at home, and we also thought of some beautiful prayers.
Monday Worship
Today we learned that we are going to be sharing a vicar with St Paul’s Primary School. We found out all about Saint Paul. Saint Paul was not a very nice man and as a result, he was blind for 3 days. After this time, he spent the rest of his life finding out about God and telling everybody about Jesus. St Paul found Saint Barnabas, the encourager. He encouraged people to like Saint Paul and they went out together to spread the word of God. Saint Paul changed and became a better person. Everybody can change and can do the right thing. Leonora said “we can forgive them”, Ella-Grace said “we can include them” and Jack said “we could share with them”. At our school, we are all encouragers. This week it is national sports week and the theme is belonging. We can all encourage each other and we can all help each other to feel a part of our school family. By doing this we can live out our vision by learning and growing together in a love-filled Christian family. Mason said “we can support each other”, Aisha said “we can give them a thumbs up” and Grace said “we can cheer and encourage everybody”. This week we are going to think about how we can build each other up and how we can be like Saint Barnabas the encourager. We finished our worship by singing ‘Build up’.
Friday Celebration Worship
This week in celebration worship, we heard from our class teachers about how we have been living life in all its fullness. We also congratulated our Year 1 children on completing their phonics screening check and our Year 4 children on completing their times table check with nothing other than courage and determination. We then celebrated all things sports. We celebrated a huge variety of out of school individual award successes. Well to done to Lennox, Albert, Lola, Sofia and Charlie for their swimming successes, Jack for trying new foods at Butterflies after school club, Eliza for her duathlon and football, Elliott for his football, Isaac for his biking, Harry for his goal keeping and Mathew for playing football against various academies. We also celebrated the success that we’ve been having with our sports achievements in school and there has been a lot! Well done to our High 5s netball team who will be representing BwD borough in the Lancashire School Games in July, Our DPSSA netball silver medalists after their success last night at DVHS, our DPSSA cross country team who have recently completed three very gruelling courses over the past few months and were presented with both individual and group medals as well as coming 2nd overall as a team, our Year 3/4 Quad kids team who came 3rd place out of 14 schools, our Year 6 orienteering team who came 5th out of 14 schools and our gifted and talented netball players who took part in a session at BRFC on Monday. Wow, Team B are unstoppable! Finally, we needed our worship with some lovely prayers and a sing along.
Year 3 Class Worship - Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit
In Class Worship, Year 3 watched the story of Pentecost and wrote prayers to the Holy Spirit. They ended their worship by singing “Way Maker”.
Class Worship- Year 5
During our class worship, we looked at the term 'referee'. The children shared experiences that they have had previously with referees in school and out of school. We looked at the job of a referee and how important the role of a referee is. We also discussed that we may not always agree with decisions made by the referees but without them, some games could not be played. It is important to always show respect to sports officials involved in the games we play.
The Queens Platinum Jubilee Celebration - The Royal Variety Performance
What a fantastic morning we have had watching our ‘Royal Variety Performance’ . The 20 talented acts showcased a wealth of talents. Even the Mayor and Mayoress of Blackburn with Darwen said it was a spectacular event and St Barnabas should be very humbled and proud to be part of such a lovely school family with many, many talents. What a way to show our thanks to her Majesty the Queen for her service to our country over the last 70 years!
Year 3 Class Worship - Ascension Day
Year 3 watched a video clip of the story of Jesus’ Ascension into heaven when he returned to his Father. The children wrote some prayers and they ended the worship by singing “Shine”.
The Queen's Platinum Jubilee- Class Worship- Year 5
During our class worship, the children looked at this week's picture news. We explored the Queen's jubilee in great detail and shared prior knowledge. We read through the assembly resource and talked about the length of time 70 years is. We explored the terms 'responsibility' and 'duties' and discussed the duties young children and adults might have to what the Queen has. We then created a 70 piece jigsaw to celebrate the upcoming event. Every piece has fascinating facts about the Queen.
Whole School Worship - The Queen and Service
Today, we came together to think about service and how the Queen has served her people and God over the past 70 years. We learned about how our country has changed over this time and how much the Queen has sacrificed to support people, charities and communities all over the world.
Celebration Worship
This morning we had lots to celebrate in our Worship. Year 4 and 5 received their certificates for their courage and commitment at PGL. We had plenty of sports stars with our high fives netball team storming through to the finals next week and we had plenty of personal achievements with super swimmers in the infants, cycling awards, gymnastics, Morris dancing and athletics. We also announced the 6 winners of the Darwen Rotary Club competition for the Queen’s Jubilee - a big well done to Alice, Summer, Ella, Wilson, Isaac and Eva for their entries and a big well done to everyone who entered. We will keep you updated with any further developments in the competition and the date for when the winning entries will be displayed in Darwen.
Year 3 Class Worship - Christian Aid Week
Year 3 watched the story of “The Good Samaritan” and thought about who their neighbour is. Everyone is our neighbour, no matter what their creed, race, colour or gender is. They listened to the words of the hymn “When I needed a neighbour”, wrote some prayers and ended the worship by singing “Chain of Love”. We can all do something to help a neighbour.
Year 1 Class Worship- Christian Aid Week and The Good Samaritan
Today in class worship, Year 1 listened to the story of ‘The Good Samaritan.’ We learnt that Jesus told this story to help us know how to be good friends to people in need which is particularly fitting this week during Christian Aid Week. After the story, we reflected on ways in which we can be a Good Samaritan. The children suggested donating their old clothes, toys and books to children in need or selling these and donating the money to charities such as Christian Aid and saying prayers for people in need around the world. They also suggested giving each other hugs, smiles, a helping hand, compliments and sharing their equipment with each other. To end our worship we had some beautiful prayers where we asked God to help us to be a Good Samaritan and to pray for people around the world with unclean water and no shelter. We also sang, ‘We Can Make a Difference’.
Collective Worship- Christian Aid Week and Courageous Advocacy
This morning in worship, we introduced Christian Aid week. First we discussed the phrase, ‘Your Kingdom Come.’ Mrs Ham asked us to imagine what heaven was like. We said that we imagine it as peaceful and calm and when we use the phase, ‘Your Kingdom Come,’ this phrase means that God would like our world on earth to represent heaven where the world is fair and at peace. Then Mrs Ham discussed the term ‘Courageous advocacy’ with us all which is the act of speaking out against injustice (wrongdoing) and then we watched and listened carefully to a video to see some of the injustice that is happening in the world. The children shared what they saw. Lily saw a sea turtle trapped in a fishing net, Skye said that there were people who were hungry, Jack said there were people without clothes, Harlee and Manni said they noticed people who were extremely thirsty, James said that he saw a man who didn’t have much furniture in his house and Lucy said there were people living in unclean places. Mrs Ham asked us what Jesus would like us to about this injustice. Desmond said we should try to be like Jesus and love our neighbour. Mrs Ham agreed and discussed how we all need to be a courageous advocate and love our neighbours as Jesus did. We then looked at some inspirational people who were courageous advocates and spoke out for those who didn’t/don’t have a voice such as Martin Luther King, Gandhi, David Attenborough and Marcus Rashford. We also recognised some children in school who have recently stood up for something that they believe in. These courageous advocates were Neve, Lily, William and Charlotte who recently promoted initiatives to raise money for Ukraine and East Lancs Hospice. Lastly, we ended our worship with a video called ‘Starfish’ which summed up the message that small things can make a huge difference and Mrs Ham asked us to reflect on small things that we can do in the next week and beyond to help to make a difference such as donating to the local food or clothes bank and reusing and recycling plastic.
