Celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday
Today, we celebrated the 100th birthday of David Attenborough during a special worship. We talked about how many of us recognised his voice from nature documentaries we had watched before. Mrs Ham read the book Little People, BIG DREAMS: David Attenborough to help us learn more about his life and the important work he has done to care for our planet. We also watched a special Newsround celebration about David Attenborough’s 100th birthday. During worship, we enjoyed watching a video created by Cidari which showcased all the different ways Cidari schools, including St Barnabas, have been helping to care for the Earth. The video included examples such as using reusable containers, switching off lights, using less electricity, litter picking, bird watching, wearing green and blue for Earth Day, taking part in Travel Tracker and sorting rubbish into the correct bins. We loved watching the video and spotting our own faces on the screen. To finish our worship, the whole school sang “Happy Birthday” to Sir David Attenborough to celebrate his amazing contribution to protecting and caring for our world.
Year 3- Class Worship- Exploring 'The Kind Stranger
In class today, we took part in a 'God’s Big Story' collective worship session focused on the parable of The Kind Stranger (The Good Samaritan). We joined Iain the storyteller to revisit this famous parable and listened to Bishop Philip, who challenged us to look beyond the surface of the story. The children explored the different "layers" of Jesus' words, discussing what it truly means to be a neighbour and how we can show compassion to everyone, even those who are different from us. It was a thoughtful session that encouraged the class to think about how they can put kindness into action in their own lives.
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Year 4 - Class Worship: Is It Ever Right To Lie?
A philosophical debate helped us to answer a very widely contested question in our class worship during polling week. Stephen Fry introduced the story of King Lawrence the Lion who introduced a law against telling lies of any kind. Within the story, there were examples of lies that hurt others and lies that protect others. There were also quotes from famous philosophers who have argued both sides. Then it was over to the children. In groups, the children used their talk tokens to take turns in putting forward their ideas. We focussed on the skill of summarising and so each group had a note taker who summarised the main points discussed in their groups when presenting to the rest of the class. We then considered what Jesus would say about lying. The majority of the class agreed that telling a lie can sometimes be a good thing if it spares someone being hurt.
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Whole School Worship
It was lovely to welcome everyone back to school in Worship this morning after the long bank holiday weekend! Mrs Ham introduced this week’s Kindness Kite, which focuses on God’s mercy. The children shared some thoughtful reflections—Naomi reminded us that we hear in the Bible how Jesus showed mercy to others, while Alfie (Year 5) explained that mercy means forgiveness. Together, we reflected on how showing mercy is the same as showing forgiveness in our everyday lives. We then watched the story of the Prodigal Son and explored how the different characters might have felt. The children suggested that the older son may have felt jealous, confused and even angry when his brother returned after spending his father’s money and was welcomed back with a celebration. Through this, we discussed the message that no matter what we do, God still loves us. We linked this to our own lives, recognising that even when we make mistakes at school or at home and face consequences, we are still loved by our families. We ended our worship by singing Stronger and Sing a New Song, helping us feel positive and ready for the week ahead. 💛
Friday Celebration Worship
We have had a very busy and exciting week in school, with lots to celebrate together. During worship, we learned the Makaton signs for spring and continued to build on our focus of kindness. We spent time reflecting on how we can show kindness to others in our words and actions, reminding ourselves that God is always watching and guiding us to make positive choices. We were also delighted to welcome special visitors, who spoke to us about the importance of caring for our oceans and looking after God’s sea creatures, helping us to think about how we can protect the world around us. We were proud to announce our Values Award winners this week. In Reception, Evie demonstrated our school values brilliantly, while Minnie C in Year 1 and Alice in Year 2 also impressed with their positive attitudes. Year 3 were celebrated as a whole class, with a special mention to Aura for settling so well into our school community. In Year 4, Naomi and Emily were recognised for their efforts, while Charlie in Year 5 and Summer in Year 6 also showed excellent examples of our values. It was wonderful to celebrate our TT Rockstars achievements, with Jack and Scarlett in Year 4 receiving certificates for their hard work. In the same year group, Finley, Lottie and Ella were awarded their pen licences, showing great progress and pride in their writing. We also announced our team values results, with India Mill taking first place, followed by River Darwen in second, Darwen Tower in third and Whitehall Park in fourth. We