Whole School Worship - God’s Green Earth
As we approach the end of Lent, Mrs Ham led a special worship to celebrate all the efforts our school community has made to give back by looking after our local area and beyond. We couldn’t believe just how much we’ve all achieved in 2026 so far. Some key actions include: Reception class earning the Ruby Robin Award through building bug hotels, spotting birds and taking part in a wildlife quiz; our collective Big Winter Wander to raise money for the World Fund For Nature; our whole-school tree planting day on Jack’s Key; the WOW group planting two community orchards on school grounds; Mr Fairbanks building bird boxes and placing them around school; the Rota Kids collecting pre-loved teddies and coats for charity; the WOW group creating posters about the community poo bag dispenser located outside school, and putting them up all around the local area; and some of our children and parents choosing to go litter picking to help keep our streets clean. We have much more planned for the future, so keep a lookout for our next initiative. We ended our worship with prayers of thanks for God’s creations and singing one of our favourite Fischy Music songs: Make A Difference. Key Stage 2 stayed behind to hear the winners of the March TT Rockstars battle. A huge well done to the winning classes, Years 3 and 6, and to our class champions: Charlie, Charlie, Isabella and Isabelle.
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Heroes of Troy
We are so proud of our drama club for their fantastic production of ‘Heroes of Troy’. We loved seeing you all shine on stage and it was amazing to see how much your confidence has grown over the last ten weeks. A huge thank you to Miss Woods and Mr Mealor for their support and direction. Also a massive thank you to all of the parents and carers who came to support. All of the photos are available here and the recording will be shared soon. https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/heroes-of-troy-drama-club-production
Year 5 - Chocolate Bingo
Jade from Tesco's community champions visited Year 5 today to play a game of stand up bingo. Every child received a ticket and sat down with a bag of sweets when their number was called. The last person standing was Layla, who won an Easter egg. Thank you so much to the Tesco for coming today.
Times Table Rockstars Champions
A huge well done to our KS2 Times Table Rockstars champions for this month! Congratulations to: Charlie G – Year 3 Isabelle – Year 4 Charlie – Year 5 Isabelle – Year 6 A special shoutout to our class winners too: Lower Key Stage 2: Year 3 Upper Key Stage 2: Year 6 A Fantastic effort by everyone—keep rocking those times tables!
Year 5 - Easter Crowns
On Thursday, we will be raising money for the East Lancs Hospice by doing a sponsored 1km hop, skip and jump. The children can be sponsored through the forms they have taken home and any money can be contributed through parent pay. They will be wearing their spectacular Easter crowns, which they made today, while they are getting their steps in.
Year 5 - Bikeability
Braving freezing winds and bitter hail, Year 5 spent Wednesday developing their cycling skills with the assistance of the instructors from Bikeability. They worked towards their Level 1 certificate and also displayed their skills in listening and team work. I was so impressed by their resilience and commitment working in such challenging conditions.
Year 5 - Science
After exploring gravity last week, we today considered how the air around us pushes against objects as they move through it. We defined air resistance as an oppositional force and carried out experiments using parachutes made of paper and string. We found that the larger the parachute, the slower it fell to the ground because its greater surface area encounters more drag.
Year 5 - RE
In RE, we continued our study of the Easter story. After summarising the story, each child chose six key elements of the story to draw a picture of and explore its significance to Christians or the Easter story. The focus was on the theme of Jesus’ victory over death and sin alongside children’s personal connections to the story.
Year 5 - World Down Syndrome Day
To celebrate World Down Syndrome day, we rocked out in our best socks. We learned about what Down Syndrome is, how it is caused and how it can impact people. Most importantly we learned that children with Down Syndrome are just the same as others. All children love eating cake, playing with their friends, spending time with their families and learning amazing things about the world.
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Year 5 - Music
The children recapped their learning from last week before being introduced to scales. They learned the differences between major and minor scales and then played them on the ukulele. The focus was on playing the C major scales using different numbers of strings. At the end, the children performed their scales to the class.
Let's Go Sing 2026
* Pure Magic at the Blackburn Ice Arena! * I am bursting with pride this evening after watching our incredible school choir perform at the Let’s Go Sing concert. Seeing them out there, singing their hearts out with such passion, was a moment I won't forget! What struck me most wasn't just the beautiful music, but the sheer enthusiasm and commitment our children showed. They didn't just learn the songs; they mastered every word and every action, performing with huge smiles and brilliant energy. * A Huge Thank You * Events like this don’t happen without a massive team effort behind the scenes: • To Mrs. Govan and Mrs. Wilkinson: Thank you for your tireless dedication, your lunchtime rehearsals, and for championing our young vocalists every step of the way. • To our Parents and Carers: Thank you for braving the cold at the arena to cheer them on! Your support in the stands means the world to the children (and to us). Our children represented the school perfectly tonight, behaving impeccably. They truly found their voices! What little superstars!
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Our Whole School Worship-Palm Sunday and Serving Others
Our whole school worship began with signing the Trinity, bringing the whole school together in reflection. To explore the theme of our new Kindness Kite, Jack (Y5), Eliza (Y5), and Olivia (Y4) shared the Fairness Kite, which explained the biblical perspective on justice and treating others equitably. Mrs Ham asked the children to take a moment to reflect on everything we have done as a school to serve others who don't have as much as us. We looked back on our collective efforts to help those in need: Donating clothes, coats for the homeless, and teddies, which were organised by Year 5 Rotakids. Collecting food for Harvest and supporting the Darwen Enterprise Easter Egg appeal. Filling shoe boxes and raising money through sponsored walks. Worship continued with Mrs Ham reading a rhyming Palm Sunday Bible story about Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey, which the children and staff acted out brilliantly. Jesus and his friends were played by Charlie G, Peyton, and Mr Bloomfield. Zac (Year 1) played the donkey that carried Jesus into the city. Iris, Ava, and many other children acted as the crowd, waving palm leaves to welcome the King. Mrs Araujo and Mr Mealor played the Pharisees, representing the religious leaders who disagreed with Jesus and watched the parade with concern. To end our worship, we sang, 'We Have a King Who Rides a Donkey.' We left worship thinking about the example Jesus set and how we can continue to give in service to those around us.