EYFS and KS1 Mental Health Workshop
This morning, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 had the pleasure of welcoming Erika and Pete from the Lily Jo project for a fun and energetic workshop focusing on our mental health and wellbeing. Erika talked about our three types of health. The first which was our physical health, the second which was our spiritual self and the third which was our mental health. Erika told us that today we would be focusing on our mental health. She explained that our mental health is our our thoughts, feelings and emotions and it is our responsibility to look after it. However, sometimes we struggle with this like being on a rollercoaster. Sometimes we are on the top of the rollercoaster feeling amazing, somewhere in the middle or on the bottom of the rollercoaster feeling down and blue. After this, we learnt how to become a hero of our mental health. We learnt all of the tricks and tips for this. They were: 1) Helping others. We shared ideas such as sharing your toys, giving people a hug, helping at home with the dishes, asking your teacher if they need help and standing up for something that is wrong. 2) Exercising such as taking part in swimming, cycling, play football, running, jogging, jumping or playing with your friends. 3) Relaxing such as watching TV, having a nap, reading a book, having a bath and doing breathing exercises. 4) Opening up by talking to a grown up about how you are feeling. Helping, exercising, relaxing and opening up spells the secret code of HERO. Then, Erika introduced her three very special friends who shared their experiences with us to help us become unstoppable heroes. Marcus was feeling sad because he was being bullied online. People were leaving him nasty comments online. However, he stood up against this and chose to be kind to people to show that kindness is stronger than hate. Jade was feeling worried because she wants to be an amazing singer. However, she got worried about standing on the stage in front of lots of people. She then opened up to someone she trusted to conquer her fear and be brave enough to display her talent. Tyler was feeling angry because he doesn’t know how to express his feelings and emotions. However, he found the strength to open up to someone close to him which made him feel positive and more confident talking about his feelings. Then we listened to and joined in with a couple of songs. The first one was called ‘Unstoppable’ and we said I am unstoppable (pointing at ourself), you are unstoppable (pointing at a partner) and we are unstoppable (pointing in the air). We watched a video of an unstoppable child called Skye Brown who loved to skate and sing. Although people said she was too small to skate, she proved them wrong and went on to be a very successful skater in the Olympics. This proves that with hard work and determination we can be successful. The second song was called ‘Be the Change’ and we all had a boogie and sing along as exercising and singing is good for our mental health. We also enjoyed the message of us being in control of our own mental health.
The Lily Jo Project - KS2 Workshop
We had the pleasure of taking part in The Lily Jo project Workshop this morning. It taught us all about being a hero of our own mental health. Physical Health Spiritual Health Mental Health HERO actually stands for: H- Help others E- Exercise R- Relaxing O- Opening up We had such an awesome time dancing and singing along . We want to remember the very important phrase- You being you, makes me feel YEY! Be yourself and shine your light #mental health #mindmatters #mentalhealthawareness #thelilyjoproject
Year 3 - Class Worship - Mental Health Week
Year 3 have been thinking about mental health, focusing on feelings of loneliness. We discussed ways we can feel less lonely and also ways to help others who are feeling lonely. We wrote some prayers and ended our worship by singing “Way Maker”.
Year 1-Class Worship
Today in our class worship, we talked about and celebrated differences. We read Danielle’s story from Picture News about her experiences of living with dwarfism. We talked about how Danielle doesn’t deserve the mean comments or laughter that she sometimes faces from strangers and how this must make her feel upset, devastated, uncomfortable and angry. We then read a story about Esther’s first day at school. Esther started a new school where she had been judged before people got to know her so we talked about how we must get to know people’s likes and dislikes rather than making our own judgements about them. To end our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from some children who held those with mental and physical disabilities in their prayers and prayed for the world to show kindness and respect to others.
Friday Celebration Worship
Despite it being a very short week in school this week, we still had lots to celebrate in Worship this morning. We reflected on how we have been showing generosity this week and shared our well wishes for Year 6 in preparation for their SATs next week. There were sports stars galore on the golden podium, as we had many children showing us how they are living life in all its fullness. A big well done to Charlotte who has raised £710 for East Lancs Hospice by running a mile a day! We also had football achievements (with a signing for Manchester United) and awards for swimming, cycling, martial arts and cubs! Wow, what another brilliant week at St Barnabas!
Whole school Worship: Generosity
Today during our worship we discussed what generosity means and why it is important to be generous. The children discussed how we can be generous. They said we can give to charity, help others, smile and make others happy. We looked at how important it is to give up our time to be generous and reflected on what this means. The children said they could stop playing on their games and could stop watching TV so that they would have more time to give to others. We looked at Mother Teresa and how she dedicated herself to helping others. This week we will be reflecting on how we can be generous and to see if we can create a positive ripple effect. We will also reflect on being truly grateful for anything that we receive.
Friday 29th April- Celebration Worship
Today in celebration worship, we reflected on Monday’s worship about St George and how we have shown our Christian value of courage this week just as he did. Annabelle in Year 2 said she showed courage by diving into the swimming pool and Oscar in Year 3 challenged some behaviour that he didn’t think was right. Then, our wonderful choir performed the song ‘Time to Shine’ for our whole school as they did last night at Ewood Park for an audience of 4,200. We then heard from our cross country team who participated in the DPSSA cross country on Tuesday night and showed amazing sportsmanship and our netball team who played against St Peter’s in the DPSSA netball league and won 11-0. A special well done to Kaycie who was voted player of the match for her determination. We then celebrated our out of school award winners. Well done to Katie, Harlow and Eva in Year 5 for their team success in coming 2nd in their football tournament, Eliza in year 1 for her success in horse riding and achieving trainer of the week in football, Daisy in Year 1 and Grace in Year 2 for earning a special badge at rainbows for learning sign language and Charlotte in Year 5 for her yellow belt in jujitsu and for fundraising for East Lancs Hospice. She has raised £600 by running a mile a day for 40 days. Amazing work Charlotte! We heard from our teachers who shared their highlights from the week. A huge well done to our whole school for their achievements and successes in class. Finally, Mrs Ham reminded us about the upcoming Royal Variety show that we’ll be having in school on 27th May to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee and we had some beautiful prayers from David and Lucy to end our worship.
Year 4- SMART School Council
This morning we held our first SMART School Council meeting in Year 4. We had a Class Meeting leader and a Class Meeting Notetaker. Because so many of us wanted to take the role, we used Class Dojo randomiser to select the pupils. Sophie and Freddie led the meeting and we looked at which example would have the most impact on improving our environment. We worked in groups and the majority thought that to stop littering would have the biggest impact on our planet. Year 4 had a great attitude and discussed ideas with confidence and maturity.
St George’s Day Worship
As we entered worship today, we listened to ‘Jerusalem’. On Saturday it was St George’s day. We discussed what we think of when we think about England. Carlton said “football”, Ted said “the sea”, Jake said “Formula 1” and Oscar said “our home” to name a few! We looked at a few favourites from England which included apple crumble, roast beef dinner, cups of tea, Charles Dickens, the white cliffs of Dover and Stonehenge. We looked at how things have changed in England. In the past, ladies did jobs at home whereas now ladies can have careers. We used to have lots of factories for workers but now many people work in jobs to provide services. We learnt about St George. St George died from what he believed in. He believed in God and St George stood up for what was right. We looked at our British values and how we follow them in school. We discussed how we are tolerant, how we respect each other, how our opinions are important, how we can make our own choices and how we need to follow the rules in school. During our reflection we thought about when we have had to show courage. This week we re going to focus on showing courage and standing up for what is right.
