“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.”
On Wednesday the 6th of April, Penpol held its second careers fair after the first, which was held back in 2019.
This year, over 30 different job sectors came into school to talk about their job and potentially inspire the next generation. There were a huge range of jobs on show, from a doctor, a vet, the police and fire service, to potters, carpenters, jewellers and florists, with even the horticultural department at The Eden Project making an appearance.
There was a real buzz amongst the students and exhibitors alike and, even if it only inspired one child for a potential future career, that is a job well done. Research shows that young people who have a possible understanding of what they may want to do in the future are far less likely to fall out of education and not have a job in the future. There is a saying that ‘You cannot be what you cannot see’ and this event, with Penpol being the only primary school in the South-West to hold such a thing, will hopefully have opened a few eyes to future prospects.
A huge thank you to those who gave up their time to talk about their careers and if you might be interested in joining next year, please do get in touch with our Careers Lead, Mr Pollard by emailing him at mpollard@penpol.cornwall.sch.uk
We learnt some names of different fruits and vegetables including some of the more unusual ones such as kumquats, moolis and romanesco cauliflower and learnt how and where they grow.
We found some chickens, the white chickens lay the white eggs, the brown chickens laid the brown eggs – Vinnie
We saw some interesting eggs of varying colours and sizes depending on the colour and breed of chicken or whether a larger bird had laid it, such as goose.
We saw vegetables, cabbages, carrots, cucumbers, they grow in the ground. Cassius
We walked past some gooseberry bushes and studied their buds then onto the kitchen garden where they usually grow the herbs, leeks and potatos.
Broccoli and carrots and onions, the need sunshine and water to grow and love – Henry
Next was into the polly tunnel where we saw some asparagus, rhubarb and sugar snap peas growing. We learnt that the strawberries grow up then down and the raspberries grow up in a curly wurly shape.
Strawberries have seeds on the outsides of them, raspberries have seeds on the inside – Maya
Strawberries have 200 seeds on the outside – Ferne
We met some animals including the South Devonside cattle, some British Lop pigs and piglets, some chickens, a very noisy cockerel, a goose, some sheep, some donkeys and some goats.
Pigs roll in mud to keep warm so they don’t get sunburnt, soil has nutrients which is something that the plants eat – Jack
Class 1 would like to say a huge thank you to Bev and everyone at Trevaskis farm for showing us around and making our day fun packed and informative.
Class 1 spent a fun packed afternoon at the high energy Heyl Crossfit gym.
We practised running, jumping, climbing, crawling, swinging, squats and balancing.
“I liked the ropes, I liked to swing on it.” – Cassius
The obstacle course was exciting and the game the floor is larva was great fun.
“I liked the balls when you jump on them.” – Felix
Heyl CrossFit have kindly offered another free taster session to children over 5 on Monday’s and Friday’s from 4.30. Contact Ted at the gym for more information.
“I liked the benches and the boxes, go under the boxes and over the benches.” – Ethan
Class 1 would like to say thank you Ted, Aimee and Sophie for the amazing afternoon of games, activities and fun.
Class 1 had an incredible fun packed morning with the super savvy team in Hayle.
We practised our ballet moves with Clare and pretended to be cheeky pixies picking a lovely juicy apple from a tree then running away.
We had to lie on our tummies and I had to touch my hair with my feet. We had to take a apple from the farmers tree and run away – Darcey
It was so fun, we did exercises and dancing – Ashton
We danced the morning away with wings, wands and scarves to some beautiful ballet tunes.
Upstairs in the second studio we practised our street dancing to some upbeat dance tunes.
Clare and Ben were wonderful with the children as ever. There were smiles all round as the children pirouetted, twirled, stretched, skipped, jumped and practised different positions for their feet, legs arms and bodies.
We had to put our legs out straight. We have to point our feet up and down and had to creep and try to get the apple and we have to spin our scarves around. Then we had to walk side to side -Elsie
The children were really lucky to be given a ticket for another free trail class. Class 1 would like say a massive thank you to Clare, Aidan and Ben more making our morning so much fun and teaching us some great moves.
Class 1 had a fabulous time at the Standing Stones Stables in Trink St.Ives.
