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.
A Brilliant Week of Living Life in its Fullness!
Dear Parents and Carers, What a fantastic and incredibly busy week we've had, truly embracing life in its fullness here at St Barnabas! We are so proud of all our children and grateful for your continued support. This week has been packed with memorable moments: *Our Year 4 children had a wonderful visit to their linking school, St. Matthew's in Blackburn, fostering new connections and experiences. *Years 1-5 enjoyed a special trip to Darwen Library for the Literature Festival, inspiring a love for reading and stories. *We're incredibly proud of Year 1 for trying so hard with their phonics screening and our Year 4 children for being absolute stars in their multiplication times check. *Our amazing netball team secured two more super wins, and our cricket team represented our school family brilliantly, showing great sportsmanship. *Years 5 and 6 successfully completed their last "Money Matters" sessions, gaining valuable life skills. *Our Year of Prayer has continued to be great fun with an "I Spy" game, and in Worship, we focused on significant themes like Pentecost, St Barnabas Day, and Saul on the road to Damascus. *Our Donuts for Dads day and Father's Day Stay and Play were huge successes – a massive thank you for all your generous donut donations and to our FOSB for their support! And finally, we were thrilled to be awarded with an attendance award for being in the top 10% of schools nationally! This is a fantastic achievement for our whole school family. For all of this week's news from each class, please click here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news Looking Ahead to Next Week We have more exciting events planned: Wednesday: 9.00- Reception Class Stay and Play. Some of our Year 3 children will be attending a Global Tea Party with DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise) in recognition of Refugee Week. Thursday: The final evening of the DPSSA netball league. Good luck to our team! Friday: Sports Day! EYFS and KS1: 9:15 AM - 10:30 AM KS2: 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM All children should come to school wearing their PE kits. Parents and carers welcome to spectate. Please bring something to sit on as seating is limited. Please note: If it rains, Sports Day will be postponed to the following Friday. In its place, we will have our Inter-House Sportshall Athletics competition led by our fantastic Sports Leaders. Upcoming events can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/events Thank you all for your continued support in making our school such a vibrant and thriving community. We do, however, need to remind everyone to park courteously of our neighbours. We have received reports of parking across drives, which causes inconvenience for residents. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated. Also, a quick reminder about our upcoming Table Top Sale in Whitehall Park this Saturday from 1.00-4.00pm, which aims to raise funds for the park that we all enjoy using. Finally, we want to wish all of our Dads and Grandads a wonderful Father's Day this Sunday! Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by reflecting on our very busy yet wonderful week. This week, we celebrated St Barnabas Day on Wednesday and remembered Him as the encourager. Mrs Ham explained that next Friday 20th June is Sports Day which will be the perfect opportunity for us all to be an encourager just as St Barnabas was. Mrs Ham also congratulated all of our school for achieving the 'National School Attendance Award' for our attendance being in the top 10% of all Primary Schools in England. We then reflected on our highlights of the week. We dedicated time to prayers for perseverance and resilience, aligning with the Diocesan Year of Prayer. Worship sessions included a reflection on Ascension and Pentecost with Mrs. Ham, and a focus on transformation with Rev. Ben. Year 4 visited St. Matthew's as part of their linking schools project. We celebrated Father's Day with two special events: a "Stay and Play" session in Reception and the "Donuts for Dads" event, successfully run by FOSB and Mrs. Wilkinson. The first Cre8ability session took place, and Years 1-5 enjoyed attending the Darwen Literature Festival at Darwen Library. Our sports teams also achieved notable success, with the Year 6 cricket team representing the school exceptionally well at Darwen Cricket Club on Wednesday, and the Year 5/6 Netball Squad securing another two victories in the DPSSA Netball league, maintaining their impressive unbeaten record. This week, we were pleased to announce several awards. Year 1 and Year 3 were recognised as our attendance winners. Darwen Tower earned the weekly value award with 289 points. Furthermore, River Darwen was celebrated as the overall value award winner for the last half-term and will be