Celebration Worship
Today, we welcomed our parents back to Celebration Worship after two years. It was wonderful to have you all back. We then introduced our whole school worship by talking about Earth Day. We discussed how it's important to show respect to the earth as God created it for us. We were especially proud of Year 2 who did some litter picking around Darwen yesterday during their local area walk in Geography, and our other classes are looking forward to some further reflection on the importance of looking after the earth in their classes later today. We then celebrated some in and out of school achievements. We heard from our class teachers about how our children are living life in all its fullness. We said thank you to some boys across school who came into school in the holidays to take part in a darts competition and we also said a huge thank you to WOW group for their success in leading their first messy church on Tuesday this week. Well done WOW group! We then celebrated some individual sports superstars. Well done to Archie in Year 4 for his darts and football achievements, Jason, Lennox, Cassidy and Isaac for their swimming success, Cassidy for her gymnastics success, Olivia for very good listening and being sensible at rainbows and Mason for his dance talent . We had some notices from Mrs Govan and our Head and Deputy Head girl. Mrs Govan told us about the competition that is currently running linked to the Queen's Jubilee. Please see Class Dojo for further details. Our Head and Deputy Head girl told us about the new playtime equipment that they have ordered with some of the money that we raised as a school from the movie nights before half term. Finally, we ended our worship with some lovely prayers from Lily and Mason.
Year 3 Class Worship - Earth Day
Year 3 have been thinking about God’s wonderful creation and how we can help look after it. They wrote prayers and ended their worship by singing “Shine”.
Messy Church
A huge well done to our fantastic WOW group on running their first event! They did an amazing job of setting up and running our Easter Messy Church. They had great fun and they hope all those who attended did too.
Tuesday Collective Worship
Today, we recapped what happened at the last supper. Jesus gave a commandment on Maundy Thursday. He told everybody to “love one another as I have loved you”. Jesus also told everybody to live life in all its fullness. We should give our kindness to everybody, do good things and have fun! We watched ‘the super cool story of Jesus’. The video reminded us that Jesus gave his life and love so we can really live. Jesus came onto earth to show us how God loves. We discussed how we can live life to the full. Archie said “we can live in peace”, Emily said “we can live in harmony”, David said “we need to take care of ourselves”, Mason said “we can show love” and Ruby has cut her hair and given it to charity to spread kindness. Ruby also slept out to raise money for the homeless. She has shown how we can live life in all its fullness- we are very proud of how she has put other people first. We ended our worship by listening to a biblical story called ‘no more crying’. This week, we need to think about how we can love one another and how we can forgive others who may upset us. We also need to think about how we can live life in all its fullness.
Happy Easter to our whole school family!
It wouldn't be Easter at St Barnabas without a visit from the Spring Chicken! Who do you think it was this year? Please click on the links to see the fun we had during our Easter singalong this afternoon. What a brilliant way to end such a wonderful term! Spring Chicken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neQs54K6Xec Give me oil in my lamp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSHy7KNuEes We have a King who rides a donkey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRaTXCw5Dko On behalf of all of our staff team I would like to wish you all a wonderful Easter half term holiday. See you all on Tuesday 19th April. Take care and God bless, Mrs Ham
Worship with the Kindness Coach
In our whole school worship this morning we welcomed the Kindness Coach, John Magee, in to talk about our kindness challenges over this half term. He was overwhelmed with all the kind acts we have been doing at St Barnabas and he spoke to us about continuing to be kind throughout our lives. Thank you to John for visiting our school.
Whole School Celebration Worship
Today for our Celebration worship we celebrated lots of achievements across school. We have come to the end of our Kindness Challenges, but talked about how important it is to continue to show the kindness we have been showing the last few weeks, even without our daily reminders. Our cross country team shared their achievements from the DPSSA cross country competition yesterday, with some of the boys and girls winning 1st and 2nd place - Well done! We also had many children sharing their own personal sporting awards in horse riding, Olympic sport clubs, martial arts and a pentathlon. All of our class teachers shared how the children have been living life in all its fullness through our curriculum this week, with talks of perseverance, diversity, success and ensuring we show respect to everyone in school. What another brilliant week!
Year 3 Class Worship - Perseverance
Year 3 have been thinking about perseverance and how if at first we don’t succeed we try and try again. We wrote prayers asking God to help us in all we strive to achieve, at school and at home. We ended our worship by singing “Way Maker”.
Year 5 - Class Worship
During our class worship this morning, we have been reading through the information about the recent discovery of the shipwreck, Endurance, which sank over 100 years ago. We learnt about Sir Ernest Shackleton and his extraordinary expeditions and his life. We also learnt about his amazing crew that trusted the choices that he made to keep everyone safe and calm.
Palm Sunday Worship
Today we learnt about Palm Sunday. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he didn’t arrive in a fancy carriage but on a little donkey. People waved palm branches and were so pleased to see him. Many people gave him a warm welcome but some people were not impressed and were filled with feelings of jealousy. Mason said they could be feeling cross and Leonora said they could be angry. We helped Mrs Ham retell the story of Palm Sunday. Mrs Ham showed everybody a palm shaped as a cross. The crowd shouted Hosanna to welcome Jesus. Later in the week, leaders who were angry turned people against Jesus and he was crucified. This was all in God’s plan and on Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead. In times of sadness, we can all be kind to cheer everybody up. Our Wow group led our singing and we sang ‘ We have a king who rides a donkey’.
Celebration Worship
This morning in Celebration Worship we started our sports star awards off with our swimming squad who were the overall winners of the swimming gala last Friday evening and also the winners of the girls medley relay and girls freestyle relay. We have never won these awards before so we are over the moon and are so proud of our amazing swimming squad. We then presented a 3rd place skiing award to Isaac who represented our school in the North West Schools Skiing competition , a morris dancing trophy to Eva for the most improved morris dancer, a 2nd place art award to Ivy and a goalkeeper of the week trophy to Iris who wanted to show how proud she was of her big brother Luke. We also had awards from our uniformed groups too- Isaac showed us his disability awareness badge from cubs and Grace won Olivia from Rainbows for helping to tidy up after they made Mother's Day Cards. If you would like your child to join one of our uniformed organisations such as rainbows, brownies, beavers or cubs, please click on this link to our community page. https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/parents/community-groups
Celebration Worship- Living life in all its fullness
It was wonderful to hear from all of our class teachers this morning how their class has been 'achieving great things' and 'living life in all its fullness' this week. We have had several visitors in school this week including an author, two dentists, a radiographer and the Dog's Trust and we were so proud to hear how the children welcomed them into school and showed them kindness. We also reflected on how we can show the special ladies in our lives how much we love them and say a big thank you for everything they do for us. Wishing all of our mummies and grandmas a lovely Mother's Day on Sunday. What another fantastic week at St Barnabas! To see the powerpoint from today's worship, please click on the following link. https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/about-us/church-and-worship#tab-4370
Reception Class Mother’s Day Worship
Wow! A huge well done to our amazing Reception children for giving their mummies and grandmas a lovely Mother’s Day Worship yesterday. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. Mrs Ham definitely had to get the mop and bucket out afterwards. They were all incredibly brave to speak and sing in front of all those people, so they should be very proud of themselves.
Meet our W.O.W. group
Here they are, our wonderful W.O.W. group, leading the way in creating fun and interactive opportunities to worship in our school. Our members are Aidan, Dominic, Harlow, Eva, Maisie, Aisha, Sienna, Lucy, Beau and Betsy.
Collective Worship led by WOW group
Today our worship was led by our WOW group who previously took suggestions from our whole school about what they enjoy about worship such as acting out and singing and incorporated these into their Easter worship. The WOW group retold the following parts of the Eater story: Good Friday, The Last Supper, The Garden of Gethsemane, The Road to Calvary, The Crucifixion and The Resurrection. Following on from this, they quizzed the whole school on questions linked to The Easter Story. For answer A, the children had to put their hands on their heads and for answer B, they had to put their hands on their shoulders. The whole school really enjoyed being quizzed on the story. We ended the worship with the whole school singing ‘Lord of the Dance.’ Thank you for a wonderful worship WOW group.
