Jacob Woolcock

Incredible Results for Penpol at the LEGO League Cornwall Finals

14th March 202311th February 2022 by Jacob Woolcock

Yesterday two teams of our Year 5s took part in the Cornwall finals of the FIRST LEGO League Competition. For months these teams have been working hard with coding, building, researching, creating, designing, innovating and presenting ideas.

All of that hard work was celebrated yesterday in two incredible performances at the Finals. Both teams absolutely excelled themselves and demonstrated just how confident and creative they are.

We saw presentations that the judges were blown away by, robot performances that I think would rival any other team in the country and levels of teamwork and fun that really allowed each and every student to shine.

I’m thrilled (and very proud) to announce that our team from Class 11 (the Creative Coders) were the overall winners in the whole of Cornwall, beating 25 other Primary and Secondary schools. They have now been invited to the National Finals where they will be able to compete against the very best teams in the country.

The team from Class 12 (the LEGO Leaders) also got an incredible achievement, winning the Robot Performance award for achieving a staggering 345 points during the competition. They also finished in 4th place overall – another incredible achievement for our students.

Below you’ll find lots of lovely photos, quotes from the judges and some stories of just how well the teams embraced the challenges on the day. I do hope you enjoy reading about it just as much as we enjoyed taking part in it!

Lastly a massive well done to our teams – Ada, Amélie, Caio, Ernie, Ethan, Felix, Georgia, Ivy, James B, James S, Jenna, Miles, Piran and Sienna!

Team Creative Coders

Class 11: Sienna, Amélie, Piran, Ethan, Ernie, Georgia and Felix

Cornwall LEGO League: 1st Place

Team Creative Coders came first overall at the 2022 Cornwall Regional Finals and now progress to the UK National Finals!

Robot Games

Creative Coders have been working hard on their Robot Design and Code for the past few months and have been sharing ideas and knowledge with each other throughout the process. For their 2 and a half minute competition run they ended up with a very impressive score of 270 points.

They had to code some really complicated algorithms for their robot to work, including one that took the robot (named Cookies and Beans) all around the game table to earn points from some very hard to reach obstacles.

In order to reach this score they continually improved and refined their code to ensure that each mission was a success.

Robot Games Practice Run (with commentary for judges)

Core Values

This team really shone when it came to demonstrating the Core Values of Discovery, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork and Fun. They receives top scores from the judges in all but one of the categories and earned some glowing feedback:

“Each team member had different skills and got the chance to shine.”

“When we finished calling you, our faces hurt from smiling so much. Your fun was infectious!”

“We really can’t fault your team. You had so much enthusiasm and great team work.”

Innovation Project

For the Innovation Project this team were inspired by a virtual trip to an Amazon Warehouse. They were concerned that large pallets loaded with cardboard boxes were suddenly being wrapped in huge sheets of plastic wrap.

They researched the problem, considered a variety of solutions (including building their own earthquake simulator to see how to best secure their pallet of 3D-printed boxes) and eventually came up with a very clever solution.

The judges loved this and said: “We thought it was great that you tried out paper, card, bubblewrap, string, and other materials, and showed clear improvement.”

Robot Design

Finally, team Creative Coders shared a presentation with the judges that showed their journey through the competition. From coding the robot to planning which tasks to complete first, the team demonstrated their awesome progress in a way where it was clear that every single child was involved in the success of the team.

“Each team member was give a chance to shine and explain their bit of the task, and you went above and beyond in making everyone involved.”

Team LEGO Leaders

Class 12: Ivy, Jenna, Ada, James S, James B, Miles and Caio

Cornwall LEGO League: 4th Place

Team LEGO Leaders came forth overall at the 2022 Cornwall Regional Finals

Robot Games

Wow! That’s all I can say about this teams Robot Games performance. Problem solving, refinement, patience and a lot of hard work have all been key ingredients in the LEGO Leaders success.

Together they achieved an utterly incredible score of 345 points – far beyond anything we could ever have imagined.

By attempting a total of 7 different missions (some completing more than one task at a time) this team smashed all expectations and got a well deserved award for 1st place as the highest scoring robot team in Cornwall!

An incredible feat, well done team!

