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Headteacher
Chris Coyle-Chislett

Email the Office
secretary@penpol.cornwall.sch.uk

Telephone Number
01736 753472

Follow us on Twitter
@PenpolSchool

Our Address
2 St George’s Road, Hayle,
Cornwall, TR27 4AH

“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.”

Penpol Celebrates Languages Day 2023!

On Wednesday 4th October, Penpol School celebrated European Day of Languages for its 6th time. We are so fortunate to have so many languages being spoken as either a first or second language by our students.  For this reason, European Day of Languages is a prime opportunity to shine a light on each of these languages which represents our diverse learning community here at Penpol.

Back by popular demand, the French café was a favourite amongst students and staff. Like last year, KS2 students were invited to sample a French breakfast in Class 9 with Mr Emery and his year 4 group. 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.’ KS2 students then put their French linguistic skills to the test to then host their KS1 reading buddies in their classroom.

Finally, at the end of the day, Mrs Curnow and Mrs Best had KS1 enthralled with a reading of ‘Goolan’ to celebrate the Cornish language.  In addition, Mrs Best and Mr Jones serenaded the children with songs featuring Welsh, Cornish and French.  Mr Jones and Mr Emery led a European singalong in KS2, which culminated in a school record of 8 languages being sung in one song. This rounded off a fantastic day which marked an important day in the school calendar.

A huge ‘Meur ras’, ‘diolch yn fawr,’ ‘merci,’ ‘gracias,’ ‘dzien dobry,’ aciu’ and ‘obrigado’ to all of those who helped to make the day a huge success.  

Making Music with Micro:Bits in Year 3

Over the past few weeks Year 3 have been learning to code on our Micro:Bit computers.  These tiny devices are a great way to get hands-on with Computing and enable our students to write programs that they can run on real hardware in their hands.

To start with we explored the concept of Input and Output by using buttons, sensors and the LED displays on the Micro:Bits.  It was interesting to see the range of programs that could be created with just two buttons.

Once the children felt confident with this aspect of the device then took things a step further by using some LED light strips which connected to the pins at the bottom of the Micro:Bits.  

Suddenly the Mac Suite was transformed into a disco! We had colour changing, flashing and rainbow coloured lights everywhere.  

When we finished having a mini party we used the opportunity to learn about using loops and repeat blocks to create colour changing light patterns.

And that brings us on to today, where the children have been using the Micro:Bits in an entirely different way.  

By using three crocodile clips and some nifty external speaker modules, our Year 3s have been creating music!  From individual notes to complete melodies, the Mac Suite was the place to be on Monday morning if you wanted some music. 

(I must stress the word ‘music’ is used loosely here – it sounded less like Taylor Swift and more like an old fairground where the rides were breaking down and the normally happy music had started to sadly fade away into a sea of 8-bit beeps and bloops…)

As part of this activity the children embarked on some challenge based learning, where they were required to problem solve and troubleshoot both the code and the physical connection between the devices to get their music working.  This proved to be a lot of fun and certainly got their brains thinking!

We love using Computing in hands-on ways at Penpol – why should we be confined to a screen when we can have colour changing lights and music coming out of our Micro:Bits?!  

I dare say Year 3 would certainly agree.

Here are some more photos from our 'Musical Micro:Bits' lesson:

Reception Classes Visit the Maritime Museum

Classes 1 and 2 had a great time at the Maritime Museum in Falmouth.

We loved meeting Oceana, the sea sprite who told us a wonderful story of how she now lives in the lost land of Lyonesse. We helped her retell her story using instruments and learnt how she was rescued by merpeople and how Poseidon the God of the sea gave her the gift of being able to breathe underwater.

We looked at some treasures that Oceana had found at the bottom of the ocean which included part of a shipwreck, (possibly a pirate ship), a cannon ball, an old boot and a killer whales tooth.

We also learnt all about the different parts of a boat before making our own.

Next was the exciting boat races where we got the chance to race them on the boating lake.

We had a look around the museum and discovered all kinds of amazing monsters from the deep including a blob fish, angler fish, a fangtooth fish and a cock eyed squid.

We also had time to play on the rescue boats, jet ski, quad bike and life raft. We pretended to rescue each other from the ocean.

Finally we went to the top of the lookout tower and had a look at all the amazing boats in the harbour. We learnt all about sail boats, yachts and catamarans and found out that one of the super yachts in the harbour would need about 15 crew members to run the ship.

