Year 6

Penpol Celebrates European Day of Languages 2021

5th October 2021 by Mr Emery

This week, the whole school celebrated European Day of Languages. With a wealth of languages being spoken along the corridors of our school, from Polish to French, Lithuanian to Portuguese, it was especially important to give all languages the recognition they duly deserve.

Students and staff were invited to dress up in the colours of their favourite country and rose to the call in spectacular fashion; by 9am, the whole school was awash with all the colours of the rainbow!

In the morning, KS1 students were invited to sample a French breakfast in the yurt with Mr Emery and six KS2 volunteers. Each class enjoyed singing in French and were then able to order from KS2 students, learning the basics such as ‘Bonjour’, ‘s’il vous plaît’ and ‘merci.’

“Miam miam!” Phrase of the day, which translates as ‘yummy’ in French

KS2 students showed off their already fantastic French skills by competing as a whole class on LanguageNut Live, where each student puts their knowledge of their current French topic to the test in real time against their peers. A huge well done to Reuben and Merryn from Year 3 who came top in their year group on animals and colours in French – Bravo!!

All classes in KS2 also competed in the European Day of Languages shirt competition.
This had all students creating a design to best represent European Day of Languages. If proven successful, they will have it printed on the official European Day of Languages T shirt next year and receive 30 T-shirts for them and their class. I have already received some extremely creative designs so far – keep them coming!

Finally, Mr Emery led each of the assemblies to round off a fun European Day of Languages. From the video of students and staff speaking a multitude of different languages, to singing one of the classic “Tu as un animal” (do you have any pets) song, the assembly encouraged students to be adventurous and have a go at speaking in another language. Whether that’s greeting Diane the dinner lady with a ‘Czesc’ (hello), asking how Mrs Bailie is – ‘como você está’ (how are you?) in Portuguese, or asking for a strawberry ice cream on holiday in France(une glace à la fraise s’il vous plaît). Using a language is fun and the students and staff of Penpol proved that again today.

“Today has been the best day ever!” Louis, Class 12

A huge thank you to everyone who made the day such a great success! Check out the photos from the day, as well as the video of students and staff speaking in different languages.

Super Six Announcement!

23rd June 2021 by Mr Stanlake

A few weeks before activity week we proudly announced out new Super Six Pupils, the first of hopefully many this year. Becoming a ‘Super Six’ is not simply about academic success but more so recognising excellent role models that demonstrate the shared values and ethos of the school.

The first pupils have been presented with a signed certificate and have also signed a contract to show that they now fully understand the responsibilities for their new role.

These particular children share a tremendous work ethic and constant drive to succeed and improve. Through both homework and classwork they have shown immense effort and diligence and we are wholly confident they will continue to set an excellent example for children at Penpol School as they wear their new ties with pride.

We look forward to seeing these children continue to develop and flourish at Penpol as well as looking forward to the opportunity to present more awards to deserving children.

Year 6 Activity Week- ‘BBQ, sleepovers and orienteering’

20th June 202120th June 2021 by Mr Stanlake

The biggest disappointment upon hearing our proposed camp at Porthpean was cancelled was that the children would not have the chance to stay away from home. This is often the biggest cause of anxiety for the children and a real milestone to reach; we did however manage to squeeze in a sleepover at school on Thursday night!

After our trip to the beach the children (and adults) whizzed home for a quick shower before returning to school for an evening of games and barbecued food! It’s always good to get photos of them in their most natural state- eating!

We are legally allowed to call the sleepover just that now as all children got at least some sleep. However, come breakfast and the 9.15am start for orienteering, it was clear some got more than others. The faces truly represent the morning mood for most- a stark contrast from 12 hours previous!

For the orienteering activity the children used a pre-drawn ordinance survey map of the school and some of our permanent orienteering signs. Each pair wrote their own general knowledge question before using the map to find the remaining questions. Once they’d woken up, they were buzzing around the school site answering questions from “Name of the American president?” to “Name of Peppa Pig’s brother?”- I won’t say which but Mr Peck only knew one of those!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

With the children getting their second wind shortly after break, on completion of the orienteering course (winners pictured above, well done girls) we rounded off a brilliant activity week with some exceptionally competitive games of 40-40 in. A great way to finish what has been a fantastic week. Thank you to everyone involved, the places we’ve been, the staff who’ve been there and special thanks to the children for their exceptional efforts and behaviours- without them it would have been us adults playing in the Jungle Barn on our own, beating ourselves at cricket and boule and riding the Thunderbolt without a hand to hold!

