Rev Ben’s Whole School Worship
Our Whole School Worship was lead by Rev Ben this morning. We started by playing Rev Ben says which the children loved. The game was all about listening carefully,which led us nicely into the story of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were told not to touch the tree in the middle of the garden as it would make God unhappy. Then one day the serpent came to visit and told Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the tree. They both ate from the tree and became I’ll as they has gone against Gods wishes. He asked them to leave the garden so sadly they left the garden as they had changed Gods will forever. This helps us to understand why the world is the way it is. Christians believe Jesus is Gods Ultimate Rescuer and he sacrificed Himself so that those who follow Him can know they are God’s friends. Following the story, Rev Ben asked the children what went wrong and how was God still generous? The children shared their ideas by answering that they are the fruit and this created badness to enter the world but God promised to send a rescuer. Then we discussed who. Might God be asking you to show sacrificial generosity tot his week? The children suggested teachers, parents, friends and people that don’t have much. For our time of prayer we took time to say sorry to God asking him for forgiveness for things that we have done wrong.
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Worship: Worship Behaviour & Living Out God's Big Story
This morning in Worship, Mrs Araujo, our Behaviour Lead shared our behaviour focus for this term- Behaviour in Worship. We recapped our manners and lunch time behaviour focuses from last year and how they were linked to our 4 B's of Be Safe and Be Kind. This term we are going to focus on our 4 B's of Be Respectful and Be Ready and Mrs Araujo showed us special widgit symbols and Makaton signs that our teachers will be using to remind us of good listening, track the speaker, stay silent until asked to participate and good sitting. We then watched the latest Worship across the Diocese video about Bringing the Kingdom to life. After Pentecost what did the disciples do next? How did they make sure that they were following Jesus' teaching? In this episode we explored the actions of Jesus' followers that meant that they brought God's Big Story to life at that time, and the ways in which we can do the same today. We reflected with Bishop Philip on how we can be storytellers of God's big story as we can learn about Jesus, pray, eat together and give to others.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning marked our second celebration worship of the new academic year, and what an incredible week it has been! A definite highlight was the fantastic "Treasure Island" production by M&M Productions, which truly captivated our entire school. We've also enjoyed settling into our new classes, launching into new curriculums, and electing our Smart School Councillors and Well-being Warriors. We then had the pleasure of congratulating our amazing Value Award winners for this week. These children have made a fantastic start to the new academic year by consistently demonstrating Barney's 4Bs and our Christian Values, alongside working incredibly hard across the curriculum. A huge well done to Evie and Alice in KS1, and to Charlie, Scarlett, Daisy, and Brodie in KS2! We also celebrated some wonderful out-of-school achievements: Alayna for achieving grade excellence in her recent acro exam, Maggie for earning Star of the Week for super effort at gymnastics, Haydn for demonstrating great skill and sportsmanship at a holiday sports club, earning him a huge trophy!, Hendrix for achieving Squirrel of the Week, Scarlett for her impressive achievements in Netball, Sofia for earning a distinction, the highest possible grade, in musical theatre, Annabel for being a superstar on her first day at Brownies, Samuel for showing fantastic courage in his swimming lessons, Thea for being a super Rainbow and attending the Rainbows fun day, Mikey for swimming 10m, Ava for being awarded her builders badge at Squirrels, and Eleanor and Olivia for being super creative at Rainbows this week. Additionally, we recognised Reception and Year 4 for achieving our amazing attendance award this week! Well done to Reception with an impressive 99.6% and Year 4 with 98.6%. Mrs. Ham then shared some exciting events for next week: Years 3, 4, and 6 will participate in a ‘Let’s Go Sing’ concert on Monday, Year 5 will enjoy a Move and Learn session with Blackburn Rovers, and a reminder that Wednesday is School Photograph Day and we will also have our Meet the Teacher sessions. We concluded our worship with special prayers from Harry, Minnie, and Harry, who encouraged us to show respect, spread positivity at school, and consider those less fortunate, such as those without easy access to clean water. We then shared the Grace and had a lively sing-along to ‘We Can Make a Difference.’
Rev Ben's Worship: Creation
Today’s whole school worship was led by Rev Ben where we explored the story of creation. We thought about why and how God created our world, which is rich in variety and we are trusted to look after. As we look around our world and as we go through our day, Rev Ben reminded us to reflect on how we can show love, respect and generosity to others and our world.
Year 4 - Class Worship
This week, in our class worship, we looked again at Lisa and Bishop Philip’s worship about living out God’s big story. We looked at our big frieze and recapped the story, using the pictures to help us. We discussed how Bishop Philip lives out God’s big story and shared ideas about how we could do this in our daily lives. Towards the end of our worship, the children shared their favourite parts of the big story, explaining the reasons for their choices. Here are some of their ideas: “I like Kingdom of God because it’s about everyone getting along.” “I like Creation because it’s reminds me of nature.”
