Image of Whole School Worship - St Barnabas & St Paul
16 Jul

Whole School Worship - St Barnabas & St Paul

In Rev Ben's worship this week, some of our Year 6 children had a race balancing beanbags on their heads to demonstrate the value of perseverance and the importance of completing a difficult task without giving up. Rev Ben then told us the story of Barnabas and Paul, who travelled to many countries, spreading the good news about Jesus' sacrifice for mankind. We were shocked to find out that they even risked being arrested or killed, but they never gave up. We ended our worship with a reflection, thinking about what happened in the story and how we can best use our own talents to serve others.

Image of Summer Reading Challenge
14 Jul

Summer Reading Challenge

Summer Reading Challenge A big thank you to Jacqueline from BwD Libraries for visiting school this morning and promoting the Summer Reading Challenge. You can sign your children up to Story Garden, this year's Summer Reading Challenge from The Reading Agency at Darwen or Blackburn Library. Joining is quick, easy and FREE and it's lots of fun too. The challenge is for the children to read any six library books before the end of September, tell us about what they've read, and collect stickers and other prizes along the way. They can also listen to audio books, use the FREE BorrowBox app, or mix and match. If your child participates, please encourage them to bring in their certificate to celebration worship in September so that we can celebrate their reading success

Image of Barney’s Got Talent
11 Jul

Barney’s Got Talent

This morning, we had an extra special Friday celebration. Our amazing school family showcased their fabulous talents in the annual ‘Barney’s Got Talent Show.’ Our performers included ‘The Frozen Friends’ of Luna and Martha, ‘Rocket Reggie’ with his super speedy skipping, The APT, The Stars & The Sassy Girls, Percy, The Joker, The Baby Sharks featuring Lydia, Lenny and Olivia, The Gymnast Monkeys featuring Callie, Mollie and Hollie, Barney’s Song and Dance Group featuring Harry, Ella, Evie and Heidi singing ‘Beautiful Things, The JW Band featuring Carter, James, Elijah, Charlie and Seb singing ‘Green Green Grass,’ The Swifites featuring Naomi and Luna, Dramatic Darcy singing ‘Pink Pony Club,’ The Terrible Two featuring Sonny and Walter with their own version of ‘I’m a Teenage Dirt Bag Baby,’ Sassy Lilly with ‘Our Song’ by Taylor Swift, Star Sofia singing ‘Titanium,’ Graceful Grace showcasing her phenomenal tap skills, Omazing Oscar playing the Cello and last but not least our fabulous Year 6 children gave us a snippet of their performance to come next week and sang ‘It’s a Hard Knock Life.’ Well done to all of our performers for their amazing courage getting up on the stage in front of our huge audience of parents. Also, a huge well done to our heads and deputies (Hamza, Rosie, Daisy and Harry) for leading the whole show with great humour and confidence and finally, Mrs Ham for all of her enthusiasm and organisation. We have more of this to come with our Year 6 Performance of Annie on Tuesday, our Rocksteady Concert on Wednesday, our End of Year Award Ceremony on Thursday and our Year 6 Leavers next Friday. Thank you to the parents and carers who came along to support on such a hot day!

Image of Year 6: Rehearsals for End of Year Production
10 Jul

Year 6: Rehearsals for End of Year Production

Year 6 have been working very hard rehearsing their production of "Annie", ready for the performances to school and family next week. The acting, singing and dancing are coming together now and the children are definitely going to wow their audience!

Image of Year 6 Geography: Global Trade
10 Jul

Year 6 Geography: Global Trade

In geography lessons year 6 have been learning all about global trade. They have learned terminology such import, export, commodities and supply chains. They have learned about the journey our food and other goods take before they reach our shops and supermarkets and about which goods we can produce in our country and which we can't.

Image of Scrumptious Production- KS2- Message of change and friendship
10 Jul

Scrumptious Production- KS2- Message of change and friendship

This afternoon, KS2 enjoyed a delightful end-of-year summer treat with the charming and magical production of 'SCRUMPTIOUS!' This gently interactive musical play told the sweet story of Sylvie, a sweetshop owner who loves her routine but learns to embrace change when a mysterious stranger arrives. The show beautifully conveyed the moral of the story: that while change can be daunting, it often leads to wonderful new experiences and friendships, encouraging us all to live life to its fullest. It was particularly fitting for the children as they prepare for big transitions, like moving from primary to secondary school or into a new class. The story was great with delightful descriptions of ice creams and different sweets, and even a magical book that played a key role. Getting the children involved in the narrative helped Sylvie be brave and adapt to her changing world, making for a truly memorable, funny, hopeful, and charming performance, the perfect treat to round off the summer term!

