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- Advent trail- Rose Garden
Year 3 enjoyed exploring the Advent trail at Whitehall Park's Rose Garden. Working in pairs, the children answered questions about the amazing artwork created by our students. Some of the questions included spotting how many stars they could find, counting how many baby Jesus’ were depicted, and identifying where the birth of Jesus took place in the scenes. Well done to Naomi and Jacob, who were the first to finish the quiz. To spread festive cheer, the class also sang festive songs like "Jingle Bells," "Ding Dong," and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," bringing joy to everyone around.
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.
Not Getting Inn!
Our whole school was treated to a modern day version of the Nativity story. 4Front Theatre put on a wonderful production for our children. There was lots of laughter, singing and chanting throughout. Most importantly, there was a wonderful heartfelt message at the end of hope and joy. The photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/not-getting-inn-1
Aladdin on Ice
Our whole school family watched Aladdin on Ice this afternoon at Planet Ice. We all got involved in lots of singing and dancing at the beginning. Santa, a snowman and even the Grinch made an appearance! During the show it was wonderful to see so many talented ice dancers and actors. We enjoyed a bag of sweets as a treat and some of us even got to high five members of the cast. A well deserved Christmas treat for all of our children. All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/aladdin-on-ice
Rocksteady Concert
We were so immensely proud of our Rocksteady rock stars this morning for their amazing performances in their first rock concert. They have only been practising for the last 6 weeks and they blew us away with their fabulous talent and confidence! We were honoured to have a special visit from Mr Mayor Brian and we hope he enjoyed the concert. It was fantastic to see the whole school encouraging our rock stars and joining in with enthusiasm to all of the songs. Thank you Jess from Rocksteady for all of your hard work in creating our wonderful rock bands. The video will be shared shortly. A new block of Rocksteady sessions will be available after Christmas. If you would like your child to be a rock star, please visit here: https://www.rocksteadymusicschool.com/ and also see the flyer that your child will be bringing home this week.
Care Home Carol Singing
Some of our choir members and a few of their younger siblings brought lots of festive cheer to the residents at Acer Lodge Care Home in Blackburn this evening. They sang their little hearts out and filled the staff and resident's hearts with joy. They were overjoyed to have a visit from Father Christmas who brought them all a little gift for being such little superstars. A huge thank you to the parents and grandparents who transported the children to Blackburn, battling horrendous rain, floods and road closures. It was certainly worth it to see the smiles on the residents faces and to hear them singing along.
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Year 5 - Music
This week, Year 5 had an incredible time exploring music through a variety of instruments. The children experimented with different sounds and rhythms before coming together as a class to combine their efforts and create a vibrant musical piece. Their teamwork and creativity truly shone as they brought the composition to life!
Choir - Let’s Go Sing Workshop
Our choir have enjoyed their second LGS workshop with Matthew. We have been learning an exciting new set of songs in preparation for the concert, and they are already sounding brilliant! We are certainly a small but mighty choir. Matthew was really impressed with their attention and listening during this session.
Reception: Birthdays
As part of our celebrations topic, we are focussing on birthdays this week. The children have enjoyed making birthday cards, birthday cakes, bracelets and birthday crowns too. They have been focussing on their fine motor skills to complete their challenges and also have been working really hard when writing their names. Well done!
Year 3- Interfaith Week- Prag's trip to India- Hinduism
Year 3 celebrated Interfaith Week by learning about Hinduism. Prags, who was born in East Africa, shared her experiences of visiting India. She showed pictures of both traditional and modern parts of the country, highlighting its diversity. Prags also discussed the importance of recycling and her love for visiting sacred sites like the River Ganges and the Golden Temple. The girls then wore colourful, sequined skirts while the boys wore jackets and they all learned a dance routine together. The children asked insightful questions about the language and clothing and enjoyed trying the vegetable samosas that Prags brought in. It was great to learn about the traditions and religious beliefs of Hinduism.
Reception: Dough Disco
Our Reception children have been developing their fine motor skills today. Their hands have been getting stronger by completing a dough disco activity. This really helps them to get ready to hold a pencil and form letters accurately.
Reception: Diwali
Reception have been learning all about Diwali this week. Diwali will be celebrated by Hindus on Thursday and we are looking forward to teaching the school about it on Thursday. The children learnt about Rama and Sita and how Diwali is the festival of light. They have made Rangoli patterns, cards, Mendhi, diva lamps and cards. The children have also learnt a special song all about Diwali.
Welcome back Worship
It was wonderful to welcome the children back into school this morning after the half term break. We had a brilliant singing worship where we created actions for our new song 'life is always better' and our super volunteers led the actions for our 'song of peace'. song. What an uplifting way to start the new half term!
Harvest Church Service 2024
Thank you to our Wow group, EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 classes for leading our Harvest celebration at church today. I have uploaded some videos to class dojo and additional photos can be found here: https://stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/harvest-church-service-2024 It was wonderful to see so many of our families in attendance. A huge thank you to you all for coming to watch and thank you to all of our families for your continued support this half term. Thank you for all of your kind harvest donations, these can be continued to be sent in during the first week that we are back at school. Wishing you all a wonderful half term, Mrs Wilkinson
Choir - Let’s Go Sing workshop
Choir took part in their first Let’s Go Sing workshop in preparation for their concern in March next year. Rose was super impressed with how much they have learnt in such a short space of time! They represented our school brilliantly and demonstrated so many of our Christian Values throughout the workshop, showing lots of courage and respect. I have no doubt that they will be amazing on the stage when we get to Blackpool! Well done choir!
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Rocksteady Session 1
Wow! The children all had a brilliant time today with Jess from Rocksteady! They started to learn how to play their chosen instrument. We had some wonderful singers, drummers, keyboardists and guitarists. We can’t wait to see them grow into rockstars!