Year 6 Activity Week- ‘Sun, Sea and Sand’

19th June 2021 by Mr Stanlake

What a beautiful day! The sun was shining and the light was perfect for photography! With energy levels weaning after what had already been an eventful few days, we made our way to Hayle beach with wetsuits, towels and beach paraphernalia in tow. We had arranged, what turned out to be, a brilliant day on the sand and sea with Lizard Adventure.

The children had the chance to push themselves to their limits of comfort, for some that was paddling a double kayak and for others it was backflips off the mega sup. The joy of weeks like this are the smiles we see constantly pinned from ear to ear and the personal challenges we see children overcome. Both equally rewarding.

The children had the chance to try their hand at stand up paddle boarding, very on trend. It was easy if you had balance, if you didn’t, well, they spend a lot of time climbing back on.

For some it was the relative safety of the MEGASUP. Which was much calmer…until one person lost their balance and everyone was climbing back on! The MEGASUP required close communication, exceptional team work and also the ability to wrestle when it came to ‘last one standing’ – no prizes for guessing the winner!

The final of the three water based activity was kayaking, again requiring teamwork and communication in the doubles although there is photo evidence of some people not pulling their weight! Pirating aside, the children paddles around the water with ease battling the testing wind and turning tide.

Whilst half the children took to the sea the other children did their bit to protect the environment by conducting a litter sweep of the beach. The children were then tasked with building an environment themed beach sculpture. There were a host of differing designs highlighting the effects of climate change, threat to wildlife due to plastic pollution and some more ‘abstract’ pieces. A week to late for Mr Biden and Johnson though!

Once the litter was picked, and sadly there was a sizeable amount, the children had chance to play, enjoying some beach cricket, some sun and the new fan favourite, boule!

The behaviour again, was exceptional and the company was great to keep. As the week progresses I know I keep having a new favourite day! Great fun has been had by all so far and special thank to the team at Lizard Adventure! Next up… The ‘sleepover’

Year 6 Activity Week ‘The Best Day of the Week?’

18th June 202118th June 2021 by Mr Stanlake

On Wednesday, the Year 6 children boarded the bus and headed off to Flambards with sick bowls in hand! With the drizzle falling in Hayle, we were fortunately greeted with cloud-breaking sunshine on our arrival in Helston. There is a slight lack of photos from today due to 3 different reasons. One, a misbehaving camera. Two, the difficulty of capturing faces as they whizzed around, back to front and upside down and finally, I spent most of the day on the rides with the children!!

Some children decided to ease themselves in gently with the tea cups and some decided to avoid the queues they expected later in the day and head for the crown pleasers; The Thunderbolt, The Hornet, The Skyraker and Skyforce!

Some action shots!

Some children found the day/ combination of rides and sugar too much to cope with! However, another great day was had by all children (including the big ones!)

Year 6 Activity Week- ‘In to the woods we go…’

15th June 202115th June 2021 by Mr Stanlake

Tuesday brought about a trip to Tehidy woods, again an excellent day right on our doorstep!

We set off in the hunt for the illustrious lesser-spotted Tehidy Treacle Bear, but had to bid our time with a morning of activities: den building, raft making and a blind trail.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On the children’s arrival, we were fortunate to find an already constructed blind trail (thanks Mr Peck!) Navigating this took excellent team work and careful communication and on reflection, I know who I’d not want to be leading me through the woods with a blindfold on! The children had to work in pairs to guide each other around a roped route…with varying success!

Next on the list, deep in Treacle Bear territory, was den building. Most woodlands are a brilliant places to build dens but Tehidy may be the best around! We, as adults, had the opportunity to sit in on in-depth planning meetings where floor plans and designs were discussed before witnessing the children building some breathtaking structures (none of which resembled the plans!)

After no successful sightings of the bears we headed down to the stream to craft some prototype rafts, less planning this time round, just more elastic bands! Races were had, races were lost and races were won and then there were the racers who cheated and gave it an extra throw down stream. Competition aside the children had great fun splashing in the stream! I wasn’t the only one to get wet feet!

With everything prepared for our final venture into the depths of the woods, Mr Peck made the children aware of the various animal actions (just incase we spotted anything) and we donned our camouflage war paint (some needing encouragement) and set off on a wet and wild adventure!

Unfortunately we were unsuccessful in our quest to spot the wildlife we were hoping for, we had plenty of false alarms as well as a host of French squirrels and insects in the river, legs flailing helplessly! However, a lot of fun was had and we headed home tired, wet and smelly (and I mean SMELLY)

Year 6 Activity Week- ‘Another day in Paradise (Park)’

16th June 202115th June 2021 by Mr Stanlake

Year 6 kicked off their activity week in style as they spent the day exploring Paradise Park. There was much to do, see and find including the breathtaking bird displays, dinosaur trail as well as an opportunity to create some enrichment treats and toys for the birds to enjoy!