Whole School Worship- Supporting Ukraine Day
Today in collective worship, we were joined by the Worshipful, the Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Councillor Derek Hardman as we gathered together for our ‘Support for Ukraine’ day. Our whole school were either dressed in yellow and blue to reflect the colours of the Ukraine flag or red to support The Red Cross who we are supporting today through raising money for Ukraine. Our heads and deputy heads led our whole school worship today. They made us all think about what essentials we need to survive such as food, water, homes, safety, warmth, love and kindness. This led them on to a discussion about how people all over the world are stepping up to help Ukraine at the moment as they are having to escape their country and leave behind their homes, schools, family members, toys and other possessions. They made the whole school reflect on how they must be feeling and we came up with feelings such as devastated, terrified, heartbroken and worried. We watched a video and looked at how Poland are helping Ukraine at the moment by providing the refugees with a warm welcome, houses, toiletries, schools and friendship. We then talked about how the smallest act of kindness can save a life and how we are very proud of the children in our whole school. We said a huge thank you to Neve, William and Lily for showing our Christian values of generosity, service and friendship during this Ukraine crisis. Neve came up with an idea to make and sell cakes and William will be selling lots of bath bombs to our whole school family. They will be donating the money that they make in school today to The Red Cross. Lily asked for shower gels, shampoo and shower gel which her family friend will be taking over to Ukraine as they are short of these essentials at the moment. We also said a huge well done to our whole school for making such an effort with their clothing, giving donations of toiletries and donating money on Parent Pay. The heads and deputy heads shared how our whole school donations will help to fund hot food, hot drinks, chlorine tablets, toiletries including nappies , medical supplies and lots of other essentials for Ukraine. They also shared a message of hope for the refugees. They made us aware of some well known refugees who had to flee their home but have gone on to achieve amazing things such as Jesus, Mo Farah, Rita Ora, Judith Kerr and Magid Magid. We also heard from two of our very own incredible St Barnabas children, Aisha and Hamza, who told us their experiences of being refugees. They told us about how their family were brought to England by The Red Cross who decided it was much too dangerous to stay in their hometown in Somalia. We felt very proud of the courage they showed in sharing their story with the rest of the school and we feel incredibly proud of them. Finally, we ended our worship by celebrating some out of school awards from Luca, Summer and Finn for darts, gymnastics and donating hair to The Prince’s Trust. We also heard from the Mr Mayor. He told us about how schools are his favourite places to visit and how he was very proud of the efforts from the children, parents and staff of St Barnabas for their efforts in supporting Ukraine.
Year 3 Class Worship for Peace
Year 3 Class Worship - continuing to pray for peace in Ukraine.
Year 1- St Patrick’s Day Worship
Today, Year 1 had their class worship on St Patrick’s Day. They watched a video about St Patrick bringing his Christian faith to Ireland by spreading the word of God. We learnt about how the people of Ireland are very thankful for this which is why they have a day in celebration of Him. We learnt that there are lots of parades, singing and dancing on St Patrick’s day and we also learnt that the shamrock in a symbol of Ireland. Lastly, we heard an Irish blessing which was really beautiful and reminded us to take the positives in our lives and be grateful for them. Lots of the children shared positives about their day such as making a big house with a friend, learning a new skill at play time and seeing their teachers.
Pray for Ukraine- Infants
Our infant classes have helped to create a community ‘Pray for Ukraine’ prayer space at the front of our school. Each child has tied a blue or yellow ribbon, a prayer they have written or a hand print to the railings. We are hopeful that members of our community and all of our school family will tie a ribbon and say a prayer for the people of Ukraine.
Pray for Ukraine- Juniors
Our juniors added their prayers of peace for Ukraine this afternoon to our community prayer space at the front of our school. We have left a box of ribbons for our parents, grandparents, carers and members of our community to add a ribbon and say their own prayer of peace for Ukraine.
Monday Worship: Forgiveness
This morning we focussed on God’s forgiveness which is one of our Christian values. We need to ensure we forgive each other when we do something wrong and move on from it to continue to develop our relationships. We watched a video about Zaccheus and joined in with the rhyming Bible story. Zaccheus had been a thief but he made it right by showing God’s love and by paying back the money and four times the amount he had taken. He made things right and became a part of God’s story. This shows that everybody can change and God always forgives us when we do things wrong, if we show that we are sorry.
Friday 11th March Celebration Worship
Today, we started off by reflecting on Monday’s worship when we read the story of ‘Jesus Feeding the 5000,’ and thought about how nothing is too small to share. The children shared some examples of things that can be shared such as food, clothes and kindness. Kindness is always important at our school but particularly at the moment as we are currently completing ‘The 30 Days of Kindness Challenge,’ as a school. We reflected on the kindness challenges for this week which were helping an elderly member of our community, asking people how their day has been, asking someone if you can help when they’re upset, helping the teacher to hand out and collect in books. Today’s challenge is making a thank you card for someone. The children said they would make one for their teachers including their after school club teachers, their older siblings, their parents and Mr Tierney (our site supervisor). We then celebrated some in school achievements. We heard from our class teachers, the librarians announced our World Book Day competition winners for the books bunting and Mrs Ham presented the winners of the Blackburn Rovers Gifted and Talented completion to four of our Year 3 boys who showed a wonderful attitude and brilliant sportsmanship. We followed on from this with out of school achievements such as swimming, football, rainbows, young farmers rifle shooting and sailing. Finally, the heads and deputies shared a reminder about showing respect for the playground equipment and Lily in Year 6 shared a way of us helping Ukraine by bringing shampoo, body wash and hairbrushes next Friday. She will collect these in and pass them on to someone she knows who is travelling to Ukraine.
Year 3 Class Worship - Lent
Year 3 Class Worship included watching a video clip of Bishop Philip talking about Lent and about making time for God. We wrote some Lenten Promises and we also wrote some prayers for peace in the Ukraine. We ended our worship by singing “Chain of Love”.
Songs of Praise Worship- Rich in Kindness
We are focusing on kindness as part of our 30 day Kindness Challenge during Lent. We have loved learning ‘Rich in Kindness’ in our Songs of Praise Worship. This is to spread some kindness to Rev David and Lorraine as we all miss you & know how much you love this song! {youtube:LbeGjymwypc}
Jesus as a Miracle Worker Worship
In Worship, we focussed on Jesus as a miracle worker. Today we read the story of ‘Jesus and the 5000’. Mrs Ham and the children acted the story out and we also watched a video. Jesus only had 5 loaves and 2 fish but thanks to the little boy sharing his food, Jesus performed a miracle and was able to feed 5000 people! During our reflection, we discussed the importance of sharing and giving to others. This is so important during Lent. Edward suggested that he would share his PlayStation with his siblings, Isaac suggested that we could share our money with charity, Kaylen suggested we could share our time and Dominic suggested we could share our kindness. At the end, Neve came to the front and shared her fundraising cake sale idea with the school to help those in Ukraine. It is a super idea and we can’t wait to buy lots of cakes to support her fundraising and to help those and give back. We also read some prayers about compassion that Year 5 wrote to remember all of those that are affected in Ukraine.
