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
Nic Stanlake 
On Thursday, 6th March, Penpol celebrated World Book Day with a day full of collaboration, creativity, and a shared love of reading.
Children and staff, from Nursery to Year 6, were invited to dress as a character from one of their favourite books. The school was filled with a host of Hogwarts students, a few ‘wimpy’ kids, some magical Matildas, a couple of gangster grannies, and even half a pack of crayons!
The day was filled with excitement, and there was a real buzz around the school as both children and adults shared their favourite stories. ‘Book bingo’ took over the library, while book reviews and recommendations were exchanged across the school and between classmates.
In the afternoon, pupils explored our outdoor spaces in search of hidden surprises. Scattered around the school were photos of familiar faces, and children worked together with their reading buddy classes to navigate the area. Using orienteering maps, they set off on a mission to discover the favourite books of staff.
If you weren’t able to find them all, don’t worry! They will remain up around the school grounds until the end of the week, or you can take a look below!
Over the past few weekends, some of our talented swimmers have been competing for their club teams at the County Finals—and it’s safe to say they did incredibly well, bringing home a host of medals!
Congratulations to all involved, but a special mention must go to Florence, who not only collected an astonishing 13 gold medals but also earned more points for her team than any other swimmer, securing a special medal in recognition of her achievement.
These are medals and memories that our pupils will cherish forever—well done, everyone!
The wintry weather of January and February provides the perfect opportunity for indoor PE. Each year group, from Reception to Year 6, undertakes a gymnastics unit where they learn, develop, and refine their skills.
In the first of our two spring terms, our Year 2 pupils take advantage of an additional PE offer, attending three sessions at Penzance Gymnastics Club. There, they experience the sprung floor, high bars, and—most excitingly—the foam pit. Providing access to professional facilities as part of our curriculum is invaluable, especially for pupils who may not have the opportunity to do so outside of school due to social or financial barriers.
For much of KS2, this takes the form of parkour, an athletic discipline in which athletes aim to move from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But then come the obstacles! Our Year 4 pupils have been honing their vaulting and rolling skills—essential techniques for safely controlling falls from height.
Meanwhile, Year 6 pupils have been testing their abilities on the final parkour course, designed to challenge their skills and push them to the edges of their comfort zones.
Last week, three of our pupils had the fantastic opportunity to speak at Penponds School in the first round of this year’s Youth Speaks competition, hosted by Redruth Rotary Club.
Public speaking is an invaluable skill, helping to build confidence and ambition. Youth Speaks allows young people to voice their opinions on topics that matter to them—it’s their say, their way. Each team consists of a Chair, a Speaker, and a Proposer of the Vote of Thanks, each with distinct and challenging roles. The Speaker has six minutes to address the audience, while the other two have two minutes each.
With the support of Miss Triggs, our three pupils worked tirelessly to prepare a ten-minute speech on a topic close to our hearts at Penpol: the benefits of active travel. In preparation, they not only perfected their speech but also conducted their own research across the school and even presented to the KS2 assembly.
Although they didn’t progress from a very strong pool of six schools—with Gwinear advancing to the regional finals—we couldn’t be prouder of their hard work, dedication, and passion. You were our stars! We wish Gwinear the best of luck next month.
A few weeks ago, some of our pupils visited LightBox Film Company, a local business in Hayle, to provide voice-over work for an Active Cornwall film. This week, it was time to return the favour!
James from LightBox visited Penpol to film the children as part of a new project about geological resources in the region. The pupils not only learned about the exciting developments happening locally but also explored the wide range of careers available within the sector, including marketing, engineering, and, of course, geology!
Once they had played their part as actors, some pupils had the opportunity to step behind the camera. James was fantastic at working with them, taking the time to explain not only how his equipment works but also the wider film industry.
Keep your eyes peeled for our future stars of the screen—I will share the video once it’s completed!
Below is a link to a Cornish film featuring some of our talented pupils.
Class 14 have fully embraced the enjoyment of our ‘Festival of Maths’ this week. We have spent time embedding our fluency and number skills through a variety of games and activities whilst also finishing our Algebra unit with some hands on missing number problems! This week maths, has not simply been limited to maths lessons; we’ve explored parallel and perpendicular lines in art, written maths inspired stories and used our orienteering skills to support the learning of reading buddies.
I really enjoyed Maths Week because I love giving myself hard challenges to work out- it was nice to do things a little bit differently this week!- Luke
I really liked maths week because there was loads of fun activities to do across the curriculum- Violet
17 of our talented Year 5 and 6 pupils made their way to Mounts Bay Academy to take part in a football festival against 7 other schools. A mixed bag of results but all children returned home with smiles on their faces. These festivals are not about winning they are simply about providing the opportunity for young football fanatics to get out on the pitch and get involved! The boys did exceptionally well and certainly played the game with the right values- the Penpol values of respect, friendship, creativity and integrity!
After weeks of excited preparation, the early rounds of this year’s Spelling Bee took place in classrooms, where children worked through a range of common words from across the curriculum. Each pupil started with three lives, diving deep into the word bank until only five super-spellers remained from each class.
These 20 talented finalists stepped nervously into the hall, greeted by the rapturous applause of their peers. The intensity of the competition increased as the difficulty of the words grew, with the added challenge of spelling each word aloud. In the semi-finals, the children’s lives were reset, but with one fewer than before. Among the many impressive performances, the Year 5 pupils stood out, competing confidently against their older peers. After some thrilling moments stretching across two sessions, the final five spellers emerged: Arthur, Atia, Henry, Sorrell, and Evangeline.
The grand finale pushed the competitors to their limits with words of even greater difficulty. Each correct spelling brought gasps of admiration and enthusiastic applause, leading up to the championship word: phenomenon. Evangeline truly lived up to the word, demonstrating incredible skill and lifting the trophy without a single incorrect spelling—a phenomenal 78 words in total!
Congratulations, Evangeline, on your outstanding achievement and well done to all of our Year 5 and 6 pupils, you amazed as much as you do every day!
