The Penpol Times

Year 2 out and about!

4th October 2017 by Penpol School

On the 28^th and 29^th September, classes 5 and 6 visited Trevaskis Farm for a workshop to learn about how and where many of the fruit and vegetables we eat are grown. Did you know that raspberries grow up and strawberries down and out? That the pigs are the award winning British Lop breed and the South Devon cows are exported world wide?

Though dry, it was very, very muddy so wellies were essential but the sows and piglets seemed quite at home!

We also had a talk from the fishmonger and were shown the different types that are for sale. The Gurnard looked quite gruesome!

We finished off with a treasure hunt, following the clues around the farm to find a pot with a hidden seedling, we are wondering what will grow!

It was a great day! – Sonny

I loved the piglets but it was really muddy and I fell over! – Josie

Learning is fun in Year 1

2nd October 2017 by Amanda Aspden

We started the year with an exciting class outing to the Hall for Cornwall in Truro. We were lucky enough to see the amazing story of the ‘Gruffalo’ by Julia Donaldson on the stage and joined in with some of the narration remembered from the book.

I liked the fox when he growled and ran away. Harvey

We visited the cathedral and walked to Victoria Gardens to eat our picnic lunch.

I liked the high ceiling and the windows in the cathedral. Hazel

I liked lighting the candle in the cathedral. Myla

We finished the day having great fun in Hendra play park and travelled back to school on the double decker bus.

I liked it when we went in the park. Safi

Back at school the children have produced excellent writing and art work inspired by the Gruffalo story. Mr Jones has even taught them a Gruffalo song!

I liked it on the bus when i was at the top. Felix

Class 4 are on the Move

1st October 2017 by Penpol School

Class 4 have been practicing some super skills in P.E. They have been finding out about different ways of moving and practicing how to roll, twist, climb, balance, jump and swing. Amelie and Oliver explain how to do the perfect forward roll…

First of all you have to stand up straight and put your hands in the air. Then put your chin to your chest. Keep your legs together and bend your knees. – Amelie

You have to bend down and put your hands on the floor. Put your head on the floor as well. Then push with your legs and roll. – Oliver

Great rolling everyone. Our next step is to practice finishing our forward roll in a standing position.

Zak, Ada, Violet, Harry, Corey and Riley have been practicing different ways of travelling across the poll. Riley is good at pulling himself along while dangling. Ada is great at balancing her whole body on top of the poll and sliding along slowly. Corey has been showing all of his friends how to spin upside down. Great skills everyone.

P.E is one of my favourite lessons. I am really good at climbing and balancing. I like to do all kinds of things in P.E, especially swinging on the ropes. – Caio

I like swinging on the rings and I like climbing across the ladder. I think I’m good at P.E. – Sienna

I’m good at P.E. I like climbing and I like the hoops. I like going up the ladder and climbing to the top. I want to learn how to do a forward roll backwards. – Ted

What a great start to Year 2

30th September 2017 by Linda Ruffell

All of the children in Year 2 have had a very busy start to the Autumn Term. During the English lessons the children from Mrs Ruffell’s and Mrs Daniel’s Class have been looking at the story ‘A Lion in the Meadow’ by Margaret Mahy.

After hearing the story, the children enjoyed discussing the story setting, asking and answering questions and thinking of adjectives that they could use to describe their own animal character. The children from both classes thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this story and worked hard to plan and write an interesting story of their own. Well done!

I enjoyed thinking of adjectives to describe the lion. Abigail

I would have been scared of the lion. Zachary

I have made up scary stories. Thomas

Year 3 Visit to The Royal Cornwall Museum and Truro Cathedral

29th June 201827th September 2017 by Penpol School

Class 7 and 8 were lucky enough to Visit The Royal Cornwall Museum to take part in three Egyptian workshops, all of which proved to be informative and most enjoyable. This workshop has given the children a greater insight into the life of the Ancient Egyptians and has enabled them to use the Museum to discover more about their way of life. The children were able to experience first hand the awe of looking at a real Mummy as well as observing the amazing Egyptian artefacts on display in the museum.