Support for Ukraine Day
In light of the current devastating situation in Ukraine and the wonderful generosity and compassion of Neve in Year 2, we have decided to change our red nose day on Friday 18th March to a 'Support for Ukraine Day' supporting the British Red Cross. As well as dressing in red (or children may want to wear yellow and blue like the Ukrainian flag), we will also be holding a cake sale. Neve and her friends and family will be baking cakes along with some of our infant classes. All of the money raised will go to the British red cross and every pound donated by the UK public will be matched by the UK government through its Aid Match scheme up to the value of £20 million. This support will double the impact of the public’s own donations and will ensure that charities working on the ground can reach those in urgent need. You can either donate on parent pay or via the red cross website. You will also find out more information of other ways you can support families in Ukraine. https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal If you have already purchased red noses or red nose merchandise then they can still be worn in school on the 18th and the money you used to pay for them has already gone to support Comic Relief.
Pray for Ukraine
We have been having discussions in Year 6 regarding the current situation in the Ukraine. They decided to create some prayers which will be on display at the front of the school. We have been discussing how we are able to help those in need by donating clothes, toys and time.
Celebration Worship
This morning in our whole school worship, we celebrated all of the amazing things that have been happening across school this week. Each class shared highlights from the week, including world book day, kindness challenges and shrove Tuesday. We also shared special prayers for Ukraine and thought about how we can help those who are most in need at the minute.
Year 5 -Pray for Ukraine
This morning during our class worship we had a discussion about the conflict happening in Ukraine at the moment. We talked about how people are showing compassion to the those in Ukraine by giving them shelter, food and resources at this tough time. The class wrote their own prayers on the Ukraine flag.
Shrove Tuesday Worship
Today in Worship we found out about Lent. Today is the day before Lent called Shrove Tuesday. We discussed what we know about Lent. Leonora shared that “Jesus gave up food and water for 40 days”. We spent a little time reflecting on what we could give up during Lent. Jenson shared that he will give up popcorn, Aidan said he will give up squash and juice, William said that he will give up his phone and Ivy said that she will give up chocolate. This also links to our kindness challenge. During Lent we can give something back and show kindness. Ella has been tidying her house and getting herself ready so that she can be kind and help her family. We can all make a difference by showing kindness. As it is fair trade fortnight we also discussed how we could swap items for fair trade. To celebrate Shrove Tuesday, Mrs Ham very kindly brought in pancakes for the whole school to enjoy!
Fairtrade Whole School Worship
Today we learned about where chocolate comes from and how the cocoa bean farmers don’t always receive a fair wage for all their hard work. It was great to discover how Fairtrade is stepping in and changing lives by ensuring farmers receive enough money and funding community projects. We are thankful for the farmers who work hard to grow and supply a wide range of foods to the UK.
Friday Whole School Worship
Today in worship, we reflected on our the kindness challenges that we have completed this week such as washing our hands, wiping our feet and helping to tidy up our classrooms and houses. We talked about why we should be kind and looked at our new kindness tree in the hall where we can add examples of kindness that we have seen and shown. This led us onto a discussion about Russia invading Ukraine and how Putin isn’t showing kindness. We talked about how places such as America and the UK are coming together to support Ukraine through sanctioning Russia to encourage them to stop the fighting and resume peace once again as we want to keep the people of Ukraine safe. We also talked about how we ourselves can support Ukraine through asking God to watch over the people of Ukraine and keeping them all in our prayers. We had a look at how we can use our fingers to pray for different things such as people who are closest to us, people who are poorly and people who are in charge of our country. We also had ideas such as donating clothes to refugees and giving refugees a warm welcome. Finally, we ended with some sports award celebrations. Well done to our Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6 sports hall competitors and our individual sports winners. The sports leaders also announced the winners for the inter-house dodgeball competition which was India Mill (red team).
Year 3 Class Worship - Fairtrade
Year 3 wrote some prayers during Our Class Worship remembering all the poor farmers in developing countries who don’t always get a fair price for the fruit and vegetables that they grow.
Kindness Worship
It was wonderful to have our whole school family back together in the hall. Today in worship, we discussed what kindness is and why it is so important to be kind. Today, we introduced the children to a kindness coach called John Magee. He spoke about practising kindness daily so the children are going to take part in a 30 day kindness challenge. The children are going to complete a quiz to see how they feel about kindness at the beginning of the challenge and then they will complete it again at the end to see how the challenge has made a positive difference. We watched a video to show how kindness can be spread around like confetti and it can cause a ripple effect to others. This week we will look at creating a positive ripple effect with our kindness. We can’t wait to start the 30 day kindness challenge!
Sports Stars!
Congratulations to our sporting stars in our Celebration Worship this morning! We presented awards for several different sports out of school including skiing, quad bike racing, swimming, running and martial arts. We also congratulated our Year 3 and 4 Sportshall athletics team for their outstanding performance last night as they narrowly missed out on a gold medal by a fifth of a second. We were so proud of the way they were just like St Barnabas the encourager in the way they cheered and encouraged their own team and other schools.
Dress to Express Worship for Children's Mental Health Week
This morning in our Worship we focused on our mental health and the theme 'growing together'. We also all dressed up in different ways to 'Dress to Express', to raise awareness of mental health. We learnt ways that we can grow physically and emotionally and activities we can do to make us feel happy if we are feeling sad. Our Wellbeing Warriors led a section of Worship by sharing with us the ways they are helping to support our wellbeing in school. They shared the wonderful things we have been learning throughout this week on how to keep safe and be respectful online. They also shared with us their findings of their research on healthy break time snacks and let everyone know which healthy snack they are allowed to bring to school after half term.
Year 3 Class Worship - #Children’sMentalHealthWeek
Our class worship this week has been about Children’s Mental Health, in preparation for tomorrow’s Dress to Express Day. We thought about who makes us grow and supports us in achieving our goals. We wrote some prayers and ended by singing “Shine from the inside out”.
Safer Internet Day Worship
Today in worship we learnt about how to keep safe online and we focused on our Christian value of respect. We looked at internet safety scenarios which prompted lots of discussions about who to trust, how to stay safe, who to speak to you if you are concerned about anything and keeping your accounts private. We also discussed respect online, always be kind and polite. If you are using emoticons or smiley faces make sure that you are as clear as possible to express what you mean. A comment or emoji can have a big impact on someone’s mental health.
Year 1-Internet Safety Day 2022
Year 1 started their amazing Internet Safety Posters this afternoon to share their top tips for keeping safe online. We enjoyed Mrs Ham’s worship this morning on showing respect and kindness online and learnt about the importance of sending only kind messages and blocking and reporting any unkind behaviour. We also enjoyed reading ‘Digiduck and the Magic Castle’ and ‘Oscar’s Adventures in the Online World.’ From these books, we have learnt about the importance of having strong passwords that contain symbols, letters and numbers so nobody can guess them and not accepting or continuing with a message that we don’t understand as this could cost us money, give our device a virus or show us something inappropriate. We also learnt about information that is okay to share such as our favourite food or music and information that is not okay to share such as the school we go to, our address, our full name or our password.
Whole School Worship : Children’s Mental Health Week
During our whole school worship this morning, we talked about our mental health and discussed ways that we can grow and flourish. We thought about our school vision 'Achieving great things through learning and growing together in a love-filled Christian family' and how we can support each other to grow. On Friday, we will be taking part in ‘Dress to Express’ for Children’s Mental Health Week so we thought about our God given talents and how we can shine from the inside out.
Friday Celebration Worship
This week in celebration worship, we have been thinking about how we have been shining our light just as Jesus does and we also sang ‘Shine From the Inside Out’. Reception class also sang the whole school a song in celebration of Chinese New Year. We heard from our teachers about how we have lived life in all its fullness and we had lots of awards to celebrate from outside of school too.
Year 3 Class Worship - Candlemas
Year 3 learnt about how Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple. That is what we remember on Candlemas Day which is celebrated on 2nd February each year. We wrote some prayers and we ended our worship by singing “Shine”.
