February 2018 Archives

Penpol School: SNOW UPDATE [Closed on Friday 2nd March]

24th June 201828th February 2018 by Jacob Woolcock

[Mar 1st 12.40]: Due to the on-going severe weather forecasts & safety of pupils/staff, My Doyle has decided to close the school on Friday. Take care and see you on Monday.

[Feb 28th 12.40]: Mr Doyle has made the decision that the school will be closed tomorrow. Stay safe in the snow.

[Feb 28th 11.00]: Just a message to let everyone know that Penpol is closing at 1pm today (Feb 28th) as further snow is forecast for the rest of the afternoon.

Please check local news and your texts for updates regarding the situation tomorrow.

Don’t forget your warm hats and gloves if you’re outside later!

Introducing Music in the Marquee 2018

24th May 201827th February 2018 by Penpol School

mitm 2018 letter

Announcing Music in the Marquee 2018

24th May 201827th February 2018 by Jacob Woolcock

The last three years have seen sell out performances at our annual Music In The Marquee concerts from Bradley Johnson, Little Chix and last years Yellow. I’m delighted to say that this summer we will be hosting our fourth concert in the Marquee, featuring a somewhat familiar face…

Each year we ask the children which music they are enjoying and what sort of act they’d like to see play in our marquee at the end of the Summer term. This year the overwhelming majority of children told us they’d like to hear Ed Sheeran, with some of the older children asking in particular if Bradley Johnson could make a comeback. I am delighted to say that when I spoke to Bradley he was thrilled that we wanted him back to perform again.

So, for the second time, I’d love to introduce you to Bradley Johnson! Bradley is a singer/songwriter from Liverpool who first came to national attention as a finalist on the X Factor back in 2011 when he amazed judges with his version of Ed Sheeran’s The A Team. Since his television debut he’s been working on his own material and has been crafting his skills to become the UK’s finest Ed Sheeran tribute act. He made his first trip down to Cornwall for a sell-out show in our Marquee back in 2015 and can’t wait to come back again later this year. Bradley says: “I loved playing at your school last time, I still remember it as one of my favourite gigs. I can’t wait to be back again this year, with even more tunes for you all to enjoy!”

Bradley will be playing two sets of live music on the night, the first being a hit-filled Ed Sheeran tribute set including tunes both new and old including ‘Shape of You’, ‘Bloodstream’, ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and ‘Perfect’, followed by a later set which will also include other popular pop and rock covers as well as a selection of his own material. As always with Music in the Marquee his two sets will be accompanied by local support acts to round off the whole evenings entertainment.

Just like in previous years the event will raise money for the Penpol Friends Association and will also feature a fully licensed bar, BBQ, soft drinks, and food for everyone to enjoy. I hope you’ll agree that Music in the Marquee 2018 is already shaping up to be a phenomenal night of entertainment.

We are opening this event to the whole community, but want to give our Penpol parents the first chance to get tickets. For this reason we’re offering you a special pre-sale of tickets, starting TODAY! Tickets are priced at £8 for adults and £5 for children. Please note that all children must be accompanied by an adult.

Please return this slip and money to the office as soon as you can to secure your tickets. Music in the Marquee has been a sell out for the past three years and tickets will be on a first come first served basis.

Relive last years Music in the Marquee:

Music in the Marquee 2017

Jacob Woolcock 21st July 2017

French Email Exchange Excites Year 6 Students!

26th February 2018 by Jack Emery

Year 6 Students at Penpol have begun to take part in an email exchange with a French primary school during Mr Emery’s French lessons. The students have already sent and received two letters each to a French primary school located 60 km outside of Bordeaux in South-West France.

Year 6 students wrote a quick introduction about themselves in French before Christmas to the French school, Octave Cazauvieilh. They were able to talk about their hobbies, saying what they like and dislike doing on the weekend. Every Tuesday, Year 6 students would hopefully await word from Mr Emery to see if there had been a response from their French pen-pals. After a few weeks, Classes 13 and 14 received their first responses from their pen-pals, which of course was written in French!

In the Spring term, Year 6 then wrote a description about what they look like, with a picture they drew of themselves. They also included extra details about their interests they wanted their French pen-pal to know about. Finally, they created a postcard to show off to their pen-pal the local area, with Godrevy and its lighthouse featuring prominently on most of the postcards.

Their letters were posted by mail this time and the French school were delighted with the response that had been sent from their Penpol pen-pals.

Most recently, Penpol have just received a Guess Who game. The game included a class photo of all the students in the French year 5 class, as well as a description of each one. Using the French descriptions of each student, Penpol’s Year 6 classes rose to the challenge.

It was great to try and work out who your pen-pal was from their descriptions and photo. Juliette- Class 14

Fun was had by all and great progress was made on the current topic, All About Me.

I learnt lots of extra new words to try and find out which pen-pal was mine from the picture. It was lots of fun! Ines- Class 13

Watch this space for the next flurry of emails between the French and Cornish school over the next couple of months.

