July 2017 - Newsletter
Drama at the Minack
Green Fingers
The children in Class 6 have been very busy learning all about plants and the conditions they need to grow.To help with their understanding we teamed up with ‘Sow & Grow ‘ to help the children learn to love healthy food by growing some of their own in class. The children were so excited when we opened the parcel and found a bag of compost, pots to the grow their seeds in and some cress, runner beans and baby carrot seeds. The pack also contained a chart to record the growth of the plants and a ‘Star Grower’ badge.
The children started off by filling their pots with composts and then carefully added their seeds.
The pots were then placed onto a sunny window sill to germinate.
Every morning the children would come into class and check their seed pot. There was great excitement around the room on the day the first shoots started to appear. Every week the children recorded the growth of the plant and eventually the ‘Star Grower’ was announced. Congratulations Harry!
Apart from growing seed in pots the children also made cress heads and a garden in the glove. The children found it a great challenge having to push the wet cotton wool balls into each finger and then carefully placing the seeds inside.
The gloves were then attached to a sunny window and all we had to do next was sit and wait for the roots and shoots to appear. Which wasn’t too long!
I really loved making the cress heads because the cress looked like hair – Finn
I liked making the cress head as you got to eat the cress after – Jasmine
I enjoyed all of it, especially watching my bean grow so tall – Summer
Class 7 Build and Code Lego Pulling Robots
This week Class 7 have been using the Lego WeDo 2.0 robotics kits to build and code robots that are designed to pull heavy weights. The class were given a short time (only 40 minutes!) and the basic instructions and were then left to create their own robot. Coding the robot also proved interesting, where they were able to adjust the speed of the motor to create more or less traction and increase the weights that could be moved.
Below is a video of Vinnie and Isaac getting their robot working…
Here is some of the code the class had to write in order to make their robots move. The green block that says ’10’ underneath controls the speed and the end block controls how long the robot moves for!
Let’s have a look at a few finished robots…
Our robot goes for 18 seconds at a time and goes ‘boing boing boing’ while it pulls heavy weights! – Harry and Clarissa
When you put the code in the robot moves backwards and also if you put weight in the trailer bit it’ll carry it along behind when it moves. We made the code on the computer and then made it run on the Lego. – Amber and Lola
Our robot pulls wheels in its basket so if you need to travel with your wheels then it’s the thing to use! It’s better to put them standing up than lying down because if they’re lying down they’ll grip too much and the robot won’t move as well. – Vinnie and Isaac
A few photos from the building:
C’est magnifique! – Class 8’s Fashion Show
A little slice of France came to class 8 this week! On Tuesday, Class 8 were very excited to invite the children and teachers from Class 3 to a very special fashion show performed entirely in French. Since Easter, the children have been busy preparing for their show in their weekly French lessons and have really impressed both their French teacher Michelle as well as the adults in class 3 and 8.
The children dressed up in a range of outfits including sports kits, school uniform, roller-skates, onesies, pyjamas, wetsuits and even grass suits! After walking up and down the catwalk in their costumes to songs chosen by the class, each child described their outfits in detail and then answered questions by Class 3 about their outfits.
Everyone was really impressed with the fashion show and below we have included some photos as well as the french the children had to learn in preparation for the show.
Je porte une robe multicolore et des chaussures blanches (I am wearing a multicoloured dress and white shoes) – Rebecka
Je porte une t-shirt de foot blanche, un short de foo blanc, des chaussettes bleues, ds chaussures noires (I am wearing a white football shirt, white football shorts, blue socks, black trainers) – Isabella
Je porte une chemise de rugby noir, un short de rugby noir, des chaussettes noires, des chaussures noires (I am wearing a black rugby t-shirt, black rugby shorts, black socks and black trainers) – Ronnie
Class 9 are Making Music with GarageBand
Recently we’ve been looking at how we can use the computers to make music by using a program called GarageBand. The children have only had one lesson on this fantastic program so far, but already they’re starting to make some great songs. Class 9 had an exceptionally productive lesson in GarageBand and we’ve chosen a few of their songs for you to listen to below. We’ve definitely got some young DJ’s in the making!
Have a listen to some of their tracks:
“I really enjoyed GarageBand and I really liked how you could search for loads of different instruments and get loads of different beats!” – Autumn, Class 9
“I like my song because it’s got a good beat and I especially like the guitar” – Zara, Class 9
“I really like GarageBand because you can make lots of different songs from lots of different sounds. My song makes me want to dance!” – Max, Class 9
“My song is based on a summery pop jazz vibe which will chill you out, no matter how hot it is outside!” – Ethan, Class 9
Penpol’s Own Football Stars
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!
Under the Sea With Oshi.
Class 1 had an inspirational experience of visiting the Falmouth Maritime museum. We learnt all about the different boats in the museum and how they are powered. We saw how the boats are made up of different parts and found out what the hull, keel, mast, and sails do. Next, we had the opportunity to make our own boats using the knowledge we had just learnt about what we would need to make our boats sail. We then had great fun racing our boats against each other on the boating pool. Amelie’s boat was the champion and she was delighted to be the overall winner of the boat races.
We saw flying boats, we made a boat we put it in some water, we did races with them – Hazel.
I saw a sail, it moves the boat along with the wind. My sail was a triangle, I had a straw as the mast to hold the sail up. The front of the boat is the bow. I liked seeing Oshi – Ada
We also met Oceana, a sea sprite from the Lost Land of Lyonesse. The children helped Oshi retell her story of how the Lost Land of Lyonesse, where Oshi used to live, was once part of Cornwall but a great storm blew up and the sea swept over Lyonesse. The city sank to the bottom of the sea and the magical Cornish sea sprites and mer people saved Oceana and many of her friends and family and they now live at the bottom of the sea. We used musical instruments to recreate this exciting story.
We made a story up with Oshi. In the story I have to do the rain. There was also thunder and wind. She showed us some treasure – Maisie
After the story we were excited to see what treasures she had in her treasure chest. She explained to the children that treasure wasn’t just sparkly jems and jewels, but anything that is special to them. She showed us some things that have been caught in fishing nets including a cannon ball, a port hole, part of an old ship, a killer whales tooth, a very old pot and part of an old leather boot.
She brought out some treasure. She showed us a rusty ball a cannon ball, we saw part of a pirate ship with nails in and we saw part of an old boot – James
We saw Oshi, she is a sea sprite. She lives in the sea water. She gave us a shell. When you hold the shell and sing the song on the beach she will come. Oshi Oshi of the sea please wake up and play with me – Alex
Through hands on discovery, imagination and role play, the experience at the museum empowered children with excitement confidence and skills to hopefully begin a life-long enjoyment of museums.
Announcing Music in the Marquee 2017
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!
