Year 5 Junior Jam - Music
Year 5 really enjoyed their Junior Jam music session, this week! They learned about the origins of Boom Whackers and used them alongside a backing track, keeping the rhythm and striking when their colour appeared on the screen. They also learned the “roll” technique, which creates an elongated sound.
Worship with Rev. Ben
Today, we had worship with Rev. Ben, which began with a fun yet challenging relay-style game where we had to balance ping pong balls on a paper plate while moving carefully across the hall. Rev. Ben explained that, just like in the game, life can sometimes feel unsteady or difficult, especially when we are upset or facing challenges. To help us reflect on this, Rev. Ben showed a clip about what Jesus did when he was feeling deeply sad the night before his death. The video illustrated how Jesus turned to God in prayer, seeking strength and comfort during his time of sorrow. Rev. Ben explained that, just like Jesus, we can share our worries and struggles with God, knowing that He listens and understands, and can help us through even the toughest times. He reminded us that no matter how we feel, we are never alone—God is always there to support and guide us.
3rd place at Yr 5/6 Sportshall Athletics Final
We are immensely proud of our Year 5/6 Sportshall Athletics team for their grit and determination, which resulted in them gaining 3rd place out of 27 schools across Blackburn with Darwen. A huge thank you to Mrs Gardner for her dedication to our squad through extra training after school. Thanks to Mr Bloomfield for his support today in organising the field events. We really appreciate the support of the parents who helped to transport the children. Mrs Gardner led the girls team and Mrs Ham led the boys team and we couldn’t be prouder of the whole squad for their effort in each event and their encouragement towards each other. We may be small, but we are mighty! All of the action photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/yr-5-6-sportshall-athletics-final-feb-2025
Year 5 - Fractions of amounts
Today, Year 5 concluded their fractions unit by practising fluency and reasoning with fractional quantities using LBQ. The children tackled a range of challenges, applying their knowledge of equivalent fractions, addition and subtraction of fractions and problem-solving in real-life contexts. They worked with great focus, demonstrating resilience and accuracy as they refined their understanding.
Foodie Friends club- Cupcakes
Today, in Foodie Club, the bakers worked in small groups to make cupcakes. They carefully weighed the butter, flour and sugar, whisked the eggs, and followed the recipe closely to ensure a smooth and well-blended mixture. They particularly enjoyed licking the spoon and the mixing bowl.
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Children's Mental Health Week Launch Worship & YOP- Talents
This morning Mrs Ham launched our Children's Mental Health Week theme of 'Know yourself, Grow Yourself'. We started by looking at our school vision that says 'Achieving great things through learning and growing together'. We thought about what the growing together means and we had some super suggestions such as growing emotionally and mentally, getting better at things and not giving up when we find things hard. We then looked at our emotions and how they control our brain, just like in the film Inside Out. We thought about the times when our brain tells us that we aren't good at things and we had some great examples such as in acro when doing cartwheels, in maths or art and when we do things for the first time. We thought of ways to challenge our brains and help ourselves grow by doing things that we enjoy such as listening to music, taking part in sports or other hobbies, showing courage to try new things etc. We then focused on our Year of Prayer for this week which is thanking God for our talents. We shared our talents and thought about ways we could express our talents this week and especially on our dress to express day on Friday. We reflected on how we should shine from the inside out and always respect each other's God given talents and the way we like to express ourselves. We discussed that if we laugh at the way someone likes to express themselves then that might hurt their feelings and they will feel sad and won't want to express themselves that way again. We said a lovely prayer thanking God for our talents and how we promise to share them with others and respect others' talents. We finished with singing one of our favourite songs 'Shine from the inside out' which reminds us that God knows us, loves us and fills us with talents that we need show to everyone we meet.
Year 5 Art - Sketching
In art, year 5 have been working on ideas for sketching a futuristic design. They carefully traced space-themed images, using sketching pencils and tracing paper. They then transferred their chosen images into their sketch pad and used their pencils to shade and blend. All of the children have produced amazing artwork!
Year 5 P.E - Hockey
Year 5 have been continuing to improve their hockey skills in P.E. They have practised passing, receiving, dribbling around cones, aiming and trying to control the ball using good co-ordination. Being out in the sunshine was an added bonus!
