EYFS – Page 5 – Penpol Primary 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!

Wake Up Shake Up – Fireball!

24th May 201814th December 2017 by Jacob Woolcock

KS1 Children have really enjoyed this terms “Wake Up and Shake Up” routine.

All children from Reception and Years 1 and 2 have been rocking out their dance moves to the sound of ‘Fireball’. Children can be seen jumping, clapping, and grape vining across the playground and by the smiles on their faces you can see that they are all enjoying a fun way way of keeping fit.

“I love dancing and wiggling. My favourite bit is shouting “Fireball”. Georgia – Class 4

“I like dancing, jumping and running”. Nicholas – Class 4

“Its a really good song and I like the tune. It makes me feel happy”. Dylan – Class 5

“We do it every morning to help our bodies keep fit”. Emmy – Class 6

You can watch this terms routine below:

Super Science in Class 2

14th November 2017 by Elizabeth Nidds

Class 2 were very excited this week to welcome a special visitor Mollie into our classroom to do some science experiments. Mollie showed the class lots of experiments all to do with colours.

The first experiment involved some skittles and warm water. A couple of children carefully arranged the skittles on a plate to make a circle, making sure that none of the same colour were touching. Then we added warm water and waited to see what would happen.

It was amazing! The skittles made a rainbow! – Jessica

Next we had a go at making some lava lamps. We put some water and oil into a bottle and then Mollie added some food colouring to each one. Some children also added some glitter to make the lamps sparkle!

I liked putting the glitter in. I chose silver sparkly glitter – Lola

In our final experiment, we had some special filter paper which we dyed with red cabbage to turn purple. When the paper had dried we had great fun using lemon juice, vinegar and bicarbonate paste to paint on the paper. The children were amazed to see how the paper changed colour when they painted it (lemon and vinegar turned the paper pink, while the bicarbonate turned it blue!)

We had great fun with our science experiments and would like to say a big thank you to Mollie for visiting us in Class 2!

Learning About Autumn

8th October 2017 by Elizabeth Nidds

Children in classes 1 and 2 have been busy learning about Autumn and Harvest this week. We have learnt all about the changes that take place during Autumn such as the leaves changing colour and falling from the trees. In class 2, we looked at different photos of Autumn scenes and the children have been painting the leaves onto trees using their fingers.

I used red, yellow and brown on my fingers for the leaves – Erin

I liked using my fingers to paint. My favourite colour was red – Ayveeahnah

In class 1, the children foraged for leaves in the wildlife garden and discussed the different trees the leaves came from. We studied the shape of them and the different colours. We then brought them back to class and painted them to make leaf prints.

I liked learning about Autumn. My favourite picture was of the leaves in the wood – Kieran

In Autumn, the leaves fall down. They go gold, yellow and red. – Bella

Super Self Portraits

27th September 2017 by Amanda Aspden

The reception classes have been busy this week painting their own self portraits. To fit in with our topic of ourselves, the children spent time looking at their own reflections and made decisions on which colours where needed for their master pieces.

I like painting because I paint at home with Mummy. We paint pictures. Derora

The children experimented mixing the colours together and learnt about the primary colours and different colour combinations.

I liked painting all of it. I painted my eyebrows black. Chloe

The children were encouraged to pay attention to detail by observing their different eye colours, including pupils, the shape of their lips and noses and were encouraged to study all the different shades they have in their hair.

I liked painting my eyes because I like the blue colour. Ayveeahnah

The paintings have turned out beautifully and the children really enjoyed painting their own self portraits.

Celebrating European Day of Languages at Penpol

26th September 2017 by Jacob Woolcock

Today marks the European Day of Languages, a day to celebrate the 6000+ languages spoken around the world. To mark the occasion at Penpol we’ve arranged a special non-uniform day where the children came to school dressed in the colours of their favourite flag.

Even more excitingly, Mr Emery and Mr Woolcock have arranged an entire day of language-learning challenges in the Junior Mac Suite for the entire school to participate in.