Year 3- Music- Playing "Ghostbusters" at full speed using the interactive class jam video.
Today in music, the young musicians from Year 3 reviewed what they learned last session and looked at keywords like melody, harmony, major, and minor. They listened to a piano playing the harmony to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Then, put their new knowledge to work by playing "Ghostbusters" at full speed using the interactive class jam video.
Singing Worship- Harvest
What a joyous way to start a new week at St Barnabas! We first discussed why we sing and we had some wonderful answers such as : to communicate with God, to learn new words and vocabulary, to learn new sign language so we can communicate with those who can't speak or hear, to have fun and to say thank you to God. Today some of our fabulous volunteers taught Reception class some of the signs and actions for some of our Harvest songs that we will be singing in our Harvest Festival on Thursday 17th October. We sang 'If I were a butterfly' and 'Sing a song of Harvest' to thank God for all of the wonderful living things he created such as animals, plants and trees.
Rocksteady Launch
This morning, we were treated to an exciting Rocksteady assembly, where children explored the world of electrical musical instruments. The children were introduced to instruments such as drums, guitar, bass guitar, and keyboard, learning how each contributes to creating music. They were captivated by the live demonstrations and enthusiastically sang along, filling the hall with energy. Mr Norris, Mr Bloomfield and Mr Prescott also got to live out their dreams as they got the chance to be in their own boyband The session offered a wonderful opportunity for the children to discover different musical sounds and rhythms, sparking their curiosity and love for music. Information about how you can sign your child up to play in a rock band will be being brought home this evening.
Key Stage 2 - Rocksteady Workshop
This morning, Key Stage 2 had a fantastic time during a Rocksteady workshop, where they got the chance to create their own rock band! The children were able to step into the roles of musicians, playing instruments like the drums, guitar, bass guitar, and keyboard. A huge well done to all the children who participated, showing confidence and enthusiasm as they took to their instruments and played with impressive skill. The session was a great opportunity for them to experience the excitement of performing together as a band.
Year 1 Junior Jam- Music, French and Computing
Year 1 had great fun in their Junior Jam sessions this week. They focused on tempo in music, counting forwards and backwards to 10 in French and composed music in computing.
Year 3- Media- Exploring the function of a verse.
In computing, the children revisited their previous learning of keyboard skills. Today, they explored the function of a verse in a pop song and examined the key characteristics that make up a song. They were having an absolute blast, fully engaged and enjoying every moment of the lesson!
Reception: Our First Worship
Today, our Reception class took part in their first whole school worship in the hall. They showed lots of respect entering the hall and loved being with our whole school family. Mrs Wilkinson led a singing worship and the older children helped them to sing songs with lots of actions. We sang Hello, Build up, Our God is a great big God, Build up and I can make a difference. Thank you to our choir for helping lead worship.
Alice in Wonderland Production
Wow! Our whole school family really enjoyed watching Alice in Wonderland this morning. It was a fantastic production and it was lovely to watch all of the children’s expressions throughout the performance.
Year 6 - Perfecting Our Performance
Well, all we can say is that the parents of these talented performers are in for a treat! The children have been working hard to develop their acting, singing and dancing skills. The performance is coming along nicely and Year 6 can’t wait to entertain their teachers and families. Bring on the show!
Barney's Got Talent
To celebrate World Music Day, Mrs Ham supported by our Heads and Deputies (Lucy, Skye, Isaac and Wilson) presented a very special Barney's Got Talent this morning. We are collecting donations that will be going to East Lancs Hospice to support the wonderful work they do. All of the talents that we witnessed from our school family were absolutely incredible and we commend all of the children for being so courageous and sharing these talents with such a large audience. A huge well done to Callie the Tangled Twin , Super Summer the Gummy Bear, Haydn and Percy as the Football Friends, Olivia and Lydia as the Barbie Girls, Ballerina Annabel dancing to the instrumental version of ‘Dance Monkey,’ Super Ted and Electric Elijah with their amazing street dancing, The Friendship Band of Iris and Naomi singing ‘This Girl is on Fire,’ Jack, Ella-Grace and Chay as The Conga Monkeys, Miles, Daisy and James as The Brilliant Believers singing Believer by the Imagine Dragons, Toffee Tristen singing Pure Imagination dressed as Willy Wonka, Sparkly Sofia singing ‘Beautiful Things’ by Benson Boone, Dramatic Darcy singing ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri, Mason and James as the MJ Boys singing ‘Shotgun’ by George Ezra, Amazing Annabelle as a magician , Graceful Grace dancing to ‘ABC’ by the Jackson 5, Beau, Jess, Laila, Brooke, Charlie-Rose and Betsy dancing to ‘Who Runs the World? (Girls)’ as the 6 Golden Stars, Eliza as The Joyful Joker, Outstanding Oscar playing and singing ‘Believer’ on the Piano, R’Kid Seb singing ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ by Oasis, Archie the Arrow thrashing Mr Bloomfield at darts and The WWE Wrestlemania team of Charlie, Carlton and Alfie. Wow! What a lot of talent. Thank you to the parents who could attend our Barney's Got Talent, we hope you enjoyed the performances. For those who couldn’t, Mr Bloomfield kindly recorded it and this will be shared with you all. We wish you a lovely restful weekend. Thank you for your continued support.
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Year 5 - Music
Year 5 have begun their singing unit. The children have been listening and comparing a variety of music genres. The children have been learning and understanding vocal warm ups to maximise their voices and to project them without shouting.
Reception Junior Jam
Today Reception class were lucky enough to have Junior Jam sessions this afternoon. They took part in music, learning about melodies, French, where they recapped their numbers and colours through songs and also computing, where they could use an iPad and work with a partner to complete challenges. Super sitting, listening and joining in in Reception, Well done!
