Whole School Worship - Resolving Conflict
Yesterday’s worship began with some fantastic news! A representative from East Lancs Hospice came in to tell us that our Hop, Skip and Jump event raised £163. Following this, Mrs Wilkinson introduced this week’s Year of Prayer theme: Favourite Places. We spent some time sharing our favourite spaces and then we talked about how God has created so many amazing and healthy spaces for us to enjoy. This led us on to considering the fantastic outdoor spaces we have around school in which we can enjoy time with our friends. We were introduced to our Year 5 peer mediators and Mrs Wilkinson explained how they are going to help us all resolve any fallings out between us and our friends. We are all looking forward to learning to compromise and play together more harmoniously.
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Year 4 - RE: Significance of Light in Hinduism
In RE this week, we began by watching a clip of a special Aarti ceremony being performed at the River Ganges. The children were given time to observe and ask questions about the artefacts used, the clothing worn and the actions performed. They then learned about the purpose of the ceremony and that not all Aarti ceremonies are as grand. We discussed what an Aarti ceremony might look like within a Hindu’s home. The children then read testimonies from a number of Hindu children about their experiences of worship and they drew symbols to represent what they thought would be the key features of an Aarti ceremony for Hindus.
Access All Arts with Fleur East
Today we took part in Sounds Lesson Live with Fleur East. Fleur works at Hits Radio and she was telling us all about Access all Arts Week which is next week. As part of the session, Fleur told us all about how much she enjoys rapping and that it’s such a great thing to do. We started with a full body warm up and this highlighted the importance of warming up our whole body but especially our voice. Breath work plays a vital role in warming our voice up. We the practiced clapping in beats of four and added the lyrics backwards - Shout A, triple A Access all Arts it’s time to play! Let’s dance it, let’s draw it, let’s dream it, let’s make it. Dance it, draw it, dream it, make it! The children loved learning the rap and some of their performances were fantastic!
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Cre8ability- Session 1
What a fantastic start to our "Nurturing Emotional Wellbeing in Creative Spaces" group today, expertly guided by Cre8ability! We saw parents and children connecting and expressing themselves through Picasso-esque art in a wonderfully calming atmosphere. Beyond the creative process, they discovered how colors can represent feelings and practiced calming techniques. Our heartfelt thanks go out to Carol and Maria for making it such a success – we can't wait for more next week!
Year 4 - Linking Schools Visit to St Matthew’s
Our Linking Schools project reached its final part on Monday with Year 4 visiting St Matthew’s C of E Primary in Blackburn. We had a fantastic day designing “together towns”, creating poetry about living well together and even joining an assembly with local author, Dan Worsley. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning about our new friends and sharing work throughout this year; it has helped us to realise our similarities and celebrate differences.
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Year 3- Year of Prayer- I Spy-A Lesson in Perseverance
As part of our Year of Prayer, the children took part in a fun hunt around the classroom. Hidden in various places were special items, including a cross, a torch, a heart made of stone, a magnifying glass, and a bottle of sprinkles. The children were excited and eager to find them all, searching enthusiastically until we paused the hunt after 1 minute and 30 seconds. Interestingly, one item, the bottle of sprinkles hidden inside a shoebox, wasn’t found. This led to a discussion about perseverance. The children reflected on the importance of not giving up, even when something feels tricky or takes time. They recognised that determination, effort, and not giving up are key parts of our everyday life. To end the session, the children offered a special prayer, asking God to help them continue to try their best, especially when they feel like giving up.
Year 6 - Class Worship
In class worship, year 6 focused on the story of Peter betraying Jesus 3 times and discussed times that they have made mistakes or felt ashamed of themselves. Bishop Philip then spoke about the importance of forgiveness and facing our mistakes head on rather than avoiding them, as this allows us to make a lasting change to our behaviour. In addition, year 6 then focused on prayers and hymns used in Christian worship during their R.E. lesson and how some of the words reveal the nature and characteristics of God. The children provided some thoughtful insights and understood that no one can be compared to God in the Christian faith.
