Collective Worship- Year of Prayer
This morning in our Collective Worship we focused on our prayer for this week of the Year of Prayer from Blackburn Diocese. We discussed and shared our responsibilities in school and at home such as cleaning our rooms, loading the dishwasher, helping look after younger siblings, helping with the cooking and cleaning, counting values points (Heads and Deputies) and planning and leading sports events (Sports Leaders) . We then said together a special prayer for our responsibilities and discussed how God is always with us during those responsibilities and having a smile on face whilst carrying them out benefits others. Mrs Ham then shared the responsibility of selecting songs to sing and choosing children to demonstrate the actions at the front. The children chose to sing 'Life is always better when we share it with each other', 'Waymaker' 'My Lighthouse' and 'Build Up'. Build up is also the theme for our class Year of Prayer this week too. Our WOW group members informed each class of the special build up prayers they would be saying this week.
.png)
Year 3- Class Worship- Is it our responsibility to protect local wildlife?
During our worship today, we learned about Birdwatch, a special event where people help scientists learn about birds. We talked about whether we have a duty to protect the animals around us. The Bible teaches us to appreciate all of God's amazing creations, and that every creature has a special place in God's plan. We then thanked God for the wonderful world He made and showed our gratitude to those who work hard to study and protect wildlife.
.jpeg)
Year 4 - RE: What is Prayer?
New year, new RE topic in Year 4. This half term we will be exploring prayer and what it means to different people of faith. We began our unit with a twist on the silent gallery. There were various questions posted around the classroom and the children had to walk around the room in silence and record their ideas. This activity gives a great baseline assessment of what the children already know and where we can take their learning. We will be using this tool again throughout the unit to help the children’s spiritual exploration.
.jpg)
Collective Worship- Epiphany
It was wonderful to welcome the children and staff back to school today after the Christmas holidays. We wished everyone a happy new year and welcomed Mrs Irshad, our new Year 5 and 6 teaching and welfare assistant to our school family. We got to light all of our special advent wreath candles of hope, peace, joy and love and the special white candle that symbolised Jesus, as we weren't in school on Christmas Day. We then learnt all about Epiphany and joined in with the rhyming Bible story 'one hump. two humps, lumpety lump'. which tells the story of the wise men visiting Herod and the baby Jesus. We discussed how Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to flee from Bethlehem as Herod planned to kill Jesus. Desmond told us that they were refugees. We then explored what the special gifts were that the wise men brought to baby Jesus and what they meant. Gold symbolised a King, Frankincense symbolised God and Myrrh symbolised sacrifice. Harry noticed that they were the words from our hymn 'We Three Kings' We reflected on how God has given us all special gifts and talents and we talked to our partner about our gifts and how we could share them with others. We shared some wonderful gifts such as huge smiles, hugs, football skills, art skills, our family and friends and the gift of kindness. We finished with a special Epiphany prayer along with the Year of Prayer putting on Holy clothes prayer and sang 'We Three Kings'. How will you share your gifts with others this week and show respect for other people's gifts?
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.
.jpg)
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.
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.
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.
.jpeg)
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.