Reception: Songs of Praise
Our Ducklings enjoyed our class worship today. We sang two of our favourites, build up and make a difference. We then learnt a new song called ‘We’re all together again’ which is all about everybody being a valued member of our class. The children really enjoyed it and sang beautifully. We ended our worship with some very thoughtful prayers by Edward, Summer, Cici and Hollie.
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Little Voices after school club
Our Little Voices after school club had lots of fun playing games to develop their confidence and they then practised the song that they will be performing to their parents next week.
Year 4 - Music: Major and Minor
This week in Year 4, the children learned about major chords and minor chords, that major scale sounds happy and the minor scale sounds sad. They learned to play ‘Happy Birthday’ in both scales on a keyboard so that they could hear the difference.
Year 5 - Music
This week, Year 5 began to practice their keyboard skills, learning a variety chords and began to work through the chord progression. The children put chords together to create a piece of music.
Little Voices After School Club
What a super first session with Little Voices! Our little superstars played several games that helped to develop their confidence and they learnt and performed an amazing song! Well done everyone! There are still places available if you would like your child to take part for the next five weeks on Tuesday evenings. CONTACT HAYLIE: Email: [email protected] Mobile: 07717 711715
Palm Sunday Service
A huge well done to our choir for singing beautifully during our Palm Sunday Service. Congratulations to Oscar and Tristan for showing lots of courage when being thrown in the deep end with their solos. We are so proud of you! Thank you to Rev Ben for inviting us, it was such a lovely service.
Reception: Music
Our Ducklings enjoyed a lovely music lesson this afternoon. Reception learnt all about beats and different music types. Super listening and showing lots of respect to the junior jam staff too. Well done Reception!
Year 6- Matilda in the West End
Year 6 watched Matilda the Musical at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End. We had seats in the stalls so we had a great view. The children’s faces were priceless as they were so mesmerised by the production and in particular the child actors and actresses. We hope it’s given them some ideas and confidence for their end of year Jungle Book production.
Reception Rhyme time
It was a lovely rhyme time this week, we sang some of our favourite songs and enjoyed a story. Thank you to those grown ups who attended this morning, as always there is tea and coffee for those who are able to come along with us.
Year 1- Music
This week in music, Year 1 created some music on the glockenspiels to play alongside a story.
Let’s Go Sing concert 2024
Wow, we are so proud of our school choir for their amazing singing and enthusiastic actions this evening at the Let’s go sing concert at King George’s Hall. I’ve loaded some videos onto class dojo and the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/let-s-go-sing-concert-2024 A huge thank you to Mrs Govan for her wonderful leadership of our choir and to Mrs Wilkinson for her support this afternoon. Thank you to all of our choir parents for their support in helping the children learn their words and for supporting them this evening. We are hoping to have more choir members next year and will be opening choir open to more KS2 children in the next few weeks. If your child is interested in joining, they are welcome to come along on Thursday lunchtimes to give it a try. It was an absolute pleasure to watch our children sing their hearts out. They will be performing their favourite song in worship on Friday. You are very welcome to join us.
Reception: Imagine That Educational Visit
Wow, what a fantastic day our Ducklings had today. We visited Imagine That in Liverpool and had lots of fun! The children did lots of experiments with dry ice, made magical snow and made slime too. They used their imaginations in the roleplay area, painted a car, explored the creative area and made their own magnets. They were well behaved and represented the school beautifully!
Year 6 Music
Year 6 started their new music unit which is focused around songwriting with glockenspiels. This week, they looked at target markets and how, similar to a product in DT, their song must appeal to a certain audience.
Let’s Go Sing Worship
Our choir took part in a workshop with Rachel from Let’s Go Sing. Rachel was amazed at their wonderful singing. Please come and watch our wonderful choir perform at King George’s Hall on 6th March 2024.
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Year 2 - Junior Jam
In Music this week, the children continued to work as a whole class with the boom whackers to create a song. In computing, the children created their own games learning how to add complications within them.
Year 6 Music
Year 6 really enjoyed their music lesson this week. They have been developing their skills using the boomwhackers by playing various tunes.
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Year 2 - Music
In music this week, we used boom whackers to create different sounds. We created patterns with these sounds as a class. The children love using different instruments and are very lucky that they get the chance to play different instruments.
Reception: Rhyme and Story Time
Our Ducklings enjoyed their first rhyme and story time of 2024. We sang lots of songs and read Oi, Frog! The children enjoyed joining in with the rhyming couplets. Rhyme and story time continues next week at 9am. Our Reception parents, toddlers and pre school children from our community are welcome to join us.
Let's Go Sing tickets now on sale!
Our choir will be taking part in a brilliant concert at King George's on Wednesday 6th March. They have been busy rehearsing for months and we can't wait to see them perform! Audience tickets are available online at https://bwdvenues.com/whats-on/ or by ringing the King George’s Hall box office on 01254 582579. Tickets are £8 per adult, U18 £3.50. There is also a small booking fee per ticket charged by KGH.
Rhyme time and Story time returns
Reception parents and carers are welcome to come and join us for rhyme and story time. Younger siblings, preschool children and toddlers are more than welcome to join us too. This half term rhyme time will be on Wednesday 17th, 24th and 31st January between 9-9.30am in our school hall.
KS1 Christmas Cracker
We are so proud of our Year 1 and 2 children for their fantastic Christmas Cracker performances. To see all of the photos, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/ks1-christmas-cracker Here is the video of the dress rehearsal : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NtkPAWaaymw Please see class dojo for the secure links to the videos. Thank you so much to everyone who came along to support and for the wonderful Christmas clothes that you provided for your child. A huge thank you to our KS1 team, Miss Flynn, Mrs Hegarty, Miss Baxendale and Mr Norris for all of their efforts to create such an amazing show! Our children certainly brought lots of joy to everyone who watched and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Well done Year 1 & 2, you are little singing superstars!