Class 1 and 2 would like to say a big thank you to all the staff at the maritime museum. We learnt so much, had lots of fun and had a great day out.

Summer Sunshine and Year 4 Learning in the Wildlife Garden

This term, Year 4 have taken great joy from learning outside in our wildlife garden.  From Science through to Music, the wildlife garden has provided the perfect setting to enjoy not just forest school, but also all of their learning.

Just before half term, Class 9 wrote a description of the wildlife garden from each of their perspectives.  The class really enjoyed sharing their descriptions in the mini amphitheatre.  This task drew out all of the benefits of looking after the fantastic wild areas that we are lucky in our community to have, a particularly poignant topic of discussion with the G7 summit taking place this week.

I really like spending time in the wildlife garden.  It makes me feel happy and calm.  Alex, Class 9

In Science, Year 4 have also been learning about habitats and had to create a powerpoint/ pic collage on what habitats could be found in the wildlife garden, along with the features and residents of each habitat.  Students were particularly surprised to find centipedes, tadpoles and even a wandering Wilf (our very own resident school dog) in the wildlife garden.  

Finally, Year 4 have taken dusted off their vocal chords and sang a classic song, ‘Let it Be’, by the Beatles, a song which we studied last half term in music.  It was a great song to finish off last half term and listen to students singing in a big group again.  Enjoy the video below!

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Year 4 Robotic Music

This term, Year Four have been learning to combine sounds and rhythms in our music lessons. After composing a range of different rhythms, we used GarageBand to record the rhythms which were played using a variety of everyday objects around the classroom. Using some studio effects and post production techniques, we edited the rhythm sounds and added melodic instruments. After we had recorded a short snippet, we then used a loop tool to repeat the rhythms.

 

 

Penpol School Choir at Camborne Music Festival

On Thursday 14th November, some of our fantastic KS2 choir represented Penpol School excellently at the Camborne Music Festival. The Choir sang two pieces, Human – by Rag ‘N; Bone Man and When I Grow Up from the hit musical Matilda, written by Tim Minchin. The choir sang beautifully and were well received by the audience and adjudicator, receiving 84 marks and being Highly Commended.

During the piece When I Grow Up, there was a well praised solo and a number of duets and small group parts which were highly praised and wonderfully sang by the pupils. We look forward to competing at the festival again another year.

The successes of our school choir have led to a record number of members, which now total a staggering 57 pupils in Key Stage 2. If you missed the performance of the choir at the music festival, please look out for future Christmas Concert dates in the coming month. We shall be performing at the annual Key Stage 2 Christmas Concert at St. Elwyn’s Church on 18th December, as well as other venues in the lead up to Christmas.

Year 2 celebrate the Christmas story in style

Classes and 5 and 6 took to the stage on 5th December to retell the traditional nativity story and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

The children from both classes, worked extremely hard to learn the words to many songs and readings and also to know when they had a part to play.

The performance was a complete success with all children demonstrating great confidence and stage presence.

Well done!

– Mrs Ruffell

” I liked it when we sang All around the World” – Lily, Class 6

” I enjoyed being a king and wearing a crown” – Tommy, Class 6

“I enjoyed learning my words and reading them out to everyone” – Rafaella, Class 5

“I enjoyed singing the King’s song” –  James, Class 5

Preparing For Christmas With The Choir

The Penpol Junior Choir has been busy preparing for this year’s festivities, rehearsing Christmas songs which are to be performed at a number of events throughout December. After working really hard to learn and polish the songs which were performed at the Camborne Music Festival, the choir have got together during a lunch time to record one of their favourite carols, The Sans Day Carol, to help get everyone in the mood. Please listen to the school choir and enjoy, whilst getting into the Christmas Spirit.

Watch out for the amazing Penpol School Junior Choir as they perform throughout December!

Penpol Junior Choir At The Camborne Music Festival

 

On the 15th November 2018, the Penpol Junior Choir participated in this year’s Camborne Music Festival. The children performed two songs, Touch the Sky and I’m Still Singing, with energy and confidence giving a fantastic performance to the adjudicator and  the audience. The choir were awarded with 168 marks (out of 200) and were praised for their energy and spirit and their great part singing. The children really enjoyed the experience and we look forward to the next Music festival.