were incredibly proud to share a wide range of achievements from outside of school. Erin achieved a 5m swimming certificate, while Bowen swam 10 metres without armbands, and Lydia and Naomi achieved Stage 4 and Stage 6 swimming certificates. Annabelle received a star of the week award in acro dance alongside multiple swimming certificates, and Lyla achieved fourth place in jazz dancing. In sporting achievements, Haydn received a football trophy for scoring eight goals, Joshua earned two medals for running, and Finley, Chai and James were awarded medals and a Bronze Cup trophy, with James also being named player of the match. Harry achieved a green belt in kickboxing, and Percy was awarded a Beavers trophy for his commitment to attendance. We also celebrated achievements in other areas, with Phoebe receiving a Bible reading in church certificate and James earning a silver award at St George’s Parade in Scouts, while Seb received a badge at the same event in Cubs. Callie was awarded a Chloe doll at Brownies for confidently singing in front of others, and Evie received an Olivia doll in Brownies and Eleanor achieved a courage badge and Bee Keeper badge. Rosie was named builder of the week in her Kids with Bricks club, and Alice achieved cheerleader of the week. Grace was recognised as runner up for cutest performance as Young Cosette in Les Misérables, which is a fantastic accomplishment. In school sport, our Year 4 gifted and talented football club represented the school brilliantly, showing great skill and teamwork. Our tag rugby team demonstrated excellent sportsmanship at Blackburn Rugby Club, and our netball team had a fantastic set of results, winning seven matches, drawing one and losing two at the Westholme tournament. Finally, well done to Year 1 and Year 6 for achieving the highest attendance this week. Thank you also to Rev Ben for leading us in prayer and helping us reflect on all the wonderful things we have achieved together. We hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and we look forward to welcoming the children back after the break. A quick reminder that school is closed on Monday for the bank holiday and on Thursday for Polling.
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Whole School Worship
Today Rev Matt led our Whole School Worship which focused on understanding that during difficult times we can listen to God. We started with a challenge where we had to listen to different noises and identify what they were. First there was a cat, then a plane, a lion, a microwave, the wind.This highlighted the importance of listening. Our Bible story this week was the story about the road to Emmaus. After Jesus rose from the dead, two sad followers were walking to Emmaus when Jesus joined them, but they didn’t recognise him. He explained how the Bible predicted his resurrection. Later, while breaking bread together, they realised it was Jesus before he vanished. Excited, they ran back to tell others he was alive! Rev Matt told us that Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in the Bible. But they are written that you may believe. He also asked us how does God help us when something is hard? The children gave some lovely answers such as showing us the way, giving us support and being the guiding light. We finished with a special prayer and then sang One, two, three Jesus is alive!
Whole School Worship - One Way Giving
In this whole school collective worship, we developed our understanding of one way giving. Our Year 6 heads and deputies began by sharing what each class did for our Hop, Skip and Jump event. Jacqui, a representative from East Lancs Hospice came to award us with participation certificates and to reveal that we raised a fantastic £357 during our event. Thank you to all our children and parents for your support. Mrs Ham then shared this week’s One Way Giving kindness kite. Three of our KS2 children volunteered to read the sections of the kite and we learned that the Bible says we should give in secret and God will reward us. After this, we watched a cartoon of the event when Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Canaan. He secretly asked the servants to fill the jars with water and turned it into wine. The master of ceremonies tasted the wine and approved it to be a very good wine thinking it was provided by the groom. The groom received the praise, and only the servants and God knew that Jesus had performed this miracle. This was a great example of one way giving. Finally, Mrs Ham and Mr Bloomfield put up our new Widgit symbols, with the help of our children, on our Big Frieze to help the children understand God’s Big Story.
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Singing Worship
Wow, what a start to the week in our Whole School Singing Worship this morning! We welcomed everyone back into school with an energetic sing. Lots of children led us and helped us with the actions to New song, Stronger, Build up, Rich in kindness and The Hero. Well done everyone, an awesome start to the week!
Year 3- Class Worship-Celebrating St. George’s Day
For today's class worship, we learned about the significance of St. George’s Day. We discussed the patron saint's history and the values of bravery and kindness he represents. The children engaged in a thoughtful discussion about fairness and unfairness, exploring what it means to act with integrity. We linked these ideas to the Bible’s teachings on how we should treat others with kindness, respect, and equality. Elijah, read the prayer for the whole class.