Year 3- Whitehall Park- Singing Christmas songs and admiring the Artwork
This morning, Year 3 have been out admiring the wonderful artwork created by some of the children from our school. During the visit, they sang Christmas songs, spreading festive cheer to the members of the gardening club. They were amazed by how well they sang their hearts out. They also had the opportunity to have a play in the park before heading back to school.
Year 3- Whitehall Park- Singing Christmas songs and admiring the Artwork
This morning, Year 3 have been out admiring the wonderful artwork created by some of the children from our school. During the visit, they sang Christmas songs, spreading festive cheer to the members of the gardening club. They were amazed by how well they sang their hearts out. They also had the opportunity to have a play in the park before heading back to school.
Choir Christmas Carols at Darwen Market
A huge well done to our amazing choir and Year 6 singers for a wonderful performance today! Thank you to Darwen Market for inviting us. Thanks to everyone who came to watch. We hope we spread some festive cheer and joy to you all!
Year 1&2- A Christmas Cracker Concert
Year 1 & 2 have been busy learning the songs and actions for their ‘Christmas Cracker Concert’ which they will be presenting to our whole school and their families in a few weeks. How exciting!
Reception Nativity
We are so proud of our Ducklings who performed the Nativity today. Their singing was beautiful and they told the story using their loud, clear voices. Their confidence shone and it was enjoyed by all!
Rhyme and story time begins again in January 2024!
Reception’s rhyme time and story time will begin again on Wednesday 17th January 2024. Rhyme time is not on for the rest of December due to our Christmas nativity rehearsals and performance and our Christmas fair. Preschool children are more than welcome to join us and refreshments will be served afterwards.
Year 3- P.E- Group Sequence
During P.E., this afternoon, Year 3 was tasked with creating a story sequence using the five dance elements - travel, turn, jump, gesture, and stillness. The first step was to identify the term "villain", and some of the words suggested by the children were "evil", "torture", "threatening", "intimidating", and "mischievous". Once a villain was selected, the children worked in pairs and gradually moved into small groups. They then performed their sequences to the whole class, using music by Stealth. The students did an excellent job portraying their villains and worked extremely well in groups, demonstrating great teamwork.
Year 5 - Steel Pans
Today, Year 5 have been playing and experimenting making music with the steel pans. The children have been learning to create different sounds depending on where on the steel pan is hit and using that knowledge to create their own tune.
Choir Workshop
Choir took part in their second Let’s Go Sing Workshop with Gaynor and were excited to learn four new songs for the concert. Gaynor commented on how beautiful the children’s voices were and their fantastic effort, so a big well done to Choir for representing our school so brilliantly.
Music with Junior Jam in Year 4 - Steel pans
This week we have started to learn how to use the steel pans in our Junior Jam music session. We looked at how to create various sounds and then evaluated each others examples.
Year 3 - Music - Steel Drums
This term during our music lessons we will be learning how to play the steel drums. The children really loved learning all about the origin of the steel drum and they had great fun having a go.
Rhyme and Story time begins Wednesday 1st November
Our rhyme and story time starts again tomorrow, Wednesday 1st November from 9-9.30am. Parents, carers and family members are more than welcome to join us with their children from Reception class only. Preschool children, toddlers and babies are also more than welcome to attend.
Music - Composing Music digitally in Year 4
In our Junior Jam computing session we have been composing music and then evaluating pieces using constructive criticism. The children listened really carefully to each music piece shared and evaluated respectfully.
Year 3 - Junior Jam Ukulele’s
This week during our music lessons we were learning how to play some actual songs including “Another one bites the dust” and the Harry Potter theme. We also practiced some new chords including A minor, C minor and F major.
Let's Go Sing Choir Workshop
Our Choir had their first workshop today in preparation for their 'Let's Go Sing' Concert next year. The vocal coach Rachel was so impressed with their efforts and said they were one of the best Choirs she has taught so far this year - so a big well done to our small but mighty Choir!
Year 4 Music with Junior Jam
In our computing lessons we have been looking at making music using different effects in the garage section. The children really enjoyed composing and evaluating other groups.
Year 1 Music
Year 1 have been enjoying their Junior Jam sessions. In music, they have been learning to play different pitch patterns on the ukuleles.
Monday Worship
This week, we practised singing songs for Harvest. It was wonderful to welcome our Ducklings into their first whole school worship. Our older children showed them what to do and helped them with the words and actions. Our choir will be performing this Sunday at church. We would love to see as many of you there to help sing our wonderful harvest songs.
Year 2- Computing.
In music this week Year 2 have been creating their own piece of dance music by using app “garage band” on the iPad.
Year 2- Music
For our music lesson today we learnt how to change the pitch on our ukulele.
Year 4 - Junior Jam Music
The children in Year 4 are thrilled to be learning how to play ukuleles this half term. They are doing an excellent job of playing the chords and reading music.
Year 2- Music
This week we’ve been introduced to a new instrument. Year 2 have been so excited to play the ukulele and they did an amazing job!
Year 6 Music
Year 6 have been working hard in their first music session of the year and have been introduced to ukuleles. They showed plenty of enthusiasm and I am sure they will be playing with increased confidence in the coming weeks.
Year 2- Computing and Music
Our first week back has been great so far. We started off our morning with computing. In computing this week we’ve been looking at creating our own music production by using the iPads.
