Collective Worship: Year of Prayer
This morning in our Collective Worship, some of our WOW (Worship our Way) group members told everyone about the special way we would be praying in class this week as part of Blackburn Diocese's Year of Prayer. In class we will be saying special fingerprint prayers to say thank you to God for making us all unique and special, just like our fingerprints. They then handed out ink pads for each class. Then we moved on to our whole school year of prayer focus and this week it was special toe prayers for our friends. The children enjoyed wiggling each of their toes whilst saying prayers for 5 special friends. Sofia put the special toes sticker onto our Year of Prayer poster. We then sang some of our favourite worship songs and each class had the chance to perform the actions at the front. This week we warmed up our voices by singing and dancing to Sing a new song to the Lord and then we sang Jesus strong and kind, Waymaker, Life in all its fullness and finished with Build Up.
Holocaust Memorial Day Worship
Our first collective worship of the week had a serious and somber tone as we held in our thoughts and prayers all of the Jews who suffered in the Holocaust. We looked out of our spirituality windows to learn how the Nazis did not show love to their Jewish neighbours like God commanded but instead treated them really badly during World War II. We watched a BBC interview with a Jewish survivor, who described some of the personal tragedies he faced at the young age of 6 when his family sent him away to save his life from the Nazi regime. He shared how he travelled on the Kindertransport and a British family showed him love and compassion and became the light in the dark. Through our spirituality mirrors we were able to reflect on how hearing of these events made us feel, and how the Jews must have felt back then. Finally, through our spirituality doors we learned of the many survivors who have worked tirelessly to make people aware of the devastation that was caused so that it would never happen again. We reflected on how we should always love our neighbours regardless of whether they look like you, pray like you, speak like you or think like you and stand up to anyone who is being mean to others.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on another busy week in school. This week, our school staff have had some Makaton training which was wonderful and we can’t wait to roll some of the key signs out across school. We’ve also enjoyed some fantastic Life Education sessions led by Karen and Harold the Giraffe and Reception, Year 1, 2 and 4 have continued with their wonderful dance and gymnastics sessions led by Rothwell Arts. We then congratulated Hadi, Samuel and Eve in EYFS and KS1 and Joshua, Layla, Millie and Will in KS2 for demonstrating an outstanding attitude to learning, pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and always showing our Christian Values of respect, friendship and courage. Furthermore, we congratulated Reception and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen as our overall value award winners this week with 304 points and our Year 5/6 football team who represented our school amazingly well last night in the DPSSA football league winning 6-2 in their first game and 7-1 in their second game and achieving 2nd place overall- well done boys! We then congratulated Ava for being awarded ‘Star of the Day’ at Multi-Sports Club, Olly for swimming an incredible 50m, Samuel for developing his confidence in swimming and swimming with only a one-arm disc, Grace for achieving a distinction in her ballet exam and a platinum award for scoring 90 or marks in her classical ballet exam, Eliza for being a phenomenal horse rider, Sofia for achieving ‘Star of the Week’ at musical theatre and Millie for being awarded with her a Stage 1 swimming certificate. We then heard from our well-being warriors who launched a competition. They are inviting our whole school to design a badge for our ‘WOW’ campaign. The theme for this is ‘Walk With Joy’ and the designs must be big, bold and colourful. There will be a winner in each year group (Rec-Year 6) who will receive a special prize from Mrs Gardener and the well-being warriors and the overall top 5 designs will be sent off, printed and made into one of the ‘WOW’ badges for the 2025/2026 ‘Walking to School’ campaign. Examples of badge designs could include wildlife or pets, local buildings or landmarks and hobbies. We also heard from our Rotakids in Year 5 who told us about a non-uniform day that we will be having next Friday 31st January to raise funds for food, shelter and first aid supplies for those in America who are being affected by the LA wildfires. Please make a minimum donation of £1 for this worthy cause. To end our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Archie, Max and Phoebe who prayed for those less fortunate than ourselves, including those in America who are amidst the wildfires and having to live through fear and heartbreak. We then sang our 'Life in all its fullness' song and thanked those who could attend celebration worship. We thank the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Worship with Rev. Ben
Today’s worship with Rev. Ben began with a lively game of Captain’s Orders. In the game, forgiveness was straightforward—a simple cue to face the window—but in real life, forgiving someone is often much harder. Rev. Ben explained that one of the things Jesus taught us is that forgiveness can be challenging because we may not always have the right perspective. The children then listened to The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, which highlighted that true forgiveness comes from the heart. Through this parable, Jesus illustrated the importance of showing others the same grace and forgiveness that we receive. Afterward, the children engaged in a thoughtful discussion, exploring key questions such as: What did Jesus want people to learn about forgiveness from the parable? and How could this story help you in situations where you need to forgive others? The discussion encouraged the children to reflect on the value of forgiveness and how it can bring peace to their lives and relationships.
Reception Picture News
This week in our class worship we have been looking at Picture News and thinking about the terrible wildfires that are happening in Los Angeles. We talked about how hard it must be for the people who live there to flee their homes and sadly thought about the people who have lost their lives too. Not only this, but the animals who are seeking shelter from losing their habitats. We finished by saying some ‘please’ prayers to ask God for help during this difficult time.