Throughout the day each class has had a twenty minute session using a fantastic website called Linguascope, where the children can take on their challenge in any one of nine different languages. While most children chose French, Spanish or Italian we did have lots who were really brave and decided to take on languages including Chinese, Russian and Arabic.

The challenge itself was a multiple choice quiz where the time for each question decreases as the rounds go by. A score of 30 or more is considered exceptional, yet Penpol pupils were often reaching the high thirties with several children achieving a nearly impossible 38 points!

With perseverance, accuracy and linguistic knowledge a mighty 38 or 39 points is achievable. It’s incredibly difficult, but today we’ve seen it happen several times! – Mr Emery

The highest score in each year group will win a special prize, with more details to be given to the children in their next assembly.

Reception: To be announced later this week!

Year 1: To be announced later this week!

Year 2: To be announced later this week!

Year 3: Freddie (38 points)

Year 4: Jake (39 points)

Year 5: Emma (40 points)

Year 6: Aidan (38 points)

I’m really happy that I’ve won, Morgan did really well too but I just managed to beat him in the end by one point!! – Connor, Year 2

A Great Start To School

20th September 2017 by Elizabeth Nidds

The new children in classes 1 and 2 have had a great first week at school. We have been very busy meeting all the new children in our classes as well as going on a tour of the school to see where to go for lunch, where we will be doing our IT lessons, the library and to meet the older children.

I love going to school because I like playing with my friends Dakota and Debora – Sophia (Class 1)

I like going to school because I like to do drawing and colouring in – Kensa (Class 2)

We have had our first phonics lesson where we practised saying and writing the letter ‘s’ and we had a delicious school dinner in the hall. We’ve also been busy doing PE and practising our counting to 10!

I love school because when we play with the mobilo I’m very sneaky at getting the toys out – Finley (Class 1)

I can write my name. It starts with a big ‘s’ – Skye (Class 2)

We are looking forward to a great year and have lots planned. Our first topic will be ‘ourselves’ and we will be having a go at some self-portraits in the coming weeks!

On Fridays we are looking forward to learning some French with Mr Emery and some music with Mr Jones and are busy practising our singing ready for Harvest Festival in a few weeks time.

I loved playing with the parachute – Nicholas (Class 2)

I love school because I like playing outside and with the castles – Will (Class 1)

Feadon Farm

11th July 2017 by Amanda Aspden

The reception classes had a wonderful Gruffalo experience at Feadon Farm.

The children firstly heard the Gruffalo story to introduce them to the types of animals they would be likely to meet in the British countryside. They got the opportunity to meet some of the local wildlife.

My favourite bit was holding the baby mouse, it was cute – Piran

We met the friendly foxes Todd, Meadow and Copper. The children learnt some interesting fox facts, fed them some treats, were able to stroke them and some lucky children even had a kiss on the nose from Todd.

A fox kissed me on the nose. I stroked him – Maisie.

I liked the ferret, it went in James’ hat and it did the hula because its body was bendy – Sabina

The children met corn snake and learnt about how we have 3 different types of snake in the UK all with their own way of killing and eating their prey.

I had a corn snake on my head, it was good for a hat – Harvey

We also met an eagle owl called chunk, a barn owl and even some very fluffy baby barn owls. We learnt how they hunt for food and had the opportunity to see them fly up close.

I held an eagle owl and a barn owl. The barn owl was white. The eagle owl was called Chunk. I liked the baby owls best – Felix

I stroked a reindeer, his feet clicks when it walks because they can hear other reindeer – Amelia

The children were really excited to finally meet the Gruffalo, he was shy and hid in the woods. We did manage to get a friendly wave from him as he was more scared of us than we were of him.

I saw the Gruffalo, he was hiding in the trees – Jenna

We also met some hedgehogs and learnt all about how they have reduced in numbers in the last 20 years from 36 million to 1 million. We learnt how to become more hedgehog friendly and how to make homes for and feed hungry hedgehogs in our gardens.

I liked the hedgehog because he had prickles on his back – Safi.

