Years 2 and 3-Outdoor Classroom Day- Remembrance Walk
This afternoon, Year 2 and 3 celebrated Outdoor Classroom Day by walking up to the WW1 Memorial Wall in Darwen Cemetery. As they gathered at the memorial wall, they paused to remember the brave soldiers who fought in the War. They thought about the sacrifices made and the courage shown by those for our freedom. Isaac, Bobby Ray, Lyla, Renee Archie, and Heidi shared heartfelt prayers and poems, honoring the memory of those who gave their lives for our country. As they walked back to school. they appreciated God's creation, the beauty of the trees, and the sweet songs of the birds.
Year 5&6 Remembrance Walk
Today, our Year 5 and 6 children made a heartfelt visit to the remembrance graves to honor and remember those who courageously sacrificed their lives in times of war. Standing among the headstones, the children took time for quiet reflection, paying their respects to those who gave everything for the freedoms we enjoy today. With gentle hands, the children tended to the graves—a simple yet powerful act of care and gratitude. This experience reminded our children of the bravery and selflessness that paved the way for peace. This moment of reflection encouraged the children to find gratitude in the everyday blessings we often take for granted, fostering a sense of mindfulness and appreciation for the many freedoms we cherish today.
Reception: Visiting our Spiritual Garden
Today we are celebrating outdoor classroom day. Reception class are always on the go but we had a wonderful time to sit and reflect in our spiritual garden during our collective worship time. This serene outdoor space was perfect for our children to contemplate love, gratitude, and remembrance. The children were encouraged to reflect on the people they love to foster empathy and connection. The children said that they loved their family, friends and teachers. They also expressed gratitude for God’s beautiful creation, a reminder of the wonders that surround us daily. Beau said that she loved God, Ralphi said he loved the planet, Evie said she could hear the trees blowing in the wind and Oliver said he could hear the birds singing during our moments of silence. We then remembered our poppies and why we were wearing them. Will told everybody it was to remember the soldiers in the war. The class took a moment to remember the soldiers as a sign of respect. As a symbolic gesture, the children used a bubble machine to release bubbles into the sky to heaven. The children really enjoyed this spiritual experience and we are looking forward to the next time we can visit the garden.
Whole-School Worship: Remembrance
At St Barnabas, we always take the time leading up to Remembrance Day to reflect on the people who kept us safe in the past and those who keep us safe now. In worship, we heard examples of people who came from other countries to help defend the UK during the World Wars, and the courage and friendship they demonstrated in doing so. We also thought about how we would like to remember those who lost their lives in war. The children had some lovely ideas, including writing or saying prayers, drawing poppies, visiting memorial sites, attending church services, and even holding a two-minute silence at their weekend football matches. We remember those who gave up their lives for our country and also say a huge thank you to those who work hard everyday to protect us such as the armed forces, the police, firefighters and the NHS. We sang a lovely song of peace at the end of our worship in hope that the world will one day be filled with peace.
The W.O.W. Group: Creating Viewfinders
This week, the W.O.W. Group created viewfinders to help us explore the beautiful natural patterns in our spiritual garden. Over the next couple of weeks, they will be showing the other children how to spend time exploring patterns in nature and they will develop further activities from this, such as observational drawing, describing and games.
Year 4 - RE: Shabbat
This week in RE, Year 4 learned about how some Jewish people observe their holy day of rest: Shabbat. The children learned that many blessings are said over the Challah, the Kiddush and as the candles are lit, but they were most fascinated by the restrictions on the use of electricity. No technology for 24 hours! We will be following this up next week by exploring why Jesus chose not to observe Shabbat and continued teaching.
Year 3- Class Worship- Hopes and Dreams
Today in our class worship, we learned about the incredible achievements of Adriana Brownlee, the youngest woman to climb all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks. We then reflected on our hopes and dreams, both individually and as a class. We discussed the Bible's message of God's love, strength, and guidance, and how these principles can help us to pursue our aspirations. Lyla then read the prayer to the class: Thank God for always being there as we journey through life and giving us hope for the future as we learn and grow. Amen
Reception RE: The Birth Of Jesus
Today our Reception children began their Christmas unit in RE. We took part in a sensory story all about the birth of Jesus. We used Widget symbols for each part and used our senses to get involved with the story. The children smelt baby oil to understand that Mary was expecting a baby, we walked to show how Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem and we lit candles to show how dark it was. The children then used a drum to knock on the door to see if there was any room. We then used the sign for no. Finally, the children wrapped a baby in blankets to show the birth of Jesus. The children really enjoyed drawing parts of the story in our scrap book and enjoyed getting involved in the story all about the birth of Jesus. We can't wait for the children to act out this special story in their Nativity production in a few weeks time.
Reception: Painting Skills
Our Reception children have been really working hard on painting like an artist. The children have carefully selected colours and the right amount of paint to create some Rangoli patterns for Diwali. Well done!
Reception - Diwali
During today’s worship, Reception Class led a special service to celebrate Diwali. The children proudly showcased their beautiful artwork, including vibrant rangoli patterns filling the space with vibrant colours. They sang joyful songs and shared the story of Diwali with the whole school. It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to learn about and appreciate this important Hindu celebration!
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Whole-School Worship: Allhallowtide
In our first collective worship of the week, Mrs Ham looked at Allhallowtide through our three spirituality lenses. Lens 1 - Windows: we looked out into the world at a photograph from Bangladesh depicting Christians gathered around graves with lit candles on them and discussed our observations and ideas about what the people were doing and how they might have felt. We had some fabulous ideas such as it must be a place of worship as they could see a cross and candles like we have in our worship, that they might be praying and that they were remembering. Lens 2 - Mirrors: we learned about All Souls’ Day and reflected on how we might remember our loved ones. The children had some lovely ideas about lighting candles and going to a special place. Lens 3 - Doors: we learned about All Saints’ Day and thought carefully about how we could be like saints. The WOW group introduced our behaviour focus for this half term , which is using good manners around school, and the children immediately put these into action by saying please and thank you, holding doors for each other, and letting people past. What a fantastic start to the new half term!
Harvest Heptathlon
Today, each class took part in our Harvest Heptathlon obstacle course challenge for the Bishop’s Harvest appeal. The course consisted of running, hurdles, travelling through a hoop, hopping, skipping, speed bounce and star jumps. A huge well done to every child that took part. They gave it their best effort. And an extra big thank you to all of the Year 6 helpers for helping to set up, replace equipment, demonstrate the course and support and encourage the younger children to complete the course. Let’s hope we can raise some much needed funds for developing classrooms and literacy in church schools in Multan, Pakistan.