Year 4 - RE: Hanukkah
In the Year 4 RE session this week we had a special visitor. A member of our school family came into class to share her Jewish faith and the story and customs of Hanukkah celebrations. We also had the opportunity to ask some curiosity questions.
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Reception class visit the Rose Garden
Reception class enjoyed their visit to the Rose garden. They looked at all of the Advent art and some of the children were proud to see their artwork. The children sang carols together and they all went to the playground as a special treat.
Year 1 RE: Advent Trail
This afternoon Year 1 took a visit to Whitehall Park so that we could see all of the Advent Art created by our school, which fit nicely into our RE topic surrounding the true meaning of Christmas. As we walked to the park, we thought about the Nativity story. Once we arrived, we discovered that the Wise Men brought Jesus three special gifts: gold (to show respect that Jesus was a king), frankincense (to show that people would worship Him) and myrrh (to show that Jesus would understand suffering). We tried to see if any of the artwork showcased the Wise Men. We discussed that most precious gifts are not expensive, but they have thought and meaning behind them. We also thanked God for the most special gift of all, Jesus.
Whole Class Worship - Joy
This week of advent, our focus is Joy. We began by recounting the advent themes we have explored so far: Hope and Peace. Mrs Ham chose Lyla from Year 4 to come to the front to light the three advent candles and she highlighted some of the ways our school family have brought joy to others over the past few weeks. It was heartwarming to hear about some of these, including the Reception class nativity, Year 1 and Year 2’s Christmas Cracker, the choir singing at Acer Lodge care home, and Year 4 writing letters to the residents, plus all of those who have been supporting our latest charity campaigns. We reflected on what true joy looks like and how we can sometimes forget about the simple things when our minds are preoccupied with expensive gifts and the hustle and bustle of the season. Our focus was brought back to the gift God sent - his only son - and how Jesus’ incarnation was the joyous gift that changed our world forever.
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Year 5 - RE
Year 5 have been practising their presentation of learning for Friday’s church service. The focus is on peace and how the message of peace can be found in the two nativity stories in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. We have already made triptych drawings telling the stories and the script compares Luke’s message of a humble saviour to Matthew’s message of a king descended from Moses and David.
Reception-R.E
The children listened to the story of Simeon and Anna and the joy they felt meeting the Son of God. The children discussed why Jesus was so special helping people and changing people's lives. They talked about how they would feel meeting Baby Jesus.
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Year 6 - Class Worship
Year 6 took part in a thoughtful class worship exploring Herald the King and what it means to live out God’s Big Story in our daily choices. The children reflected on themes of hope, kindness and responsibility, discussing how they can shine God’s light in school and at home. To celebrate this special time of year, the children created ‘wishful stars’, each one expressing a personal hope or commitment inspired by the worship. These stars now serve as a gentle reminder of the messages shared and the values we choose to carry forward.
Year 3- R.E- Nativity Story Reflection
This afternoon in R.E., Year 3, focused on the Nativity story, reminding ourselves of the sequence of events. We paid attention to the moment the world first heard the news: when angels appeared to the shepherds in the fields, who then hurried down to visit the special baby. The children then used their imaginations to become investigative reporters, brainstorming and recording the imaginative questions they would ask the shepherds about what they saw, how they felt, and what it was like to meet the baby Jesus. It was a wonderful exercise in empathy and curiosity!
Reception Nativity 2025
We want to express how incredibly proud we are of all the children in Reception class for their truly amazing performance in their Nativity play! The children showed such courage and confidence on the stage. We were so impressed with: Brave Speaking: Every child who had lines delivered them so clearly. Enthusiastic Singing and actions: Their little voices filled the hall, making the performance joyful and bright and we were so impressed with the amount of words they had to learn in the songs. It takes great bravery to stand up in front of a big audience, and they all shone! It was a very special occasion, and they brought the Christmas story to life beautifully. Thank you so much for your support in preparing them for the show and for your active participation in the show. A huge thank you to our Reception staff team for the time and effort they have put into the production, Mr Ashworth, our CEO of Cidari Multi Academy Trust for his support, Mr Bloomfield for filming and Rev Ben for leading us in prayer. All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/reception-nativity-2025 The video links will be send shortly.
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Year 6 - Wreath Designs
This week, Year 6 have created their own Christmas wreaths to present in church, sharing with the whole school what we have been learning during Advent. Each wreath includes the symbol of Jesus’ everlasting circle, reminding us of His eternal love and presence. The children also wrote their own kenning poems about hope—a key theme of Advent—which they displayed proudly as part of their wreaths. Their thoughtful work beautifully reflects the meaning and message of this special season.
Whole School Worship led by Rev Matt
In our Whole School Thursday Worship this week, Rev Matt shared the Bible story - Ruth Finds a New Home We started with our challenge which involved being good at charades. The children acted out a feeling and the other children sat down had to guess what it was. We had sad, angry, happy, excited and worried. We have been thinking about compassion. The Bible story - Ruth Finds a New home is about Ruth, a woman from Moab, chose to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi and move to Bethlehem after her husband died. There, she worked hard gleaning barley in the fields of Boaz, a relative of Naomi. Boaz was impressed by her kindness and loyalty, and he eventually married her, providing a new home and a place in God's family for both Ruth and Naomi. The story is filled with compassion so it led us to our questions - Who shows us the most compassion and who do we show it to. We had answers such as family, friends, trusted adults, teachers and God. The children have showed compassion to everyone that they have come across, including their pets. Rev Matt finished with a lovely prayer about compassion and asked the children sto think how they could show this more around school this week.
Reception RE - Why the characters in the Nativity are important
During our RE session we played a game of ‘who’s in the bag’ The children picked out the characters from the Nativity Story and identified each character, they talked with their partner about why the characters were important to the story and what part they played within it.