Year 6 - History
Today, Year 6 had a visit from Diana Killey, who as a child, attended St Barnabas in the 1940s. She spoke to the children about what life was like growing up during that time and shared her experiences as a child of war. Diana described her daily life and spoke about the strong sense of community that developed during those years. The children were fascinated by her stories and asked many thoughtful questions, showing great curiosity and respect for her experiences.
Year 6 Junior Jam: Music
Year 6 had a fantastic Junior Jam music lesson this week! They listened to and appraised more songs from different genres and also continued planning and practising their own song lyrics and melodies on the glockenspiels. Some children even braved performing their songs for the rest of the class.
Year 6 Obesity Blurb Visit
This week, Year 6 had a visit from the Obesity Blurb project, who spoke with the children about healthy life and eating choices. The children looked at how food is marketed to us and can influence our choices, and also how food and our levels of physical activity can affect our physical and mental health.
KS2 Football Club
Today in Football Club, the children took part in a series of matches with specific challenges and restrictions, such as one-touch finishes, overloads and passing forward. These activities helped them to think strategically, improve their teamwork and develop greater control and awareness during gameplay. Everyone showed great enthusiasm and growing confidence throughout the session.
Year 6 - Smart School Council Debate
This week’s Smart School Council debate was led by the children who took part in a thoughtful discussion on whether it’s more important to learn about past Black history or present-day Black history as part of Black History Month. The children shared a range of interesting opinions, with some highlighting the importance of understanding the struggles and achievements of the past, while others felt it was just as valuable to celebrate modern black role models who are making history today. The debate encouraged everyone to think deeply about how learning from both the past and the present can inspire a more inclusive and informed future.
Year 6 - Science
Today in Science, the children created simple electrical circuits to investigate which materials act as insulators and which act as conductors. They worked carefully to build their circuits and made thoughtful predictions before testing a range of everyday materials. The activity helped them develop their understanding of how electricity flows and why certain materials are used in electrical devices.
Year 6 - Hockey
This week, Year 6 began their hockey unit, focusing on developing their passing and receiving skills. The children practised maintaining control of the ball while moving, using both push and slap passes to improve accuracy and teamwork. They showed great enthusiasm and cooperation throughout the lesson as they refined their technique and built confidence with the stick and ball.
Harvest Appeal
This morning we launched our Harvest Appeal for this year by hearing from Bishop Philip about his Pedalathon on 17th October where he will be cycling to visit and pray at a school or church in all 14 deaneries across the Diocese. We will be supporting Bishop Philip's Harvest Appeal for Christians in South Africa by joining in with his pedalathon over the next few weeks, including half term. We are encouraging our school family to cycle on bikes or scooters just like we did for the Big Lent Walk and we would love for you to send your photos in and the distance. Donations can be made on parent pay shortly. Our RotaKids are also supporting Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise (DARE) and Darwen Rotary this Harvest by creating Winter Warmer boxes filled with toiletries, packets or tins of food and warm clothing for DARE families, the elderly, isolated, poor and vulnerable people in our community . They are also collecting winter coats for the homeless and poor through Darwen Rotary club. Please send in any donations and thank you in advance for your generosity. We then sang some of our Harvest songs for our Church Harvest Festival this Sunday 12th October at 11.00am- all welcome and our school Harvest Festival on Thursday 23rd October led by our WOW group and Reception, Years 1 and 2. All welcome.
Year 6 French
In French this week, Year 6 learned the names of the different rooms in our homes. They learned a song to help them remember the new vocabulary and then were tasked with labelling a diagram of a house. They also played a guessing game, where one child drew a picture of a room in a house and the rest of the class had to guess which room was being drawn and give their answer in French.
Year 6 Art
Year 6 are really enjoying their current art unit: "Making Our Voice Heard." This week, the children continued their work on symbolic imagery, using names and symbols from the Maya Tzolkʼin calendar that the children felt were a representation of themselves and their personalities. They created two pieces of artwork using these names and symbols, one with charcoal and one with coloured oil pastels, using masking tape to create the lettering.
Football Training
Today, the children continued with a game-based football practice, focusing on tactics and in-game coaching. They worked on positioning, decision-making and communication, applying their skills in match scenarios and showing great teamwork throughout
Year 6 - Striking and Fielding
Today, Year 6 completed their final cricket session in our striking and fielding unit, finishing with a series of fun and competitive games. The children demonstrated the skills they have been developing over the past few weeks, including batting, bowling, and fielding and showed great teamwork and sportsmanship throughout.