Children’s Worship Conference
Mrs Ham had the pleasure of taking two of our Worship our Way (WOW) group members to a special children’s collective worship conference today at The Foxfields Country Hotel. The children can’t wait to share the amazing worship ideas with the rest of WOW group and our school family.
Whole-School Worship - Candlemas
Today in worship we learned about Candlemas, and the story of Anna & Simeon and their incredible patience as they waited for God’s Son. We discussed why Jesus is referred to as the light of the world and how we can be a light to others.
Celebration Worship
This morning in our celebration worship we remembered and prayed for all of the families who were affected by the holocaust. We held a moment of silence and lit a special candle of hope in hope that something so terrible will never happen again. We reflected on how we can make a difference and stand up to hatred by showing kindness, strength and courage. It was wonderful to hear our class teachers tell everyone how the children in their class have been living life in all its fullness this week. What a busy week it has been!
Year 3 - Holocaust Memorial Day Class Worship
We took part in Holocaust Memorial Day by praying for all those Jewish people who died during World War II .
Year 1 Class Worship
Following on from Mrs Ham’s whole school worship on Monday, Year 1 learnt some more information about WWII and how the Jews were mistreated. We learnt that the Jews had little freedom and were banned from doing certain jobs, from having pets, from going to parks and restaurants, from schools and from riding a bike amongst lots of other things. We reflected on how this must have made them feel. We also read a book about Anne Frank and the children were shocked to find out that she and her family along with many other Jewish families had to stay in hiding for a long time in fear. We then sang a song about peace and thought about how we can help to make a kind and peaceful world. We talked about sharing our beautiful smiles, helping each other, greeting each other kindly and sharing with each other regardless of people’s race or religion. We finished with some beautiful prayers for those who lost their lives and were mistreated in WWII and praying for a more peaceful and kinder world. Well done Year 1.
Year 1 Class Worship
Following on from Mrs Ham’s whole school worship on Monday, Year 1 learnt some more information about WWII and how the Jews were mistreated. We learnt that the Jews had little freedom and were banned from doing certain jobs, from having pets, from going to parks and restaurants, from schools and from riding a bike amongst lots of other things. We reflected on how this must have made them feel. We also read a book about Anne Frank and the children were shocked to find out that she and her family along with many other Jewish families had to stay in hiding for a long time in fear. We then sang a song about peace and thought about how we can help to make a kind and peaceful world. We talked about sharing our beautiful smiles, helping each other, greeting each other kindly and sharing with each other regardless of people’s race or religion. We finished with some beautiful prayers for those who lost their lives and were mistreated in WWII and praying for a more peaceful and kinder world. Well done Year 1.
Holocaust Memorial Day Worship
This week in our whole school and class worships, we are learning about the Holocaust and what we can learn from it. This morning we watched a video with some school children interviewing a survivor of the Holocaust, Stephen Frank. We learnt how he had such a happy life with his family until he was taken away to a concentration camp because he was Jewish. We reflected on what it must have been like to be taken away from your friends and family and to be treated so terribly. We then thought about how we can be strong, courageous and kind when we see people in our lives being treated cruelly. We then prayed for all of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. We were shocked to hear that if we had a minutes silence for each of the 6 million people who died then we would have to be silent for 11 and a half years.
Year 1 Class Worship- Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks
Following on from Mrs Ham’s whole school worship earlier this week on Martin Luther King, Year 1 did some further learning and reflecting in their class worship time. We learnt about how black people were treated differently because they weren’t allowed to use the same toilets, same restaurants or go to the same schools as white people. We learnt about how black people had to sit at the back of the bus and give up their seats for white people. We thought about how this must have made the black people feel and we came up with the words heartbroken, sad, upset, angry and devastated. We also thought about how this would have made some of the white people feel having to leave the black people out as they didn’t have a choice and just had to do as they were told or they would be fined. We described Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks as amazing and brave people as they fought for the world to be a fairer place where black and white people could be friends and live in a more peaceful and kinder world. We thought about how this fairer world is a much better place to live. Well done Year 1 for super acting and reflection.
Year 3 -Martin Luther King Jr Worship
During our class worship, we watched a video clip about the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and how he was an activist for civil rights. He peacefully demonstrated for equality between whites and coloured people in America. He said that everybody is equal no matter what their race, creed or gender is. We prayed for equality and finished with a hymn “Chain of Love”.
Whole school worship: Martin Luther King Jr Day
During our whole school Worship this morning we focused on Martin Luther King Junior Day. We thought about how Martin Luther King wanted to bring hope, freedom and change. We all thought about what he meant by the phrase ‘the content of their character’ and how we could try to make peace in the world. We ended our Worship by singing and dancing to Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' to you, which he wrote to wish Martin Luther King a happy birthday and to encourage the authorities to hold a special holiday each year in his memory.
Year 3 Worship- Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt
In our class worship we thought about how Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus felt when they had to escape from Israel into Egypt. We prayed for refugees who are feeling the same as they did - terrified, worried, alone without family or friends, not understanding a different language and having to eat different kinds of food that they were not used to ( if they could get some)
Celebration Worship
During our whole school celebration worship this morning, we thought about the different ways that we have welcomed people with open arms this week. Each class also shared the different ways that they have been living life in all it’s fullness this week!
Reflecting on Mary, Joseph and Jesus as refugees
In worship this morning, we reflected on how Mary, Joseph and Jesus were affected by having to flee to another country. It helped us to understand how refugees today might feel and think about how we can help them.
Year 3 Epiphany Class Worship
We celebrated the feast of the Epiphany today during our class worship. We watched a video by Bishop Philip who talked about the gifts that the three wise men gave Jesus- gold, frankincense and myrrh. He also told us that we have gifts / things that we are good at from God and that we need to “show” these gifts. We ended our worship by thanking God for our special gifts.
Our first worship of 2022: Epiphany
Today, we learnt about the Epiphany. An epiphany is like a lightbulb moment. The 3 wise men or 3 magi had an epiphany about Jesus being born. Mrs Ham read a story called ‘One hump, 2 humps’ which the children really enjoyed acting out. The wise men followed a star to find Jesus. When they arrived in Jerusalem, they asked King Herod where Jesus resides. King Herod was very worried and decided he wanted to meet Jesus. He asked the wise men to tell him where Jesus was. King Herod plotted to kill Jesus. When the wise men arrived at the stable, the wise men gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In the night, the wise men dreamt about King Herod’s evil plan. They decided to not tell King Herod where Jesus was to protect him. The gifts that the kings gave Jesus were symbolic. Gold is a gift fit for a king; frankincense is a fragrance used by a priest and myrrh is a sweet liquid that is rubbed gently into someone who has died. This symbolises that the kings knew God’s plan. Mrs Ham asked the children to discuss what their special gifts are. These could be kindness, showing love and making people smile. The meaning of the epiphany is how everyone is important and God loves everyone.
Carol singing in the sunshine!
We have been getting into the Christmas spirit during our final whole school worship before Christmas!
The magical Christmas Jigsaw
We are so proud of Year 1 and 2 for their amazing performance of ‘The Magical Christmas Jigsaw’. They were all super stars! ⭐️
Year 1 Nativity
Our Year 1 children made us all so proud with their wonderful Nativity. They sang beautifully and said their lines clearly and with confidence. The parents and grandparents loved it. You are all superstars!
Celebration Worship
This morning in our Celebration Worship we heard how each class has been living life in all its fullness this week. We also presented several awards that children have achieved out of school. Mrs Govan presented awards to the winners of our Advent Art competition and will be displaying all of the Advent Artwork in the Rose Garden in Whitehall Park today. Each class will be going to see the artwork next week and will be singing Christmas songs based on the artwork. We finished off our Worship with some beautiful and thoughtful prayers from several children and sang Christmas carols. Well done everyone, what another super week!
