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Headteacher
Chris Coyle-Chislett

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

Telephone Number
01736 753472

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 foundation of deep-rooted learning. Through our rich and relevant curriculum, we nurture community-minded, forward-facing international citizens of the future.”
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Year 1

Creativity in Full Bloom with Author and Illustrator Maia Walczak!

On Tuesday 4th March, we were absolutely thrilled to welcome the incredibly talented Maia Walczak, an award-winning children’s book illustrator, author and artist from Cornwall. Every child at Penpol had the fantastic opportunity to take part in a workshop that truly sparked their creative writing.

Before Maia’s visit, each class explored Maia’s work and created their own vibrant portraits in her distinctive style! Maia was absolutely blown away by the children’s’ incredible creativity and effort!

 

Maia captivated the children as she shared the fascinating journey behind her books. She revealed what inspired her to write her stories, walked through the planning process and showed them the beautiful final products of her hard work. Her visit not only brought her books to life but also perfectly complemented the writing process we teach here at Penpol. The children were inspired and their imaginations soared as they took part in a fun and engaging hands-on activity.

We were so inspired by Maia’s books that we’ve created a wordless book section in our school library to celebrate her work! A big thank you to Maia for sharing her incredible talent with us – it was truly an unforgettable experience.

Click here to see Maia’s website if you would like to have a look at her books.

Tens, Ones and Lots of Fun in Year 1!

In Year 1, we’ve been working hard to understand place value up to 50. We’ve been using a variety of manipulatives, including base ten, to help us visualise how many tens and ones are in different numbers. This hands-on approach has made learning about numbers both fun and engaging!

We’ve enjoyed working with our partners, which not only helped us with our place value understanding but also allowed us to develop our Penpol Value of Friendship. By collaborating and discussing our ideas, we’ve been able to improve our Oracy skills, explaining our thinking and listening to others.

It’s been wonderful to see the children excited to share their discoveries and we’re looking forward to continuing to build our mathematical and communication skills together!

Fruitastic Fun: Year 1 Children Explore Healthy Me with Fruit Kebabs!

This term in PSHE, Year 1 children have been learning all about staying healthy. To bring their learning to life, they took part in an exciting Design and Technology lesson where they designed and made their own fruit kebabs!

The lesson began with the children designing their perfect fruit kebabs. They explored different types of fruit and discussed which ones would make a tasty and healthy treat. Once the designs were complete, the children got to work preparing and assembling their fruit kebabs, carefully selecting the fruit before threading it onto skewers.

After all the hard work, the children were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor by tasting their delicious creations. They loved evaluating which fruits they liked or disliked and shared their thoughts with their classmates.

The children thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on experience, and the highlight of the lesson was, of course, eating the tasty and nutritious fruit kebabs they had created! It was a fun and educational way to learn about healthy eating.

Frozen Frenzy: The Great Dinosaur Ice Break!

Class 4 had a smashing time today in our science lesson! First, the children eagerly revealed what was hidden inside the balloons. Many enthusiastic helpers volunteered to remove the balloons from the freezing ice.

We began by using our skills to record predictions. Carefully, we worked as a team to set up three controlled methods to figure out which would be the best way to free the dinosaurs from the ice quickly. Each method was timed to find out the results.

Then came the frenzy of smashing the capsules over and over again to free the dinosaurs (don’t worry, no dinosaurs were harmed in the process! 😊).

After all the fun, it was time to record our results. In third place, after 19 minutes and 42 seconds, we decided the ice egg near the heater was no longer in the running. The hot water method impressed us with a time of 9 minutes and 21 seconds, with one child noting, “…the water is now cold because the ice has melted, making it go from hot water to cold water.” But, in first place, with a super speedy time of 1 minute and 56 seconds, was the smashing, crashing, and bashing of the ice capsules!

What a frosty, fun-filled lesson it was!

Year 1’s Roarsome Dinosaur Hunts in Writing!

This week, Year 1 have been busy crafting some truly roarsome stories in English! Inspired by Michael Rosen’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, the children wrote their own adventure: We’re Going on a Dinosaur Hunt! Their imaginations soared as they journeyed through yummy crumbly sausage rolls, cheesy pepperoni pizza, and even slippery smelly bananas, all in search of dinosaurs!

The children have really embraced the Penpol Values of Creativity, thinking up wild and wonderful ideas to make their stories come alive. We are especially proud of how they’ve shown the Penpol Value of Resilience by writing a whole story from start to finish. What a fantastic achievement!

The excitement reached new heights when a dinosaur visited the classroom, making the stories feel even more alive and thrilling!

Well done, Year 1! You’ve all proven yourselves to be fantastic writers with dino-sized imaginations!