rewarded with a non-uniform day and disco, with the date to be announced shortly. We then moved on to congratulate our individual value award winners which were Fiia, the whole Year 1 class for their amazing phonics this week, Frankie, the whole of Year 3 for their fantastic behaviour at the Literature Festival, Year 4 for being superstars at their linking schools visit to St Matthews, Matthew and Freddie. We then moved on to our out of school awards. Ava was recognised as a fabulous mini medic and scientist at Squirrels; James was awarded "Beaver of the Week" for his success and perseverance in the treasure trail and consistently making positive choices; Seb achieved "Player of the Week" in football; Mollie was recognised as a superstar at Rainbows; Eleanor earned her Rainbows Bronze and Health awards; Marley demonstrated kindness and helpfulness at Rainbows, achieving her Rainbows Silver and Health awards; Desmond, Charlie, Sonny, and Leo were commended for their fantastic efforts in a recent football tournament; Charlie achieved Stage 5 in his swimming; Thea was "Star of the Week" at gymnastics for her incredible vault and bar work; Eliza reached won the Silver Cup Final at the weekend and was recognised for being an incredible goalkeeper; Grace achieved bronze in ballet, silver in acro and tap, and was named "most hardworking dancer" in a recent dance competition; and Summer was celebrated as "Star of the Week" at ballet. To end our worship, we had some heartfelt prayers. Mrs. Ham led prayers for all the victims and their families affected by the tragic aeroplane crash yesterday, travelling from India to London, and encouraged us to be grateful for the many amazing things in our lives, including our families. We also heard some beautiful prayers from Sofia and Callie, who prayed for those in conflict and war, and expressed gratitude for our wonderful world and the beautiful people in it. Mrs. Ham explained that Rev Ben and Rev Matt would be holding a special 24/7 week of prayers that we could all get involved in and wished everyone a lovely, restful weekend. We closed our worship with a singalong to 'Shine from the inside out'. Slides can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/about-us/church-and-worship#tab-4370
Whole School Worship-The Road to Damascus - Change, and Forgiveness
Today's worship with Rev. Ben began with the sign of the Trinity. Rev. Ben then presented the children with images of four well-known fictional "Super Villains": Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter, The Joker, Mrs. Trunchball, and Gru from Minions. The children enthusiastically shouted out the characters' names. This engaging activity led into the story of Damascus, focusing on the transformation of Saul into Saint Paul. The narrative explored how Saul, perceived as a "Villain", could undergo a profound change. Saul was initially a fervent persecutor of early Christians. While on his way to Damascus with authority to arrest followers of Jesus, a blinding light from heaven suddenly enveloped him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" When Saul asked who was speaking, the voice replied, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." This encounter left Saul blind for three days. He was led into Damascus, where a disciple named Ananias, guided by a vision from Jesus, healed his sight. After this miraculous experience, Saul was baptised and became a devoted follower of Jesus, changing his name to Paul. He tirelessly preached the Christian message from then on, becoming one of its most influential apostles. Following the story, the children were given time to consider a key question: Can a 'baddie' become a 'goodie'? If so, how and why?" This prompted thoughtful discussion among the children. The worship concluded with everyone singing "Shine from the Inside Out. and a prayer led by Rev Ben.
Amazing Attendance
We’re delighted to let you know that our school has been recognised not once, but twice in this year’s FFT National Attendance Awards. These awards celebrate the hard work and commitment of our staff, pupils, parents and carers in promoting excellent attendance and our school has stood out in both the autumn and spring terms of 2024/25. We are so proud that we are in the top 10% of schools nationally for our Spring term attendance! Well done everyone!
Year 2 - Setting Descriptions
This week, in year 2 have been engaged in exploring Aaron Becker's "Journey," a wordless picture book that encourages them to develop their own narratives through imagination. Today's lesson focused specifically on the book's enchanting woodland setting. Using their prior learning of using expanded noun phrases and incorporating similes, the children demonstrated significant effort and produced a collection of highly descriptive and engaging setting descriptions. The effort they put into their writing was evident in the quality of their work.
