Aladdin on Ice
Our whole school family watched Aladdin on Ice this afternoon at Planet Ice. We all got involved in lots of singing and dancing at the beginning. Santa, a snowman and even the Grinch made an appearance! During the show it was wonderful to see so many talented ice dancers and actors. We enjoyed a bag of sweets as a treat and some of us even got to high five members of the cast. A well deserved Christmas treat for all of our children. All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/aladdin-on-ice
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Whole School- Design Technolgy
This half term, our students have been busy creating a range of designs in Design Technology. From Reception's wooden Christmas decorations to Year 6's electronic steady hand games, our children have showcased their imaginative and creativity skills. Year 1 brought their imaginations to life, creating interactive moving storybooks using slider mechanisms. Year 2 developed their sewing skills, designing and creating a range of Christmas puppets. Year 3 designed and made festive pouches, perfect for holding small gifts or treats. Year 4 stitched up Christmas stockings, ready to hang by the chimney, finally, Year 5 created festive cushions. These creations were showcased and sold at our Christmas Fayre. We're incredibly proud of the hard work and imagination our students have demonstrated in these festive DT projects.
Aladdin on Ice
The children are all very excited for Aladdin on Ice at Planet Ice. We are very lucky and appear to have the best seats in the house! Oh no we haven't, oh yes we have!! All of the photos can be found here: https://www.stbarnabasdarwen.co.uk/photo-galleries/aladdin-on-ice
Whole School Worship: Joy at Advent
This week, our advent theme is JOY. We learned about the joy of Jesus’s birth and how we can bring joy into the lives of others this Christmas. We looked at the John Lewis advert about the man in the moon and how the little girl brought joy to the man, who had been very lonely. We also watched an alternative to the original advert about a girl searching for God and when she almost gave up looking, he sent to her his greatest gift: his son, Jesus. We finished with a look at all of the ways our classes have been bringing joy to each other and the community, including litter picking and singing in the local care home and reflected on how we can bring joy to to others this Christmas.
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by reflecting on another week in school. This week, we have been thinking about peace and how this is especially important at this time of the year when things can feel busy and chaotic on the run up to Christmas. We also thought about our many highlights such as watching the fabulous Nativity Performances led by Reception, the final dance sessions in KS2 with Rothwell Arts, our fabulous choir and their siblings bringing lots of festive cheer to the residents at Acer Lodge Care Home in Blackburn yesterday evening and our Year 5/6 football team for representing school at Witton Park last night and bagging several wins. We then congratulated Marnie-May, Percy and Fletcher in EYFS and KS1 and James, Desmond, Bella and Jake for being the individual value award winners this week. Furthermore, we congratulated Reception and Year 4 on being our amazing attendance winners this week, River Darwen as our overall value award winners this week with 451 points and Year 3 on being the overall ‘Walk to School’ winners for the month of November. We then congratulated our out of school achievers. Well done to Thea for achieving a super 5m in swimming, Ralphy for being a superstar swimmer and being awarded his Duckling 1, 2 and 3 award and his Stage 1 and 2 award, Reggie and Albie for having the best decorated tractor at the Turton Young Farmers Tractor Run at the weekend, Beau and Haydn for achieving a fabulous 10m in her swimming, James for winning ‘Player of the Match’ at Darwen FC Aces, Hollie for achieving stage 2 in her swimming, Callie for being a wonderful swimmer and achieving her 10m backstroke and butterfly, Stage 8 in her gymnastics and working exceptionally hard at Stage Coach, Archie for being awarded his orange belt in kickboxing, Harriet for achieving 200m in her swimming and Stage 4 water skills award, Grace for being awarded two medals for ballet and acro dancing, Penelope for gaining the ‘Most Improved dancer’ in Acro at Rothwell Arts, Renee for gaining her white belt at kickboxing and her Stage 2 in swimming, Eleanor for achieving her Stage 2 at swimming and Charlie for achieving Stage 4 at swimming. To end our worship, we had two beautiful prayers from Lydia and Harry who said a prayer for refugees and keeping them safe as they flee their countries. We then sang ‘We Three Kings’ and ‘Ding Dong.’ We thank all those who could attend celebration worship and we said an extended thank you to the rest of our school family for all of your continued support. We wish you all a lovely weekend.
Worship with Rev. Matt
During worship with Rev. Matt, the children began with a lively game of musical statues, setting a joyful tone for the session. They then listened attentively to the story of The Men Who Liked to Say No, which illustrated how unwavering faith can triumph over even the greatest challenges. The story emphasised the courage and resilience needed to stand firm in one's beliefs. Following the story, the children engaged in a thoughtful reflection on its message. They discussed the true meaning of Christmas, explored practical ways to do good, even in difficult situations. They shared ideas on how small acts of kindness and faith can make a big difference, connecting the lessons of the story to their own lives. It was a meaningful session that left the children inspired to carry the spirit of Christmas into their everyday actions.
Year 6 - Class Worship
This week, in our class worship, year 6 discussed what it means to feel included. We explored a new incentive from the FA to raise participation of disabled people in football and expressed how we felt about this. The overarching views were positive, but we also explained how this incentive could have happened sooner. We then linked this to school life and spoke about what it means to feel fully included. The word that epitomises this is ‘belonging‘.
Year 6 - DT Products
Over the last couple of weeks, year 6 have worked hard on designing and making their Christmas themed electrical loop games. They are all set to be sold at this year’s Christmas Fair. They look brilliant year 6!
KS2 After School Club
During this week’s after-school club, the children focused on improving their movement off the ball. They played an engaging game of bench ball, enhanced with various conditions to challenge them tactically and help develop their football skills. It was a fantastic session filled with teamwork, strategy, and enthusiasm!
Year 6 - Exploring osmosis and diffusion
Today, Year 6 explored how our bodies get the water and nutrients they need through the process of osmosis and diffusion. To highlight these processes, we soaked gummy bears in 3 different liquids (Coca Cola, water and salty water) for 24 hours. We discovered that the gummy bear in the water grew in size because the water molecules moved from a higher concentration (water), to a lower concentration (gummy bear) which is exactly what happens in our bodies. The water in our blood would move into our cells in order to keep us hydrated. However, the gummy bear in the salt shrank. This tells us that if there is too much salt in our blood stream, the water will actually move away from our cells, where it is needed, and back into the blood to restore balance. As a result, we can become dehydrated and our cells become less efficient.
Collective Worship: Peace at Advent
Our school is starting to get ready for Christmas and has been decorated. There was one final job to do- our youngest child, Annie placed the star on our Christmas tree. This week we started our worship by looking at the Year of Prayer, which we will be taking part in along with lots of other schools from across our Diocese. Our WOW group explained what we would be focusing on this week in classes. All classes will have a go at alphabet prayers. The children will all think about something that brings joy to them. We then looked at our whole school focus which was on the value of peace. Mrs Wilkinson led the children in prayer. Mrs Wilkinson recapped what Christians focus on in the first week of advent: hope. She lit the first Advent candle. We then looked at what we would be focussing on this week which was peace. The children watched a video all about peace. Leonora said that if we experience conflict in school, we could walk away or not argue with our friends and remain at peace. Matthew said smiling brings us joy and peace. We all reflected on what the world would be like if it was always at peace. The children discussed how loving everyone can bring peace. We ended our worship by singing 'We Three Kings' and 'Ding Dong'.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Today, every child in school helped to decorate our real Christmas tree in the hall. They have been busy decorating their classrooms too so it really is beginning to look and feel like Christmas! On Monday, as part of our St Barnabas tradition, the youngest child in our school will place the star on top of the tree in Worship.