Worship-Shrove Tuesday, Lent and Ramadan
This morning in Collective Worship we built on our knowledge of Lent from yesterday's worship and focused on things we could give during Lent, the time of preparation for Easter. Some children said they would sort their clothes and toys and give them to charity, some said they would raise money through walking for the Big Lent Walk and some said they would help others. Yesterday Leonora said she would show kindness everyday during Lent which then led us to take up a 40 day Lent generosity and kindness challenge. Over the next 40 days in school, we will take part in generous acts in order to spread kindness to others. We said our special Year of Prayer prayer today too which was about compassion and how Jesus showed compassion to others and helped them and we can be like Him and help others too. We then learned about the holy month of Ramadan that Muslims around the world are taking part in at the moment by fasting, praying to God and giving back. We discussed the similarities between Lent and Ramadan and agreed that they are both times to feel closer to God, give things up or fast and give things back. They are also times to prepare for celebrations as Christians will be celebrating Easter and Muslims will be celebrating Eid. Miss Kachwalla and Ms Lohar are both fasting at the moment during the day and we learned that Muslims fast to understand how it feels to be hungry and think about and pray for those less fortunate around the world, as well as feeling closer to God. As part of our Big Lent Walk, we can make a difference to the lives of those who don't have enough food by raising money to help them. At the end of our worship we sang some Easter hymns and shared pancakes together as a whole school family as today is Shrove Tuesday. We then reflected on how we can 'be kind' and show generosity to others this Lent.
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Cross country
This Tuesday, cross country club continued with a 20 minute run around Jack’s Key. Next week we will repeat our run and hope to improve our times. We have a few more sessions to be ready for our competition.
Collective Worship: The start of Lent
Today, Mrs Wilkinson discussed what is happening this week. Tomorrow it is Shrove Tuesday and we discussed what happens on Shrove Tuesday. We are looking forward to tasting some pancakes tomorrow during worship! On Wednesday it is the start of Lent. The children watched a video all about Lent and we discussed what it means for Christians. We discussed how it is a time of reflection and many Christians give up something or do something during Lent. Some of the children said they would give up chocolates, sweets and fizzy drinks. Some children said they'd give to charity and be kind every day. Mrs Wilkinson introduced the Big Lent Walk challenge which our school will be doing. We are aiming to raise money for Cafod and will aim to walk 200km collectively. We will also be walking during the school day in our classes to achieve our target so any sponsorship will be greatly appreciated. Your sponsorship can change lives. Every £1 raised through the Big Lent Walk will help fight poverty globally in countries like Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. The children seemed very excited to get started and thank you to those families who have donated already. To donate please click here https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-barnabas-ce-primary-academys-big-lent-walk and don't forget to send photos to either Mrs Wilkinson or Mrs Ham so we can update our page. We finished our worship by singing Jesus strong and kind.
Mad Science After School Club- Living in Space
Today in Mad Science After-school club, the children stepped into astronauts' shoes and uncovered the incredible challenges of living in space. They explored why astronauts train underwater to simulate microgravity and discovered how the absence of gravity affects the human body. From floating in space to maintaining muscle strength, they learned what it takes to survive and thrive beyond Earth.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and reflecting on our very busy week. This week, we launched our new behaviour focuses for this half-term which have been centred around dinner time behaviours. We have been really impressed with how much calmer our school hall is at dinner time- Well done to our whole school and thank you to Mrs Araujo and the WOW group for monitoring! This week we also saw the start of our wonderful Mad Science Club and we are really looking forward to the rest of our after-school clubs starting next week. There are still spaces to sign up to the craft club led by Fred and Pearl and the gymnastics and dodgeball club led by Edstart if anyone is interested. We then congratulated this week’s individual value award winners who have made a fantastic start to the Spring 2 term. Well done to Jess, Declan and Miley in KS2 and Albie, Harry and Thea in EYFS and KS1 for their consistently positive attitude to learning, demonstrating resilience and perseverance in their learning and showing all of our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, respectful, kind and safe). Furthermore, we congratulated our Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics winners who competed amazingly well to achieve gold at Our Lady and St John’s on Wednesday evening, River Darwen as our value award winners this week with 396 points and Reception and Year 6 on being our amazing attendance winners this week. A special well done to Reception who achieved 100% attendance. We then moved on to congratulating our out of school sports award winners. Well done to Ava for achieving 5m in her swimming, Thea for fantastic bar work in gymnastics, Lyla for achieving her level 2 in gymnastics, Seb for achieving ‘Trainer of the Week’ at football, Haydn for achieving ‘Player of the Week’ at football, Isabella for being ‘The Little Darreners’ Player of the Week’ at football, Archie for being awarded his green belt at martial arts, Eleanor for being awarded multiple gardening badges at Rainbows, Alessia and Piper-Jo for achieving Stage 2 in their swimming, Marley for her commitment to Brownies, Charlie for achieving 10m in his swimming, James for being a super improved player at football, Isaac for being ‘Player of the Day’ at football, Callie for being fiercely brave at Stagecoach and singing a solo, achieving several awards in her gymnastics such as gaining her level 2 grading and for also receiving Grunty the Dragon in martial arts, Alice for achieving 600m in her swimming, Peyton for achieving a badge at kickboxing, Scarlett for her fabulous commitment to Rivington Netball Club and Mason for achieving Stage 5 in his swimming. To end our worship, Mrs Ham reminded us that it’s World Book Day next Thursday 6th March where we will be dressing in pyjamas and participating in some fun and exciting reading activities and that it is also non-uniform day and a disco for India Mill and Whitehall Park on Friday 7th March for being the overall value award winners last half-term. We then had some beautiful prayers from James and Martha who prayed to keep those who are poorly and those in heaven in our thoughts. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Year 3- R.E-Explore how Jesus changes lives and research the life story of Mother Teresa.