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship thanking our whole school for coming to school in non-uniform to raise funds for food, shelter and first aid supplies for those in America who are being affected by the LA wildfires. Thank you to our Rotakids for organising the non-uniform day to help make a difference . We then reflected on a busy week in school. This week, we held in our thoughts all the Jews who suffered in the holocaust and thought about how we can show love, kindness and generosity to our neighbours and again we have enjoyed some wonderful dance and gymnastics sessions led by Rothwell Arts and some amazing extra-curricular clubs such as Foodie Friends, Craft Club, Basketball and Multi-Sports Club led by Edstart. We then congratulated Haydn, Eve and Eddie in EYFS and KS1 and Jack, Leo, Luca and Leonora in KS2 for pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and trying new things, demonstrating hard work and perseverance in their learning and showing all of our Barny’s 4Bs (being ready, respectful, kind and safe). Furthermore, we congratulated Year 2 and Year 5 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, India Mill as our overall value award winners this week with 431 points, our Sportshall Athletics squad for winning their heat on Tuesday evening and getting through to the finals and our new Science Ambassadors (Noah in Year 6, Matthew in Year 5, James in Year 4 and Naomi and Cassidy in Year 3) for their fantastic applications. A huge well done to these children- we know that you will be amazing in your new role! We then congratulated our out of school sports award winners. Well done Ava for being awarded two gold trophies in her dance, Reggie for demonstrating fantastic football skills, Alice, Olivia and Daisy for their ‘Inspiring Women’ creation that won them a trophy at Brownies, Luna for winning ‘The Tiny Ballet Dancer of the Year’ award, Archie for achieving listening and follow the instructions at swimming, Lilly for achieving a special award in dance, Darcy for being a super gymnast, Lyla for working hard to master the aerial (a cartwheel with no hands), Grace for achieving two medals for song & dance and her own choreography, Annabel for achieving Star of the Week at Musical Theatre, Scarlett for being a super defender at netball and achieving the gold award and Beau for achieving Stage 5 in her swimming. To end our worship, Mrs Ham reminded us that it’s Dress to Express next Friday 7th February for Children’s Mental Health Week and we had some beautiful prayers from Vienna and Ralphi who prayed for those less fortunate than ourselves, including those who don’t have food and drink at their disposal as we do and those are in the midst of war, conflict and natural disasters. We then sang ‘Sing a New Song’ and thanked those who could attend celebration worship. We thank the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Year 5 - Emotional Literacy
Today, Year 5 explored the concept of emotional literacy through a discussion about the poster. The class developed a strong understanding of what emotional literacy means and how it can help us navigate difficult situations. Together, we identified key ways to support one another during challenging times, including being understanding, recognising emotions in ourselves and others, showing empathy, offering help and practicing mindfulness to manage emotional difficulties. Through this discussion, the children reflected on the importance of kindness and emotional awareness in building a supportive and caring environment.
Worship with Rev. Matt
This morning’s worship with Rev. Matt focused on the theme of perseverance. It began with a challenge where the children had to work together to keep an inflatable in the air without letting it touch the ground. As the game went on, they quickly realised that success required teamwork, determination and persistence. Following the challenge, Rev. Matt introduced a parable from the Bible—the story of the unjust judge. He explained how the woman in the story kept returning to the judge, refusing to give up until she received justice. This demonstrated the power of persistence, showing that when we truly believe in something, we must keep trying and not lose heart. Rev. Matt linked this to prayer, reminding the children that when we speak to God, we should be just as persistent. The children then took a moment for reflection, considering the question: What is something you could pray for this week? They were encouraged to think about personal challenges, hopes for others or things happening in the world that they could bring to God in prayer. To conclude, Rev. Matt left the children with a powerful message: when we knock on God’s door through prayer, He will answer. This message reinforced the importance of faith, patience and perseverance in our relationship with God.
Join our PTFA
Friends of St Barnabas (FOSB) are always looking for volunteers. We would love for you to join us to help fundraise for our wonderful school. If you would like to volunteer, please contact us via email: [email protected] Thank you in advance for helping.