Connor is a star in Computing every week, but this week in particular he shone with the Google Expeditions day. He had a fantastic time exploring the rainforest and outer space, but throughout the session he helped his friends around him and he was polite and respectful to Mark from Google. His politeness and eagerness to learn extends to his computing sessions on a Friday morning as well, where he’s always a joy to have in the class. Well done Connor.
Key Stage 2: Taran (Class 10)
Taran has always shown an excitement and confidence for Computing, but this week he excelled himself by creating complex and creative code to change the colour of some LED lights using a Micro:Bit. While the rest of the class completed the task using a simpler method, Taran took the challenge to extend himself by using his creativity and coding skills to create a program which could pick any colour and change the LEDs when he shook the Micro:Bit. A huge well done Taran, keep up the good work!
On Tuesday Penpol School had a very special visit from Google who had some exciting new technology to show off to the children.
Google Expeditions is a new project designed to introduce primary school children to Virtual Reality in the classroom. Mark from Google bought 60 Google Cardboard headsets to Penpol along with 60 smart phones and tablets to get the system set up and running. Throughout the day every class, from Year 1 to Year 6, had the chance to get some hands on time with the technology by going on a virtual school trip!
Led by their class teacher, the children were transported virtually around the world to unusual and exciting destinations including the Amazon Rainforest, underwater deep sea diving, onto the vast icy planes of Antartica and even into outer space to see the Moon and Earth from a whole new perspective. The excitement amongst the children was electric, with loud gasps every time the teacher took them to a new location to explore.
Virtual Reality works by taking a 360 degree photo of a location and then using special software to make the viewer feel like they are in the middle of the action. With the Google Cardboard and attached smartphone the children can then explore their surroundings simply by moving their head. The classroom disappears and they are taken on an incredible school trip.
Class 1 visited the Tri Service Station in Hayle. Andy Hitchins the safety officer, showed the children around the station and told them how the station acts a fire station, ambulance and police station. We were lucky enough to see the fire engine, ambulance and police car during our visit. We learnt all about what to do if the smoke alarms at home goes off and how the Tri-Service Station helps us all in emergencies.
We had a look in the police car and even had the opportunity to sit in the driving seat or be locked in the back. The children loved playing with the loud police car siren and learnt all about why police cars, ambulances and fire engines have loud sirens.
I liked the police car because we heard the siren – Ethan.
Chris Wolstencroft (Lola from Class 7’s dad) showed the children the fire engine. We learnt all about the role of fire ladies and men and what they do to help us and animals in difficulty. We looked at all the different equipment on the fire engine – the different hose reels and jets for squirting water; the four ladders of different heights; the cutters for cutting vehicles; the breathing apparatus and protective clothing and the walkie talkies. The children had the opportunity to sit inside the fire engine and hear its siren.
The firemen wear masks so the smoke can’t go in your mouth – Ada
Finally, the children were given the opportunity to squirt the water from the hose and put out a pretend car and tree fire. The whole morning was great fun and really informative. We all had a great time!
I liked squirting the water from the hose – Amelie
If any parents have smoke alarms that don’t work Andy Hitchins said they will fit or replace them free of charge and to contact him at the Tri-Service Station to arrange a meeting.
I liked getting wet because I squirted the hose – Phoebe
Tess has had a fantastic couple of terms in Computing, but this week she really demonstrated her brilliant sense of determination and persistence as well as her keen eye for helping others. She not only completed her own work to the highest standard, she then offered to help her friends nearby who were finding it slightly trickier. She’s always a pleasure to have in class and never faces a challenge in computing without a big smile on her face! Well done Tess.
Key Stage 2: Chloe (Class 12)
Chloe excels when given a task in computing. She always puts in 100% effort and her work speaks for itself. She’s able to solve complex puzzles, design fantastic graphics and puts all of this together to complete any task that she’s been set. She’s a fantastic example to other pupils in the class with her friendly, supportive personality. She’s a real computing star and deserves the award for never giving up (and encouraging others to do the same!) Well done Chloe.