Donuts for Dads Event
Good afternoon, Thank you so much to everybody who came to our Donuts for Dads and for making the event a huge success. We haven't got an official total but it is around £300 so thank you so much for your kind donations. Further pictures will be available on our gallery on our website. https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/donuts-for-dads We do have plenty of doughnuts available so there will be a doughnut sale after school tomorrow to sell the remaining doughnuts for a donation. All of the money will be spent to benefit our children in school. Thank you to our FOSB and to our staff for helping to set up, for running and for tidying up after the event too. I will post the raffle draw results shortly. Thank you, Mrs Wilkinson
Year 2 - Literacy Workshop at Darwen Library
On Tuesday afternoon, Year 2 students were very fortunate as they had the opportunity to attend a workshop by Donovan Christopher at Darwen Library. Donovan is a rapper, singer, author, and poet all in one, and the children got to see a little bit of everything he can do. As a whole class, we created a rap with instruments and rhymes, which was amazing. Then Donovan read some of his favourite poems to us and allowed some children to read them to the whole class. It was amazing to see the children participate in something they wouldn’t normally and learn new skills along the way.
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.
Welcome back to school!
We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back to school tomorrow! We hope you all had a fantastic half-term break of living life in all its fullness and the children are feeling refreshed and ready for an exciting final half-term of the school year. Upcoming Events & Important Information This week is packed with fun and important events, so please make a note of the following and see here for further details https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/events * Year 4 will be completing their multiplication times tables check throughout the week and Year 1 will also be completing their phonics screening check on Wednesday or Thursday. Monday: Year 4 will be visiting their linking school, St Matthew's in Blackburn. A reminder that they will need a packed lunch please in a disposable bag. Tuesday: FOSB Non-Uniform Day! To help us prepare for our "Donuts for Dads" afternoon, Tuesday will be a non-uniform day. Children are welcome to wear their own clothes in exchange for a donut donation. Years 1-5 will also be walking to Darwen Library for a special Children's Literature Festival at different times across the day. Please ensure your child is wearing sensible shoes and brings a coat. Wednesday: Donuts for Dads We'd love to invite all Dads and Grandads to join us in the school hall at 2:30 PM for our special "Donuts for Dads" event. Come along and enjoy some delicious treats with your children! Reception Dads are welcome into the Reception class for a special Father's Day stay and play at 2.30pm and can then take their child to the FOSB Donuts for Dad event in the hall. Thursday: Class and Individual Photos Reception and Year 6 will have their class photos taken. Additionally, Year 6 students will have individual photos taken for their memories books. Please ensure children in these year groups come to school in smart school uniform on Thursday. Friday: Year 6 Northern Games Gaelic Football competition in Manchester. The squad will be informed tomorrow. There will be NO Celebration Worship this Friday. Saturday: Whitehall Park Table Top Sale Everyone is welcome to the Whitehall Park Table Top Sale fundraiser on Saturday, June 14th, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM in the Rose Garden. This event is being held by the Whitehall Park Supporters group in association with our school. If you're interested in having a table to sell your goods for £5.00, please contact Marjan on 07837364728 or email [email protected]. See you all tomorrow, classroom doors open at 8.45am to give all children time to get into their class with their coats and bags off ready for a prompt 8.55am start. We're looking forward to a brilliant last half-term filled with learning, fun, and memorable events. Let's achieve great things and live life in all its fullness!
