Headteacher
Chris Coyle-Chislett
Email the Office
secretary@penpol.cornwall.sch.uk
Telephone Number
01736 753472
Our Address
2 St George’s Road, Hayle,
Cornwall, TR27 4AH
This week, Year 2 has been learning about a very special Christmas tradition – Christingle. As part of our lessons on Christian celebrations, we made our Christingle celebration a time to think about being thankful for what we have and hopeful for the future. We explored the meaning behind this beautiful tradition, which is celebrated by Christians around the world during Advent and Christmas.
The word Christingle comes from two words: “Christ,” who Christians believe is the light of the world, and “tingle,” which refers to the orange shape used in the celebration. We learned that the orange represents the world, while the candle placed on top is a symbol of Jesus being the light that shines in the darkness, giving people hope. The red ribbon wrapped around the orange stands for the love of Jesus, which reminds Christians to be thankful and caring towards others. Some Christians believe the sticks with sweets or fruit represent the gifts we give to others at Christmas, while others believe they represent God’s creation of the four seasons.
Learning about Christingle has helped us understand the Christian message of love, peace, thankfulness, and hope, and it was a special way for Year 2 to reflect during the holiday season and the beginning of a new year.
Today, Year 2 had a very special design and technology session with their KS2 Learning Buddies. The children worked together to create amazing castles using cereal boxes, glue, scissors, masking tape and plenty of imagination!
The classroom buzzed with excitement as the children buddied up to share their ideas about turrets, battlements and drawbridges. Then, putting their ideas into action, cutting shapes, attaching pieces, and making sure their structures stood tall. Some groups even added flags, battlements, and secret doors.
Throughout the session, the children showed fantastic resilience, one of Penpol School’s core values. When towers toppled or glue didn’t stick, they didn’t give up—instead, they tried new methods, adapted their ideas, and kept going with smiles on their faces. They also demonstrated wonderful creativity, turning simple cereal boxes into colourful castles full of character and clever design features.
Everyone worked carefully and cooperatively, showing brilliant teamwork. The KS2 buddies supported the younger pupils with tricky parts while encouraging them to make their own choices. Year 2 pupils said they enjoyed having “big helpers” and learning new building skills. After saying duw genes/goodbye to their buddies, Year 2 continued their projects by carefully painting and decorating their castles to bring their designs to life.
DT Meets 1666: When Our Creations Faced the Flames!
The excitement was sky-high as the Year 1 children gathered to watch their carefully crafted Tudor houses go up in flames, recreating the dramatic moment the Great Fire of London began. As the sparks flickered and the smoke curled upwards, the children were completely immersed—gasps, wide eyes, and fascinated chatter filled the playground.
Seeing their designs burn just like the wooden homes of 1666 helped bring history to life in a vivid, memorable way, turning their DT project into a real-life learning experience they won’t soon forget.
In September, our young Year 1 scientists carried out a very exciting (and slightly yucky!) experiment to find out how clean our hands really are. We used slices of bread to see what germs might be hiding on our skin — even when our hands look clean.
We set up several controls to test different surfaces and cleaning methods:
Soap and water: hands washed properly
Hand sanitiser: hands cleaned with sanitiser
Pencil: handled as an example of a shared object
Laptop: touched to represent technology we use every day
Carpet: touched to see what germs might stick from the floor
Each slice of bread was carefully handled according to its control, then sealed in a labelled bag. At first, not much seemed to be happening, so we had to be patient and let the mould grow for a little while.
After a few weeks, the changes became clear! Some slices quickly developed mould, while others stayed mostly clear. The children noticed patterns and discussed how washing hands properly or using sanitiser can reduce germs, and how everyday objects like pencils, laptops, or even carpet can carry germs we can’t see.
This fun, slightly icky experiment showed us that germs are everywhere — but good hygiene really does make a difference!
Our Scientists Pose with the Bread That Proved Just How Sneaky Germs Can Be!
The Light Detectives: Transparent, Translucent, or Opaque?
This week, we explored transparent, translucent, and opaque materials by becoming Light Detectives!
Our first mission was to go on a hunt around the school. We quickly found the reception doors. “Can you see us?” some of us asked.
Yes, you can!
We noticed that the glass was completely clear. One child explained, “The glass is transparent because you can see through it and it is clear,” showing a brilliant understanding of what transparent means.
Next, we played “Knock, knock — who’s at the door?”
We could hear someone on the other side, but we couldn’t see them at all. That told us something important about this material.
“The wood door is opaque as it doesn’t let the light through,” another child concluded confidently.
Finally, we all went back to class and tested out another material. Can you guess what the mystery object was? The children were excited to experiment once again—holding it up to the light, peeking through it, and comparing it to what they had already learnt. They discovered that you can see light through it, but not clearly. This helped them understand that the object was translucent.
The children had lots of fun testing, investigating, and deepening their understanding of what translucent means.
Turns out sunglasses don’t just make us look cool — they make us science-smart too!