Rhys is an absolute superstar! He loves to work and is always attentive, eager to settle down to work and produces work of a high standard in all subjects. His handwriting is perfect and he is incredibly polite, well behaved, sensible and reliable. He also has a lovely smile and has always got a sparkle in his eye. Very well done Rhys!
Mrs Daniels
Overall Junior Star of the Week
Class 13 – Joshua
I feel that Josh has come back with a great attitude after Easter. Always incredibly mannerly and personable, he has worked well for these first 4 days of term making great strides in his math’s and literacy work and contributing to class discussions with fantastic enthusiasm. Well-done Josh.
Mr Pollard
Class Stars of the Week
Class 1 – Lily
Lily is our star of the week because she has done some amazing writing this week. She has concentrated really well in class and has improved massively with her reading. She gets on with her work, is linking sounds to letters and is attempting some complicated words. Well-done Lily!
Miss Aspden
Class 2 – Tacita
Tacita has shown a great development in her confidence and her determination to succeed. This week has seen Tacita really concentrate in lessons and as a result is a lot more focused. This has meant that Tacita is making big steps in her learning and socially. She has made huge progress within social aspect of school life too and is playing co-operatively with her peers. It’s been a pleasure to see this growth and the big smile on her face. Well-done Tacita.
Miss Simpson
Class 3 – Elijas
Elijas has come back after Easter with a renewed confidence in his learning. He has been producing some lovely writing and has been trying really hard with his speech and getting braver in class. On top of this he was the winner of the whole class in p.e during our throwing competition. Keep up the good work Elijas.
Mrs Rodda
Class 4 – Lula
Lula is class 4’s start of the week because she has been working really hard especially in her math’s work (counting in 5’s). It is lovely to see you enjoying school Lula. Your smile is infectious. Keep up the good work.
Miss Ryan
Class 5 – Dominick
Since joining Class 5 Dominick has grown in confidence. He never gives up and tries so hard to complete all the work set for him. Dominick is always happy and caring and the work he produces is getting better and better. Great job Dominick!
Mrs Daniels
Class 6 – Finn
The star of the week in Class 6 is Fynn Eatock. Fynn enjoys all aspects of school life, especially ‘Wake up and shake up’, where he is able to express his fun personality through a range of interesting dance moves. Fynn is a good listener and always completes his work to the best of his ability. Recently his great imagination enabled him to plan and write an interesting fantasy story about a dragon named ‘Flint’; create an adjective hat that assisted the children, in Class 6, with their vocabulary during the English lessons. Fynn also took it upon himself to learn an interesting poem over the Easter holidays, which he then recited to the class brilliantly.
Well done Fynn and keep up the hard work!
Mrs Ruffell
Class 7 – Freya
Freya has an excellent all round attitude to her work, always putting lost of effort into everything that she tackles. Freya is very helpful and is always offering to assist in class. Freya is able to contribute too all class lessons and is able to work at a most acceptable standard throughout all areas of study. Well-done Freya
Mrs Jane
Class 8 – Jamie
Jamie has worked so hard over the last week of term and during the Easter holidays. He has made fantastic progress with his spellings and mental arithmetic. Most pleasing of all is the way he has embraced our Shakespeare project. Jamie learnt his lines in two weeks and has enjoyed the experience. Well-done.
Mrs Connors
Class 9 – Ellie
Ellie always works really hard both in class and at home. She has done really well in maths and is on card 8 in 3 minute maths. Ellie will often bring in extra work from home relating to topics being studied in class. For example she writes stories and reports and she mad an amazing model of a Viking long ship.
Mrs Hamilton & Mrs Peck
Class 10 – Jude
Jude is one of the most colourful characters in Class 10 with infectious energy. He has learnt to harness this and really knuckle down over recent weeks. He has worked exceptionally hard to produce a wonderful mythical story as well as maintaining confidence in producing math’s work of a high standard. Keep up the good work Jude.
