Year 6 - DACA Visit
Today, Year 6 enjoyed a visit from one of the senior leaders from DACA, where they learned more about the transition to high school. The session explored what a typical school day looks like, what pupils can expect when they move up and the opportunities available to them. He also shared information about upcoming open days, helping to prepare the children for the exciting changes ahead. The DACA open evening is on Wednesday 1st October from 6.00-8.00pm.
Living out God's big story Worship
Today we joined Lisa and Bishop Philip for another Worship across the Diocese worship. They introduced this year's theme of 'Living out God's big story' and had a conversation about what it means to live out God's Big Story. Bishop Philip told us about the ways in which he lives out God's Big Story through his work and when he is on holiday! We then reflected on how we can live out God's Big Story. To finish we practiced singing 'Welcome Everybody' and 'Stronger Together'. Thank you to our amazing Year 6 class for singing brilliantly at the front and demonstrating the actions to the rest of our school family.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, in our first celebration of the new academic year, we began by reflecting on a fantastic first week back at school. Over the past few days, we have revisited our Barney’s 4Bs and our Christian Values, warmly welcomed our new Reception starters, and transitioned smoothly into our new classes. We then turned our attention to celebrating some incredible out-of-school achievements. Well done to Ava for earning her 10m and Stage 3 swimming certificates, Grace for collecting multiple medals in ballet, song and dance, and acro, and Willow for being named Star of the Week at Gymfinity Kids for her outstanding skill. Congratulations also to Mollie, Samuel, and Olivia for their hard work completing the BwD Summer Reading Challenge, Lyla for her medals and trophy in improvised and commercial dance, and Callie for her exceptional achievements in gymnastics, Stage 6 swimming, and earning her dragon belt in Jiu-Jitsu. We also applauded Phoebe for her 5m swimming certificate, Charlie for helping his football team secure 2nd place in a recent tournament and winning the Manager’s Cup, and Hendrix for earning numerous badges at Squirrels. A big congratulations to Year 2 and Year 5 for winning this week’s attendance awards—Year 2 achieved an incredible 100% attendance, and Year 5 closely followed with 98.8%. Mrs Ham then shared some exciting upcoming events to look forward to: the whole-school production of Treasure Island on Tuesday 9th September, a ‘Let’s Go Sing’ workshop for Years 4, 5, and 6 on Monday 15th September aimed at boosting choir participation, our ‘Meet the Teacher’ meetings on Wednesday 17th September, our annual Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 26th September, and a ‘Stay and Play’ morning on Thursday 2nd October for children due to start school in September 2026. We ended our worship with heartfelt prayers from Renee, James, and Mason, who prayed for kindness and for all those suffering from illness or living amidst war and conflict and a singalong to ‘Shine From the Inside Out.’ Thank you to everyone who joined us this week—we look forward to welcoming more of our school family to Friday Celebration Worship in the coming weeks.
Year 6 - Cricket
Today, Year 6 began their new cricket unit, with a focus on bowling skills. The children explored both underarm and overarm techniques, concentrating on accuracy and consistency when aiming at targets. They worked in pairs and small groups to practise their delivery, giving each other feedback and refining their technique.
Let your light shine worship with Bishop Philip
This morning in our collective worship, Bishop Philip welcomed everyone back to school. We reflected on why we come to school and how Jesus was a teacher and his disciples were the learners. He encouraged us all to shine out with the gifts and talents that God has given to us. If we shine with the light of learning, service and love we can make the world a better place. We thought about how we can shine from the inside out this school year and finished with one of our favourite songs, 'Shine from the Inside Out'.
Year 6 - Class Portraits
As part of the whole-school portrait display, Year 6 created their own unique portraits in shades of pink, completing the final colour of the school rainbow. Each portrait reflected the individuality and creativity of the pupils, while together they formed a powerful symbol of unity across the school.