We met Rolo, Buddy and James the gentle and patient ponies.
I liked riding the horse, the brown one – Jasper
We took turns in grooming the horses and learning all about how to care for them. We decorated James the unicorn with glitter, sparkles, gems and gave his mane and tail a good groom.
We had a go at waxing some saddles, colouring some unicorn pictures and filling up the nets with hay for the horses.
It was fun. I loved it. I decorated the horse with glitter and I rided on a horse, the white one, it felt like my dog because I have a dog called Tessa – Billy
After making a wish by the largest standing stone in Cornwall, we had a run around in the field then made our way over to the paddock. There we took it in turns to ride Rolo and Buddy. We also got to lead James around the paddock.
We had a lovely time and would like to say thank you to Natalie and all her wonderful staff for making our visit so much fun.
I liked going on the horses. My favourite one was the white one. I liked going on Buddy – Hazel
This week, the whole school celebrated European Day of Languages. With a wealth of languages being spoken along the corridors of our school, from Polish to French, Lithuanian to Portuguese, it was especially important to give all languages the recognition they duly deserve.
Students and staff were invited to dress up in the colours of their favourite country and rose to the call in spectacular fashion; by 9am, the whole school was awash with all the colours of the rainbow!
In the morning, KS1 students were invited to sample a French breakfast in the yurt with Mr Emery and six KS2 volunteers. Each class enjoyed singing in French and were then able to order from KS2 students, learning the basics such as ‘Bonjour’, ‘s’il vous plaît’ and ‘merci.’
“Miam miam!” Phrase of the day, which translates as ‘yummy’ in French
KS2 students showed off their already fantastic French skills by competing as a whole class on LanguageNut Live, where each student puts their knowledge of their current French topic to the test in real time against their peers. A huge well done to Reuben and Merryn from Year 3 who came top in their year group on animals and colours in French – Bravo!!
All classes in KS2 also competed in the European Day of Languages shirt competition. This had all students creating a design to best represent European Day of Languages. If proven successful, they will have it printed on the official European Day of Languages T shirt next year and receive 30 T-shirts for them and their class. I have already received some extremely creative designs so far – keep them coming!
Finally, Mr Emery led each of the assemblies to round off a fun European Day of Languages. From the video of students and staff speaking a multitude of different languages, to singing one of the classic “Tu as un animal” (do you have any pets) song, the assembly encouraged students to be adventurous and have a go at speaking in another language. Whether that’s greeting Diane the dinner lady with a ‘Czesc’ (hello), asking how Mrs Bailie is – ‘como você está’ (how are you?) in Portuguese, or asking for a strawberry ice cream on holiday in France(une glace à la fraise s’il vous plaît). Using a language is fun and the students and staff of Penpol proved that again today.
“Today has been the best day ever!” Louis, Class 12
A huge thank you to everyone who made the day such a great success! Check out the photos from the day, as well as the video of students and staff speaking in different languages.
Class 1 had an amazing day at the Bluff beach with the surf lifesaving super star Ben Holtaway.
We started out in the beach hut and learnt all about beach safety. We learnt where and when it is safe to go into the sea to swim or surf and what to do if we get into trouble.
We swim in between the red and yellow flags, otherwise you’ll go out to sea – Elowen
Next we met the life guards. We learnt all about the important role they have and what they do to keep us safe on the beach. We even got a demonstration of one of the lifeguards rescuing his friend who had got into trouble in the sea with the jet ski. Next we had a go on the rescue board and were excited to sit on the jet ski and quad bike.
I liked going on the jet ski best and the quad bike. Joseph
After the jet ski fun, we played some amazing beach games including the assault course with the sea weed cave of doom.
I liked playing in the wet sand best – Jacob
Finally, the highlight of the day was going surfing. The tide was perfect and the children had an amazing time swimming, splashing and surfing in the gentle waves.
I like surfing the best. I paddled on the surf board – Seth
Class 1 would like to say a massive thanks you to Ben and all the life guards for making the day so much fun and enjoyable.
As part of this terms Geography topic, ‘Coasts and Oceans’, year 2 spent a lovely day at North Quay beach.
