Image of Friday Celebration Worship
7 Jul

Friday Celebration Worship

This morning in celebration worship, Mrs Ham started by praising all of our children for their courage and positivity during our whole school transition day yesterday. All of the teachers were super impressed with the creativity, attitude to learning, behaviour and manners that all of the children showed in their new year groups. We then said well done to our Reception and KS1 value award winners who were Connie, Bobby-Ray, Jack and Eliza and our KS2 value award winners who were Edward, Alice, Oscar and Freya. We said a huge well done to our High 5 netball team who represented BwD at the Lancashire School Games at Stanley Park on Tuesday and got through to the quarter final. We also celebrated lots of out of schools sports award winners. Well done to Ruby and Archie for entering and competing the Iron Kids Competition, Daisy for being a fantastic gymnast, Lyla and Sofia for their ‘Going Places’ dancing trophy and Sofia for being outstanding at Musical Theatre, Eliza for demonstrating wonderful football skills, Isaac for his ‘potential and success in the arts’ trophy, Peyton and Cassidy for being superstars at rainbows, Summer for achieving stage 6 at swimming and level 2 at gymnastics and Grace for wonderful improvement in her ballet, a gold award in jazz and being the overall classical dancer of the year. We congratulated Reception and Year 6 for being the attendance winners this week and Whitehall Park for being the Value Award House Point Winners this week. Lastly, we heard some beautiful prayers from Hamza, Sofia and Jack and sang Sing a New Song to the Lord. Thank you to the those who could join us for celebration worship this week and we wish you all an enjoyable weekend.

Image of Whole School Collective Worship- Archdeacon David
6 Jul

Whole School Collective Worship- Archdeacon David

This morning in worship, we welcomed Archdeacon David who visited our school to lead collective worship. Archdeacon David asked us what we think it means when we say that Jesus is the light of the world. We had responses such as it means that Jesus leads us and guides us in the right way, that Jesus lights up the world and makes it a nicer place for us all to live and Jesus is the light of the world by encouraging us to be peaceful, respectful and kind. Archdeacon David told us that we also have the special power of being the light of the world too. He reminded us that Jesus said, ‘When I go back to heaven, I will leave you a special thing called the holy spirit. I want you to shine as a light in the world to make the world a better place.’ Archdeacon David left us to reflect on how we can achieve this. He said that next time he visits, he will give us the opportunity to tell him how we have been shining as a light in the world just as Jesus does and asks us to do. We finished our worship by singing 'Shine from the Inside out'.

Image of Monday Worship: St Barnabas and St Paul and Welcome to Rev Matt
3 Jul

Monday Worship: St Barnabas and St Paul and Welcome to Rev Matt

Today, Rev Ben led our worship and we welcomed Rev Matt who will be working at St Barnabas Church too. We began our worship by thinking about a time where something happened to us and where we couldn’t wait to tell others about it. Amelia couldn’t wait to tell others when her Mum had a baby. Mason couldn’t wait to tell others that he had been on the television! We thought about how St Barnabas and St Paul were generous about the message about Jesus and how they told Jesus’ story to people for the first time. Rev Ben shared a video with the children about their story. On Saturday, Matt became Rev Matt and was ordained at Blackburn Cathedral. Rev Matt wanted to become a vicar because he wanted to spread the word of Jesus and to find out more about Jesus. Rev Matt spent three years at vicar school. He said he was most excited to learn more and for the children to learn with him. We gave Rev Matt a huge St Barnabas welcome. We ended our worship by singing ‘story of the cross’.

Image of Friday Celebration Worship
30 Jun

Friday Celebration Worship

Wow! We have had another week with lots to celebrate both in and out of school. The Rotary Club came in to praise and thank our year 5 children for their contribution to the community, their school and the wider world. They were presented with a certificate for all of their fundraising for our school and supporting a number of charities this year including Cancer Research, The Teddy Trust and DARE (Darwen Asylum Seeker and Refugee Enterprise). They also raised money for Turkey, Nigeria and Ukraine. Well done Year 5! Also a huge well done to our value award winners this week who have been working hard across the curriculum and demonstrating a wonderful attitude to learning. These were Mila, Piper-Jo, Lennox and Carter in the infants and KS1 and Ruby, Daniel, Freddy, Isaac, Harlow and Louie in the Juniors. We also celebrated lots of in school sporting success. Our Year 5/6 boys and girls gymnasts for attending a competition as two separate teams at St Bedes High School on Tuesday. They were amazing! Our Year 5/6 cricket team who came 3rd overall at a recent cricket competition, our Year 6 tennis team who came 1st overall, the Year 4 football team who took part in a festival and won every game and the Year 3/4 and Y5/6 DPSSA cross country team for their determination and courage and coming 2nd place overall. We also congratulated our out of school sports award winners. Well done to Ella-Grace for trying her absolute best and getting Star of the Week during her football training and competition, Isabella and Charlie for getting their orange belts at martial arts, Carter for getting the Fantastic Fox of the day at football, Lyla for gaining level 1 in her tap dancing, Jenson for completing his stage 6 at swimming, Marley for her kindness at rainbows, Olivia for getting the managers player of the year trophy at football, Isaac for his trophy for demonstrating fantastic football skills, Charlie Rose for being a superstar gymnast and Ivy for being a superstar cheerleader, Georgie for taking part in her first competition for dancing, Harriet for completing her 10m in butterfly and 10m in breaststroke, Eliza for getting to the finals of her football competition at the weekend and Eva, Katie, Sadie and Charlotte for coming 1st place in their recent football tournament. We said a final well done to Reception and Year 3 for winning the amazing attendance this week and India Mill for achieving the Value Award Points Winners this week. Thank you to our parents and grandparents that could attend and we wish you all a wonderful weekend.