Robot Games Practice Run (with commentary for judges)

1st Place: Robot Performance

Team LEGO Leaders

Core Values

The judges described LEGO Leaders as being a “very well accomplished team with clear roles and responsibilities”. We completely agree. From the very beginning this team has been impressive to watch. The way they problem solve together, delegate tasks and share ideas really is inspirational.

Not only that but they’ve become close friends through this process and describe how they all were able to overcome challenges and barriers by co-operating, listening to each others points of view and then reaching a solution that worked for all.

Innovation Project

For their Innovation Project, the team were horrified to find images of donkeys being overworked and under looked-after. Large mountains of cargo weighed down donkeys backs and caused them pain and suffering. LEGO Leaders decided to take it upon themselves to create a solution to this problem.

By researching online, asking experts and considering a number of options the team eventually decided to protect donkeys by creating a set of rules for donkey owners to abide by. Proper living conditions, weight limits for cargo and more were all considered.

The judges were blown away by their presentation and were glad that such an important issue had been bought to the forefront of their minds.

Robot Design

Our judges really loved this teams Robot, Rocky, and were incredibly impressed by hearing how the code worked and the lengths they’d gone to in order to refine and improve the robot.

The team detailed their process for designing attachments and their overall mission strategy.

The judges remarked that it was “absolutely clear that the team worked very well together and had a lot of fun overcoming the challenges along the way”.

Photo Gallery

Y5 have a Virtual Visit to an Amazon Warehouse

8th October 20218th October 2021 by Jacob Woolcock

This afternoon our two teams of Year 5’s who are taking part in the FIRST LEGO League competition were treated to a (virtual) VIP tour inside an Amazon Warehouse.

As part of their Cargo Connect challenge for the competition, they are researching more about how goods are shipped around the world and delivered, in order to hopefully find some creative solutions to improve these processes.

As well as being given a tour around the different departments, from ordering & picking to packaging & shipping, the children were given the chance to ask some questions to a trio of Amazon Engineers.

Throughout the tour the students were jotting down questions on some post-it notes and by the end they had amassed quite a collection! Luckily there was plenty of time for the Q+A and lots of our questions got answered.

Here are some of the interesting facts we learnt during the tour:

“I learnt that the items are stored randomly in the warehouses, with robots being used to pick the items” – Ethan

“The SLAM machine that puts the label and address on the packages doesn’t actually touch the package at all – it drops the label on top” – Amelie

“The shortest delivery was done in under 30 minutes and they use satellite images to check addresses and to update their maps when new roads are built.” – Sienna

“They use algorithms to help find and move parcels, with robots following QR codes on the floor” – Caio

Y5 Compete at the Regional Finals of the FIRST LEGO League 2021

10th February 202225th June 2021 by Jacob Woolcock

Over the past few months, something very exciting has been happening in the Mac Suite at Penpol School. Whether it be on a Wednesday afternoon or over lunchtime, two teams of dedicated and committed of year 5 pupils have been hard at work practicing for the FIRST LEGO League Competition.

This is our first year entering at Penpol School and whilst we weren’t quite sure what to expect, both teams got straight to work designing their robots, understanding how the code worked, researching innovative solutions to problems and improving their teamwork and co-operation. Over these few months all thirteen children have grown closer in their teams and have been focused on a common goal – the Regional Final event!

Well, I’m delighted to say that both teams absolutely blew us away on the day. Their perseverance, ingenuity and dedication really shone through and they have well and truly done Penpol School proud. Below is a brief rundown of what happened with each team in all four areas of the competition, as well as any special recognition they received along the way.

Well done Stellan, Chris, Liliana, Dylan, Oliver, Erin, Flora, Ruby, Ben, Obi, Katie, Agnes and Remy!

Team Robo Legends

Class 11: Stellan, Remy, Oliver, Agnes, Ben, Flora and Ruby

FIRST LEGO League: 3rd Place

Team Robo Legends came third overall at the 2021 Cornwall Regional Finals

Robot Games

Robo Legends managed to code a fantastic assortment of activities on the challenge table and managed to finish with a very impressive score of 180. They coded each activity and tested thoroughly to ensure it was reliable and accurate. The judges were very impressed with their perseverance and creativity.

2nd Place: Robot Games

Team Robo Legends

Core Values

The judges said the team “showed good co-operation throughout playing to each others strengths, but always coming back together to take on the next challenge.”

