Mad Science After School Club- Exploring the Forces of Motion
In today’s After School Mad Science Club, our scientists explored the fascinating laws of physics through several "Mad Scientist" challenges. The children investigated gravity and inertia by successfully pulling tablecloths from under dishes, proving that objects at rest prefer to stay at rest. We also held exciting woodpecker races, where the students learned how vibration and friction allow a wooden bird to "peck" its way down a wire. Additionally, the children mastered the art of moving coins across fabric without touching them, using clever vibrations to overcome friction. The children had so much fun throughout the afternoon and are already buzzing with excitement for our next session!
Friday Celebration Worship
We had a fabulous first week back and it was wonderful to see all the children working so hard and settling back into school life so positively. Throughout the week, we spent time reflecting on kindness, thinking carefully about the kind things we have done ourselves and the kindness we have seen in others. This week’s values awards were proudly presented to Luna in Reception, Jasper in Year 1, Noah in Year 2, Archie in Year 3, Bluebell in Year 4, James in Year 5 and Elsie in Year 6. Well done to all of you for consistently demonstrating our school values. In TT Rockstars, Archie and Lyla from Year 4 were awarded certificates for their efforts, fantastic work! Our team values results saw Darwen Tower in fourth place, India Mill in third, Whitehall Park in second and River Darwen taking first place. A huge congratulations to River Darwen, who also won a disco and non-uniform day for achieving the most points last half term, what a brilliant achievement! We were delighted to celebrate a wide range of achievements outside of school this week. Ava was awarded a Level 4 certificate in swimming, while Reggie achieved 50 metres, Mikey 20 metres, Minnie C 10 metres, Isabella achieved Stage 5 and James achieved Stage 1, well done to all our swimmers. Luna earned a yellow belt in kickboxing and Eleanor received a certificate for taking part in a duck hunt. Lydia, Annie, Luna, Thea and Olivia were all awarded badges and certificates in Rainbows for first aid, networking skills, tasty treats and present making. Rosie and Naomi were recognised as seconders in Brownies, taking on an important leadership role. Sophia, Darcy, Daisy and Alexis were all awarded sixer badges in Brownies for their leadership, with Darcy also receiving the Brownies doll for being particularly helpful. Samuel was named Beaver of the Week for his excellent map reading and Isaac was awarded Player of the Week for his fantastic shooting, passing and tackling in football. Congratulations to Reception and Year 3 for achieving the highest attendance this week, keep it up! Finally, we shared some important reminders. Reception families were invited to the upcoming stay and play session and we are looking forward to celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, with children invited to come dressed in green or blue. Year 3 are excited for their upcoming Rock and River Outdoor Adventure trip and we also look forward to the Whitehall Park afternoon tea taking place on Sunday. We ended our worship with thoughtful prayers led by Sophia and Darcy. Well done to everyone for such a positive and successful week.
Year 5 - English
Our topic in English concerns writing an explanation text about earthquakes. To understand how school children in Los Angeles prepare for a potential earthquake, we studied the practice of Drop Hold Cover. This involves children dropping to the floor holding the back of their heads, crawling beneath a table and holding still until the danger passes. The children were given the task of surviving an artificial earthquake that struck Year 5 today. Thankfully, they all made it through unscathed.
Year 5 - Kindness Kites
2026 is the centenary year for the Blackburn Diocese, which includes the churches and schools in the local area. To celebrate this, everyone at St Barnabas has been thinking about kindness and the different forms that it can take. Previously the children have considered the power of saying something kind, listening and sharing while giving examples from their own lives. This week, we completed our ‘making peace’ kite and over the next two weeks we will start thinking about generosity.
Year 5 - French
To start the new French unit of describing people, the children reviewed the verb ‘to have’ and learned how to describe eye and hair colour. We developed our written and spoken French vocabulary and put particular focus on how to construct sentences with the correct word order.
Year 5 Art - Depth, Emotion and Movement
Today Year 5 have completed a series of art lessons with a focus on Drawing: Depth, Emotion and Movement. The children looked into expressive and gestural lines. The children worked really hard on trying to communicate their emotions through memory pictures. The next step of the process will involve transferring these designs onto tracing paper and then finally polystyrene tiles using ink and a roller. We can’t wait to see their final pieces.
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Year 5 Smart School Council Big Debate
Today we took part in our Smart School Council Big Debate. We were asked if Tik Tok should be banned for everyone in the UK. We had six groups, four voted no and two groups voted yes. The main reasons discussed were that it should be banned as it’s a Temu version of YouTube and it’s full of inappropriate content and toxic people. On the other hand some thought it shouldn’t be banned as they think it allows people to connect to others, have fun and interact, it can also be really useful to find out relevant information. Most of the children did highlight though that it should have an age restriction of 16 years old and above. We had some wonderful points that were shared that showcased our oracy skills in Year 5.
Whole School Worship - The Value of Kindness
Today, our whole school worship was focussed on the value of kindness and our Kindness Kite of God rewards kindness. We talk about kindness frequently at St Barnabas, especially as it is one of our 4 Be’s. As we came into worship, a video was playing that showed how kind acts affect the recipient, prompting them to pay the kindness forward so that it spreads. The children spotted some acts of kindness in the video and linked these to the charitable activities we have taken part in as a school family recently. Mrs Ham read some motivational quotes and we all acted out sprinkling a glitter trail of kindness and throwing around kindness like confetti. She then showed us the story of The Good Samaritan and explained that showing kindness isn’t something we reserve just for our friends and family; it’s for everyone. Quotes from the Bible about kindness were read brilliantly by Matthew, Darcy and Charlie from this week's Kindness Kite. We then spent some time reflecting on how we will show kindness this week and beyond, and we finished by singing one of our favourite songs, Rich in Kindness.
Mad Science After School Club- Exploring the Chemistry of Curiosity: pH Levels
We had a fantastic start to our Science club today, delivered by the Mad Scientist, Jo. Our future scientists focused on the power of pH levels, learning how to identify acids and bases using professional liquid indicators and pH paper. The children put on their safety glasses and learned the vital importance of protecting themselves while conducting experiments. From observing the chemical reactions used to clean oxidised coins to testing the acidity of common household liquids. It was inspiring to see the children’s curiosity come to life as they realised that science isn’t just found in a textbook, it is happening in their kitchen cupboards and the world around them.
Year 5 - Whitehall Park
To celebrate the end of term, after church we visited the rose garden at Whitehall Park to see the beautiful Easter crosses made by the children of St Barnabas. The crosses will be up for the Easter weekend for anyone who wants to inspect the work of our resident artists. As the weather was so nice, we stopped off at the playground and spent our break time on the swings and slides.
Year 5 - Easter Hop Skip Jump
Wearing our Easter crowns, we hopped, skipped and jumped around the playground for 1km to raise money for East Lancs Hospice. Luckily the weather was perfect so it was a great chance for some exercise. East Lancs Hospice is an organisation dear to our hearts, providing essential care and dignity for people in Darwen and Blackburn. Please donate any money you can either through our parent pay or directly through their website.
*Spring Amazing Attendance Awards *
*Spring Amazing Attendance Awards * A huge congratulations to all of the children who achieved an amazing attendance certificate today for having over 96% attendance throughout the Autumn and Spring terms! We are so proud of you!