Mr Stanlake
Class 11 – George
George has worked hard recently on his maths, producing graphs and answering questions about them. He has worked hard on his Cornish Legends but I have been especially pleased with his improvement in his spelling test scores. George has worked hard on his spellings at how and shows a determination and desire to improve. Great work George.
Mr Little
Class 12 – Kieron
Kieron is class 12’s star of the week this week. Keiron has worked really hard to improve his writing and has written a fantastic story about an abandoned clown. In math’s he has worked extra hard at school and at home and he is a deserving winner this week. Well-done kieron.
Mr Wise
Class 13 – Jake
Star of the week for class 13 is Jake Turner. Jake shows consistent effort and a desire to improve, leading to scoring 100% on 3 math’s papers consisting of 110 questions. A terrific all-rounder with a great personality. As well as this Jake had the unenviable task of looking after the class plants and making them flourish. He succeeded with two healthy plants returning to school this week.
Children in class 6 had a very busy Spring term in DT in their ‘moving pictures’ topic. Over the course of the term, each child designed and made many different types of moving pictures. These ranged from pop up Chinese new year cards, to making their own class flap book all about themselves, to Easter cards that could be ‘cracked’ open to reveal the message inside!
I liked making the flap book about me because I liked writing all the information under the picture – Jasmine
I enjoyed making my Easter egg card as I liked decorating it how I wanted – Isla
I really liked the All About Me book because I could tell the reader about everything I like doing – Patrick
Their biggest project however, coincided with their History topic ‘the Titanic’. Each child was given the opportunity to design their own moving picture based on the skills and techniques they had used in previous weeks. The children came up with many unique and individual designs using cardboard flaps, lollipop sticks and even designed parts of the pictures that were to pop up. Once the design was finished, it was onto creating their masterpieces
I liked being able to make my own Titanic picture the way I wanted. I did much more on it than I thought I would when I designed it – Bella
Class 6 worked incredibly hard on their pictures and each child produced their own unique picture. They have all worked very hard on their moving pictures and are looking forward to designing and making puppets next term. Well done Class 6!
I enjoyed making my Titanic picture because I got to do lots of cutting and sticking and use lots of different colours – Tess
With the sun shining and summer well on the way, you really would think that things just could not get any better.
Well, at Penpol they certainly have!
That’s because the children have returned after the Easter holidays only to be greeted by a brand new, fantastic, three-tower, multi-activity climbing frame.
When I came to school I couldn’t believe my eyes. It’s the best day ever! The slide is amazing because it is super fast! – Dylan – Year 1
Part funded by the Penpol Friends Association (PFA), this amazing piece of equipment has a climbing wall, net ladder, super fast slide, fireman’s pole and many more challenging features. There are also three roll bars for the children to practise their tumble turns. To make things extra safe there is a rubber surface around the climbing frame.
I love playing on the new climbing frame because it’s such fun. My favourite bit is climbing up the ropes – Harvey – Reception
The reaction has been fantastic and the children have swarmed on to have a go. It has certainly livened up playtime activities for the children in the infant playground
I felt really excited because it looked such fun. I love playing on it on with my friends. – Lydia – Year 2
We are very grateful to the Penpol Friends Association for their fundraising and hard work. Without them none of this would be possible.
A big thank you to the PFA! – Everyone at Penpol School
Class 6 have been playing games in the English lessons.
Children in Class 6 have been learning all about instructions and how important it is to follow them in chronological order.
The children were asked to design their own board games, write out a set of instructions and then try out their games with a friend.
It was fun making up your own characters for a game – Corran
The children had great fun explaining their rules and then trying out their games. Children could be heard giving out instructions, counting and explaining what happens if you land on a certain picture.
I really liked playing Tess L game ‘Candy Land’ as she thought of some good obstacles to stop you winning’ – Finn
Finn explaining to Isabella and Reuben how to pay his game ‘Pokemon Crush’
Oliver and Brodie playing their inventions ‘Lego Game’ and ‘Pacman Adventures.’
I loved playing the games, especially rolling the dice and getting to move on two spaces – Tess