Year 3 - Junior Jam
We have thoroughly enjoyed having Junior Jam back this week. We have been learning how to say “My name is…” in French along with recapping some words we learnt in Year 2. In computing we have been making some fantastic music and beats on Garage Band and in music we have be learning how to play the ukulele.
Reception: First day at school
We are so proud of our Ducklings on their first day at school. They have all been superstars. They have been making new friends, exploring our classroom and doing lots of super talking. What a super start to their school journey!
Reception Junior Jam
Today in junior jam the children had a music lesson, focusing on the role of a conductor. The children were able to name lots of different instruments in an orchestra. We watched a video of a conductor and discussed what they do. We then played a music game called Popcorn where the children copied the actions and followed the music by tapping, stamping, patting and snapping. In our French lesson, the children remembered how to say hello and they knew their numbers up to 10 in french with the help of a song. We then played a game of hide and seek with the numbers to see if we could remember them. The children also played a counting game where they were able to count the pictures of sweets and chocolate in french. They then learned head, shoulders, knees and toes. In our Computing session, the children learned the difference between a photograph and a video. They then went onto the iPads and went on the sketch app to create their own animals. The children showed the Christian value of respect to our junior jam teachers.
Year 3 Music
During music Year 3 were using both hands to play a tune, holding C with their left hands and playing the tune with the right. Everyone had a really good try and the tunes sounded brilliant. Well done Year 3!
Year 5- Reading Music
In Year 5, the children explored pulse and rhythm by listening and responding to a range of different film music.
Year 2 - Music
During this lesson, the children worked really hard to listen and find the notes within a piece of music. They had to listen carefully and identify the notes and recognise the sounds that D, A and F made within a particular piece of music.
Year 6 music
In music, year 6 looked at call and response and how it is commonly used within many songs. This was carried through into the class song and allowed the children to practise playing the song as an ensemble.
Year 2 - Music
Year 2 have been using a variety of musical instruments and techniques to create their own version of popular music. They have created many beats, loops and final pieces using many different musical instruments.
Reception: Outdoor Learning
Reception love outdoor learning. The children enjoy playing sports on the MUGA, making musical instruments out of natural materials, role playing, climbing and balancing.
Year 2 - Music
Year 2 have been exploring dynamics within music. They have been working on how they change within a song, what they sound like and if changed how does that make an impact to the feel and sound of the music.
Year 5 - Music Clarinets
The class are sounding great on their clarinets now. We started our lesson with a little game to help us learn about keeping in time with each other and then Mr Gardner taught the children how to play a new sea shanty.
Rhyme time Notice
Thank you to everybody who has attended our weekly rhyme times and story times. Today is the last one for this half term and they will recommence after the holidays on Wednesday 21st June.
Year 2 - Music
During year 2’s music lesson they have been focusing on chords in music. Children have opportunities to play many different chord patterns and express themselves creatively in their music session using instruments.
Year 2 - Junior Jam
The children have been learning and applying their music skills in order to create and understand musical pulses.
Reception: Rhyme Time
Reception have had a wonderful Easter rhyme time this week. Baby chicks visited our rhyme time. The children all held the chicks and they sang to them as well. The chicks also joined in with our Easter story time.
Year 5 - Junior Jam Music
Today was our last day using the drum pads. The children showed off their skills with a class play along to the song shot gun. The class have really enjoyed learning all about the drums and what genres of music they are often used in. We can’t wait until next term for our next topic when we will be continuing learning about percussion and playing the boom whackers.
Year 6- The Lion King in the West End
Our Year 6 class and other members of our performing arts club, will be performing their own version of the Lion King at the end of the year. What better way to get some inspiration and tips than to watch The Lion King in the West End at the Lyceum Theatre. All of the children and staff thoroughly enjoyed the performance and were fascinated by the imaginative set changes, amazing costumes and fabulous acting, dancing and singing. We are full of ideas and inspiration for our Lion along production now and can’t wait to perform it.
Reception- Junior Jam
Today Reception have been very lucky to have three different junior jam sessions today! In the first session, they looked at different songs and focused on how they make you feel. The children listened well to the songs and showed good understanding of the emotions the songs created. They then had a French session where they learned the french word for ‘hello’ and they also learned some numbers in French too! They also had a go at learning the song ‘Frere Jacques.’ They then had a Computing session, where they went onto the iPads, and played a coding game.
Year 3 Music - Electric Drums
Year 3 have been building on their beat skills during music, working in pairs and showing real perseverance in picking up the beat and maintaining it.
Reception: Mother’s Day Celebration
It was wonderful to welcome our Mummies and Nannies into Reception today. The children painted pictures and explained why they loved their Mummies and sang some songs. Thank you for being such wonderful ladies, have a fabulous day on Sunday!
Let’s Go Sing Performance 2023
A huge well done to our school choir for their fabulous performance at the let’s go sing concert tonight. It was a delight to watch you all sing your little hearts out. Thank you so much to Miss Ashworth and Miss Bentham for their commitment to our choir. Thanks to all of the parents, family and friends who came to show their support. I’m sure the children made you so proud as I know they certainly made me the proudest Headteacher ever. Well done you little superstars!
Year 5- Music with Mr Gardiner
In Music, the Year 5 class had the opportunity to sing their hearts out in their pyjamas. They were all in full spirit and enjoyed every minute of it.
Reception: Rhyme time and Story time
We enjoyed our first rhyme and story time since half term. The children enjoyed singing a variety of nursery rhymes and we listened to ‘The tiger who came to tea’. Thank you to all of the grown ups who came and it was lovely to see some of our preschool children too. Rhyme time and story time continues next Wednesday at 9am and reception families and preschool children are welcome to join us.
Year 6 Music
In music, year 6 have been learning about the history of the drum kit and learning to play in time to a metronome using drum machines.