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Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we started our worship by reflecting on our theme for this week which was ‘Heaven on Earth.’ Mrs Ham asked us to think about things that we have done in school this week to support this. We had answers such as encouraging each other, helping people up when they are hurt and sharing our kind words and manners. We reflected on many of our other highlights this week which have included prayers for our fears and worries as part of our Diocesan Year of Prayer, enjoying a worship with Rev Matt on the theme of dedication and perseverance, learning the Makaton sign for ‘sad,’ Year 4 welcoming St Matthews into our school on Monday as part of their linking schools project, two of our Worship Our Way group members (Daisy and Grace) attending the Pupil’s RE Conference 2025, Year 4 delivering a whole class worship on Mental Health Awareness, our Year 5/6 Netball Squad representing our school brilliantly in the DPSSA Netball league again last night and coming away with two victories, our Year 5/6 Netball team who attended the Bee Stinger Netball finals at St Bedes on Tuesday and being crowned the BwD champions, Isaac, Ivy, Charlie and Oscar attending the Times tables Rockstar competition at Belmont on Wednesday afternoon and our Year 3/4 mixed cricket team for playing brilliantly at Darwen Cricket Club on Wednesday showing super teamwork and determination. Furthermore, we congratulated Peyton and Elliott in Year 4 for working hard to achieve their pen license, our Year 1 and Year 4 classes for being our attendance winners this week and Darwen Tower as our value award winners this week with 393 points. We then moved onto congratulating this week’s individual value award winners. Well done to Max, Leila, Lenny and Maggie in EYFS and KS1 and Cassidy, Alfie, Reuben and Tyler in KS2, Well done to these children for working incredibly hard across the curriculum and consistently displaying exceptional behaviour through demonstrating our Barney’s 4Bs (being kind, safe, respectful and ready). We then moved onto congratulating all of our out of school achievers. Well done to Ralphy for being the coach’s dream and showing super skill at football, Charlie and Isabella for achieving their red belts at kickboxing, Annabel for being a super committed Rainbow, Fletcher for being award the Player’s Player of the Match in a recent football game, Cassius for achieving Stage 2 in his swimming, Hendrix for taking part in the Squirrel’s Sports Day, Callie for swimming 25m and being award the dragon at jiu jitsu, Thea for being a superstar Rainbow and achieving Olivia doll, Olivia for achieving Stage 3 in her gymnastics and Esmae, Leonora and Desmond for competing in the micro-league at Darwen Leisure Centre. To end our worship, Mrs Ham wished us all a lovely restful holiday and we had a singalong to ‘Our God is a Great Big God’.
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Happy half term!
Dear Parents and Carers, As we reach the end of another busy half term, we want to extend our sincerest thanks for your continued support. Your partnership is invaluable, and we truly appreciate everything you do for our school family. It's been another fantastic week, full of learning, achieving great things, and fun! Here are just a few of the highlights: * Year 4 had a wonderful time welcoming visitors from their link school, St. Matthew's. They're already looking forward to visiting them on the first Monday back after the holiday! *Our incredible netball team has been on a winning streak! They won the final of the Bee Stinger Netball competition and will now go on to represent our borough – a truly amazing achievement! Our netball squad also won all of their games for the third week in a row in the netball league. *Year 3 enjoyed a fascinating session learning all about Judaism from Lennox's auntie. *Our Reception class had a fantastic time with Muddy Monday, hunting for bugs, and a brilliant forest school session building habitats and dens. *A big well done to our Year 4/5 cricket team for their outstanding sportsmanship in the cricket competition. *Reception class also enjoyed learning all about Islam from Miss Kachwalla. *Two of our WOW group members and Mrs. Araujo had a brilliant day taking part in the Diocesan RE Conference. *Year 4 led a super worship all about how we can support our mental health and wellbeing – an incredibly important topic. *We had great fun in Worship with Rev. Matt, especially with the mystery game and learning about the miracle of Tabitha being brought to life. For all of the news in detail from each class see our news page: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/news You can find details of our upcoming events next half term here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/events Thank you to our staff team for their phenomenal hard work and unwavering dedication this half term, as well as supporting and transporting at sports competitions. Now, it's time for a well-deserved break! We wish you all wonderful two-week half term holiday. Take this time to rest, recharge, and truly live life in all its fullness! We look forward to welcoming everyone back refreshed and ready for an exciting next half term on Monday 9th June! Enjoy your holidays, Becky Ham