Year 1 Roars with Creativity

Year 1 have been having a dino-mite time developing their art skills, and this term, we’ve been learning about printing! Using bubble wrap, we created fantastic textured prints to make dinosaur scales—how cool is that? The bubble wrap gave our dinosaurs a scaly effect, bringing them to life in a whole new way.

This activity was the perfect way to showcase our Penpol Value of Creativity, as we explored new techniques and unleashed our imagination. What a fun and creative way to bring dinosaurs to life on paper!

Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel!

The Key Question Year 1 are exploring in RE this term is: “Who is Jewish and how do they live?”

This term, we’ve had a lot of fun learning about the dreidel, a traditional Jewish game. Jewish people play dreidel during the festival of Hanukkah, which celebrates the Festival of Lights. We’ve also been singing the dreidel song:

I have a little dreidel,
I made it out of clay.
And when it’s dry and ready,
Oh dreidel, I shall play!

Penpol Writing Challenge!

At Penpol, we are all writers. During the Autumn Term, children from EYFS to Year 6 were invited to participate in our Penpol Writing Challenge, giving everyone the opportunity to let their creativity shine! The children could choose between the fiction challenge of writing a story or the non-fiction challenge of writing instructions or a recipe.

Congratulations to all the children who entered! I was so impressed with all of your entries, and you should all be incredibly proud of yourselves:

  • Esme from Class 1 – I loved your story about a family called Sparkle who visited Cornwall.
  • Jude from Class 3 – I loved your instructions for finding Pirate Bob’s treasure.
  • Andrew from Class 4 – I loved your instructions to Save Our Animals! You included so many interesting facts in your writing.
  • Jowan from Class 4 – I loved your instructions for making hot chocolate on the beach.
  • Macie from Class 4 – I loved your instructions for making chocolate chip cookies. They sound delicious!
  • Violet from Class 4 – I loved your instructions for making pea and potato curry-loaded naan. You’ve really shown our Penpol Value of Creativity.
  • Ted from Class 6 – I loved your creative story about the Queen’s birthday.
  • Hazel from Class 7 – I loved your creative story Tadeo Jones: The Amazing Adventure of Ancient Egypt.
  • Martha from Class 7 – I loved your story The Hot Sunny Desert. I especially enjoyed reading how to mummify a human!
  • Emily from Class 8 – I loved your creative story about a fairy adventure.
  • Suki from Class 9 – I loved your story Daisy and the Trouble with Bikes. It was so creative!
  • Alayah from Class 12 – I loved your story about Leaf the Little Flower Fairy. I can’t wait to read the next part of the series!
  • Pearl from Class 12 – I loved your story Pearl vs. Seagull. I was extra careful reading it thanks to your warning on the front page!
  • Molly from Class 13 – I loved your creative story Literally a Disaster. You really demonstrated our Penpol Value of Resilience and Creativity.

Please enjoy reading the children’s fantastic entries below. We’re already looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with for our next Penpol Writing Challenge:

  • Fiction: Write your own comic!
  • Non-Fiction: Write an invitation or plan an event or party.

We can’t wait to see your creativity in action—happy writing!

A Magical Moonlight Walk to See The Mousehole Cat

“At the far end of England, a land of rocks and moorland stretches out into a blue-green sea. Between its high headlands lie tiny, sheltered harbours where fishing boats hide when the winter storms blow.”

Year 1 had a magical adventure to see The Mousehole Cat at The Solomon Browne Hall in Mousehole.

‘The Mousehole Cat tells the heartwarming tale of how the village of Mousehole in West Cornwall was saved from famine by the brave actions of fisherman Tom Bawcock and his faithful cat, Mowzer. Based on a well-known Cornish legend, Antonia Barber’s story of the fearless fisherman and his devoted cat is sure to warm the cockles of your heart—almost as much as an ‘efty portion of stargazy pie!’

First, Year 1 walked through the picturesque streets of Mousehole, admiring the harbour we had previously drawn in class. As we strolled along the cobbled streets, we finally reached The Solomon Browne Hall, where the children watched the performance of The Mousehole Cat in awe. After the show, we walked back to the harbour, where we were treated to the magical lights. It was a truly enchanting experience, and a wonderful way to complete our Moonlit Walk, earning our 360° Curriculum Badge.

The children demonstrated our Penpol Value of Respect throughout the trip and represented Penpol School wonderfully. Thank you so much to Cousin Jack’s Theatre Company for providing us with such a truly amazing experience.

Year 1 Gets Active: Mastering Hockey Skills in Invasion Games!

Here’s Year 1 having a blast developing their competence and performance through exciting invasion games! Recently, we’ve been focusing on hockey, learning how to control the ball and work together as a team. It’s been fantastic watching the children practice their skills, improve their coordination, and have lots of fun along the way.

Here are a photo of Year 1 in action, showing off their hockey moves and teamwork during these energetic games!