Think you can spot Anaelle? Read her description below and find her in the picture …

J’ai les cheveux blonds. J’ai un pantalon gris, un T-shirt blanc et des chaussures noires. Anaelle, CM1- Octave Cazauvieilh School

Around The World With Class 2

22nd February 2018 by Elizabeth Nidds

Since Christmas Class 2 have been learning about the different continents and countries all around the world. The class have learnt about their own country, as well as others such as China, Mexico, Hawaii and the Arctic. The children have enjoyed looking at lots of photos and videos to see what different places look like and even have a travel agents in the classroom where they can pretend to book holidays!

The class also got the chance to use Google Earth in our IT lessons with Mr Woolcock to look at some different places and really enjoyed the randomise button which showed them lots of different places all over the world.

I liked looking at the places on the computer. I went to China. China is a big country – Hunter

The class have also been thinking about the different ways people travel around the world and some children have been busy making hot air balloons in the afternoons.

We have to put the paper and glue on first. We wait for it to dry and then paint it. I painted mine purple -Kensa

Here are some pictures of the finished balloons!

Class 2 have also been learning about the different animals that live in different countries and the children particularly enjoyed learning all about the animals that live in the Arctic and Antartica! Some have put their artistic skills to use by drawing some great pictures during free choice.

My picture has reindeer in it – Tilly

As a class, we have also been learning about different celebrations from around the world. Before half term, we celebrated Chinese new year in class and tried some different foods from China using chopsticks. We had great fun trying to use them!

The children have also been busy practising some dances from different countries and we are looking forward to showing off our moves to parents in a few weeks time!

Sphero Rolls into Penpol School

24th May 201821st February 2018 by Jacob Woolcock

One of the reasons we visit the BETT Show in London each January is to try and find exciting and innovative ideas to bring back into the classroom at Penpol. This year we’ve returned with a dozen brand new Sphero SPRK+ Robots for the children to get to grips with.

These small plastic robots are pretty clever, despite their simple appearance. Each robot can move at up to two meters a second, controlled remotely via iPad and can run complex sequences of code written by the children.

To get to grips with these new resources the children in Key Stage 2 have been spending time learning how to connect to the devices, how to steer and drive them and of course, having a little bit of fun along the way. It’s pretty exciting to have a Computing lesson without being sat in front of a computer!

“It’s a great thing to have races with, if you watch the video we did in the hall it was educational to learn how to code but also fun to race them.” – Phoenix, Class 13

“They’re very fun to play with and they’re great to have races with.” – Jake, Class 13

“I like the Spheros’ because they’re fun and great to learn with and I can’t wait to tell my mum that we had a really fun day in Computing with Mr Woolcock!” – Jowan, Class 13

I think it’s safe to say we’re looking forward to writing lots of interesting programs for the Sphero in the future.

“The Spheros’ are really fun and educational at the same time, I’d recommend them to anyone!” – Joe, Class 13

Investigating volume with Year 6

20th February 2018 by Mark Pollard

This week we have been investigating the volume of different cuboids, using blocks to help find ways to create a shape with the same volume as another.

The children found many ways to make a cuboid with an area of 36cm cubed, including Ben W’s findings that a cuboid measuring 0.75cm x 24cm x 2cm would match that criteria!

It was enjoyable to investigate in a fun and immersive way.

“I liked the challenge of investigating how to make different cuboids with the same volume using the blocks” – Joe

Glendurgan Gardens Trip

24th May 201818th February 2018 by Penpol School

Glendurgan Gardens 2018 copy

Penpol Become ‘Supermovers’

8th February 2018 by Nic Stanlake

The BBC have recently launched a new scheme called ‘Supermovers’ which aims to increase the physical activity levels of children in schools with the help of children TV stars and Premier League football mascots. This is done through a series of videos based heavily around areas of the curriculum and involve singing and dancing.

For example there are videos that support the teaching and learning of; times tables, word classes, measures, shape, fractions, punctuation marks and much much more. As a school we have been trialling the videos through KS1 and KS2 with great success. Not only have the videos proved to be a very good teaching resource but also allow the children to be active in the classroom.

Physical activity helps with academic achievement, behaviour, concentration and self-esteem. Research has proven that just five minutes of moderate exercise can significantly improve engagement in lessons – BBC Supermovers

Below are some of our Year 4 children taking part and enjoying learning about verbs and adverbs.

It helps us learn – Amber

It helps me improve my movements and its really fun! – Lewis

In Year 5, Class 11 have been perfecting their 6 times tables with the help of Manchester United’s very own Fred The Red.

I love doing these videos as they are really fun and have helped me with my 6 times table – Connah

Its great, they help with times tables but also with getting us moving in the classroom! – Melissa

The catchiness and simplicity of the songs allow the children to be fully engaged in their learning whilst developing not only their times table knowledge but also their physical literacy. But most importantly they are actively learning with a smile on their faces – Mr Stanlake

CLICK HERE to have a go at all of the amazing videos with your children at home.

After a very successful introduction we hope to continue using the ‘Supermover’ videos alongside our daily wake and shake and in class use of ‘Just Dance’ to engage the children physically as well as mentally to both improve their wellbeing and academic achievements.

Codeblocks at Christmas

“Penpol pupils are curious, creative and courageous learners. Our school community believes in authenticity as the foundations of deep-rooted learning. Through our rich and relevant curriculum, we nurture community-minded, forward-facing international citizens of the future.”