Year 4 - Class Worship - God’s Fire
In our class worship this week we heard the story of Elijah and how he stood up against the 450 prophets who worshipped Baal instead of God. They prayed to Baal for fire but none came. Then Elijah prayed to God for fire and God provided. We then talked about how Christians believe God lights a fire in their hearts when they follow his word.
Reception: Class Worship
We started our worship with our trinity. Lisa from Blackburn Diocese then asked us to repeat a prayer after her- God is amazing, all of the time, Amen. We listened to a story from the Old Testament called God sends fire. It made our eyes go wide and our mouth go wow! Bishop Jill explained the meaning of the story. Fire is a strong image in the bible and it represents the fiery love of God. When we ask for God's fire from heaven, we are asking for our hearts to be filled with his love. It is the sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. We prayed and learnt together the Makaton sign for fire. We finished our worship with a song we learnt yesterday in singing worship called 'Who is the king of the jungle'.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our Celebration Worship by reflecting on another busy week in school. This week, we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and thought about how we can all make a positive difference in our world. We have enjoyed focusing on the theme of building each other up as part of our Year of Prayer, Reception, Year 1, 2 and 4 have enjoyed dance and gymnastics sessions led by Rothwell Arts. Reception have enjoyed a visit from Rev Ben to learn about the role of a vicar and we have enjoyed various after-school clubs such as basketball, multi-sports, foodie club, Rocksteady and choir. We then congratulated Will, Hollie and Charlie in EYFS and KS1 and Arabelle, Daisy, Charlie and Rosie in KS2 for making a fantastic start to the Spring term by working extremely hard across the curriculum, always striving to improve and demonstrating our Christian Values and the Barny’s 4Bs. Furthermore, we congratulated Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, India Mill as our overall value award winners this week with 750 points and our Year 5/6 football team who represented our school amazingly well last night in the DPSSA football league against Ashleigh and St James’. We then congratulated Ella for achieving her Stage 2 swimming certificate for swimming across the pool with no armbands, Freddie for being awarded with his 10m swimming certificate, Callie for achieving her Stage 5 swimming certificate, Thomas for swimming an incredible 50m, Lyla for being a super gymnast and achieving a silver medal, Haydn for being awarded a huge gold trophy for his skilful tackling in football, Lydia for being awarded with Olivia at Rainbows for showing super respect and tidying up, Leonora and Iris for participating in a recent gymnastic competition and demonstrating great skill and Brooke for being selected for Blackburn Rovers Girls’ team. To end our worship, we prayed for peace in the world and said thank you for all of the things that we are lucky enough to have. We then sang ‘Build Up’ and thanked those who could attend celebration worship. We thank the rest of our school family for all of your continued support and we wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 1 - Year of Prayer
This week’s theme for the Year of Prayer is ‘Build Up’. Year 1 have been focusing on building each other up through collaboratively constructing a tower while saying something kind to their partner as they add a brick. We have had comments such as ‘I love your smile,’ ‘You are a brilliant mathematician,’ ‘You show respect by sitting nicely,’ and ‘You are helpful’.
Worship with Rev. Matt
Today’s worship with Rev. Matt began with an engaging vote about which activities take the most time to prepare for. Rev. Matt then shared a parable told by Jesus, illustrating how we pray and connect with God. The story featured two men who went to a temple to pray: a Pharisee, who proudly listed his good deeds and a tax collector, who humbly asked for forgiveness. The children reflected on the contrasting attitudes of the two men, learning that prayer is not about boasting but about speaking honestly and sincerely with God. Rev. Matt emphasised a powerful message from the parable: Those who make themselves great will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be made great. This served as a reminder to approach life with humility and gratitude, encouraging the children to think about how they communicate with God and with others.
Whole School Worship - Who Is My Neighbour?
In our collective worship, we were considering the question, “Who is my neighbour?” We discussed what it means to love your neighbour as yourself (as mentioned in parts of the Bible such as Leviticus and the Gospel according to Mark) and that there are times when it can be incredibly difficult. In hearing about the life of Martin Luther King Jr, as today is Martin Luther King Jr Day, we discovered that, even when it feels impossible to love our neighbour, when we are mistreated, ignored or disrespected as he and other black people have been, we must try harder to follow God’s greatest commandment, just like Martin did. Our children considered this and spent some time reflecting on the Christian Values that Martin demonstrated and the ways that they would like to make the world a better place and make a difference. Some of the children’s examples included: protecting nature, making peace when we have disagreements, putting a stop to pollution and eradicating poverty. We finished with prayers thanking God for Martin Luther King Jr and all that he did to the make the world a better place and asked Him to give us the courage to stand up for what is right. Rev Ben finished with a special blessing and we sang 'I can make a difference'.
Year 3- Class Worship- Pour your heart out with prayers
In our class worship today, we watched a Worship Together across the Diocese video with a story about Hannah from the Bible. This story teaches us that we can pour out our hearts to God in prayer, and he always listens. Some children prayed to be kind and helpful to others, to make good choices, to have the courage to try new things and for there to be peace in the world Bishop Philip also spoke about how prayer gives us hope.