This afternoon in R.E., Year 3 explored how Jesus changes lives and researched the life of Mother Teresa. They learned that Mother Teresa devoted her life to helping the poor, sick, and needy, believing that by giving up everything, she had gained everything through faith. Her strong belief in God led her to establish the Missionaries of Charity, an organisation dedicated to caring for the most vulnerable. The children discussed how her faith influenced her selfless actions and the lasting impact she had on the world. Working in groups, they shared ideas and reflections, then recorded their findings individually.
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Year 3- Year of Prayer - Paper Plane Activity
As part of the Diocese of Blackburn's Year of Prayer, the children have made paper planes this week. They drew or wrote down something they were afraid of on a piece of paper and then folded it into paper aeroplanes. They then flew the planes across the room by throwing them away from them. Then whispered a prayer asking God to take away our fears and provide comfort and courage. Some of the fears suggested were, darkness, monsters, being alone, or making mistakes.
Worship with Rev. Matt
Today’s worship with Rev. Matt began with The Story of the Great Parade. Rev. Matt invited children to take on different roles, bringing the story to life with waving leaves and flags as Year 6 paraded around the hall. The atmosphere was filled with excitement, just as it would have been on that first Palm Sunday, when crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. After the reenactment, Rev. Matt explained the significance of Palm Sunday, reminding the children that Christians around the world still celebrate it today. He encouraged them to think about the emotions of the crowd —joy, hope and anticipation—as they welcomed Jesus as their king. He then explored a key Bible verse: “He always had the nature of God, but took on the nature of a servant.” The children reflected on what this means and discussed how they could show humility and kindness in their own lives. Ideas included helping others without expecting rewards, showing respect to friends and family, and using their voices to support those in need. To close the worship, Rev. Matt led a moment of quiet reflection, asking the children to think about one small way they could follow Jesus’ example this week. It was a meaningful way to prepare for Easter and to consider the values of humility and service in everyday life.
Year 3 - P.E- Hockey
To begin our invasion games unit focused on hockey, a specialist provided instruction on core skills, emphasising sending and receiving the ball. The children will build on this foundation by participating in small-sided games designed to develop and apply invasion game strategies.
Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics Winners
Mrs Gardner and I are immensely proud (and a little bit hoarse from all of the shouting) of our Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics squad who came 1st tonight. They demonstrated brilliant behaviour, super sportsmanship and were excellent encouragers! A huge thank you to Mrs Gardner for giving up her time to train the squad after school. Parents and carers, thank you for your support with transport and allowing your child to participate in the club. All of the action photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/.../year-3-4... Well done you little superstars, Mrs Ham
Year 3- Debate- How safe do you feel online?
During our class debate, led by Ella and Alfie, the children unanimously agreed that they only feel safe online some of the time. This led to an important discussion about the steps we can take to feel safer in our daily lives. We emphasised the importance of speaking to a trusted adult when feeling uncertain or uncomfortable, as well as the need to use only age-appropriate apps and online platforms. Through this conversation, we reinforced the message that staying safe is a shared responsibility and that making informed choices can help protect ourselves and others.
Year 3- Class Worship-Why do we judge people based on their appearance?
During our class worship today, we watched this week's Picture News about a football team that launched a campaign to support young players with short hair. This came after a junior girls' team faced accusations of "cheating" when opposing teams and their supporters assumed they were fielding boys. To show their support, York Railway Institute AFC's women's recreational squad created a social media video where players wore T-shirts with the slogan: "Girls can have short hair – get over it." The junior players, aged 11 and 12, shared that these comments upset and frustrated them. Kate White, from the women's team, expressed how unfair the situation was, saying: "It's been horrible. It's the girls' basic personal choice it’s who they are. Some girls have short hair, and this singles them out when they don’t need that." As a class, we then watched a short clip of two girls playing football. However, because they had short hair, some people mistakenly questioned their gender. This led to a discussion about why we sometimes judge people based on their appearance whether it’s a person, a book by its cover, or a film by its trailer. Naomi shared her own experience from Year 2 when she was hesitant to talk to Albert at first. But once she got to know him, she realised they had a lot in common. Now that Albert is no longer here, she misses him. We then explored a Bible quote that reminds us, as people of God, to see beyond appearances and treat everyone with dignity, love, and kindness. We also reflected on Martin Luther King Jr.'s powerful words: "I look to a day when people will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character." To conclude, we thanked God for loving and accepting us just as we are, and we prayed for the ability to see beyond appearances and recognise the true worth in every person.