Year 1 Attend the Children’s Literature Festival at Darwen Library
Today, Year 1 had an exciting adventure at the Children’s Literature Festival 2025, held at Darwen Library—and what a fantastic time they had! They had the wonderful opportunity to meet the delightful author Saira Shah, who engaged the children with her inspiring story Super Nani and Captain Yaz. The book explores the heartwarming beginning of a unique friendship between two characters—Yasmin and her Nani—who speak different languages, English and Punjabi. Despite the language barrier, they found a magical way to communicate through gestures, key words, and a dash of imagination, all with the help of Yasmin’s favourite superheroes and a special rag doll. Following the story, we continued with the superhero theme. Our Year 1 children were given a thrilling mission. A meteor was hurtling toward Earth, threatening to erase all the wonderful books in the library. To save the day, the children had to transform into superheroes—choosing their own superhero names and special powers. Working together, they rose to the challenge and saved the library from disaster. A huge thank you to Darwen Library for inviting us to the Children’s Literature Festival 2025, and to the wonderful Saira Shah for inspiring our children and helping to spark a love of reading. We’re excited to share that Saira Shah will be launching her book at Waterstones Blackburn on Saturday, June 28 at 11am. All children are warmly invited to join a special Storytime session, followed by superhero fun! If today’s excitement is anything to go by, it promises to be a wonderful event.
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Year 3- Celebrating Literature Festival at Darwen Library
Today, as part of the Children's Literature Festival, Year 3 went on an exciting adventure, walking to Darwen Library to meet the wonderful Blackburn-born author, Christina Gabbitas. She shared a fascinating glimpse into her background, highlighting the importance of living life to its fullest. Christina also spoke about her love for audiobooks, explaining how she enjoys listening to stories. The children then had the amazing opportunity to read one of her powerful poems about saving our oceans aloud. Christina also captivated us by reading a section of her book, 'Believe in Magic', using wonderful expression in her voice that brought the story to life. Christina generously gave every child a signed copy of her book, 'Believe in Magic'! It was a truly inspiring session!
Reception: Class Worship
We started our worship across the Diocese with a call and response with God loves us, all the time, Amen. We discussed if we have ever done something wrong to a friend and if we have ever had to say sorry. This does happen in class and this is what our story is about today. The story comes from the New Testament and is about the Salvation. The story is called Jesus forgives Peter. Bishop Philip explained the story further. Bishop Philip asked us to imagine that we have done something really bad to somebody. He asked us what we would do the next time we see that person. Bishop Philip hoped we would walk towards them and try to mend the relationship. Peter pretended he did not know Jesus three times. He was full of guilt and shame. Peter swam towards Jesus to say sorry and wanted Jesus to forgive him. Jesus forgave Peter and said I love you. The friendship was mended. We discussed how when we do things that are wrong, it is important to be like Peter and say sorry to mend the friendship. Forgiveness is one of our Christian values and it is really important to help to make the world a better place so that we can all live well together. We ended our worship by singing Build up.
Reception: Muddy Monday
Reception class have had a fabulous time at Whitehall park. The children found treasures, built dens and bug hotels, found minibeasts, balanced and climbed trees too! It was lovely to hear the children's excited voices amongst the trees and they really enjoyed getting muddy too! The rain certainly didn't spoil a fabulous afternoon of living life in all its fullness!
Collective Worship- Pentecost
This morning Mrs Ham welcomed all of the children and staff back to our school after our half term holiday. We started worship by listening to a special prayer written by St Francis, 'Make me a channel of your peace' as that is our special Year of Prayer prayer for the week. We then learnt about Ascension and Pentecost with the help of some super actors and actresses who played the part of the disciples and the wind and fire. We enjoyed joining in with actions to the rhyming Bible stories and we learnt that Pentecost was a special time when God sent His Holy Spirit and it was then the birth of the church. We reflected on how Jesus is always with us through the Holy Spirit that God sent and thought of ways that we could show God's love to each other. We then said a special prayer for Pentecost and sang 'Let me walk beside you', said Jesus one day' song and focused on the 'come follow me forever, with you I'll always stay' which was the promise that Jesus made to his disciples before he ascended into heaven.