Living out God's big story Worship
Today we joined Lisa and Bishop Philip for another Worship across the Diocese worship. They introduced this year's theme of 'Living out God's big story' and had a conversation about what it means to live out God's Big Story. Bishop Philip told us about the ways in which he lives out God's Big Story through his work and when he is on holiday! We then reflected on how we can live out God's Big Story. To finish we practiced singing 'Welcome Everybody' and 'Stronger Together'. Thank you to our amazing Year 6 class for singing brilliantly at the front and demonstrating the actions to the rest of our school family.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, in our first celebration of the new academic year, we began by reflecting on a fantastic first week back at school. Over the past few days, we have revisited our Barney’s 4Bs and our Christian Values, warmly welcomed our new Reception starters, and transitioned smoothly into our new classes. We then turned our attention to celebrating some incredible out-of-school achievements. Well done to Ava for earning her 10m and Stage 3 swimming certificates, Grace for collecting multiple medals in ballet, song and dance, and acro, and Willow for being named Star of the Week at Gymfinity Kids for her outstanding skill. Congratulations also to Mollie, Samuel, and Olivia for their hard work completing the BwD Summer Reading Challenge, Lyla for her medals and trophy in improvised and commercial dance, and Callie for her exceptional achievements in gymnastics, Stage 6 swimming, and earning her dragon belt in Jiu-Jitsu. We also applauded Phoebe for her 5m swimming certificate, Charlie for helping his football team secure 2nd place in a recent tournament and winning the Manager’s Cup, and Hendrix for earning numerous badges at Squirrels. A big congratulations to Year 2 and Year 5 for winning this week’s attendance awards—Year 2 achieved an incredible 100% attendance, and Year 5 closely followed with 98.8%. Mrs Ham then shared some exciting upcoming events to look forward to: the whole-school production of Treasure Island on Tuesday 9th September, a ‘Let’s Go Sing’ workshop for Years 4, 5, and 6 on Monday 15th September aimed at boosting choir participation, our ‘Meet the Teacher’ meetings on Wednesday 17th September, our annual Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 26th September, and a ‘Stay and Play’ morning on Thursday 2nd October for children due to start school in September 2026. We ended our worship with heartfelt prayers from Renee, James, and Mason, who prayed for kindness and for all those suffering from illness or living amidst war and conflict and a singalong to ‘Shine From the Inside Out.’ Thank you to everyone who joined us this week—we look forward to welcoming more of our school family to Friday Celebration Worship in the coming weeks.
Let your light shine worship with Bishop Philip
This morning in our collective worship, Bishop Philip welcomed everyone back to school. We reflected on why we come to school and how Jesus was a teacher and his disciples were the learners. He encouraged us all to shine out with the gifts and talents that God has given to us. If we shine with the light of learning, service and love we can make the world a better place. We thought about how we can shine from the inside out this school year and finished with one of our favourite songs, 'Shine from the Inside Out'.
Whole School Worship - School Pride
Our first collective worship was a chance for us to celebrate being back together as a school family and reflect on what we hope for the year ahead. Mrs Ham began with a look at our school vision and invited the children to share ideas of how we can all contribute to our 'love-filled Christian family'. The children spoke in depth about acts of respect and kindness, which led Mrs Ham on to a recap of our school rules: Barney's 4 Be's- Be ready, be kind, be safe and be respectful. We discussed the importance of following our rules in order that we take real pride in our school and help every part of our school family to flourish. Some of our children even chose to come to the front of worship to demonstrate exemplary behaviour such as wonderful walking and legendary lining up. There were also reminders about healthy snack choices and the importance of attending school each day. We are so proud of our overall school attendance for the previous academic year and the children shared some reasons why regular attendance is important. We left our worship feeling energised and excited about the year ahead.
Year 3- Class Worship- What can flags represent?
This morning in our class worship, we used a "Picture News" to discuss a recent news story about flags being displayed across the UK. We explored different opinions, considering why people might see the flags as a way to show pride for their country and support for sports teams. We also discussed the concerns of others who feel the flags can be used to make some people feel unwelcome. After our discussion, the children were challenged to create their own flags to represent something important to them, such as their family or school. They had the chance to think about what symbols, colours, and words they would include to show what they believe in. The activity helped them understand how flags can be powerful symbols that bring people together but can also be used to divide. Some of the children created a flag with a drawing representing each family member, their favourite sports, favourite colours and hobbies etc.
Year 6 Leavers- End of Year Award Ceremony
Today, we celebrated our wonderful Year 6 leavers with a special awards ceremony at St Barnabas Church. The ceremony began with the children sharing some of their most treasured memories from their time at St Barnabas. Mr Prescott then delivered a heartfelt address, warmly commending children on their incredible journey through school. He particularly highlighted their exceptional hard work and unwavering dedication throughout the year. The eagerly anticipated individual awards were then presented: Jack proudly received the Progress Award, Will was deservingly named Star of the Year, Harry was overwhelmingly voted the Children's Champion, Leonora earned the Spirituality Award, Daisy shone bright with the Performing Arts Award, Esme and Freddie were celebrated with the Sports Award, Poppy bravely accepted the Kevin Keegan Courage Award, and Matthew was honoured for his outstanding Overall Commitment to School. What a truly inspiring group of young individuals! Mrs Ham extended a huge thank you to our current Head and Deputy Head boys and girls, as well as the Sports Leaders, for their exceptional work and for impeccably representing our school throughout the academic year. Our Year 6 children also received special leavers presents from Katie, on behalf of Friends of St Barnabas, Mr Ashworth, our Trust CEO and Rev Ben. We then enjoyed a wonderful video celebrating their time at St Barnabas, expertly created by Mrs Ham and filled with precious memories. On behalf of the Year 6 parents, children, and our entire school family, we also expressed our immense gratitude to Mrs Gardner for her unwavering commitment and dedication to sports and we bid a very special farewell to Mr Prescott, a dedicated member of our staff team for 8 years. We thank him for all of the support that he has given to our school family for nearly a decade and we wish him the best of the luck as he takes up his promotion at Meadowhead Junior School in Blackburn. He will be missed enormously by our whole school family. Thank you to Rev Ben for ending our church service with a final blessing for our wonderful Year 6 children and our whole school family. Our thanks also go to Rev Ben for concluding our church service with a final blessing for our wonderful Year 6 children and our entire school family.
Year 6- Attendance Superstars
During our special Year 6 Awards Ceremony, we also took the opportunity to present attendance awards to children who achieved 100% attendance and those with attendance above 96% this academic year.