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“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.”
With the final term at Penpol School almost upon us, it’s the perfect time to reflect and evaluate on the year so far.
All students here at Penpol have one hour a week of French, as well as the opportunity of attending after school language club on Thursdays. Year 6 are currently involved in an email exchange with Octave Cazauvieilh, a primary school situated on the outskirts of Bordeaux in the South-West of France. We also celebrate students achievement in languages by awarding a Star of the Week badge in both Infants and Juniors.
As a way of evaluating languages at Penpol, please would you be so helpful and spare a moment to complete this short questionnaire below.
On Friday 9th March, Class 4 had a fantastic time at Newquay Zoo. The children have been learning about animals in their science lessons at school and discovering which animals have backbones and which do not. We went to the zoo to learn more about vertebrates and invertebrates, and to learn more about the classification of animals.
When we got to the zoo, we were met by Pippa who gave us a really interesting lesson about classification. The first thing Pippa showed us was a cockroach. She explained that they have holes down their sides which allows them to make a hissing sound.
When the coach roaches get scared, they all get together and make a hissing sound that sounds like a snake. It tricks the predator that wants to eat them! Ada
Some animals do not have backbones, like insects. They are called invertebrates. Insects have 6 legs. Oliver
The next thing Pippa showed us was the skin of a royal python. It was very long and smooth. Flora and Amelie helped Pippa and held the snake skin. Everybody got a chance to touch the skin.
After that, we had to be very quiet because Pippa got out a real snake. His name is spot. Everybody got a chance to touch him if they wanted but we had to do it with the back of our hand.
I like the snake. I’m not scared of him. He’s quite cold. – Ptolemy
I know all about snakes because I’ve got one at home and he’s called Monty. Snakes are cold blooded animals. – Alfie
After a really interesting talk, we got to explore the zoo. Although it was raining and we got quite wet, we all had a fantastic time. Here are some of the photos…
Caio and Flynn count the meerkats
Silly selfies in the tropical house!
Ted, Riley and the lions have a roaring competition!
Class 4 had so much fun on Friday. It was Penpol Book Day! The school missed World Book Day due to the snowy weather but we made up for it in style. Everybody dressed up as their favourite book character and Class 4 were dressed to impress. Check out some of our photos…
I was dressed up as the wolf man and I was so excited because I won a prize for the dressing up competition. – Flynn
The children and the parents put in a huge effort in making the costumes. The children looked fantastic. They brought in their favourite stories from home and shared them with the class.
I’m Mr Strong. Mum and Dad helped me make my costume. I love it. – Zak
Georgia and Tacita dressed up as Goldilocks.
I dressed up as the rainbow fish. I helped my mum make the costume and my mum wore the same costume to her school for their book day. – Ada.
The last three years have seen sell out performances at our annual Music In The Marquee concerts from Bradley Johnson, Little Chix and last years Yellow. I’m delighted to say that this summer we will be hosting our fourth concert in the Marquee, featuring a somewhat familiar face…
Each year we ask the children which music they are enjoying and what sort of act they’d like to see play in our marquee at the end of the Summer term. This year the overwhelming majority of children told us they’d like to hear Ed Sheeran, with some of the older children asking in particular if Bradley Johnson could make a comeback. I am delighted to say that when I spoke to Bradley he was thrilled that we wanted him back to perform again.
So, for the second time, I’d love to introduce you to Bradley Johnson! Bradley is a singer/songwriter from Liverpool who first came to national attention as a finalist on the X Factor back in 2011 when he amazed judges with his version of Ed Sheeran’s The A Team. Since his television debut he’s been working on his own material and has been crafting his skills to become the UK’s finest Ed Sheeran tribute act. He made his first trip down to Cornwall for a sell-out show in our Marquee back in 2015 and can’t wait to come back again later this year. Bradley says: “I loved playing at your school last time, I still remember it as one of my favourite gigs. I can’t wait to be back again this year, with even more tunes for you all to enjoy!”
Bradley will be playing two sets of live music on the night, the first being a hit-filled Ed Sheeran tribute set including tunes both new and old including ‘Shape of You’, ‘Bloodstream’, ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and ‘Perfect’, followed by a later set which will also include other popular pop and rock covers as well as a selection of his own material. As always with Music in the Marquee his two sets will be accompanied by local support acts to round off the whole evenings entertainment.
Just like in previous years the event will raise money for the Penpol Friends Association and will also feature a fully licensed bar, BBQ, soft drinks, and food for everyone to enjoy. I hope you’ll agree that Music in the Marquee 2018 is already shaping up to be a phenomenal night of entertainment.