Year 1- Music
In music year 1 have been learning all the different parts of the drum and what each part does. Year 1 then had a go on an electric drum machine working in pairs.
Online Safety: Spotify
Is Spotify hitting the right #OnlineSafety notes?
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Year 5- Music with Mr Gardiner
The Year 5 class are enjoying their weekly music lessons with Mr. Gardiner. Over the past few weeks, the children have been learning how to assemble and play the clarinet. This afternoon, the children have been playing a song introduced to them by Mr. Gardiner.
Rhyme and Story time
Our rhyme and story time has finished for this half term. Please join us again on 1st March 2023 between 9-9.30am. Reception class families are more than welcome to attend and we also welcome preschool children. Refreshments will be served after.
Choir Workshop- Let’s Go Sing
This afternoon the choir have taken part in a Let’s Go Sing workshop with one of their fantastic singing instructors! We practiced and perfected our songs, in preparation for our concert at King George’s Hall on Monday 13th March! It has been lovely to see the progress that the children have made with their singing and performing this half term and we cannot wait to dazzle the audience at the concert in March!
Year 1- Song writing
In music this afternoon we’ve been creating our own word boards to help us create some lyrics for our own song. Your creativity was impressive!
Year 4- Writing our own lyrics in music
In music today, we wrote our own lyrics to a scene from a short film.
Year 5 - Music Songwriting
During music for the next couple of weeks we will be writing our own songs using the glockenspiel to create a melody. We have been learning what different parts of a song are called and which order they would normally go in to create a typical pop song. We have also been learning about the difference between rapping and singing.
Reception: Rhyme time
We had a brilliant rhyme and story time this morning in Reception. Thank you to our Mummies and Grandma’s who came today. Rhyme time is on every Wednesday morning at 9am. Preschool children and parents from Reception are welcome to join us.
Year 2 - Junior Jam
This week in junior jam, year 2 have been learning about a variety of music genres, creating lyrics and exploring different music styles.
Year 5- Junior Jam- Songwriting
This week in music, Year 5 have been improving their song-writing ability. Over the course of the term, the children will be introduced to different techniques to help write lyrics and improve vocal melodies. They also worked really hard in French and Computing.
Year 3- Junior Jam
Today year 3 have been recapping colours in French and also learnt the days of the week, sharing which day of the week was their favourite day. During computing the class worked in pairs and used iPads to write out a piece of information, they had to use the correct font, size and grammar. In music today, lots of different pieces of music were played, by different artists, they then voted if they thought that artist had written the song or not.
Lantern Parade in Whitehall Park
We had a lovely sing a long in The Rose Garden this afternoon! Due to the ice and weather, we were unable to walk around the park, however we still managed to spread some Christmas cheer! Thank you to those who could make it and wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Carols by Candlelight
A huge thank you to everyone who came along to the Carols by Candlelight Service. Our choir sang brilliantly and well done to Jenson for his lovely reading. It was wonderful to hear one of previous choir members, Isaac, singing a beautiful solo too. It really does feel like Christmas now.
Year 6 music
Year 6 have worked hard to improve their keyboard skills this week in their music lesson.
Year 2 - Exploring rock and guitar music
Year 2 have been exploring and creating rock and guitar music.
Rhyme Time starts again on 11th January
Reception’s rhyme time and story time will begin again on Wednesday 11th January. Preschool children are more than welcome to join us and refreshments will be served afterwards.
Rhyme Time starts again on 11th January
Reception’s rhyme time and story time will begin again on Wednesday 11th January. Preschool children are more than welcome to join us and refreshments will be served afterwards.
Reception: Rhyme Time
This week the children celebrated world nursery rhyme week. We sang lots of different rhymes including the big ship sails, 5 little speckled frogs and down in the jungle. We did lots of super singing and dancing. We finished our rhyme time with a story called ‘The Leaf Thief’.
Reception Rhyme Time
Reception have had another rhyme time session today. They joined in well using the instruments and sang along to the different nursery rhymes from the rhyme time bag. The best songs were ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm’ and ‘5 Cheeky Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.’ We ended with a story, ‘A squash and a squeeze’.
Year 1- Music
This afternoon in year 1 they have been learning about timbre and different sounds in music. They experimented on the keyboard using different sound effects.
Reception’s First Rhyme Time
Today Reception had their first Rhyme Time session. They joined in using their instruments and singing the different nursery rhymes. They listened and participated well and had amazing singing voices!
Year 3- Junior Jam
Year 3 have had a very busy morning in Junior Jam, they started off with French, building on their knowledge of numbers. During Computing they used iPads to code their initials. Finally during music they worked with a partner to use a keyboard, looking at the different notes. Excellent listening and participation throughout. Well done Year 3!
Year 2 - Junior Jam - creating a bass line
Year 2 creating a bass line for a funk song using the keyboard during junior jam.
Choir club
It’s lovely to hear how much our choir club are improving with their singing each week. We can’t wait to hear them singing in church on Thursday for our Harvest Festival.
Year 2 - Junior Jam
Year 2 exploring music and computing during junior jam.
Year 4 - Harmonies
Year 4 have been learning about harmonies and singing a Capella in their Junior Jam music sessions this week.
Year 1- Creating freestyle music
Year 1 have been working in pairs to create their own freestyle music using the app garage band.
Year 4 - Computing
In computing today, Year 4 created drum and bass music using FX.
Year 2- Junior Jam - Creating their own Hip Hop music
Year 2- Junior Jam - Creating their own Hip Hop music
Year 2 - Junior Jam - Singing
Year 2 - Junior Jam - Singing
Choir Let’s Go Sing Workshop
This afternoon, the choir took part in a singing workshop with Let’s Go Sing! We warmed up our voices and listened to and sang some of the songs that we will be performing, at a concert in March at King George’s Hall.
