Year 6- Houses of Parliament
Our Year 6 class were so fortunate to be able to visit the Houses of Parliament to learn all about our British Values and in particular, democracy and the rule of law. We had a tour and watched a live debate in the House of Commons. The Foreign Secretary David Lammy also gave an announcement. We visited Westminster Hall, which we recognised from seeing on the news when the Queen was lying in State after her sad death. We then took part in a workshop about how laws are created and we learnt all about Parliament and the houses of Commons and Lords through a fun activities. We also got to explore democracy through voting and debating. Finally we were visited by our local Member of Parliament, Andy McNae and had a great question and answer session. We are so proud of the thoughtful questions the children asked him. We are sure that we have a few future MPs amongst our Year 6 class!
Reception Firefighter visit
Today the Fire Service visited our Reception classroom to talk about how they help to keep us and the community safe. Lee reminded us that we must check our smoke alarms as they are the best way to keep us safe at home. He also told us about the different ways they help in emergencies, from putting out fires to rescuing trapped animals. He showed us their special uniform and the tools they need to perform their jobs. We then had a look at the fire engine and even experienced a quick shower from the very powerful fire hose. A big thank you to Darwen Fire Service for a brilliant morning.
Year 4 History- Making Inferences about who was buried at Sutton Hoo
This week in history we have been trying to make inferences about who was buried at Sutton Hoo and what evidence it gives us about Anglo Saxon life. We researched artefacts such as a helmet, having bowl, shoulder clasps, belt buckles and sceptres. We each selected an artefact to look at in more detail and answered questions directly related to it. We described it, added what we thought it was made from, what it may have been used for, who its owner may have been and what it tells us about Anglo-Saxon England.
.jpeg)
Year 6- Mrs Doubtfire, Covent Garden & Trafalgar Square
Our Year 6 children enjoyed seeing the sights of Trafalgar Square and the street entertainers in Covent Garden. They then watched Mrs Doubtfire the Musical in the West End which they found really funny and entertaining. All of the Year 6 London trip photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-6-london-trip-2025
Year 6 Science Museum
Year 6 also visited the London Science Museum and took part in an interactive gallery called Wonderlab:The Equinor Gallery. The interactive experience ignited their curiosity, fuelled their imagination, and inspired them to see the world around them in new and exciting ways. They enjoyed lots of hands on experiments, live science demonstrations and revealed the beauty of the science and maths that shape our everyday lives. They particularly enjoyed the friction experiment using slides with different surfaces that they could zoom down and see which one had the most friction! For all of the photos from the Year 6 London trip, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-6-london-trip-2025
Year 6- Natural History Museum
Our Year 6 class had a wonderful time exploring the Natural History Museum in London. They saw dinosaur and animal bones and fossils and lots of stuffed animals. They also went into the earthquake simulator shop and also enjoyed visiting the gift shop. For all of the Year 6 London trip photos, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-6-london-trip-2025
Year 6- London Sightseeing
Year 6 saw lots of London's famous sights such as Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament , the Tower of London and we saw some of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. All of the Year 6 London trip photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-6-london-trip-2025
Year 6- St James's Park, London
Year 6 had a fantastic time playing on the play area in St James's Park after a picnic lunch. It was wonderful to see everyone getting along and playing with their friends.
Year 6- Singing the National Anthem outside Buckingham Palace
Our amazing Year 6 children drew quite a crowd when they sang their hearts out singing the National Anthem to King Charles outside Buckingham Palace. All of the Year 6 London trip photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/year-6-london-trip-2025
Year 4 History - Developing our understanding of Continuity and Change in both Iron Age and Anglo Saxon Houses
Our history session today involved highlighting and developing our understanding of Continuity and Change in both Iron Age and Anglo Saxon Houses . We first identified key features of the houses such as building material/construction, hearth, bedding, doors and windows. Then we looked at what had stayed the same ( continuity) and what had changed between the Iron Age and Anglo Saxon periods. Finally the children labelled the key features of an Iron Age house which included a thatched roof, central open fire and wattle and daub sides.
Reception: First Aider Visit
We had the pleasure of welcoming Marion into our class today. Marion has trained all of our staff to be first aiders and the children were also taught some basic first aid. They were taught why first aiders wear gloves, when to apply a plaster, how to put a bandage on and how to put somebody into the recovery position. Thank you so much for teaching us Marion, we learnt lots.
World Book Day in Year 4
What a wonderful World Book Day we have had in Year 4. The theme for this year's World Book Day is Get Ready to Read Your Way which encourages us all to read wherever and whenever we want. This morning we started our celebrations with a whole school worship which was led by Miss Flynn and the librarians. The children loved joining in with the quizzes and interactive games. Next we took part in an online workshop with the author Pamela Butchart. She also wrote A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch and The Great Crisp Robbery. The most recent book that Pamela has written is Diary of a Future Billionaire and she talked about how she created this fantastic story. It’s about being at home rather than school. Pamela was worried that her new book might not be as popular as her Izzy books. The main character is called Ben and here are his thoughts: So here's the thing about me. I'm a billionaire. An actual REAL-LIFE billionaire! And you know how some people who get rich say stuff like, "I can't believe it!" and "I never thought it would happen to me!" Well ... I CAN believe it. And I KNEW it would happen to me. Because I PLANNED IT. I PLANNED to become the world's RICHEST ten-year-old. And you know what? It WORKED The children have asked if we can buy the book and read it as our next class novel so this shows how enthusiastic they were about the whole workshop. Following this we played match the teacher to their favourite book which we found rather interesting and then we went to various classes around school to listen to St Barnabas school staff read their favourite books. It was so nice to hear the children come back and talk so enthusiastically about what they had listened to. Finally this afternoon, we created special WBD bunting with our favourite novel on and discussed why we had chosen these. What an amazing experience and huge thanks to Miss Flynn for organising!