Welcome 2026/2027 Sports Leaders
Our Sports Leaders for 2026-2027 are ready to go in their smart new tops. At our first meeting of the year we have decided on their first Intra- school competition and booked the date in the diary. We can’t wait to bring lots of exciting activities and ideas to life! Welcome Alice, Eliza, Daisy, Ted, Charlie and Carter.
Netball Club
What a beautiful evening to start our netball club! The children worked on their passing, catching, footwork and moving through skill and drill games. It was fantastic to see how much effort they put in and observe some wonderful Team B spirit!
.jpeg)
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we began our Celebration Worship by reflecting on another amazing week at school. This week, we have thoroughly enjoyed our whole-school performance of Pinocchio, and across the school, our children have been working extremely hard to demonstrate Barney’s 4Bs and our Christian Values as they strive to earn ClassDojo points. We have been incredibly impressed by the children’s positive attitudes to learning and the high standards of behaviour we have seen throughout the school. Well done, everyone! We then celebrated our Barney’s Brilliant Beacons. A huge well done to Hunter, Lily, Albie and Hadi in KS1, and Elsie, Phoebe, Annabel, Alice, Harry, Emily, Alfie and Eliza in KS2. Well done to these amazing children, who have made such a fantastic start to the academic year! You have all been wonderful role models and truly shining examples of Barney’s Beacons. We are incredibly proud of you! Mrs Ham then shared a few important reminders with us. The Big Summer Weekend at our church this weekend, School Photograph Day will take place on Wednesday 16th September, followed by our Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 25th September. Our lunchtime and after-school clubs have also now gone live on Arbor and are available to book. To bring our worship to a close, we were treated to some beautiful prayers from Annabel and Seb. Thank you to everyone who joined us for Celebration Worship this morning, and an extended thank you to all of our families for your continued support, both this week and every week. We wish you all a wonderful and restful weekend! 🌟
Year 6 - Life is a journey
Today, Year 6 began their new RE unit, ‘Life is a Journey’, with a reflective walk along Jacks Key. As we explored the surroundings, the children were encouraged to think about spirituality and the different journeys we take through life. We discussed how the paths we walk can represent the guidance we receive, with some paths being smooth and others rough, reflecting the challenges and struggles we may face along the way. The children also considered how gateways can act as guardians, representing opportunities that are sometimes open to us and other times closed. We explored how trees can symbolise lasting life and growth, while bridges can represent the helping hands and support we need to keep us on the right path.
.jpeg)
Year 6 - Behind the Scenes
Following their amazing production of Pinocchio, Year 6 were treated to an exciting workshop exploring what happens behind the scenes and how all the different elements come together to bring a production to life. The children had the opportunity to explore the importance of sound effects, lighting, visuals, props and special effects, discovering how each element can transform a performance and create atmosphere for an audience. The workshop gave the children a fascinating insight into the creativity, teamwork and technical skills that go into putting on a successful production. They even had the opportunity to get involved themselves and experiment with some of the different techniques!
Year 6 - Darwen Art Exhibition
Year 6 had the exciting opportunity to visit an art exhibition in Darwen Town Centre, where they were able to explore and appreciate a wide variety of artwork created by local artists. The children spent time carefully observing the different pieces, discussing what they could see and sharing their thoughts, ideas and interpretations. Inspired by the artwork they encountered, the children then became artists themselves! They used free-flowing creativity to produce their own unique pieces, experimenting with negative space, shapes, lines and patterns. It was fantastic to see the children express themselves creatively and confidently while developing their understanding of how artists can use space and composition to create an impact.