They demonstrated incredible teamwork, perseverance and a sense of fun throughout the completion and thoroughly deserved to come first for Core Values in the competition!

1st Place: Core Values

Team Robo Legends

Innovation Project

In an effort to solve the problem that only 0.5% of people in the world surf, the team invented a clever machine that floats off of the coast and cleans sea-water, warns of impending marine life attacks and will offer surfers a panic button to call for help should they find themselves in danger.

The team created a prototype of this invention and did a brilliant job of presenting their research and development to the judging panel, who praised their “outstanding presentation, which the team delivered in a very fun way“.

Robot Design

Finally, team Robo Legends delivered a fun and informative interview-style presentation to the judges where they reflected on the journey they’ve been on as part of the LEGO League Competition, including their funniest moments (involving pillows, dancing and uncontrollable robots!) as well as the challenges that they’ve overcome.

A particular highlight of this section was hearing how the children have become better friends and a stronger team as a result of their participation in the competition.

Team LEGO Legends

Class 12: Chris, Dylan, Katie, Obi, Liliana and Erin

FIRST LEGO League: 2nd Place

Team LEGO Legends came second overall at the 2021 Cornwall Regional Finals

Robot Games

LEGO Legends managed to achieve an utterly incredible score of 280 in the Robot Games. To put this into context, anything over 100 would have been considered a huge achievement for the children in their first year.

They coded some incredibly complicated algorithms to make their robot work, including one that steered the robot under a bridge, then dropped 13 cubes into a small target before reversing, driving on and ending up dancing on the dance floor.

1st Place: Robot Games

Team LEGO Legends

Core Values

As well as their achievements in coding and presenting, the team showed the judges how well they worked together by supporting each other, cheering on individual successes in the competition and demonstrating exceptional teamwork and co-operation at all times.

A real highlight here was seeing how each and every child got involved in their challenges, whether it was presenting and answering questions with the panel of judges or by working together to ensure a reliable and high-scoring round in the Robot Games.

Innovation Project

For their innovation project team LEGO Legends realised that people were driving for short journeys, even to the shops or to drop children off to school. To help combat this, the team invented a mobile phone app which would only let you drive in your car after you’d walked a certain number of steps.

What really set the team apart though was their sheer amount of research and development that went into their product. The judges remarked: “Research and feedback from others through questioning was excellent. A great way of sharing your ideas.“

1st Place: Innovation Project

Team LEGO Legends

Robot Design

Finally, team LEGO Legends delivered a compelling presentation sharing what they’ve learnt in the competition, how they’ve improved as a team and how they overcame challenges along the way.

The judges asked some interesting questions of the team but they all found ways to respond, with one judge in particular praising how they refined their code: “Obi gave the perfect answer for how they tested and isolated faults with the code. This is exactly how it is done in engineering companies all over the world.”

3rd Place: Robot Design

Team LEGO Legends

Kids Invent Stuff visit Penpol School

14th June 202114th June 2021 by Jacob Woolcock

Last week Penpol had a very exciting visit from Ruth and Shawn – otherwise known as Kids Invent Stuff – to talk about all things engineering, inventing and creating!

The day started with the whole school having the opportunity to enjoy an assembly with Ruth and Shawn, where they introduced a challenge for us all to take part in.

The challenge is simple – to invent something new that utilises wearable technology, a switch or a bicycle. This competition is being run to celebrate the IETs 150th anniversary and entries from schools all around the world will be collected up, carefully considered and then one will actually be built in real life! It’s very exciting and over the course of the day our students showed just how creative their ideas are.

Below are some pictures of the visit, including some of our Year 5’s working away on their own invention ideas.

Exploring Stop Motion in Class 14

9th June 20219th June 2021 by Jacob Woolcock

In Computing this week Class 14 learnt all about Stop Motion Animation and how to bring objects to life in creative and fun ways. After a short introduction their challenge was simple: “Make your Classroom come to life!”.

Sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy these fantastic short films!

