Year 5

Penpol’s Got Talent 2017

24th July 2017 by Jacob Woolcock

Last Thursday there was great excitement in the school marquee as the children awaited the arrival of our three very special judges for this years ‘Penpol’s Got Talent. This year the auditions were amazing with children from reception through to year 6 demonstrating that they had the ability and confidence to dance, sing and play a musical instrument in front of a live audience.

Eventually, following four days of auditions, fourteen acts went through to the final. Judging the acts was a very difficult challenge for the three judges but eventually a decision was made.

This year’s winner was Leah who sang so beautifully that it gave the compere, Mrs Ruffell, goose bumps and left the three judges with tears in their eyes.

I liked all the singing and dancing, it was beautiful. – Isabella

I enjoyed watching all of the acts, especially my sisters singing group. – Patrick

I really enjoyed watching and listening to the drummer. He even had light up drum sticks. – Jonash

Year 5 Tackle Tag With The Cornish Pirates

3rd July 2017 by Nic Stanlake

Over recent weeks the Year 5 children have been braving all weather conditions to learn and improve their tag rugby skills under the watchful eyes of a professional coach from the Cornish Pirates. The children are midway through their 6 week block of weekly coaching sessions which will cumulate in a community festival with other schools from the Penwith Area at Mounts Bay Academy.

They have spent the first few weeks learning the basic concepts of tag rugby, a sport that requires a host of different skills from catching and throwing to teamwork and communication. From these sessions the children are learning and improving these skills which they will be able to transfer into different sports as well as the classroom.

Its great fun and lets me practice passing skills so I can be just like Jack Nowell! – Jowan

I started playing tag rugby this year in school, I have really enjoyed it and hope to carry it on next year. -Freya

As a footballer it is such a good opportunity to learn a new sport with a coach from a professional Rugby team! – Freddie

I have really enjoyed the games we play with Sam, like stuck in the mud with a ball and hot potato as we started to learn the skills required for tag rugby -Lola

From a teachers point of view, it’s been great having Sam in to coach as the children have really enjoyed it, it has also allowed me to pick up some fantastic coaching tips. Links with local clubs are very important to us so hopefully it is something we can continue to do with the Pirates- Mr Stanlake

Penpol’s Own Football Stars

17th May 2017 by Nic Stanlake

Many of the children at Penpol School take part in activities and clubs outside of school. Some of our talented footballers who play for Hayle park Under 10’s have enjoyed lots of success over the last two seasons. Most recently at an invitational tournament in Newquay. The round-robin tournament consisted of 15 of the best teams from within the county and was spread over 3 days. The boys performed excellently and managed to secure a second placed finish.

Not only were they awarded with a trophy each to keep but one member of the team scooped the Golden Boot- an accolade awarded to the top scorer within the competition.

Well done boys, really well deserved!

Announcing Music in the Marquee 2017

5th May 2017 by Jacob Woolcock

The last two years have seen sell out performances at our annual Music In The Marquee concerts from the brilliant Bradley Johnson and the fantastic Little Chix. I’m delighted to say that this July we’re going bigger and better than ever before, with an incredible four-piece band.

For our 2017 event I’d like to introduce you to the countries top Coldplay tribute band, YELLOW! Yellow are a four piece band from Portsmouth who formed ten years ago to celebrate and perform the music of Coldplay. The group all play their own intruments and manage to recreate the energetic and dynamic Coldplay sound whilst engaging audiences across the country. This July they’re making the trip down to Hayle especially for us. The band are a close group of friends and their friendship and passion for live music shines through on stage.

On Saturday 8th July the band will treat us to two sets of live music with the first offering a look at Coldplay’s recent dance-pop sound including hits such as ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’, ‘Something Just LIke This’ and of course, ‘Paradise’. Later on in the evening the band will return to the stage for a second time to treat us to a set of more classic coldplay songs including ‘Yellow’, ‘Sky Full of Stars’ and ‘Viva La Vida’. We’ll also have more music on the night with talented local support and plenty of chances to get the children dancing!

Just like in previous years the event will raise money for the Penpol Friends Association and will also feature a fully licensed bar, soft drinks, and food for everyone to enjoy. I hope you’ll agree that Music in the Marquee 2017 is already shaping up to be a phenomenal night of entertainment.

Tickets are on sale now from reception: £8 for adults and £5 for children.

See you there!

Penpol Pupils go on a Virtual Reality Expedition with Google!

26th April 2017 by Jacob Woolcock

On Tuesday Penpol School had a very special visit from Google who had some exciting new technology to show off to the children.

Google Expeditions is a new project designed to introduce primary school children to Virtual Reality in the classroom. Mark from Google bought 60 Google Cardboard headsets to Penpol along with 60 smart phones and tablets to get the system set up and running. Throughout the day every class, from Year 1 to Year 6, had the chance to get some hands on time with the technology by going on a virtual school trip!

Led by their class teacher, the children were transported virtually around the world to unusual and exciting destinations including the Amazon Rainforest, underwater deep sea diving, onto the vast icy planes of Antartica and even into outer space to see the Moon and Earth from a whole new perspective. The excitement amongst the children was electric, with loud gasps every time the teacher took them to a new location to explore.