Whole School Worship with Rev Ben
Our Whole School Worship was led by Rev Ben this morning and we started by highlighting the fact that today is St George’s Day. Today many people across England will celebrate the country's patron saint, St George. Patron saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over all areas of life. Next, six children were selected to play Rev Ben’s fishing game. It focused on Peter the fisherman who also reminds us of St George. The six children had to work in two teams to fetch and carry the most fish to win the game. Peter was an ordinary fisherman on the Sea of Galilee who became one of Jesus' closest friends and leaders (apostles). Jesus changed his life by telling him he would become a "fisher of men," meaning he would help people learn about God instead of catching fish. Peter was known for being brave, impulsive, and for walking on water with Jesus. The children watched a clip about Peter and then answered the following questions: What happened in today’s Bible story? Why do you think you might be a better friend if you know you sometimes need to be forgiven yourself? The children answered that Peter had let Jesus down, but Jesus still forgave him. Being courageous is knowing that we don’t always get things right.
Whole School Worship- Earth Day 2026: Our Power, Our Planet
Today, Mrs Ham led an inspiring whole-school worship focused on Earth Day 2026, which is tomorrow, and our theme, 'Our Power, Our Planet. We explored essential ways to care for our environment, from the importance of recycling and saving water to the impact of planting trees. During the session, the children demonstrated fantastic oral speaking and oracy skills as they discussed their personal pledges with their peers, articulating how they plan to help the environment, not just on Earth Day, but every day! We heard some wonderful stories: Luna spoke about her time picking up litter on holiday in Greece, while Alfie shared that it is an act of kindness to pick up rubbish even if it isn't your own. Jonas also reminded our budding Planet Protectors to wear green for the land and blue for the sea tomorrow to celebrate Earth Day. From planting trees at home to helping grandparents with local litter picks, the children’s ideas were truly inspiring. We also reflected on our efforts as a school family in protecting our planet over the last few months such as planting a microforest at Jacks Key, planting two orchards on our school grounds, our WOW group's pick up dog poo campaign, our Rotakids recycling teddies and winter coats for those in need and focusing on switching off lights and devices. We concluded by singing, 'We Can Make a Difference', and offering a prayer of thanks for our wonderful world, reflecting on how we can all work together to protect our precious planet.
Friday Celebration Worship
We had a fabulous first week back and it was wonderful to see all the children working so hard and settling back into school life so positively. Throughout the week, we spent time reflecting on kindness, thinking carefully about the kind things we have done ourselves and the kindness we have seen in others. This week’s values awards were proudly presented to Luna in Reception, Jasper in Year 1, Noah in Year 2, Archie in Year 3, Bluebell in Year 4, James in Year 5 and Elsie in Year 6. Well done to all of you for consistently demonstrating our school values. In TT Rockstars, Archie and Lyla from Year 4 were awarded certificates for their efforts, fantastic work! Our team values results saw Darwen Tower in fourth place, India Mill in third, Whitehall Park in second and River Darwen taking first place. A huge congratulations to River Darwen, who also won a disco and non-uniform day for achieving the most points last half term, what a brilliant achievement! We were delighted to celebrate a wide range of achievements outside of school this week. Ava was awarded a Level 4 certificate in swimming, while Reggie achieved 50 metres, Mikey 20 metres, Minnie C 10 metres, Isabella achieved Stage 5 and James achieved Stage 1, well done to all our swimmers. Luna earned a yellow belt in kickboxing and Eleanor received a certificate for taking part in a duck hunt. Lydia, Annie, Luna, Thea and Olivia were all awarded badges and certificates in Rainbows for first aid, networking skills, tasty treats and present making. Rosie and Naomi were recognised as seconders in Brownies, taking on an important leadership role. Sophia, Darcy, Daisy and Alexis were all awarded sixer badges in Brownies for their leadership, with Darcy also receiving the Brownies doll for being particularly helpful. Samuel was named Beaver of the Week for his excellent map reading and Isaac was awarded Player of the Week for his fantastic shooting, passing and tackling in football. Congratulations to Reception and Year 3 for achieving the highest attendance this week, keep it up! Finally, we shared some important reminders. Reception families were invited to the upcoming stay and play session and we are looking forward to celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, with children invited to come dressed in green or blue. Year 3 are excited for their upcoming Rock and River Outdoor Adventure trip and we also look forward to the Whitehall Park afternoon tea taking place on Sunday. We ended our worship with thoughtful prayers led by Sophia and Darcy. Well done to everyone for such a positive and successful week.