Reception: Year of Prayer
As part of the Diocese of Blackburn's Year of Prayer, this week's focus was on alphabet prayers. Reception class thought about what brings them joy. Evie said her star on her Christmas tree, Max said playing his memory game, Beau said her family and Mikey said visiting the dinosaur museum. It was wonderful to see the children reflecting and listening carefully to one another. At the end of our prayer we thanked God and said Amen.
Reception: Nativity Crafts
The children in Reception have been getting very creative. They have made stables using different materials and drew the scene explaining who each person and animal was. The children have also made angels using paper plates.
Collective Worship: Peace at Advent
Our school is starting to get ready for Christmas and has been decorated. There was one final job to do- our youngest child, Annie placed the star on our Christmas tree. This week we started our worship by looking at the Year of Prayer, which we will be taking part in along with lots of other schools from across our Diocese. Our WOW group explained what we would be focusing on this week in classes. All classes will have a go at alphabet prayers. The children will all think about something that brings joy to them. We then looked at our whole school focus which was on the value of peace. Mrs Wilkinson led the children in prayer. Mrs Wilkinson recapped what Christians focus on in the first week of advent: hope. She lit the first Advent candle. We then looked at what we would be focussing on this week which was peace. The children watched a video all about peace. Leonora said that if we experience conflict in school, we could walk away or not argue with our friends and remain at peace. Matthew said smiling brings us joy and peace. We all reflected on what the world would be like if it was always at peace. The children discussed how loving everyone can bring peace. We ended our worship by singing 'We Three Kings' and 'Ding Dong'.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Today, every child in school helped to decorate our real Christmas tree in the hall. They have been busy decorating their classrooms too so it really is beginning to look and feel like Christmas! On Monday, as part of our St Barnabas tradition, the youngest child in our school will place the star on top of the tree in Worship.
Worship with Rev. Ben
During worship with Rev. Ben, the children explored the story of Daniel and "the boys who liked to say no." Worship began with a fun game of yes or no, where the children decided which foods they would or wouldn’t eat. In the story, Daniel and his friends said no to the king’s food to show their obedience to God. Because they supported one another and remained loyal to their faith, they were granted strength and looked healthy. Rev. Ben explained that, unlike Daniel and his friends, Christians today don’t follow food rules in the same way. However, there are many ways we can remember God in our daily lives. The children reflected on how Daniel and his friends stayed faithful and considered how they could remember God this week—in their prayers, words, and actions.
Year 3- Class Worship-The Earthshot Prize winners
Today in class worship, we celebrated the Earthshot Prize winners. This inspiring award recognises people and organisations working to protect our planet. Year 3 were particularly excited, having just cleaned up their local community. We discussed how small acts of kindness, like their community clean-up, can contribute to a healthier world. The Bible reminds us that we are stewards of creation, and responsible for caring for the Earth. We prayed, thanking God for our beautiful world and asking for forgiveness when we haven't been good stewards.
Reception: Christmas
This week we have been retelling the Nativity story. We have also been thinking about why Christmas is important. The children said Christmas is important because Jesus is born on Christmas Day. We discussed how Jesus is very important to Christians and is God’s son. The children have been enjoying retelling the story using dressing up, our small world area and through our Eggsplorers too.
Year 3- NO PENS DAY - Litter picking- Brainbox games-What can you remember in just 10 seconds?
Today, Year 3 celebrated No Pens Day thanks to our Smart School Council. They combined learning by litter picking, demonstrating teamwork, communication, and a strong sense of kindness and spirituality. They even discussed how God and the community would be pleased with their efforts. In the classroom, they paired up for a fun game of BrainBox, boosting their memory, observation skills, and understanding of math and reading. Oracy skills were embedded throughout the day, as students listened attentively, took turns to talk, and engaged in thoughtful discussions.
Collective Worship: First Sunday of Advent
Today during worship, Mrs Wilkinson shared the word Advent with the children. We started by discussing what this means. The children said that it was about the countdown to the arrival of the birth of Jesus. It is a time to prepare for Christians. The first Sunday of Advent, Christians focus on hope. We discussed what hope meant and how it is a sign of good things to come. During our reflection we thought about how we can bring hope to people and how we can show love and kindness to others. Cassidy said we could donate to charity, Sonny said we could buy a present for a homeless person and Leonora said we could smile at one another. We prayed to God together and thanked him for sending Jesus at Christmas to give us the hope that the world can be a better place. We ended our worship by singing 'come and join the celebration' and 'ding dong'.
Reception - How the Church celebrates Christmas
This morning, Rev Matt visited us to share with us how the church celebrates Christmas. He explained that the retelling of the Nativity story is the most important part of the celebration as it is about the very special birth of Jesus. The singing of hymns and lighting of candles also symbolises the joy and light that was brought into the world at this time. We also talked about how we celebrate Christmas at home. Beau said ‘we decorate the house’ and Eleanor said ‘we have Christmas tea’
Rev Matt Worship
Today, Rev Matt led a fantastic worship that focused on how we can often lose sight of things that are important. He started with a challenge that involved watching a video with a focus in mind, but in doing so, we missed some other events that occurred. This linked nicely to the story ‘God Sends Fire’ as King Ahab had lost faith in God and decided to worship a false God called Baal. To show everyone that God was the true God, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest. They had to build an altar and ask their God to set it on fire. The prophets of Baal danced and prayed all night, but nothing happened. Then, Elijah asked people to drench his altar with water. He prayed to God, and fire came down from heaven! It burned up the altar and all of the water. Everyone saw this and knew God was the true God. This story can help us remember to have faith in God, even when things are tough, and to always trust that He is in control.
Whole School Worship - World Toilet Day
In worship yesterday, we looked through our spirituality windows and out into the world on toilets. We were shocked and saddened to find out that around 700 children under 5 die every year due to poor sanitation. We heard about Jeremiah in Kenya who doesn’t have access to a toilet. In his community, people would mostly use a hole in the ground or a plastic bag, which some people would tie up and throw on other people’s roofs. We talked about how this affects people’s health and shared ideas of what we could do to help. The children then learned about our Toilet Twinning project for which we raised money a few years go to sponsor the building and maintenance of toilets in Nepal, Uganda, Tanzania, and Afghanistan. We reflected on how we should never take our toilets for granted and thought of ways we could save loo paper and water.