We are opening this event to the whole community, but want to give our Penpol parents the first chance to get tickets. For this reason we’re offering you a special pre-sale of tickets, starting TODAY! Tickets are priced at £8 for adults and £5 for children. Please note that all children must be accompanied by an adult.
Please return this slip and money to the office as soon as you can to secure your tickets. Music in the Marquee has been a sell out for the past three years and tickets will be on a first come first served basis.
Class 3 have recently started getting to grips with our Lego WeDo 2.0 robotics sets and this week took their skills to a whole new level by building and coding Milo, the explorer robot. To build this cute little robot the children had to follow a series of building instructions on their iPads, ensuring they worked in a team to locate the pieces required and to build the robot correctly. Having displayed a great amount of teamwork and excitement, the children then wrote a short program to make their model come to life. By dragging and dropping blocks of code, the children wrote a set of instructions to move the robot forwards and backwards. Some groups even found a way to have Milo make noises as he moved around.
“I really liked racing the robots, our one didn’t move very much but it was really fun. The band wasn’t on right on my robot but we fixed it and it worked in the end” – Ada, Amelia, Amelia
“I liked it when our robot was in the race. I liked it when it made code so it sounded like it was talking . I liked it when we started building the robot because we had really good teamwork” – Alex, Louis, Ethan M
When each group had built and programmed their model we all went outside to have a quick race. With plenty of cheering and excitement, all of the Milo robots went head-to-head to see which was the fastest. This thrilling race has been immortalised on film for everyone to relive and enjoy!
This half-term, Class 4 have been learning about how Christmas is celebrated around the world. For their concert in St Elwyn’s church, Class 4 learnt a French song with Mr Emery about the animals in the stable. The students were able to name each of the animals from the song in French, as well as ask the question, “do you have any pets” in French.
Students from class 4 have been really excited about performing French and German songs with their family watching.
I have been practising ‘Tu as un animal’ lots, I really like that song! Oliver, Class 4
Miss Ryan and Mrs Anthoney have also enjoyed teaching the children about animals in French, having produced a 3D animal display board in French in the classroom and testing their knowledge in the lead-up to Class 4’s Christmas concert.
In addition, Mr Jones has been teaching class 4 the heartwarming German song, O Tannebaum (Oh Christmas Tree). Class 4 lit up St Elwyn’s church with their own performance of the song in front of parents and families.
To finish off an exciting term for languages, Class 4 also sang both songs in front of the Christmas tree in the school hall, with class 5 watching as special guests.
Class 4 sang really well! Chloe, Class 5
High praise indeed from the older students! Next up, Mr Emery looks forward to teaching many more French classics to the children in the New Year.
Over the last month each class has been preparing an advent box for Christmas. However, these advent boxes are difference compared to those most children have at home because instead of taking a chocolate or treat out like traditional advent calendar, the children have been bringing food into class to add into their class advent boxes.
Across our fourteen classes, children have been generously bringing in lots of different foods to donate to those in need of a helping hand at this busy time of the year.
The boxes have since been collected by the Hayle Food Bank and are ready for redistribution to those who are supported by the great work done by one of our most local charities.
On behalf of the Hayle Food Bank and those who will receive these wonderful donations, we would like to thank parents and families for their very generous and kind support.
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
As we enter the second half term of the academic year, the school council have been elected and met for the first time. During this first meeting the children discussed the expectations of a school councillor as well as assigning themselves roles.
Some slight changes to the structure this year mean we welcome fourteen members to the committee including two children representing the infants in Key Stage 1. To aid the effectiveness of the overall council, we have also doubled the representatives from Year 5 and 6, as their experience of school life is greatly valued.
First on the agenda for this academic year was the expectations and vision for this elected group of councillors. After much discussion the children settled on the below vision statement.
Our vision is, for all children at Penpol School to be able to have a voice and contribute towards the continuous improvement of our school community.
The aim of the school council is to involve ALL students in helping to create and implement school policies and procedures that will benefit everyone in the school community. This will address the following areas:
To make changes in our school and school community.
To give pupils the opportunity to let adults know their feelings and opinions about things that affect them.
Pupils should also be able to have a say in decisions and to play an active role in making their school a better place for all.
Serve as the voice for the pupils of Penpol within the school and within the community.
We as a school council will do this by:
Talking to our classmates to gain ideas and suggestions.
Making sure that everyone’s views and opinions are valued.
Having regular meetings to share our ideas.
As part of the School Council all members have been elected into particular roles. This level of responsibility has been trusted to the council members after they were voted in by their peers, as people who are trustworthy, approachable, fair and honest to name but a few of the attributes required.