The day kicked off early with EXCLUSIVE use of the Jungle Barn where many fears were conquered and slides were slid down by the children… and adults! Keep up!

Once we’d sweated out the morning blues we headed outside to talk about some of the birds and how we could provide them with their daily entertainment! Oskar demonstrated his ability to talk to animals as he held and fed one of the exotic birds; the lads also got to experience one of the bird’s party tricks albeit not as pleasant!

We then had an opportunity to explore the park. So much to find and see as well as the obligatory ice-cream and train ride! All aboard!

A wonderful day to start our activity week and great to be supporting a (very) local business who do such a brilliant job for endangered birds around the world! Thank you Mr Reynolds and team!

Exploring Stop Motion in Class 14

9th June 20219th June 2021 by Mr Woolcock

In Computing this week Class 14 learnt all about Stop Motion Animation and how to bring objects to life in creative and fun ways. After a short introduction their challenge was simple: “Make your Classroom come to life!”.

Sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy these fantastic short films!

Brodie and Maison

Tess and Lydia

Toby and Fynn

Eloise and Kiki

Patrick, Scott and Oskar

Solomon and William

Jonas and Luke

Jaz and Aimee

Jasmin and Peyton

Ivan and Mrs Bailie

Isla and Imogen

Freddie and Seb

Finton and Dominick

Finley and Declan

Internet Legends and Beyond with Year 6

9th June 20219th June 2021 by Mr Woolcock

As well as learning about being Internet Legends, our Year 6’s have taken their learning a step further by creating their own sixth section to the Be Internet Legends curriculum. After some really in depth discussions each child settled upon what they felt would be an important addition to create themselves.

They then set about designing their own character to fit with this theme, with a focus on making the characters have a personality as well as looking 3D. Creating these with just triangles was quite a challenge!

Lastly the children considered what the ‘Key Messages’ should be for their new theme and created the colourful, informative posters you see below.

Well done Year 6!

Class 13 Posters

“I made my Internet Legends poster to remind people to be kind to each other.” – Summer

“I made my Internet Legends poster to remind people to always be safe on the internet and never trust other people unless you know them in real life not just on the internet.” – Eemahnee

“My Be Internet Legend is respectful because a lot of people forget that respect is the key to happiness.” – Reuben

“My Be Internet Legend poster is important because being calm on the internet isn’t easy when you are playing games on the internet that make you unhappy or angry. It is hard to communicate with other people and talk about why you are unhappy and angry. Just remember to stop playing when you get angry and unhappy.” – Rhys

Class 14 Posters

“You need to be strong to tell a trusted adult if you see something off.” – Jonas

“I think it is good to be mindful, so you don’t put anything bad on the internet by mistake.” – William

“My poster is all about being internet cautious because not all people can be trusted.” – Luke

“If you are nice to people they will treat you the same.” – Declan

“I think kids should always be aware of a scam is. It’s a crucial life lesson to learn.” – Gwen

Y6 Hit the Surf

28th May 202125th May 2021 by Mr Peck

Surf’s up – Recently, Y6 ‘Hit the Surf’ with Global Boardriders at Gwithian beach. Class 13 and Class 14 each spent a day surfing and also learning about key water safety messages and what to do if they find themselves in difficulty.

The day started at Sunset Cafe with suiting up into wetsuits and buddying up to carry our boards down to the beach. This is where we learnt all about the parts of the board, some water safety and how to control the board and stand up (on land)!!

” I thought the surfing day was amazing because I learnt how to stand on a board and I had the opportunity to have fun with my class mates. ” – Aimee.

” It’s good to try new things. It is also important to understand how the sea works so you can be safe. I enjoyed seeing my friends doing really well and it gave me a sense of accomplishment. ” – Alex.

After a while, many children were up and riding. It was challenging but so much fun. There were lots of happy faces despite the cool sea water and weather. The surf was perfect for learning.

” You may not get it at first but you will have fun during the process!” – Henry.

There was even some time for some posing!

Oh, and some wipeouts! But we also had fun out of the water….

Then it was time to return, try to get out the wetsuits and look back on a super day!

” I loved surfing. I was so excited to go surfing and I enjoyed it so much. It was the best activity.” – Toby.

Tip of the day – when the sea is really cold, it is not always the best idea to dive straight in to embrace it. It just might hurt your head a little? At least nobody saw or laughed!