Year 4 - VR Lesson: South America
The VR session for Year 4 was the perfect complement to all the work we’ve done this year on South America. The lesson really brought the children’s learning to life as the children had the opportunity to explore parts of the Amazon Rainforest, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil and a few other places.
Year 5 - Ancient Greece in VR
Today PrimeVR visited St Barnabas, allowing classes to experience immersive, computer generated simulations through virtual reality. Year 5 had the opportunity to travel back in time to Ancient Greece and witness the Parthenon in its original splendour and offer tribute at the statue of Athena. We also got a taste of everyday life in Ancient Greece, seeing close up how people travelled and fished.
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Year 4 Geography - Rivers
In our Geography session we looked at the stages and features of a river and the way that land use changes from the source to the mouth. The children worked in small groups to create their own display which required labels for the mouth, meander, flood plain, source, confluence and tributary.
English-Year 3 Celebrate Refugee Week at the Global Tea Party!
As part of their learning this week, Year 3 have been exploring what it means to be a refugee or an asylum seeker. The children learned about some of the real challenges these individuals face, including the fact that asylum seekers are often given just under £37.00 to live on for an entire week. Discovering this really brought home the importance of our community efforts, helping the children see firsthand how much of a difference the bubble donations will make for families budgeting on so little. The children were also invited to a wonderful global tea party, where they experienced diverse cultures by tasting food from Greece, Palestine, Africa, Kurdistan, Sri Lanka and Italy. Year 3 were absolute superstars at the event, they represented the school exceptionally and truly sang their hearts out! As a special treat, the event organisers handed each child a small bag of sweets. Year 3, now fully appreciate how far our community's generosity will go in bringing joy to the children and families supported by the Darwen Asylum Refugee Enterprise (DARE). We are incredibly proud of their maturity and enthusiasm today!
Year 5 - Geography
We began our new topic in Geography by exploring the continent of Europe before focussing on the country of Greece. We had previously studied its ancient history but today we researched facts about modern Greece, including its population, language, cities and geology. Then we studied reasons why countries around the Mediterranean Sea, like Greece, attract so many tourists. We considered the area’s climate, wildlife and attractions.
Geography Year 4 - Rivers
In our first Geography lesson for this half term we looked at the key features of the water cycle and identified the longest rivers in the world. The children watched video clips carefully and then labelled a diagram with evaporation, condensation, precipitation and ground water. Once they had finished this they then used a Chromebook to identify the top ten longest rivers in the world and add these to a map.
Reception: Muddy Monday
What a difference a rainy morning makes! The Reception class children were bracing themselves for a very soggy afternoon, but right on cue, the clouds parted, the rain stopped, and the sunshine burst through just in time for our Muddy Monday session at Whitehall Park. The children had an absolute blast making the most of the fresh air and the damp ground (which made for some top-tier mud squelching!).
Year 6 - Fair Trade
Today during our geography lesson, Year 6 explored the importance of fair trade and the vital role it plays within global trade. We began with an oracy-based diagnostic question, which enabled the children to make meaningful links to prior learning, particularly around import and export. This discussion helped to surface their existing understanding and misconceptions. Following this, the children developed their geographical knowledge by creating a heatmap of the world. The children identified and coloured countries that participate in purchasing fair trade products, allowing them to visualise global patterns and consider which regions are more actively involved in supporting fair trade practices. To deepen their understanding, we also discussed why fair trade is important, including how it supports producers in developing countries, promotes ethical trading practices and contributes to more sustainable livelihoods. The children engaged thoughtfully with these ideas and demonstrated an increasing awareness of their role as global citizens.
Year 1 Geography: Exploring Darwen
As part of our Geography unit, Year 1 explored our local area in Darwen. We visited many places such as India Mill, Darwen Town Hall, Darwen Heritage Centre, Darwen Leisure Centre and Bold Venture Park. It was a long 8km walk and the children enjoyed seeing different areas in their town.
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Year 1 Geography: Darwen Heritage Centre
Year 1 enjoyed exploring Darwen Heritage Centre. The volunteers gave us lots of information about Darwen Tower, Whitehall Park, Sunnyhurst Woods and Bold Venture Park. One volunteer was even a student at St Barnabas when he was younger! The children were shocked to hear that at one time, Darwen did not have any schools. When schools were created, children only came to school for five years then went to work. We loved seeing the models of Darwen Tower and India Mill.
Year 1 Geography: Fun at Bold Venture Park
To celebrate the end of our long 8km walk, we had lots of fun playing at Bold Venture Park. The children took turns kindly and helped each other on the swings. We could also spot the lion statues that we had seen previously in Darwen Heritage Centre.
Year 2 - Geography - Mugurameno Village
Year 2 have been learning about Mugurameno Village in Zambia. We wrote questions about what life is like in the village.