Feadon farm is fun, fascinating and an unforgettable experience for the children. The wildlife experts, Gary and Kirsty where incredible. Their enthusiasm and knowledge made the whole experience so interesting. With its hands on approach, Feadon Farm is one of the best educational and fun school trips we go to year after year.

Under the Sea With Oshi.

10th May 2017 by Amanda Aspden

Class 1 had an inspirational experience of visiting the Falmouth Maritime museum. We learnt all about the different boats in the museum and how they are powered. We saw how the boats are made up of different parts and found out what the hull, keel, mast, and sails do. Next, we had the opportunity to make our own boats using the knowledge we had just learnt about what we would need to make our boats sail. We then had great fun racing our boats against each other on the boating pool. Amelie’s boat was the champion and she was delighted to be the overall winner of the boat races.

We saw flying boats, we made a boat we put it in some water, we did races with them – Hazel.

I saw a sail, it moves the boat along with the wind. My sail was a triangle, I had a straw as the mast to hold the sail up. The front of the boat is the bow. I liked seeing Oshi – Ada

We also met Oceana, a sea sprite from the Lost Land of Lyonesse. The children helped Oshi retell her story of how the Lost Land of Lyonesse, where Oshi used to live, was once part of Cornwall but a great storm blew up and the sea swept over Lyonesse. The city sank to the bottom of the sea and the magical Cornish sea sprites and mer people saved Oceana and many of her friends and family and they now live at the bottom of the sea. We used musical instruments to recreate this exciting story.

We made a story up with Oshi. In the story I have to do the rain. There was also thunder and wind. She showed us some treasure – Maisie

After the story we were excited to see what treasures she had in her treasure chest. She explained to the children that treasure wasn’t just sparkly jems and jewels, but anything that is special to them. She showed us some things that have been caught in fishing nets including a cannon ball, a port hole, part of an old ship, a killer whales tooth, a very old pot and part of an old leather boot.

She brought out some treasure. She showed us a rusty ball a cannon ball, we saw part of a pirate ship with nails in and we saw part of an old boot – James

We saw Oshi, she is a sea sprite. She lives in the sea water. She gave us a shell. When you hold the shell and sing the song on the beach she will come. Oshi Oshi of the sea please wake up and play with me – Alex

Through hands on discovery, imagination and role play, the experience at the museum empowered children with excitement confidence and skills to hopefully begin a life-long enjoyment of museums.

Terrific Tri-Service Station

25th April 2017 by Amanda Aspden

Class 1 visited the Tri Service Station in Hayle. Andy Hitchins the safety officer, showed the children around the station and told them how the station acts a fire station, ambulance and police station. We were lucky enough to see the fire engine, ambulance and police car during our visit. We learnt all about what to do if the smoke alarms at home goes off and how the Tri-Service Station helps us all in emergencies.

We had a look in the police car and even had the opportunity to sit in the driving seat or be locked in the back. The children loved playing with the loud police car siren and learnt all about why police cars, ambulances and fire engines have loud sirens.

I liked the police car because we heard the siren – Ethan.

Chris Wolstencroft (Lola from Class 7’s dad) showed the children the fire engine. We learnt all about the role of fire ladies and men and what they do to help us and animals in difficulty. We looked at all the different equipment on the fire engine – the different hose reels and jets for squirting water; the four ladders of different heights; the cutters for cutting vehicles; the breathing apparatus and protective clothing and the walkie talkies. The children had the opportunity to sit inside the fire engine and hear its siren.

The firemen wear masks so the smoke can’t go in your mouth – Ada

Finally, the children were given the opportunity to squirt the water from the hose and put out a pretend car and tree fire. The whole morning was great fun and really informative. We all had a great time!

I liked squirting the water from the hose – Amelie

If any parents have smoke alarms that don’t work Andy Hitchins said they will fit or replace them free of charge and to contact him at the Tri-Service Station to arrange a meeting.

I liked getting wet because I squirted the hose – Phoebe

Making Magic in Year 4!

“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.”