After walking to the beach, in the lovely sunshine, the children spent the day sketching the beautiful scenery, recording physical and human features and also creating a selection of sand sculptures.
Take a look at the scenery photographs, can you name any physical or human features?
Today, Year 4 celebrated the rise of the Roman Empire in true fashion. Armed with shields, swords and Roman legion attire, the excitement from the students entering school was palpable.
To begin with, the Year group were greeted with Roman army commands: Consiste! (Halt!), Laxate (at ease), silentiurm! (Silence!) and Sin/ Dex (Left/ Right!), which would come in hand later on in the day.
Next, both classes were thrown into the melee and had to use their best codebreaking skills in order to crack a hidden message written by the emperor himself, Julius Caesar. The hidden message revealed one of Caesar’s greates quotes to date:
“It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.” Julius Caesar
After exploring this quote and thinking deeper into what Caesar’s quote means, creating is exactly what the students did next. After having designed mosaics the day before, the students were tasked with creating a Roman mosaic. This proved lots of fun and the results are already looking promising.
The grand finale, however, had to be experiencing what it was like to march like a Roman. Led by Mr Wise’s booming commands, Classes’ 9 and 10 both marched up and down the hall, to embed their understanding of Roman commands. Next, the students practised forming the defence shape, which is the ‘testudo’, or the tortoise. This proved an effective barrier against incoming missiles aimed by the teachers, as you can witness in the video below.
All in all, the children had an excellent morning immersing themselves in the Roman life and learning first hand how the Roman army worked.
Hi Class 6 and Class 5, Mrs Ruffell and Mrs Daniel would like to say a big thank you to all of you who have sent images of your home learning, which you have completed over the past two weeks. We have now created a new home learning page, on the Penpol Times, for weeks 11, 12 and 13. Please keep sending us images of your learning so that we can share it with your friends and families.
We both hope that you are all well and enjoying the learning challenges that we are setting.
Take care – Mrs Ruffell & Mrs Daniel
New Link -22.06.2020
https://classroom.thenational.academy/activity-clubs/art-club/episodes/the-world-around-us-bee-rest-stops-primary (Copy & Paste the link in to your browser)
New Link 08.06.20
https://www.leachpottery.com/design-a-pot-for-sharing-schools-challenge (Copy & Paste the link in to your browser)
New Link
https://rnli.org/youth-education/water-safety-from-home (Copy & Paste the link in to your browser)
PE and Outdoor Learning at Home
New -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCStjKlMICO-Em7zMJoHR3A (Copy & paste link in to your browser)
New – Digital Ocean – Surfers against Sewage – Copy and paste the link in to your browser
New – Try these simple relaxation and mindfulness activities together and help your child learn to calm down when they feel stressed or anxious. – Copy and paste the link in to your browser.
Use your mind – Laugh & Giggle – Breathe Deep – Stretch it out – Relax
Isaac B, from Class 5
The last day of term but I must share with you all these Photos of Isaac B’s amazing bee project. He has worked so hard on this as you can see and must be really proud of his effort as with all his home learning. Well done Isaac, you deserve a medal! – Mrs Daniel
Lola, from Class 6
A letter from Lola
Hi this morning Lola and her brother Caio went to visit their friend James who keeps Bees.
First we put on the Bee Suits so the Bees didn’t sting us and get into our faces. Then James lit some material to make smoke. So the Bees think there is a fire coming so they gather as much honey as they can and get ready to leave home, this makes them slower. We then looked inside the Bee Hive all the Bees flew out . We found some honey comb. Then we looked for the queen bee. She likes to hide in the dark. We knew she was the queen because she was quite big and fat compared to the other bees. Her job is to lay eggs and have babies. We saw the baby bees ,which are grubs and some eggs. The worker bees were busy looking after them. All the other bees look after the babies and they are all female. Some of the bees go out to collect nectar and pollen. We saw the yellow pollen on the bees legs. James was stood in the way of the bees entrance and he had thousands on his leg! When we put the hive back together and walked away the bees stopped flying around us.
