Hello!

This week, Year 1 and 2 have completed some fantastic examples of instructions. We have written our own instructions for 'Marvellous Medicine Number 4' which has been inspired by 'George's Marvellous Medicine'. The story has been Penhallow's class text for the past 2 weeks. It has been a joy to read parts of this story to the children at the end of every day, and see their obviously enjoyment whilst listening to the story. 

We have continued with our learning about algorithms in computing this week. Yesterday we followed some precise, and not so precise instructions about how to draw monsters, which highlighted the fact that instructions need to be clear and in a specific order.

Our history learning this week, focussed on Ellen MacArthur. We watched a clip of her sailing solo across the Atlantic, which highlighted the challenges that she faced. We talked about the idea of bravery and perseverance and wrote a fact file about her. We also revised our learning about Christopher Columbus by learning a song about the events in his life.

Have a lovely weekend,

From The Penhallow Team

Well, it's been a tough week but we can safely say that the SATS are over for us! Everyone has been amazing and we have really worked together as a team to support each other. It was Nuala's birthday on the Thursday, and we celebrated the end of the SATS by having cake and lots of fun! We tie-dyed our T-shirts in the afternoons and they have turned out AMAZING!! Next week, we will be sewing on appliques and really personalising them.

There is no much more to say except, "Have a well-deserved rest this weekend. Everyone has deserved it!"

Miss Randle and Mrs Clary. 

TALLAND'S BLOG 15.5.26

Hoping everyone has had an excellent week and are looking forward to the weekend! The children have been brilliant this week and so respectful to all of the year 6's during their SATS week! 

Here's a snapshot of what we've been learning:

Maths:
Year 5 have been working their way through converting units. We've investigated metric and imperial measurements and have been using our multiplying and dividing skills to convert.
Year 4 have been enjoying their unit on money where they have been solving problems, converting and delving into real world scenarios.

English:
Talland's persuasive letters were brilliant. They were such a joy to read - they're clearly passionate about the health and safety of our beaches, oceans and aquatic life!

Computing:
We have been creating music on an app called 'Scratch'. Children have been using movie genres to produce a sound track which could fit the theme - noisy, but good fun!

RE:
We've been looking at Jesus and his disciples - why he chose them and what they sacrificed to follow him. Why not ask your child what is meant by 'fishers of men'... 

PE:
In PE, children were trying to have rallies and use a range of shots to return the shuttlecock. They were also thinking about their positioning and tactics when working with a doubles partner.

Celebrations:
Congratulations to Renley and Max for earning their new badge and moving on to their next round of the 99 Club. A great effort from Kayla and Arnie this week - they got noticed for excellent pieces of writing and taking their learning home to practice. 

That's all from Talland Class this week. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing everyone next week.

Signing off, Mr. Langley and Mr. Bishop.

We have continued with exploring planting and growing this week at nursery.
The children have planted sunflower seeds and are very excited that their flower and broad bean seeds from last week are starting to grow!
They have enjoyed some still life painting of fruit this week. The children have identified different fruits in the bowl, naming them and discussing differences before having a go at painting them with some great results.

At story time this week we have read the book "Supertato" and "Tilly Plants a Tree". The children have been encouraged to identify different parts of plants from the book such as petal, stem and leaves.

In phonics this week we have been channeling our inner superhero's and have been making speech sounds to different superhero moves. The children used instruments to play along to the song "Superhero's in the sky" and have been matching initial sounds to the correct superhero.

In maths we have continued to create our own patterns and recognition of different numbers.

We have four more days until the half term now and just a little reminder that next Friday is an INSET day so we will be closed.

Have a good weekend

Julie and Sarah

Hello Everyone,

We have had great fun this week in our English lessons, using the story of  'George's Marvellous Medicine' as a stimulus to begin to write our own ,marvellous medicine.  We have been learning all about the features of instruction writing, and have identified and used imperative verbs in our own sentences. 

During RE this week, we began to find out about the gospel in Christianity. We discussed the concept of forgiveness, and how we forgive others, as well as how others forgive us.

