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.'