From Lola
Verity, from Class 6
Verity has had a very productive week, working hard with her maths and English but also having a great time making a puppet show of her favourite book, Monkey Puzzle. All her family became involved in what looks like an amazing performance, I would like to have been in the audience! Take a look at her lovely photos.
Harry, from Class 6
Hi Mrs Ruffell,
This morning, Harry thought of an animal for every letter of the alphabet. He had to Google an animal for U – V – X and Y as they were very tricky. Harry also enjoyed I drawing the animals and watched ‘Art for kids ‘, to get ideas on how to draw them. Well done Harry.
Jessica, from Class 5
Take a look of these lovely photos of Jessica and her sisters enjoying themselves making play dough!
Emilija, from Class 5
Emilija has been extremely busy over the last couple weeks, as you can see from her photos. Well done Emilija, keep up the great effort with all your home learning, you are doing a brilliant job!
Bella, from Class 5
Bella has ben busy with some art work, story boarding and some instruction writing for Rapunzel, complete with illustration!
Tilly, from Class 6
Here are some photos of my puppets, theatre that I made out of a cereal box and my poster for my show. I enjoyed doing this as I couldn’t do my dancing show in May, which we’d been doing lots of practicing for. (Written by Tilly)
Wow! well done Tilly. I wish I could have been there to see it.
Harry, from Class 6
Thank you Harry for sharing your alphabetical home learning. I love the way you have ordered all of those items in alphabetical order. Well done!
Lily, from Class 6
Lily enjoyed making 3D shapes out of play dough this week to help her learn their names and properties! They were actually very tricky to make! She also looked for seals at Gwithian using binoculars but only managed to spot one as the others weren’t there.
Lola, from Class 6
Lola has really been focussing on bees this term and recently she visited the Heligan Gardens, where she was able to discover and learn more interesting facts about this amazing flying insect. Lola has also been busy learning about shapes and recording their properties. Great home learning Lola!
Poppy, from Class 6
Thank you Poppy for sharing your home learning with us. You have created some lovely puppets and also designed some lovely moths, which you have also named. Wow! what a fab duck! I love its design. Well done.
Harry, from Class 6
Harry has really worked hard on this weeks home learning challenges. He has created his puppets, built a theatre , written his own story and presented his puppet show. Read Harry’s very own story below.
This is my puppet show with pictures …
Once upon a time there was a boy called Harry.
He had two meerkats who he loved very much.
One day a wolf came along, he wanted to eat the meerkats.
Then Harry came and chased the wolf away. He never came back and they lived happily ever after
Harry, from Class 6
Harry has made a great start on his puppet show. He has drawn and cut out his shadow puppets and attached them to sticks. He has also written out his storyboard and made a start on his theatre. Well done Harry, I look forward to seeing the finished production. Great home learning !
Lola, from Class 6
Lola has been very busy designing a duck for the competition, which I think looks amazing. Also well done on learning this weeks spellings and taking a test. Great results!
Emily, from Class 6
Emily has been working so hard this week on solving a variety of number problems. You really have shown great commitment towards your home learning this week. Well done Emily!
Poppy, from Class 6
Thank you Poppy for sharing your home learning. You have used great adjectives to describe the sea and also included a lot of detail in your postcard from New-York. I hope you had a great time? 🙂
Isaac, from Class 5
Isaac has made a fantastic Jungle habitat, it must have taken him quite some time but as you can see it is well worth the effort! He has also written a football story in which the players receive super powers and an Ocean story which cleverly relays some interesting facts as well. Well done Isaac, you are doing a brilliant job with all your home learning.
Bella, from Class 5
Bella has been very busy with her maths and has done a great job on completing the worksheets. She has also designed and written about a fantastic water park which she enjoyed sharing with her dad and brother.
Lola, from Class 6
Lily, from Class 6
Wow, I love your wild flower ice sculpture Lily. I also enjoyed reading your instructions on how to build the perfect sandcastle and reading the postcard that you sent to your nanny from Menorca. I hope you had a great time on your holiday and the sun was shining? 🙂
Emily, from Class 6
Thank you Emily for sharing your home learning with us. You are demonstrating great commitment towards your home learning. I am really impressed with all of your learning. Well done!