Image of Year 3 Class Worship
29 Jun

Year 3 Class Worship

During class worship this week, we thought about bravery and how we show bravery in our day to day lives. We also learnt about the 4 children in the news this week, who survived for 40 days on their own, before being rescued. We spoke about how the children would have had to show so much bravery and courage over this time. We had a think about our Rock and River visit in a couple of weeks time and how we are going to show bravery and encourage our peers, by building each other up and pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone!

Image of W.O.W. Group - Messy Parables - The Unforgiving Servant
28 Jun

W.O.W. Group - Messy Parables - The Unforgiving Servant

This week in the Messy Parables workshop, the children looked at the importance of forgiveness through the parable ‘The Unforgiving Servant’. They then had fun making bookmarks with a message of forgiveness. Well done to the W.O.W. Group; they are doing a fabulous job organising and delivering these workshops.

Image of W.O.W. Group - Messy Parables - The Mustard Seed
26 Jun

W.O.W. Group - Messy Parables - The Mustard Seed

Last week was the W.O.W. group’s first Messy Parables session. We read the Parable of the Mustard Seed, talked about how one little thought or belief can grow into something great, and made our own self-belief badges. All in all, a brilliant first session, with a few biscuits thrown in for good measure. This week, the parable is The Unforgiving Servant.

Image of Monday Worship: Fruits of the Spirit
26 Jun

Monday Worship: Fruits of the Spirit

Mrs Ham shared some photos of fruit trees and asked the children to name the fruit on each tree. We saw tangerines, pears, pineapples and strawberries to make a few. She told us that in the Bible, St Paul wrote in one of his letters about the fruit of the spirit. Mrs Ham had a fruit bag and asked some children to pick out a fruit from God’s fruit bowl. The children had to think about different fruits and discuss what they mean with a partner. The first was faithfulness. Wilson said if you trust each other then you would be faithful. The next fruit was self-control. Hamza said it is all about not reacting. The third was kindness. Archie said it is about helping people or giving to others. The next fruit of the spirit was love. Darcy said if you show love then they will show it you back. Sonny said giving somebody a hug shows love. The next was goodness which means being really good! The next fruit of the spirit was joy. Grace said if you are a nice person to be around then you will bring joy to others. Gentleness was then pulled out of God’s fruit bowl. Neve said you should be gentle with both your words and actions. Sofia pulled out patience. Daisy said it is all about waiting. Hamza said do not say hurry up! The last fruit of the spirit was peace. Mrs Ham wanted us to have a little peace whilst we reflected on our worship today. We ended our worship by singing ‘Fruit of the spirit’.

Image of Reception-World Refugee Day
20 Jun

Reception-World Refugee Day

Today is World Refugee Day, Reception watched an assembly held by World Vision who allowed us to learn about the lives of refugees and how we can support them. We listened to some refugees being interviewed about what their lives are like and what their dreams are for the future. Despite having to leave their homes, they remain very positive and grateful for having a safe place to grow up within the refugee camp. Reception asked lots of questions and were very interested. We also had a little chat about how we could raise money or give our unwanted things to charities that can help refugees. We ended our worship with some beautiful prayers.

Image of Year 5- Class Worship- Refugee Week 2023
20 Jun

Year 5- Class Worship- Refugee Week 2023

Today, Year 5 took part in the Great Big Live Assembly for Refugee Week. During the assembly, we learned about the journeys of refugees from different parts of the world. We had the privilege of hearing from Mohammed and Sidra, two incredible individuals who have had to flee their countries and start anew at the Za'atari refugee camp. Mohammed and Sidra shared their inspiring stories of resilience and courage with us. They spoke about the challenges they faced, but also about their determination to rebuild their lives despite the hardships. Let us continue to foster empathy, understanding, and support for refugees within our school community and beyond.

Image of Year 4 - Great Big Live Assembly for Refugee Week
20 Jun

Year 4 - Great Big Live Assembly for Refugee Week

Year 4 enjoyed being part of the Great Big Live Assembly this morning. We learned a lot about refugees and how they are being welcomed into our society. It truly has been a day of welcoming others as we welcomed our friends from our link school too. More photos to follow

Image of Year 1 Class Worship- World Refugee Day
20 Jun

Year 1 Class Worship- World Refugee Day

On World Refugee Day, we watched an assembly held by World Vision who allowed us to learn about the lives of refugees and how we can support them. We listened to some refugees from a camp in Jordan who had to flee from Syria. Despite having to leave their homes, they remain very positive and grateful for having a safe place to grow up within the refugee camp. We heard from Seedra, a Syrian refugee, who told us about a typical day for her at the refugee camp. Similar to us, she goes to school, learns to speak English, plays with her friends and then returns home to do her homework and watch some TV. Charities such as World Vision have allowed her to be able to do this and they are very thankful for charities such as this. We were very inspired by Seedra as she continues to hold on to her hope and dream for the future of being a doctor and study hard to achieve this even though she has had a lot of upset in her life. We ended our worship with some beautiful prayers. We prayed to end war in places such as Syria and Ukraine, to keep refugees safe in refugee camps and to thank people for giving things such as clothes, food and toys to help give refugees a better life.