.jpeg)
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we began our celebration worship by reflecting on what has been a fantastic start to the year. Well done to all of our children across school for returning with such a wonderful attitude to learning, demonstrating the Barney’s 4Bs and showing great courage. Today was our first Celebration Worship of the half-term, which will always be reserved exclusively for our children to share and celebrate the awards and achievements they have gained outside of school. We started with our infant children. A huge congratulations to Indie who achieved Star of the Week at gymnastics and has also been demonstrating great skill at Tae Kwon Do, Bo for gaining Star of the Week at football and achieving 6th place in a biking race, Olivia, Eleanor, Phoebe, Callie, James, Isabella and Harry for completing the BwD Summer Reading Challenge, Isabella for achieving her Stage 6 in swimming, Callie for achieving her Stage 7, completing 100 metres and achieving 25 metres in breaststroke and front crawl at swimming, Phoebe and Max for completing the Explorer Challenge at Whitehall Park, Fiia for achieving her cartwheel in gymnastics and swimming 5 metres, Tommy-Joe, for being awarded his Stage 3 swimming certificate, Vienna and Ohana for both gaining their Water Safety Award with Ohana also achieving her 100 metres swimming certificate. We then moved on to celebrate our Juniors. Well done to Renee for achieving an award in bravery for flying and gaining her orange and white striped belt at kickboxing, Ella, for being awarded her Stage 4 swimming certificate, Elijah, Seb and Harry for competing in the All Stars Cricket Club Camp, Fletcher for getting through to the Blackburn Youth Darts Academy Final, being recognised as an All Stars Cricket Club superstar and achieving his Bronze Award at Beavers, Lyla for achieving an array of dancing medals in recognition of her great skill in improv, lyrical, jazz, ballet and commercial dance, Annabel for being welcomed into the Blackburn Centurions Swimming Club after successfully attending a trial and James for beating his rival team in a recent football match and being awarded Man of the Match. We then ended our worship with some lovely prayers from James and Olivia, before Mrs Ham announced that our clubs will soon be going live. Keep an eye on Arbor for further information and opportunities to get involved. Finally, a huge thank you to all of our parents and families for your continued support and encouragement. Thank you to those who were able to join us for our Celebration Worship this morning.
.jpeg)
Year 6 - Collaboration
Today, as part of their first day back, Year 6 took part in a fantastic collaboration challenge linked to our PSHE topic, ‘Me and My Relationships’. Working in teams, the children were challenged to design and construct a bridge using only paper. The children had to think carefully about how to strengthen their structures so that their bridges could withstand as much weight as possible. The challenge was not just about building a strong bridge, it was about recognising the bridges we build with others to develop positive relationships. The children had to communicate, listen to one another, share ideas, solve problems and work together as a team. It was brilliant to see so much creativity, teamwork and resilience on display.
Behaviour Update
Dear Parents and Carers, welcome back everyone! It has been wonderful to see the children looking so smart in their uniforms and being ready to learn. They have all come into school beautifully and behaved so well in worship this morning. A special welcome to our new Reception children who settled so well this morning and we are looking forward to our second group of children this afternoon. It was fantastic to see so many of our previous Year 6 children as they came to say hello and have a hug before starting at high school tomorrow. We wish all of our previous Year 6 children all the luck in the world as they start their high school journey this week. Remember, keep achieving great things and living life in all its fullness! Please find attached to class dojo a behaviour update document, which details some exciting updates to our school behaviour policy. We officially launched this new system during worship this morning! Because of this, you may have already noticed instant notifications popping up on your Class Dojo app today when your child was awarded a point. As outlined in the letter, we are moving away from our traditional "values points" and will now be using Class Dojo points to track and reward positive behaviour across the school. This means you will no longer have to wait for physical values awards to come home; instead, you will be able to see daily updates of your child's wonderful behaviour at the click of a button. Please take a few minutes to read the letter in full to learn more about: *How children earn points (such as following the "Four Be's" and demonstrating our Christian Values). *The exciting new individual, class, and house rewards. * Important adjustments to our Friday Celebration Worship and how we celebrate out-of-school achievements. Thank you for your continued support and we welcome your feedback!
Happy first day of school! 🌟
We’ve had a brilliant day together and the children have been absolute stars. We hope you have a great time tonight hearing all about what they got up to, and especially why they earned their Dojo points today! 🏆 Thank you for such a great start to the term. See you all tomorrow! 💙
Welcome Back Worship
It was wonderful having all of the children back today in worship. Mrs Ham welcomed everybody back to school and reminded us of our Christian values. We linked them to our school rules and recapped how to show our best behaviour around school. We also learnt about our new class dojo behaviour system. Some of the children were invited to the front to demonstrate their favourite morning greetings, and we ended the worship with our much-loved school rules song.
Welcome Back: Supporting Children's Return to Routine
School reopens for our children on Wednesday 2nd September. Returning to school after a break can be a significant adjustment for children and young people, particularly when routines, concentration and social confidence need time to rebuild. Our latest #WakeUpWednesday guide supports families, carers and education professionals with practical ways to make the transition smoother. The guide explores: • Restoring sleep and morning routines gradually • Creating predictability through clear expectations • Preparing school essentials in advance • Encouraging responsibility in age-appropriate ways • Supporting healthy nutrition, wellbeing and self-regulation • Reconnecting with learning, friendships and familiar routines With expert insight from Adam Gillett, Associate Vice Principal for Personal Development at Penistone Grammar School, this resource offers supportive ideas to help children return to school feeling more confident and prepared. Access the guide: https://vist.ly/5g6hq #Education #StudentWellbeing #BackToSchool #Safeguarding
.png)