The workshops were about The Weighing of the Heart Ceremony, part of The Journey into The Afterlife where children dressed up and performed some drama. Children became Gods and Godesses and weighed out the heart of the Isat-Naf-Takht (the museum’s resident Mummy) and decided whether he was fit for the afterlife.

Another workshop was discovering hidden clues in the sand in order to learn about Ancient Egyptian Artefacts. The children were able to touch and hold real artefacts which were up to five thousand years old! We also were treated to a tour of the gallery dedicated to much of the Ancient Worlds, particularly, the Egyptians, observing closely through careful sketching certain artefacts as well as The Mummified body of Isat-Naf-Takht, an Ancient craftsman and priest.

Each class visited Truro Cathedral with an excellent informative workshop which enlightened the children all about some aspects of the Christian faithand some of the everyday occurrences of life in the Cathedral. All children were able to dress up aiding the understanding of the role of certain figures within the Christian community. Isabella said “It was a great day day. I especially liked dressing up as the Bishop, it felt really special.” A brilliant day for all!

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.

Penpol Students Star At Hayle Tennis Finals Day

27th September 2017 by Nic Stanlake

Sunday the 24th September brought around the much anticipated annual finals day at Hayle Tennis Club. Over the last year the school has rekindled its relationship with the tennis club by securing a whole school membership which allows teachers the use of the courts with their class. During the summer term of the last academic year the school also held a tennis themed non-uniform day and cake sale in order to raise funds for the club as a way of saying thank you for the coaching some classes have received and our school membership. I’m pleased to say we raised nearly £334 to support one of the most local clubs, with the PFA match funding the cake sale with some added extra bumping the total up to £534!

In the seven final matches Penpol school was well represented wth fifteen students ranging from the red ball competition for aged 8 and under to Under 14 singles and doubles. A huge success for the children and a reward for the hard work they put in on the court every week. It was also very pleasing to see friends and class mates going head to head but even more pleasing to see the level of sportsmanship as they congratulated each other and were happy for their own successes.

Alfie with his Green Ball, U12’s Trophies and Sportsmanship award

Lily with her U12’s and Orange ball trophies

Peter was awarded the Most improved player after only being at the club for a couple of months!

Jude and Alfie with their doubles trophy

What’s been going on this year in Year 6?

27th September 2017 by Mark Pollard

This week the Year 6 children have begun listening to the story of ‘Clockwork’ for their Literacy topic, a creepy tale set 100 years ago in a town in Germany. They have also continued focusing on reproducing artworks inspired by Paul Bursnall in Art and begun investigating just how a go-kart works and how it is made. In Maths, the children have been working on rounding numbers as well as recapping using the 4 main written operations (multiplying, dividing, adding and subtracting).

Mr Pollard and Mr Wise were also the proud recipients of a class mascot each, courtesy of the work undertaken in the Junior MacSuite with Mr Woolcock. They will take pride of place on their respective teacher’s tables, one by Aidan for Class 14 and Trystan for Class 13.

It’s great to see it in the classroom. – Trystan – Class 13

I made a cat for Mr Wise as apparently he likes them and I thought it’d look nice on his desk – Aidan – Class 12

3D Class Mascot Challenge

18th May 201827th September 2017 by Jacob Woolcock

Last week our 3D design work started in earnest in the Junior Mac Suite. To get the children learning all about the Tinkercad 3D design program they were set a challenge: to design the best class mascot to sit on their teacher’s desk.

Everyone in Year 4, 5 and 6 had the chance to build whatever they thought their teacher would like the most with the winning design being secretly chosen from each class. The winning model was then 3D printed overnight and the children were delighted to see the finished model the following morning.

It looked even better in real life than it did on the computer, I hope Mr Pollard likes it! – Trystan

Below are photos of all the winning designs from the competition, click on them to view them full-size!

Class 9 (Y4) – Jake

Class 10 (Y4) – Martin

Class 11 (Y5) – Ethan

Class 12 (Y5) – Maggie

Class 13 (Y6) – Trystan

Class 14 (Y6) – Aidan

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