Image of Edstart Jag Tag Tournament
9 Jul

Edstart Jag Tag Tournament

Today we took part in the Edstart Jag Tag Tournament at Our Lady St John. We played against other schools from across the Borough and managed to secure some wonderful results. St Barnabas vs St Paul’s Hoddlesden - 12-0 win St Barnabas Vs St Anthony’s 8-0 win St Barnabas Vs Audley 14-6 win St Barnabas Vs Daisyfield Once we progressed to the Semi Final we met Audley again which resulted in a 18-0 win and then the final game was against St Anthony’s and we managed to come away with a sixth consecutive win of 12-0. Huge thanks to Marcus @Edstart for organising the tournament- it was fantastic to see everyone taking part with huge smiles on their faces and showing super sportsmanship. What a way to end such a successful sporting calendar! Go Team B!

Image of Year 6 - Year of Prayer
9 Jul

Year 6 - Year of Prayer

We had a lovely time in Year 6 this afternoon, recapping some of their most memorable achievements this year. The children then cut out a shape and wrote about their achievements or drew pictures to represent them. They have some fond memories of their Year 6 journey. Some of the children asked if they could include an achievement from previous years too.

Image of Whole School Worship - St Paul: Amazing Grace
9 Jul

Whole School Worship - St Paul: Amazing Grace

In Rev Ben's collective worship this week, he started by asking us all to think of the most important thing someone ever said to us. The children shared examples of words of wisdom and good news, such as being told about a new sibling. Rev Ben shared some of the most important words St Paul ever said about the grace of God and being justified by Jesus's death, resurrection and ascension. He used role play to explain the complicated concept of grace and that God's grace isn't something which can be earned. The children acted out scenarios in which someone received something by working for it, and someone received the same thing just because the person chose to give it to them. Rev Ben went on to say that God's love is given to us all; we don't have to earn it. He reminded us that friendship with God develops from faith in Jesus.

Image of Lancashire Schools Bee Stinger Netball
8 Jul

Lancashire Schools Bee Stinger Netball

What a fantastic day we have had at the Lancashire Bee Stinger Netball Finals. We had the honour of representing the Borough after winning the Blackburn with Darwen School final a few weeks ago. We started off with an impressive 7-1 then went on to play several other matches which were a real mixed bag, but the children fought hard for every point and worked so well as a team. We are really proud of all of our children and it is such a big achievement to reach the Lancashire Schools finals. Small but mighty definitely sums us up!

Image of Friday Celebration Worship
4 Jul

Friday Celebration Worship

This morning's worship reflected on a very busy, yet rewarding week. all of our children got the opportunity to transition into their new year groups, we welcomed our new Reception starters into school, our Year 2 and Year 4 students enjoyed their visit to St Barnabas Church and many children also participated in another engaging Cre8ability session. Mrs. Govan thanked all entrants for the recent Rota Kids Art Competition, congratulating Luna, Beau, Olivia, Skye, Alayna, Lyla in EYFS/KS1 and Naomi and Edward in KS2, whose artwork will be displayed at the Darwen Heritage Centre over the Summer holidays. Our athletes achieved great success: Our Year 3 ,4 5 & 6 Athletics squad were winners at Witton Athletics on Monday evening, and a group of Year 3 and 4 children excelled in the Quad Kids competition, qualifying for the Lancashire School Games at UCLAN next Tuesday! We also celebrated our individual value award winners: Annie, Hendrix, Oliver, Noah and Carter in EYFS/KS1 and Lana, Isabelle and Grace in KS2 for consistently following Barny’s 4Bs and showing growth. Additionally, Year 1 and Year 3 were attendance winners, India Mill was the overall Value Award Winner, and Olivia, Leo, Lilly earned their pen licenses. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Beau, Thea, Annie and Olivia for achieving their Explorers badge at Rainbows and Annie for being awarded Olivia at Rainbows, Thea for being a super gymnast, Willow for achieving backwards flip on the bars at gymfinity and for showing extreme kindness by donating her beautiful long hair to the Princess Trust, Reggie for achieving 20m in his swimming, Marley for ‘Star of the Day’ at the Edstart Multi-Sports Club for super listening and demonstrating outstanding dodgeball skill, Harry for showing super skill and teamwork in a football tournament and Mason for working towards the purple stage at The Darts Academy. To finish our worship, we had some beautiful prayers from Harry, Lilly and Callie who prayed for those in the midst of conflict and war, homeless people and those in Heaven. Mrs Ham wished us all a lovely restful weekend and we had a singalong to ‘The School Rules Song’.

Image of Whole School Worship with Rev.Matt
3 Jul

Whole School Worship with Rev.Matt

Today’s worship began with an exciting race, where three pairs of children took part — each child carrying a partner on their back. This fun activity led us into our Bible story: “Was Paul worried?” In the story, we saw how Paul remained strong — not just for himself, but for others too. Even in difficult times, he encouraged and supported those around him. We reflected on the idea that sometimes, we are called to look after others, especially in important or challenging situations. The children then discussed the questions: How are others strong for you? How can you be strong for someone else this week? To conclude our worship, we were reminded that being strong doesn’t always mean being the loudest or the fastest — sometimes, true strength is shown through kindness, patience and standing by someone when they need us most. We left worship thinking about how we can be a source of strength and support for others in the week ahead.