Year 2-Darwen Fire Brigade Visit
This afternoon, Year 2 had a special visit from the Darwen Fire Brigade. The firefighters spoke to the children about the importance of having a working smoke alarm at home—especially at night when we are asleep and might not notice a fire. As part of their visit, they set the children a very important piece of homework: to go home and check that their house has a smoke alarm installed. The brigade then gave an exciting and informative demonstration of the various features of their fire engine. They showed the children their breathing apparatus—masks and air tanks—which help them breathe safely in smoke-filled environments. The children were particularly fascinated by the thermal imaging camera, which helps firefighters see through thick smoke and darkness. The firefighters also explained that their role goes beyond fighting fires. A big part of their job involves attending road traffic accidents. They demonstrated some of the specialist rescue equipment they use in these situations, including vehicle extraction cutters. To end the visit, every child had the chance to use the fire hose—a highlight that brought huge smiles to everyone’s faces! A huge thank you to the Darwen Fire Brigade for an unforgettable visit and for helping Year 2 learn how to stay safe.
Year 2 Class Worship- Picture News
This week in class worship, Year 2 caught up on last week’s Picture News and explored the inspiring story of 23-year-old Ellie Goldstein, a model and current contestant on Strictly Come Dancing. Some of the children recognised Ellie from the show, and we learned that she is the first person with Down’s Syndrome to take part in the full series. We discovered Ellie’s motivations for joining the show, including her desire to challenge herself and to prove that people can achieve incredible things—sometimes even surprising others with what they’re capable of. We reflected on the important messages we can take from Ellie’s story. The children shared some brilliant thoughts, such as the importance of facing our fears, ignoring negativity, being brave, and working hard to achieve our goals through perseverance and practice.
Year 2 Bouncing a ball and dodging
In our PE lesson we looked at bouncing a ball which involves regimenting force from a ball then immediately imparting force on the ball in a downward direction. The children tried really hard to develop this fundamental skills and use both hands to control the ball. With dodging, the children worked on a quick, deceptive change in direction in order to get away from their partner. We played various games and everyone joined in and communicated in a positive and mature way.
Friday Celebration Worship and Hello Yellow Day
This morning, we enjoyed an extra special celebration worship to mark ‘Hello Yellow’ Day for World Mental Health Day. We began by exploring the range of emotions we all experience and discussed ways to lift our spirits when we're feeling down, with thoughtful suggestions like listening to favourite music, taking deep breaths, watching a funny film, reading a book, singing wholeheartedly, having a cuddle, or counting to ten. To boost our mood even further, we had a joyful singalong to Golden by K-pop and lit candles to pray for those facing mental health challenges. We then celebrated our Value Award winners across the school—well done to Coban, Reggie, Olly and Percy in EYFS and KS1, and to Harry, Olivia, Carter and Jenson in KS2—for their outstanding attitudes to learning and for consistently demonstrating our Barney’s 4Bs. Congratulations also to India Mill for being our overall Value Award winners with an impressive 979 points, as well as to EYFS and Year 2 for 100% attendance in the infants and Year 3 for an excellent 99.3% in the juniors. Mrs Ham shared the fantastic news that we had 100% attendance across the whole school on Tuesday. We also celebrated the achievements of our pupils beyond the classroom—well done to Mason for swimming 5m, Chester for earning ‘Player of the Week’ as a goalkeeper at Darwen FC, Phoebe for her wonderful dancing, Callie for her gymnastics skills, Callie and Alice for completing the Summer Reading Challenge, Grace for excelling in a recent dance competition with acro, song and dance, classical and her own choreography, Harry for achieving his yellow belt in kickboxing, Thea for being named Star of the Week in gymnastics, Scarlett for being a superstar netballer and earning Player of the Match, Willow for achieving her Puffin award in swimming and Star of the Week in gymnastics, and Eleanor for earning her Stage 4 in swimming, her recycling badge at Rainbows and completing the Summer Reading Challenge. A huge congratulations also went to our brilliant Year 4/5 Girls Football Squad for their outstanding performance in the Girls DPSSA Football League, and to the group of eight Year 2 children who represented our school so brilliantly in the Key Stage 1 Multi Skills Festival. To finish our worship, Mrs Ham reminded us of the upcoming Harvest Family Service at St Barnabas Church this Sunday at 11am, and how we hope to see as many of our children there as possible for a joyful Harvest singalong. We are also proud to be supporting Year 5 and the Rotakids in their campaign to collect as many shoeboxes as possible filled with essentials for local refugees and The Bishop's Harvest Appeal 2025—please see Class Dojo for further information.