Virtual Reality works by taking a 360 degree photo of a location and then using special software to make the viewer feel like they are in the middle of the action. With the Google Cardboard and attached smartphone the children can then explore their surroundings simply by moving their head. The classroom disappears and they are taken on an incredible school trip.

You can learn more about Google Expeditions here: https://edu.google.com/expeditions/

Throughout the day we took as many photos as possible to remember this amazing event, so please enjoy a selection of them below…

Surfing’s on the Curriculum at Penpol

29th June 201817th November 2016 by Mark Pollard

We are very fortunate at Penpol School to be situated by the sea next to three miles of glorious beaches and golden sand. In this area of outstand natural beauty, we have some of the best beaches in Cornwall offering fantastic surfing opportunities.

Living next to the Atlantic, however, does come with its own hazards and dangers, especially when it comes to being safe in the sea.

At Penpol School we take beach safety very seriously.

We have a close connection with several of our community partners including the RNLI, Shore Surf and Hayle Surf-Lifesaving Club. These partners regularly present whole school assemblies, discussing the dangers of the sea and encouraging the children to reflect on the importance of beach safety.

At Penpol School we also believe that our children should be taking full advantage of their geographical location and safely enjoying the unique area in which they live. With this in mind, we have made surfing a compulsory part of our curriculum for Year 5 and Year 6 pupils.

Teaming up with Shore Surf School and their fully qualified expert surf-instructors, each pupil has participated in five two-hour surf lessons, working towards Level 2 Shore Surf Award.

This has involved meeting various expectations and demonstrating a number of key skills including:

Changing in and out of a wetsuit unaided.
Working as a team and supporting each other.
Perseverance and determination
Knowledge of water safety and recognising hidden dangers
Developing confidence in the water
Catching a wave
Popping to their feet and surfing for five seconds or more
Demonstrating balance and co-ordination.

This is the second year our pupils have taken part in surfing and it has proved to be a great success.

Pupil comments –

I found the past five Thursdays the most enjoyable days of the week and that was because of the surfing – Zehava

I enjoyed surfing very much this year. I think I have learnt so much in the five weeks. I stood up for the first time ever and caught some really cool waves. The instructors were very kind and taught us how to do some impressive tricks – Erin

I loved going surfing this term even though sometimes the waves were huge! We learnt very quickly how to stand up and then how to go faster, as well as slow down on a wave. Soon after this we were taught to turn and dismount safely – Tilly

I enjoyed surfing so much this term that I think we should go again next term. I think surfing should be on the curriculum because we live by the sea and we learn how to be safe in the water – Jake

Micro:Bits have arrived at Penpol!

14th May 201812th November 2016 by Jacob Woolcock

This term we’ve bought a whole classes worth of BBC Micro:Bits to use with Year 5 and 6!

These tiny computers are incredibly clever and already we’ve had classes using them to make compasses, thermometers and little pocket-sized games. These Micro:Bits have proved such a hit in the last few days that we’re going to make sure everyone in Key Stage 2 gets the chance to learn to code with them this year, starting with Year 5 and 6.

While the children are used to coding using Scratch on the computers, being able to make programs which run on these little devices is even more exciting as they can be taken outdoors and used just about anywhere. Over the year we’ll be using our Micro:Bits for science experiments, music lessons and more. We’ll also make sure they’re available to use at lunchtime Code Club incase anybody wants to try making their own ideas into reality using the Micro:Bits.

Penpol’s Year 5’s Go Back In Time!

14th May 20181st November 2016 by Nic Stanlake

Over the last term Classes 10 and 11 have been studying the Industrial Revolution and its effect on both the town of Hayle and also the County of Cornwall.

This has involved researching all aspects of the revolution, from the mass production of cotton to the harnessing of steam power. However, it was the quality of life for children in the period that really hit home. Comparing their lives to those of the children living and working in the 1800’s allowed the Year 5 children to see how lucky they are.

The research the children did allowed them to collate a fact file in which they chose to write about either the introduction of steam, the mass production of cotton, the development of transport and the increased attention to workers rights.

The links to Cornwall, and the town of Hayle itself, are plenty with the foundries of Copperhouse and of the Harvey family and the harbour being used to bring coal in and out of the duchy to power the host of steam engines used within the mining industry. We used this in Class 10 and 11 as inspiration for our silhouette art work.

The topic culminated with a trip to the National Trust property, East Pool Mine. On this trip the children had the opportunity to explore the site whilst undertaking various activities. Such as dressing up as miners and balmaidens, the making of felt pasties and a tin trail treasure hunt. But by far the fan favourite for the day was the working steam engine. A fully restored working engine is housed in one of the engine houses at East Pool Mine and what better way to see the effect of steam than to see an engine build here in Cornwall powered by one of Richard Trevithick’s boilers.

Pupil comments:

Meghan- I really enjoyed learning about steam and how it changed the way we live, it was great how we got to see the engine working.

Ines- I enjoyed going to east pool mine and dressing up as a balmaiden and seeing how they lived.

Jake- I like walking through the flu tunnel and looking up to the top of the chimney. It was 180 feet tall!

Trystan- It was fun making our silhouette pictures because we had to wash the red sky and build our setting.

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