Unfortunately we are having trouble with our phone system this morning. If you need to reach the school please use our backup number of 01736 756915. Thank you.
“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.”
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.
Ada was selected to take part in the Amigo’s Tumbling Competition for her Gymnastic club, Phoenix in Camborne. Her gymnastic club Phoenix competed against the Zero Gravity gymnastics squad who travelled down from Saltash to compete.
Ada completed three solo tumble track runs and came an amazing 2nd place for her age category. This was Ada’s first official competition and she was delighted to come away with a silver medal. She is looking forward to many more competitions to come.
I love gymnastics because you can do really cool things. I can do a one-handed cartwheel and the splits – Ada – Class 3 – Year 1
This week, students have been enjoying the dry weather by learning French outside. Classes 3, 4, 7 and 8 were involved in a series of activities and competitions which tested their understanding of instructions and knowledge of body parts in French, which is the current topic they are learning about with Mr Emery.
At the start of each lesson, students followed Mr Emery around the school via instructions in French, until reaching the playground area. Out in the fresh air, students began by doing a number of fun warm-up activities in French, from star jumps to the Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (tête, épaule, genou, pied) song. Following the warm-up activities, students then moved on to the more challenging competitions, such as “la souris contre le chat” (very similar to duck duck goose) and “Jacques a dit” (Simon says).
From class 3, Hazel held her nerve and won the Simon says competition, showing an excellent understanding of body parts in French.
It was really fun learning French outside. I really like winning too! – Hazel – Class 3 – Year 1
Upon returning to the classroom, students were able to recap what they had learnt about body parts in French by drawing and labelling their own monsters. With all classes having sung a French colour song with Michèle in the Harvest assembly, they were also keen to add plenty of colours to their monsters.
Alex, from Class 3, also enjoyed counting the number of heads in French on his monster, going all the way up to “quinze”, (15, pronounced ‘cans’).
When asked at the end of the session what was their favourite part of the lesson, the overriding response was “learning French outside!”
I loved having lots of space outside to play games in French! – Sienna – Class 4 – Year 1
This half term Year 1 have been learning the basics of coding by giving instructions to the popular ‘Angry Birds’ characters. In order to help these birds reach their target (the green piggies!) the children have to give them the correct directional instructions to move along the level. These instructions start off quite simply, but before long the children are giving twelve step answers to get the bird to the target.
“I love how happy the bird is when he gets to the pig!” – Penny, Class 3
An example level from halfway through the Angry Birds puzzles
Using perseverance, logical thinking and imagination the Year 1’s have shown a huge amount of Learning to Learn skills and have proven that just because something is difficult at first they don’t need to give up. Practice makes perfect and solving these puzzles has helped instil a real love of learning in a lot of these children.
Fantastically talented Sabina and her team from Penzance Gymnastic Club won a brilliant bronze in her first ever Vault and Floor Competition.
I felt a tiny bit nervous and a little bit shy – Sabina
She may have been a little bit nervous but this did not stop Sabina doing her very best. Taking part in the 5 to 6 year old category, Sabina did incredibly well, competing against five other teams from all over Cornwall.
For my routine I had to do a sit and tuck, roll my arms backwards, do a forward roll and then I finished in a lunge in a wide shape – Sabina
Sabina loves gymnastics and we are very proud of her achievements. Well done Sabina!
Amelie from class 4 came to school today with some very exciting news. She had taken part in a gymnastics competition at her local club in Penzance on Sunday and walked away with a medal! Amelie goes to Penzance gymnastics club and took part in a competition for floor and vault at level 7. She and 4 other girls aged between 5 and 7, competed as a group and were awarded a bronze medal. 45 gymnasts from her group took part, so Amelie was delighted to come away with a medal. Amelie was kind enough to show us some of her floor routine. Take a look…
00:00
00:00
I go to gymnastics on Mondays and Fridays. I go for 2 hours on a Monday and an hour and half on Friday. I do conditioning on Friday, that’s where I do lots of stretching and I do lots of strength training. I do bars and chin ups as well. I want a chin up bar for my birthday.
I showed everyone how to do my vault.
First you need to run…
jump…
hands on the block…
stand up straight and put your toes together…
jump off the block…
ready for the handstand.
My favourite move in gymnastics is the splits. It’s quite hard and I have been practicing a lot. I also like doing headstands and I practice at home on the sofa.
Class 4 love art! They have been having great fun investigating materials in their art lessons and have been making metal sculptures using everyday objects including cheese graters, cutlery, tin cans, mixing bowls and anything else they can get their hands on! Check out their fantastic owl creations!
I love the metal feather bits on your owl Lily. Can I help? – Alfie
Evie and Sienna are really happy with the way their owls are turning out. They are using jam jar lids for the eyes and sticking on squashed foil cases and beads. They’re looking great.
I like my owl. I want to take it home and show my mum. – Tyler
Ada and Flora help each other choose the best buttons and beads to stick on to the wings.
I love my owl. I brought in my sieve and my whisk from home and Mrs Anthoney helped me stick all the bits together. – Zak
I am really happy and so proud of the children. They put in a lot of hard work and were very creative. I think their owls look fantastic! – Miss Ryan
Owl Facts
Owls live in barns, trees, old buildings and tunnels.
Owls eat mice, rats, birds, raccoons, skunks, snakes, squirrels and other small mammals.
Owls can’t digest bones, fur or feathers so they spit it out.
Owls have sharp beaks that they use to shred their food.
A huge congratulations to Bruce, Zak and Ted from Class 4. They decided to take on the reading challenge in class 4 – to read as often as you can at home and climb the reading ladder. The boys successfully reached the top of the ladder by half term and all received a book of their choice. A fantastic effort boys, well done!
Miss Ryan set us a challenge. You had to read at home every night and if you did, you would climb up the reading ladder. I was the first one to get to the top and I got a prize. I was really happy. I read 39 times at home and I was star of the week.
We were all very sad to say farewell to Michèle our amazing French teacher after 16 years of fun French lessons in all classes throughout the school. Michèle managed to encourage children to speak French with confidence by participating in relaxed games, songs, plays and even a fashion show.
I liked the funny french monster book – Lylie.
At this years Harvest Festival Michèle took centre stage while everyone sang “Fraise et Fromboise” her own song about our love of fruit. The children looked forward to her lessons and she will be sorely missed.
Thank you for teaching us about colours and numbers – Imogen.
We loved the french songs – Louis.
The health and wellbeing of all our pupils is a priority at Penpol school. All infants are provided with a free healthy snack each day and given plenty of opportunities to exercise and keep fit. We start the day with “Wake up shake up” and regularly jump, climb and roll.
I can hang on to the ladder. I am brave and strong – Ethan.
