Worship with Rev. Ben
Today’s worship with Rev. Ben began with a fun game where two teams raced to pass a shuttlecock around the hall and get it back to the start. This linked to the Bible story about Jesus giving us instructions to “pass it on”—just like in the game. The story focused on the Ascension—the moment when Jesus, after rising from the dead and spending time with his disciples, was taken up to heaven. Before he left, Jesus gave his disciples an important mission: to go out into the world, share his teachings, and spread the good news. He promised they would not be alone—God would send the Holy Spirit to be their helper. Even though the disciples felt unsure and a bit afraid, Jesus reassured them that he would always be with them. After the story, the children engaged in thoughtful discussions, exploring questions such as: What did Jesus ask the disciples to do? And How can you trust in Jesus’ promise to be with you, even when you don’t feel brave? Some children shared that they feel brave when they remember Jesus is with them in their hearts. Others said they can pass on kindness and love to friends and family, just like the disciples did. The worship reminded everyone that living like Jesus and sharing his message helps us experience life in all its fullness—a life filled with love, purpose and hope.
Year 4 PSHE - Mental Health Awareness
In our PSHE lesson we have been looking at Mental Health Awareness. Mental health is everything. Mental health is more than just a small part of our lives.It’s connected to every little thing we do, every place we go and every person around us. Mental Health Awareness Week this year takes place from Monday 12 – Sunday 18 May 2025. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. In our sessions we have been learning how to fill our buckets with all the things that find us joy, writing Kindness poems and planning random acts of kindness.
Year 6 - Year of Prayer
Continuing our Year of Prayer activities, year 6 took part in a reflective walk along the markings on the school yard. We had to follow the lines, reflecting or praying, remembering that we can trust Jesus and ask him to help us to follow the right path.
Year 1- Year of Prayer (Follow the Lines)
This week as part of the Diocesan Year of Prayer, Year 1 went outside onto our playground and ‘followed the lines.’ Before doing so, they thought about how we try our best to lead our lives by Jesus’ example. We thought about all the amazing things that Jesus did such as sharing his power to perform miracles such as healing the sick and feeding the hungry. We thought about the Christian Values that this shows such as kindness, generosity and friendship and how we can live out these values each and everyday. Year 1 suggested that we can lead by Jesus’ example by helping each other when we fall over, holding the door open for one another, complimenting each other to spread love and joy and supporting one another with our work. We followed the various lines (the correct paths) on the playground as we thought about all of the things that we had discussed. We also thought about what we can do when we are finding things a challenge. We said that we could pray to Jesus and ask him to help us to make the right decision to take the right path.
Year 4 - Class Worship in the Spirituality Garden
We took advantage of the beautiful sunshine and gathered for our class worship in the Spirituality Garden today. This half term, our collective worship theme is the Lord’s Prayer, so we drew some symbols to help us remember and understand it. We then used the symbols to help us recite the prayer. We finished by retelling some of our favourite stories from the Bible.
Year 5 - Year of Prayer
Today, Year 5 took part in their Year of Prayer, focusing on following the guidance given by Jesus. As part of the reflection, the children followed a series of lines and various markings on the playground that symbolised the path Jesus sets for us. This activity represented different aspects of His teachings—such as love, forgiveness and courage—encouraging the children to think deeply about how they can follow His example in their daily lives. This meaningful activity helped them reflect on the choices they make and how they can strive to live life in all its fullness—by showing kindness, compassion and remaining faithful to their values.
Year 4 - Year of Prayer: Following Lines
The Year 4s are loving this week's prayer theme. We have been thinking about walking the right path and remembering what Jesus taught us. They followed the line markings on the KS2 playground and thought about how we can walk the right path in our daily lives. I think their favourite part was jumping at the end and shouting, "Amen!"
Whole School Celebration-Living Life to the Full- Afternoon Tea
The afternoon tea, organised by the Smart School Council and RotaKids, was a wonderful celebration of our school family living life to the fullest. There was a lovely selection of cakes and biscuits, some homemade by the RotaKids the day before and some bought in. The children enjoyed chatting, laughing, and drinking hot chocolate together. We're thrilled to share that the event raised an impressive £256, which will go directly towards supporting our school. A huge thank you to everyone who supported the event and to all the staff who helped make it happen. A special thank you to our friends from Darwen Rotary who came along to support too. We look forward to hosting many more in the future!
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Collective Worship- Songs of Praise
As part of our focus on prayer this half term, we further explored how one way we can pray is through song. We had a joyous start to the morning singing some of our favourite songs of praise and different classes were chosen to model the singing and actions at the front. We are super proud of our Reception class for showing their Build Up song as they showed lots of courage singing in front of the whole school family. We sang Waymaker, Shine from the inside out, Build up one another, Life in all its fullness and Jesus strong and kind. Most of our favourite worship songs can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/about-us/church-and-worship#tab-5832
Reception: Muddy Monday
For their Muddy Monday session, Reception walked to Whitehall park and looked for signs of spring. The children saw squirrels and heard lots of birds tweeting away which was lovely to see and hear. They saw more leaves on trees and also saw berries and blossom. The children then got to spend some time in a different section of Whitehall park. We role-played a camp fire and built a den too.
Whole School Worship - Exploring Prayer
Today’s worship marked the beginning of an exploration of prayer: what it is, why people pray, how, when and where they pray, and why it is an important part of faith. We started by reciting the Lord’s Prayer and signing parts using the Makaton symbols we already knew. Jesus told his disciples this prayer twice when they asked him how to pray. We watched a short video explaining that prayer is simply talking to God and that there are no specific rules when communicating with God. We also learned that he is never too busy to listen to us. The children spent time recapping some of the ways they have prayed including through the Diocesan Year of Prayer, and thinking about what they might want to tell God. We then had some quiet time to say our own prayers to God. Some children said thank you for God’s wonderful creations, some said sorry for making wrong choices, some were thankful for their family and friends and some were grateful for their homes and food. We finished by singing our special Lord’s Prayer song with our Makaton actions.
Year 3- Geography- Living Life to the Full-Comparing Darwen and New York
As part of our Geography topic on the United States of America, Year 3 have been investigating their local area, taking note of the physical and human features in their surroundings. During our walk, we stopped to talk with Mrs Singleton’s brother-in-law, who shared some fascinating facts about Darwen’s famous India Mill and its history. As we continued, we spotted an old tramline, a reminder of the past when trams used to travel between Blackburn and Darwen. We also noticed a boat in someone's garden, which sparked lots of excitement and curiosity! The children made some brilliant observations, noting that the streets in Darwen look much narrower compared to the wide, bustling avenues of New York. They also commented that the houses here are much smaller, and overall, Darwen feels a lot quieter and less busy than the lively streets of New York. Year 3 were living life to its fullest on this walk, embracing every opportunity to explore, learn, and wonder about the world around them. These real-world experiences will help the children when discussing the similarities and differences between Darwen and New York in class. Well done, Year 3, fantastic geographers in the making!