Year 3’s Advent Worship
In our class Worship we lit our second Advent candle and thought about those who might be feeling lonely this Christmas. We then prayed for them and thought about how we can show kindness to those who are feeling lonely.
Peace at Christmas worship
The second Sunday in Advent focuses on Peace. Today we have lit our second Advent candle. It is important to take a bit of time to have some peace during such a busy time of year. It is important to remember the meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it. We looked at a picture today and discussed what we can see. The children discussed how the animal looked “heartbroken…sad…lonely.” The artist painted this to reflect loneliness at Christmas. We discussed why people may feel lonely at this time of the year. The little girl on the picture is trying to encourage the animal to come down. The girl is showing the animal love and kindness. This week we will be focussing on how we can bring peace and how we can reach out to those who are lonely. Our Rota kids in Year 5 are going to be making cards for people in care homes and our choir will be singing at Whitehall park to bring some Christmas cheer.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Every child in school helped to decorate the Christmas tree yesterday. This morning in Worship, Iris, our youngest child in school got to put the star on top of the Christmas tree. It certainly is starting to look, feel and sound like Christmas at St Barnabas.
Friday Celebration Worship
In today’s celebration worship, our youngest member of the school Iris helped us to finish off our Christmas tree by putting the star on the top! We celebrated lots of sporting and personal achievements from our children and talked about our Christian value of Respect and especially how important it is to show this value to others over the Christmas period.
Advent worship with Rev Nick
Today we celebrated the start of advent with a visit from Rev Nick. He read us a Bible story about Zechariah and Elizabeth who had to wait a very long time to have a baby. We talked about patiently waiting and being hopeful as we lit the first candle of Advent. We reflected on how we can bring hope to others this Advent and sang 'Shine from the inside out'.
Knife Angel Message
Two of our WOW (Worship our way) group members told our whole school, in Worship on Friday, about the Knife Angel. They attended a conference at Blackburn Cathedral a couple of weeks ago and learnt about angels being special messengers and they particularly focused on the special Knife Angel. It is made up of over 100,000 knives that have been used in knife crimes around the country. Many of the knives have writing calved into them which are messages asking for forgiveness to the victims and their families from the person who used the knife. The message is to try to eliminate knife crime in our local area and a knife amnesty box is next to it to encourage youngsters to surrender any weapons they may have. Most knife crimes occur by accident and it’s usually the person carrying a knife that becomes injured. Thank you to our WOW group members for delivering the important message of the Knife Angel to our school family. We hope this will discourage any of our children from carrying weapons when they are older. The Knife Angel will be at Blackburn Cathedral till 30th November if you are in the area and would like to admire it.
Celebration Worship
Today in celebration worship, we revisited our focus from Monday’s whole school worship which was tolerance. We reflected on how we had lived this out by showing respect to each other and celebrating each other’s differences. We heard from some members of WOW group who told us about the knife angel and it’s very important message. The knife angel is currently outside Blackburn Cathedral until 30th November. We also heard from Mrs Govan who told us about a wonderful advent art competition that the children can take part in. We are asking the children to create a piece of artwork to show a part of the Christmas story e.g. The 3 wise men, the star of Bethlehem or baby Jesus. This can be done in any media such as painting, drawing, photograph, collage and 24 pieces will be selected to go on display at Whitehall park. The deadline is Monday 6th December. Finally, we celebrated some out of school achievements and Mrs Ham read some of the beautiful prayers that our children have added to our prayer tree.
Class Worship- Year 5
During our class worship this week, we have been discussing the news about one travel company ‘expedia’, who have banned all trips that include experiences with dolphins. We discussed why some people don’t agree with keeping dolphins and whales purely for entertainment.
Interfaith Whole School Worship
In worship today we talked about the importance of having respect and tolerance for others, no matter what their beliefs. We are learning to celebrate each other’s differences.
Celebration Worship
A huge congratulations to River Darwen house for winning the inter-house competition last week which was organised and led by our Sports Leaders. Well done to everyone who was presented with an award that they have achieved out of school. You are all superstars!
Interfaith Week-Sikhism
As part of our Interfaith Week, we have had a special visitor in today. Prags taught us all about Sikhism. We looked at the 5Ks- Kesh, Kara, Khanga, Kachera & Kirpan and what they all mean. We have loved learning about another faith and asking questions to find out even more.
Anti-Bullying Worship
Today we launched anti-bullying week. The children today have all celebrated how they are unique by wearing odd socks. The children discussed what to do if somebody is being mean. “You can tell your parents…tell a teacher…tell your family.” We discussed what bullying means. It is about when somebody is mean on a number of occasions. This year's focus is ‘one kind word’. The children talked about lots of kind words “friendship, respect, kindness, care, joy.” This week, we are aiming to cause a ripple effect of kindness. If somebody is kind then this kindness could then spread to others. We did a Mexican wave of kindness. We shouted “hello, share, are you ok?”
St Barnabas Remembers
Our Year 6 heads and deputies plus Year 5 and 6 WOW group members paid their respects on Friday in a special remembrance service at Darwen Cemetery. They laid a wreath made of poppy prayers, remembrance poems and art work. Please remember to come along to the Rose Garden in Whitehall Park to see a selection of remembrance artwork from each class.
Anti Bullying Worship led by Year 4
Next week is the start of Anti-Bullying week and to highlight this, Year 4 led our worship this morning. The children discussed different types of bullying and the upset this causes. This year The Anti- Bullying Alliance want people to focus on “One Kind Word”. We hope that the children have made their messages clear and we can make a difference.
St Barnabas Remembers
Today we all met on our Junior yard to observe a special two minutes silence to remember the soldiers that sacrificed their lives for our freedom. We prayed for peace in our world and sang ‘a song of peace’. Several of our classes have visited the cemetery this week to pay their respects and have admired our Remembrance Day artwork in the Rose Garden in Whitehall Park. #wewillrememberthem
Reception Remembers!
Today the children have celebrated Remembrance Day by learning all about the meaning of poppies. They learnt that poppies are a symbol of the fallen soldiers from the war. To remember the soldiers, the children took part in taking 2 minutes of silence at 11 o,clock. We also said prayers for our soldiers together. Throughout the rest of the day, the children have been creatively making poppies in lots of different ways.
Remembrance Day Art
This afternoon we have created some wonderful pieces of artwork in Year 3. The children choose their favourite piece from two designs and then set to work on their own version. We used charcoal and pastels to add depth which is very effective.
Year 4 & Year 2 visit the Rose Garden
We loved our walk to the Rose Garden for Remembrance Day today. We chose our favourite poppy art, read poems and said prayers for those who have lost their lives due to war. A very peaceful, reflective afternoon.
Planning a Recount
Yesterday in English, we started our plan for our recount - to write a diary entry about our visit to Darwen Cemetery to look at the memorial and war graves. We ordered the photos that were taken on our walk and then wrote sentences next to these about what we want to include in our diary, including thoughts and feelings and time words.
Remembrance Worship
This morning we learnt all about the meaning of Remembrance Day. We found out that some children pretended to be older so that they could become soldiers to protect our country. They were very brave. We learnt about Walter who became the first black British officer. The army changed their perception and looked at everybody as equal. Walter was a wonderful soldier and stood up for what was right. He didn’t give up and became a soldier. People came from lots of different countries and from lots of different religions to help our country to fight in the war. Some of the children discussed how we should treat everybody equally. The children said “we are all equal…you might need help so we need to be kind to everyone…we need to do the right thing”. Women were not allowed to fight but now they are. Our children didn’t think that was fair. One lady called Flora managed to fight in the army and won a medal for her bravery. All of the soldiers showed the Christian values of courage and service. There are many memorials around the country to remember those who died in the war. Our children have been creating their own poppy artwork. Please take your children to go and have a look at the wonderful art work that the children have created in the rose garden at Whitehall park.