Music- Year 5
Year 5 is having an absolute blast with Mr Gardiner. The children look forward to their music lesson to see what he has in store for them. During today's lesson, the children were making sounds using their breathing techniques. Over the next few weeks, they will learn how to make notes and play music using the clarinet.
Year 6 Music
Fantastic singing from year 6 during their junior jam session.
Year 6 computing
Year 6 have been learning about the second form of remixing by doing genre changing. They have been remixing a vocal stem and changing the genre.
Year 6 Junior Jam
Beatboxing with Junior Jam!
Year 6 Oliver Production
On the hottest day on record, our Year 6 children put on a fabulous production of Oliver. They blew us away with their amazing acting, singing and dancing. We are so proud of how well each child learned their lines, encouraged each other and gave it their all. Wow, I am so incredibly proud of each and every single one of our amazing Year 6 children! What a way to end their time at St Barnabas! Thank you so much to their parents for the support with learning lines, songs and costumes. A huge thank you to Mr Prescott for his dedication and for working really hard with the children on their lines, acting and songs. Thanks to Miss Craig, Lily and Jack for their amazing props. Thank you to Mrs Wilkinson for filming and to our FOSB for serving much needed refreshments. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching the children the songs although I don’t think I will get them out of my head for months. I’m sure you will be the same too. It’s been great to see them all let themselves go and enjoy themselves. Here is the link to the photos: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/oliver-production-year-6-2022 Here is the link to the video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FJRaZf-_Ivg Our whole school family watched the dress rehearsal this morning and they loved it. Well done to all of Year 6 for a fantastic performance on the hottest day of the year!
Year 2 St Barnabas Church Visit
Year 2 have had a lovely afternoon visiting Lillian and Glenda at St Barnabas Church! Lillian spoke to the children about the different things that happen in a Church and the different things that you will find in a Church, like the altar, font and lectern. We then created our own crosses and created our own class family of people. The children also managed to have a quick play on the organ!
- Junior Jam- Year 5
In computing, the children have been detectives trying to solve a real crime that happened many years ago. They have been working in small groups watching the clues given to work out who the prime suspect is. In drama, the children have been working on stage directions to create an informed performance. The children will have an opportunity to show case what they have learnt to the class. In music this week, they have been using a variety of musical instruments with increasing accuracy, to conduct their performances.
Reception Junior Jam
Today the children had a junior jam session. They started with a dance session to warm up and they were given some scarves to use. They then had a go at singing ‘A Whole New World’ from Aladdin. They were amazing at remembering the lyrics to the song ! The next session was Music where they learned all about the instruments Boomwackers. They were shown how to use the boomwackers and discussed how they make their sound. They even had a go at using them and learned the names of the different notes. In the next session they watched some clips and they were asked to identify how the characters were feeling. They then used a new app this week called Toon Tastic to make a setting and characters to create a story- they had to create a beginning, a middle and an end for their story.
Whole School Singing Worship led by St Barnabas Choir!
Well done to our school choir for planning and leading our whole school singing worship this morning! During choir club on Monday, the children decided on their favourite worship songs and we voted on 5 songs to sing in worship today! The school particularly enjoyed singing My Lighthouse and School Rules!
Buckingham Palace & St Jame’s Park
We’ve just had a singalong of the National Anthem in front of Buckingham Palace! We’ve learnt so much from our guide Liz.
Reception Junior Jam
The children have been involved in some junior jam sessions this morning. The started off with a performing arts session which involved learning about characters from the story/film of Aladdin. They discussed which characters were bad and which ones were good. They then learned some dance moves to ‘Arabian Nights’ from Aladdin. In the music session they learned about the importance of warming up their voices when singing, so to not hurt or damage their muscles in their throat. They also listened to some songs and discussed which songs they thought sounded sad and which ones sounded happy. They then sang ‘If your happy and you know it’ to understand and demonstrate the different emotions in the song. We then had a technology session, where the children learned the difference between a video and a photograph. They then had a go on the iPads where they played a coding Safari game.
Year 3 Music - Playing musical instruments
Year 3 have been playing a variety of musical instruments in Music lessons.
Junior Jam
This morning year 6 used a variety of instruments to follow beats in music, the level of difficulty increased as they worked their way through. Although the classroom was a little noisy, much fun was had and they were given the opportunity to perform their piece at the end of the lesson.
Reception Junior Jam Sessions
Reception have been fantastic in taking part in the different junior jam sessions. They started off with a street dance session where they learned the importance of warming up and cooling down during exercise. After that, they learned all about musical instruments and had a go at playing the glockenspiels. The last session involved using the iPads to problem solve on the coding safari game.
Let’s go sing concert at Ewood Park!
A huge well done to our choir for their enthusiasm and super singing tonight. It took me over an hour to get there due to being stuck in the horrendous traffic around Ewood Park but it was certainly worth the wait to see these beaming smiles! Thank you to our choir parents for your support and patience tonight. I hope you managed to see some of the concert. A huge thank you to Miss Ashworth and Mrs Hargreaves for all of their effort in helping the children learn the songs. Our choir will be singing one of their favourite songs from the concert in Worship tomorrow so please come along to watch if you are free. Well done choir, you little superstars! I am so proud of you all!
Junior Jam- Year 5
Outdoors photography with Mr Toal from Junior Jam plus outdoors music with Miss Kennedy and street dance with Miss Anderton.