Brodie and Maison

Tess and Lydia

Toby and Fynn

Eloise and Kiki

Patrick, Scott and Oskar

Solomon and William

Jonas and Luke

Jaz and Aimee

Jasmin and Peyton

Ivan and Mrs Bailie

Isla and Imogen

Freddie and Seb

Finton and Dominick

Finley and Declan

Internet Legends and Beyond with Year 6

9th June 20219th June 2021 by Jacob Woolcock

As well as learning about being Internet Legends, our Year 6’s have taken their learning a step further by creating their own sixth section to the Be Internet Legends curriculum. After some really in depth discussions each child settled upon what they felt would be an important addition to create themselves.

They then set about designing their own character to fit with this theme, with a focus on making the characters have a personality as well as looking 3D. Creating these with just triangles was quite a challenge!

Lastly the children considered what the ‘Key Messages’ should be for their new theme and created the colourful, informative posters you see below.

Well done Year 6!

Class 13 Posters

“I made my Internet Legends poster to remind people to be kind to each other.” – Summer

“I made my Internet Legends poster to remind people to always be safe on the internet and never trust other people unless you know them in real life not just on the internet.” – Eemahnee

“My Be Internet Legend is respectful because a lot of people forget that respect is the key to happiness.” – Reuben

“My Be Internet Legend poster is important because being calm on the internet isn’t easy when you are playing games on the internet that make you unhappy or angry. It is hard to communicate with other people and talk about why you are unhappy and angry. Just remember to stop playing when you get angry and unhappy.” – Rhys

Class 14 Posters

“You need to be strong to tell a trusted adult if you see something off.” – Jonas

“I think it is good to be mindful, so you don’t put anything bad on the internet by mistake.” – William

“My poster is all about being internet cautious because not all people can be trusted.” – Luke

“If you are nice to people they will treat you the same.” – Declan

“I think kids should always be aware of a scam is. It’s a crucial life lesson to learn.” – Gwen

Penpol Pupils earn their Be Internet Legends Trophies

28th April 202120th April 2021 by Jacob Woolcock

Children in Key Stage 2 have recently taken home their very own Internet Legend trophy to celebrate their ongoing learning into online safety and how to become responsible online citizens.

It’s safe to say that these trophies have generated quite a buzz amongst our pupils and I’m sure they will be appearing on desks, bedside tables and shelves all over the place very soon!

The children have been encouraged to build their trophies with a grown up at home as part of the process involves answering a series of questions about being safe online in order to unlock the instructions step-by-step. These questions also serve as great conversation starters and will hopefully help open up lots of productive conversations about being safe online.

The reward for their efforts are these awesome 3D trophies which will remind them that they really are Internet Legends.

We’ve been sent in lots of photos of these trophies in their new homes through Showbie and this post will be updated as more photos come in so watch this space!

Music Without the Marquee 2020

17th July 202017th July 2020 by Jacob Woolcock

Here at Penpol School we are delighted to be able to bring a slice of Music in the Marquee to you virtually. Yes, we know it’ll never be the same as being in the marquee together as we celebrate the end of another school year, but we sincerely hope that this mini-event can bring a slice of that fun to you at home.

So it is time to get the wristbands on and the fizzy pop out as we all have a bit of a party in our own homes.

This is Music Without the Marquee!

– Mr Woolcock

(Ps if the embedded video below doesn’t work try this link)

Writing Code that is “Out Of This World”

30th June 202116th July 2020 by Jacob Woolcock

This week the children in Year 5 have been taking part in an international event which is quite simply “out of this world”!.

Astro Pi is a fantastic event run by Code Club and the European Space Agency whereby school children can write a computer program to be run on a modified Raspberry Pi computer on the International Space Station. Yes, IN SPACE!

Each child in Year 5 has worked in a team to design and code their programs, which will display messages, pictures and the current temperatures to the astronauts onboard the ISS. The children then decided on their team names before finally submitting their error-free code into space.

As soon as their program has been run on the Space Station the children will receive a certificate which will show the exact time and location of the International Space Station from when their code was run.

Class 11 Team Photos

Class 12 Team Photos

KS2 Learning Celebration (3rd July 2020)

5th July 20203rd July 2020 by Jacob Woolcock

Each week while school is closed I’ll be bringing you a Friday afternoon assembly showcasing some of the diverse and exciting learning that’s being shared by Key Stage 2 on Showbie. As well as the assembly itself, this page also has a gallery where you can see the learning in more detail should you wish.