Remembrance Day Walk
In Year 3 we walked to Darwen Cemetery to look at the war graves and Remembrance Wall. We spotted different war graves across the cemetery of fallen soldiers from both the First and Second World wars. We also noticed that many of the soldiers who died were very young. Lest we forget ❤️
Celebration Worship- 5.11.21
Congratulations to our award winners in our Celebration Worship. It was wonderful to hear how all of the children have been living life in all its fullness this week. Remember the bonfire safety rules that we discussed as we would love to see all of you safely back to school on Monday.
All Saints Day Worship
Today in worship, we discussed what All Saints’ Day is. The children discussed how a saint is somebody who is special to God and is holy. The children shared names of different Saints such as Saint Barnabas, Saint George, Saint Paul, Saint Joseph and Saint Edward. Mrs Ham shared information all about different Saints such as Saint Barnabas who was an encourager and Saint George who stood up for what he believed in. Saints are kind and helpful people and we looked at how we can be like a Saint too. We discussed how this week we are going to think about how we can have invisible halos on our heads like the Saints. The children shared how we could help refugees, show respect to everyone, pick up litter, do the right thing, help others, be grateful and be kind.
Thank you for your generosity this Harvest!
Thank you so much for your generous donations for Harvest this year. Darwen Asylum & Refugee Enterprise (DARE) were overwhelmed with your support and generosity. The donations were created into care packages along with the children’s maps of the local area, welcome to Darwen posters, prayers and poems which enabled refugees to receive a warm welcome to Darwen.
Hooray for Harvest!
Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 were amazing in our Harvest Festival today. Thank you to all those who attended or donated generous gifts of food or toiletries for local refugees. We were fortunate to be joined by John, Patsy and Shameem from DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise) who have taken all of your donations, the children’s welcome posters, local maps, prayers and poems. They will be sorted into parcels for refugees who have joined our community in order to give them a warm welcome and will also be shared with others in need in our community. We heard a harrowing account from Shameem, who fled from Afghanistan seven years ago due to being persecuted as a female teacher there. She has only just managed to get two of her children here seven years later and they are now attending our local high school and are being supported by one of our past pupils, who remembers Shameem visiting St Barnabas several years ago. We are so thankful for the work that John and Patsy are doing to support people in our community who are in need and so grateful for your donations. We are so proud of our children for showing our Christian Values of generosity, friendship and respect through the warm welcome they have shown refugees through their prayers, poems, welcome posters, maps and songs.
A huge Harvest thank you!
Thank you so much for your generosity this Harvest! We were overwhelmed with your kind donations of food, clothes and toiletries for DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise). They were presented to John, Patsy and Shameem from DARE. Thank you for helping to make a difference!
Hello Yellow Day Fundraising and Colouring Competition
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated to #HelloYellow Day to support Young Minds Charity. We managed to rise a fantastic £127.00. Also, congratulations to our Key Stage Winners for our Hello Yellow Day colouring competition. We had some fantastic entries, but we could only choose one winner and one runner up from each key stage.
EYFS and KS1 Harvest Worship
Today, our infants led our Harvest worship. They were all superstars and they explained the importance of Harvest. Thank you to all who came to watch.
Celebration Worship
It was wonderful to hear how each class has been living life in all its fullness this week in our celebration Worship. A huge well done to everyone who received awards. Please click on the link to watch the recorded video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp7Y7FUNyaM
Wellbeing Warriors
We would like to introduce you to our new ‘Wellbeing Warriors’ from Year 4. The Wellbeing Warriors will help to support PSHE ( Personal Social Health Education ) in school by promoting events such as Hello Yellow Day for mental health and Anti-Bullying Week with Odd Socks day which is coming up very soon. They will also meet weekly to discuss how we can improve our PSHE lessons, take part in pupil interviews and monitor scrapbooks. They can’t wait to start their new roles and we look forward to having them.
Thankful for Harvest!
We started our harvest celebrations today learning about where our breakfast comes from and reflecting on what we are thankful for. We thought about how we could show our Christian values of generosity, service and friendship this Harvest by sharing what we have with others. The children have chosen to donate packets and tinned food for our local food bank and toiletries for refugees who have recently joined our community.
Hello Yellow Day for World Mental Health Day
What a wonderful #HelloYellow Worship we have had this morning. Year 4 really got the message across and raised awareness of mental health. We are so proud at St Barnabas to say we are working hard to make a difference to young people’s mental health @YoungMindsUK
Monday Mental Health Worship
Today in worship we talked about looking after our mental health. We looked at small feelings that change all the time and big feelings that stay with us and who we can go to for support when dealing with big feelings. We reflected on how we can show our Christian Value of friendship to our friends and be there to listen to them if they are dealing with big feelings. We also discussed how we can show courage and talk to someone we trust if we have big feelings.
Wonderful Worship
During Worship this morning, we have been celebrating the successes from around school. We have heard all the wonderful things our children have been up to in and out of school. We are immensely proud of each and every child in our brilliant school family. We look forward to keeping you up to date on our new school website.
WOW Worship- European Day of Languages
Our Worship Our Way (WOW) group planned and led our Worship today about European Day of Languages. We celebrated diversity & the gift of language that God has given to us. We also learnt lots of ways to say hello & greet each other in different languages.
Goodbye Rev David and Lorraine
On behalf of our whole school family, I’d like to say a huge thank you, best wishes and goodbye to Rev David and Lorraine, who are retiring this week. They have given so much amazing support to our school over the years and have brightened up the darkest of days during the pandemic with their online services and attending our zoom worships. We wish them all the best in the future and hope they can spend quality time with their family. Please click to access their memories and worship videos.
Celebration Worship
A huge well done to everyone who received an award in our Celebration Worship today. It was wonderful to see and hear from your class teachers the different ways you have been living life in all its fullness this week. Mr Beaumont also reflected on our Worships about recycling over the week and how we need to care for our beautiful planet that God so lovingly created.
It's Recycle Week!
This morning in Worship we listened to a rhyming Bible story about how God created our world and wants us to care for it. We then learnt all about recycling with Mrs Ham and her team of human recycling bins. We had to sort all of her rubbish into the different recycling bins. We reflected on the rubbish that we throw away and how we can care for our World by reducing, reusing and recycling. We finished by praying and singing 'This is God's world, let's try to make it a better place'.
Grow your mindset assembly and workshops
We had an amazing assembly about growth and fixed mindsets, complete with a huge inflatable brain from Liz and Gemma at Grow Your Mindset. They have been working with all of our teaching team in staff training to develop their growth mindsets and now it was turn of our children.
Refugees- Warm Welcome Worship
Today in Worship we learnt about the situation in Afghanistan and how there are many refugees fleeing from there to the UK. We reflected on how we can give refugees a warm welcome and help them to settle into our community. We were so impressed with how well our children showed our Christian values of friendship, service and respect when sharing how they would welcome and help refugees.
Disability Day Worship
In class Worships we learnt about disability day and how everyone can achieve great things if you are determined and believe that anything is possible.
Songs of Praise Worship
It was so fantastic to be all together singing again as a school family.
Olympic and Paralympic Values Worship
Today we learnt about Olympic and Paralympic values today in Worship. We noticed that some of the values were the same as our Christian Values- courage, respect and friendship. We learnt that with determination. courage and perseverance we all have the ability to achieve great things.
Our first whole school Worship in the hall after 18 months!
We loved being back together again as a school family in our hall for our welcome back Worship.