Darwen Rotary Club - Create a gift for the Queen Competition
Good Morning, As you can see from the poster, we have a fantastic competition being run by Darwen Rotary Club, and we would love for the children in our school to take part. We are inviting the children to create a gift for the Queen to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, this is to be completed at home. The gift can be of any style they wish. We are looking for originality and inspiration from the children. Possible ideas are a poem, a song, a model, a piece of artwork - the list goes on! Please can all gifts be completed and brought into school ready for judging by Wednesday 11th May. We will judge the best 10 pieces for KS1 and the best 10 for KS2 and then arrange for a Rotarian to call into school and choose the final 3 winners for each category. There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places from each Key Stage. All the winning entries from each school will then go on display in Darwen Market Hall on the Jubilee Bank Holiday Weekend, and on Saturday 4th June, 2 overall winners (1 for KS1 and 1 for KS2) will be selected from all the 1st place entries and the winners will win a tiled mural for their school! This is a very exciting opportunity and we would love for our children to get involved, if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask. We look forward to seeing some fantastic gifts for the Queen! Mrs Govan- Art and Design Leader
Choir workshop
This afternoon the choir took part in their final singing workshop, before our concert at Ewood Park! The children sounded absolutely fantastic and it has been wonderful to see how much the children have blossomed and grown in confidence in choir!
Reading Notes Clarinet- Year 5
The children have been really enjoying their music lessons with Mr Gardiner. On Friday, they learnt how to read notes and were able to play them on the clarinet by breaking the song down into smaller sections.
Year 6- Junior Jam
Year 6 had a great morning with their Junior Jam teachers.
Year 6- Junior Jam
Year 6 had a great Wellbeing Wednesday learning how to play the ukulele in music and had fun on the tablets in computing.
Choir Let’s Go Sing Singing Workshop
Our school choir have taken part in a singing workshop this morning, with specialist singing teachers from Let’s Go Sing. We practiced some of the songs ready for our concert at Ewood Park in April.
Reception Rhyme Time
It was so lovely to have parents back in school joining us for our morning Rhyme Time with Reception. We have missed our weekly sing songs in the hall and the children were so pleased to see everyone. Thank you to everyone who joined us and we will hopefully see you all again next week for some more rhymes and fun!
Reception: Dance
Today in Reception the children learnt some new dance moves and how to dance in time to Music. They did really well!
Year 3 Music - playing the ukulele
Year 3 have begun to learn how to play the ukulele.
Year 6- Junior Jam
Year 6 had lots of fun in Junior Jam, trying out accents in drama, singing and making badges on a device, to represent their interests.
Year 3 Junior Jam- Well-being Wednesday
In Junior Jam’s Drama, Year 3 have been looking at play scripts and their features. They have taken on the role of characters and a narrator. In computing, they have been looking at e-mails. In Music they have been carrying out breathing exercises in order to improve their singing.
Year 3: Music
In Music, Year 3 have been learning about the importance of posture. Good posture supports singing.
Outdoor exploration in Reception
Reception love to use the outdoors in all weathers. We have been building houses, making potions, building bug houses and performing on our stage.
Marvellous music in Year 3
In music we have been learning how to notate our compositions on manuscript paper. We love well-being Wednesdays!
Wellbeing Wednesday in Year 6
Today in Junior Jam, Year 6 performed street dance moves, identified instruments from around the world and started creating their own video games, based on space invaders.
Wellbeing Wednesday in Year 6
Today during Junior Jam Year 6 have been listening to different 80’s and 90’s music. In computing they explored variables in games and they also built on their dance routine from last week.
Well-being Wednesday - Year 5
Year 5 really look forward to their sessions on Wednesday. They have the opportunity to dance, create music and do computing with Junior Jam.
World Nursery Rhyme Week
Today, the children took part in Wold Nursery Rhyme week during our weekly rhyme time. We enjoyed singing and dancing to lots of different nursery rhymes. The children all received a certificate at the end. Thank you to everybody who came, we hope you had as much fun as we did!
Junior Jam in Year 6
Year 6 have had a great fun in their Junior Jam sessions today, including computing, dance and music.
Year 3 Keyboards
Year 3 have started learning how to play chords on the keyboards as part of their music taught by Miss Kennedy from Junior Jam this half term.
Reception’s Rhyme time
Today was our first rhyme time where parents and grandparents joined us. We had so much fun and really enjoyed using the instruments and props to sing lots of different nursery rhymes. Thank you so much to all those who were able to join us. We can’t wait for next week! Rhyme times will be every Wednesday where parents and family members are welcome to come for refreshments from 8.45-9am and then the children will join from 9-9.30am. Younger siblings and preschool children are more than welcome to come and join us.
School Choir Workshop
This afternoon, our school choir took part in a singing workshop as part of the ‘Let’s Go Sing’ project. In April, we will be taking part in a concert at Ewood Park!
Marvellous Music in Year 2!
Year 2 had a fantastic music lesson with Junior Jam this week! This term, years 1 to 6 are learning all about African drumming in music! It has been great to hear the classes learn all about different rhythms and exploring new instruments!
Year 5 Music
This afternoon in Year 5, we have had the pleasure of learning all about the clarinet. Mrs Dale taught us how to put the clarinet together and take it apart. Over the next few weeks, we will be learning about how to play the clarinet. We are super, super excited!
Visit from Bolton Music Service
Today in Year 5 and 6, we have had a visit from Bolton Music Service to introduce our Upper Key Stage 2 children to the 5 brass instruments they will have the opportunity to learn this year. The children were mesmerised by the music and instruments shown and really represented our school brilliantly.
Wonderful Wellbeing Wednesday
What a wonderful wellbeing Wednesday with Junior Jam! We have loved playing the African drums in music, creating house music in computing and playing drama games in performing arts. We can't wait for next Wednesday!
Wonderful Wellbeing Wednesday
Year 5 had the best afternoon with Junior Jam. They loved creating house music in computing, playing African drums in music and playing drama games in performing arts.
Songs of Praise Worship
It was so fantastic to be all together singing again as a school family.