Whole School Worship - School Pride
Our first collective worship was a chance for us to celebrate being back together as a school family and reflect on what we hope for the year ahead. Mrs Ham began with a look at our school vision and invited the children to share ideas of how we can all contribute to our 'love-filled Christian family'. The children spoke in depth about acts of respect and kindness, which led Mrs Ham on to a recap of our school rules: Barney's 4 Be's- Be ready, be kind, be safe and be respectful. We discussed the importance of following our rules in order that we take real pride in our school and help every part of our school family to flourish. Some of our children even chose to come to the front of worship to demonstrate exemplary behaviour such as wonderful walking and legendary lining up. There were also reminders about healthy snack choices and the importance of attending school each day. We are so proud of our overall school attendance for the previous academic year and the children shared some reasons why regular attendance is important. We left our worship feeling energised and excited about the year ahead.
Fantastic first day back!
We are incredibly proud of how well all the children have settled back into school and their new classes! They've had a fantastic first day of living life in all its fullness. A special shout out to our new Reception class and the new children who have joined our school family – they showed incredible courage on their first day. We're looking forward to another super day tomorrow! On Friday we will have our first Celebration Worship of the year where we will learn from our class teachers how well the children have settled into their new classes and we will also present children with any out of school awards. We will start our Values Awards winners next Friday after the children have been busy collecting values points over the next few days. Parents and carers are very welcome to join us on Friday mornings at 9.05am every week for Celebration Worship. Refreshments will be served from 8.45am in the hall. Reception class children will not be joining us for Celebration Worship for a few weeks until they have settled in. We will let Reception parents know before they start to attend.
Year 6 Leavers- End of Year Award Ceremony
Today, we celebrated our wonderful Year 6 leavers with a special awards ceremony at St Barnabas Church. The ceremony began with the children sharing some of their most treasured memories from their time at St Barnabas. Mr Prescott then delivered a heartfelt address, warmly commending children on their incredible journey through school. He particularly highlighted their exceptional hard work and unwavering dedication throughout the year. The eagerly anticipated individual awards were then presented: Jack proudly received the Progress Award, Will was deservingly named Star of the Year, Harry was overwhelmingly voted the Children's Champion, Leonora earned the Spirituality Award, Daisy shone bright with the Performing Arts Award, Esme and Freddie were celebrated with the Sports Award, Poppy bravely accepted the Kevin Keegan Courage Award, and Matthew was honoured for his outstanding Overall Commitment to School. What a truly inspiring group of young individuals! Mrs Ham extended a huge thank you to our current Head and Deputy Head boys and girls, as well as the Sports Leaders, for their exceptional work and for impeccably representing our school throughout the academic year. Our Year 6 children also received special leavers presents from Katie, on behalf of Friends of St Barnabas, Mr Ashworth, our Trust CEO and Rev Ben. We then enjoyed a wonderful video celebrating their time at St Barnabas, expertly created by Mrs Ham and filled with precious memories. On behalf of the Year 6 parents, children, and our entire school family, we also expressed our immense gratitude to Mrs Gardner for her unwavering commitment and dedication to sports and we bid a very special farewell to Mr Prescott, a dedicated member of our staff team for 8 years. We thank him for all of the support that he has given to our school family for nearly a decade and we wish him the best of the luck as he takes up his promotion at Meadowhead Junior School in Blackburn. He will be missed enormously by our whole school family. Thank you to Rev Ben for ending our church service with a final blessing for our wonderful Year 6 children and our whole school family. Our thanks also go to Rev Ben for concluding our church service with a final blessing for our wonderful Year 6 children and our entire school family.
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Goodbye and Good Luck Mr Prescott!
This morning, during a very special awards ceremony for our Year 6 leavers, we also said a heartfelt farewell to Mr Prescott. A dedicated member of our staff team for eight years, we extend our sincere gratitude for all the support he has given our school family for nearly a decade. We wish him the very best of luck as he takes up his promotion at Meadowhead Junior School in Blackburn; he will be profoundly missed. Thank you so much Mr Prescott aka Rick Astley! Here is a video of his time at St Barnabas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umfy2t7hAPg
Year 6- Attendance Superstars
During our special Year 6 Awards Ceremony, we also took the opportunity to present attendance awards to children who achieved 100% attendance and those with attendance above 96% this academic year.
Rocksteady Rock Concert
On Wednesday we were treated to another amazing Rocksteady Concert. We can’t believe how much the little rockstars have improved since their Christmas concert. Thank you Jess for your amazing support! The video of the songs can be found here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hx2PTn14Vg4 If you would like your child to join Rocksteady next year, please click here: https://www.rocksteadymusicschool.com/parents/