Year 2-World Mental Health Day
Year 2 celebrated World Mental Health Day today! Everyone came dressed in yellow and spent time learning about how important it is to look after ourselves. We talked about what we can do when we’re feeling a bit down — like doing things we love, spending time with friends and family, and talking about how we feel. The children shared lots of great ideas about what makes them happy and how they can stay positive. Well done Year 2!
Year 2 English- Using Non-Fiction Texts to Retrieve and Record Facts
Today in English, Year 2 explored non-fiction texts (both online and in book form) to retrieve information about animals from the Savannah. They each chose either a lion, giraffe, or elephant and worked hard to record key facts, ready to use in their very own information pages. We were blown away by their impressive facts- well done Year 2!
Year 2 Science-Food Chains
This week, Year 2 explored how food chains work in Science. To help understand the concept, we used the idea of a Russian doll, showing how a food chain begins with a producer and is followed by a series of consumers. We built food chains with up to four consumers. Fantastic work, Year 2!
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Year 2 Class Worship: The Great Big Live Assembly
This morning, Year 2 tuned into The Great Big Live Assembly: Black History Month 2025. We only managed to watch the first five minutes because we got into a lengthy conversation about the symbolism of the St George’s flag — how it can be used to celebrate our amazing country, but also how, sadly, it can sometimes be misused to intimidate or threaten. This idea was linked to the image of a brick: in the hands of a builder, a brick is a tool for good — used to construct homes, schools, hospitals, and other places that serve and support communities. But in a different context — for example, someone walking down the street holding a brick with harmful intent — it can take on a much more negative meaning. In the same way, the St George’s Cross can represent national pride and unity through culture and sport, yet it can also be misused to exclude or intimidate, particularly towards immigrants. The assembly then posed a question: How can we make sure everyone feels welcome in our schools — no matter where they come from, what they look like, or the colour of their skin? Our class had some thoughtful and compassionate suggestions: helping new people find their way around, smiling to make them feel included, offering help if they’re lost or hurt, and using kind words. It was wonderful to hear the children speak proudly about their own diverse backgrounds. Many shared that they have family members from different nationalities such as China and New Zealand and friendships with children from places such as Pakistan. We’re looking forward to watching the rest of the assembly in the coming days and learning more about the inspirational people of colour who have helped shape our country as part of Black History Month.
Harvest Appeal
This morning we launched our Harvest Appeal for this year by hearing from Bishop Philip about his Pedalathon on 17th October where he will be cycling to visit and pray at a school or church in all 14 deaneries across the Diocese. We will be supporting Bishop Philip's Harvest Appeal for Christians in South Africa by joining in with his pedalathon over the next few weeks, including half term. We are encouraging our school family to cycle on bikes or scooters just like we did for the Big Lent Walk and we would love for you to send your photos in and the distance. Donations can be made on parent pay shortly. Our RotaKids are also supporting Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise (DARE) and Darwen Rotary this Harvest by creating Winter Warmer boxes filled with toiletries, packets or tins of food and warm clothing for DARE families, the elderly, isolated, poor and vulnerable people in our community . They are also collecting winter coats for the homeless and poor through Darwen Rotary club. Please send in any donations and thank you in advance for your generosity. We then sang some of our Harvest songs for our Church Harvest Festival this Sunday 12th October at 11.00am- all welcome and our school Harvest Festival on Thursday 23rd October led by our WOW group and Reception, Years 1 and 2. All welcome.
Year 2 - Fundamental Skills in PE
In our PE session this week, we focused on improving our distance in jumping. The children moved from limited arm swings to swinging both arms together in order to launch themselves forward. They also realised that using the front of their feet and bending their knees helped them to go further. We will continue to work on landing on both feet after a full extension of our legs and leaning forwards with our body.
Key Stage 1 Multi- Skills Festival at St Bedes
This morning, ten of our Year 2 children took part in the Key Stage 1 Multi- Skills Festival at St Bedes. We also had three of our wonderful Sports Leaders- Seb, Theo and Luca to support and guide the younger children. The children worked their way round the stations which included an over and under relay, aim game, cone stack high stepper and vortex throw. Our children had so much fun and represented our school fantastically well! They encouraged each other in true St Barnabas the Encourager style, listening carefully to instructions and trying their very best. We even came back to school with a gold medal!
Year 2 Maths- Familiarising Ourselves With the New Tablets
This morning, Year 2 had their first experience with the new tablets now available for Key Stage 1. They did an outstanding job logging into Purple Mash and quickly getting familiar with the device. Students then explored a variety of engaging maths games on the platform, practising times tables, number sequences, and number bonds. Well done, Year 2 – great work!