Our history learning has continued with the theme of explorers. We found out about Christopher Columbus, how he 'accidentally' discovered the Americas and about the different foods that he brought back to Europe. 

In art this week, we have created some amazing art work in the style of Henri Rousseau, using water colours and oil pastels. We used our skills of drawing leaves and blending watercolours to create a background.

In computing this week, we looked at algorithms, and practiced giving precise instructions to Bee-Bots, using the beebot. App, as well as physical beebots and mazes. Brilliant team work Penhallow!

Have a lovely weekend!

From The Penhallow Team

This week, the children have been working hard across the school and have enjoyed taking part in a range of exciting learning activities which you can explore on their class blogs. On Monday, pupils attended a special assembly celebrating the life and work of Sir David Attenborough in recognition of his 100th birthday. The assembly highlighted his inspiring contribution to wildlife and nature conservation and encouraged children to think about the importance of protecting our planet and caring for the environment.

Platinum 99 Club
Congratulations to Harley for getting every question right in the Platinum level of 99 club.  Harley is the first person in Polperro School ever to be awarded a platinum 99 club badge, answering 100 multiplaction and division questions within the time limit of 4 minutes.  Well done Harley, you are the King of Times Tables!

Return of Ice Pop Fridays We will be selling ice pops after school at the main gate every Friday (or Thursday if it is an INSET day) until the end of term to raise extra funds for the school. Please send your child in with £1 or bring £1 along when you pick them up if you would like to buy one.

Feedback about School Lunches Caterlink, who provide our school lunches, have put together a very short survey in the hope of getting some feedback from you about the menus and any barriers there may be to taking up a School Meal. Please click on the link to complete the survey Parent Feedback - Fill in form

Free School Meals and Pupil Premium We would like to remind families that children may be eligible for Free School Meals and Pupil Premium funding. All children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 automatically receive Universal Infant Free School Meals; however, families who meet the eligibility criteria should still apply for Free School Meals as this allows the school to receive additional Pupil Premium funding. This extra funding helps us provide further support for children's learning, wellbeing, educational resources, school trips, clubs, and enrichment opportunities. Applications are quick, simple and confidential. For more information on eligibility and details on how to apply through the council, please click here https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/schools-and-education/schools-and-colleges/school-meals/apply-for-free-school-meals-and-pupil-premium/  If you need any support with the application process, please contact the school office.

Have a wonderful weekend

Anthea Hillman

What an amazing bunch of people we are in Chaipel!

We have been brushing up on our reasoning skills, learning how to use ratio and proportion and why it is useful AND helping each other out on last-minute SATs queries. Everyone is totally ready for the papers, next week, and are already looking forward to the yummy breakfast on Monday morning!

We have been revisiting our first couple of pieces of work in English (that we did in September/October). It is amazing just how far we have come and recognising how mature our vocabulary and grammatical structures are now. We will now focus on characterising speech, where we will be re-writing a section of our class read 'Rumaysa - a fairytale'.

In other areas of the curriculum, we have been learning how to classify creatures into vertebrates/invertebrates and soft bodied/exoskeleton. We then went up into the field to do an animal observation. Henry and Isaac found a snail with an unusual-coloured shell which made it look like a green humbug!

In PE, Mrs Hillman developed our skills at orienteering, in PSHE Mrs Clary taught Chaipel about the stages of grief and discussed strategies on how to manage them, and we have completed our research into the seven life processes. Next week, we will be creating our tie-dye T-shirts in the afternoon and we are super excited to do that. 

Remember, Breakfast Club is at 8am; the bacon will be sizzling so see you all then!

Miss Randle and Mrs Clary. 

TALLAND'S BLOG 8.5.26

Hoping everyone has had an excellent week and are looking forward to the weekend! The children in Talland class have been brilliant, hardworking and their usual fun selves.

Here's a snapshot of what we've been learning:

Maths:
Year 5 have completed their entire unit of VOLUME and will be moving on to converting units.
Year 4 have begun and completed their unit on STATISTICS - they have worked really hard! They will be moving on to MONEY next week.


English:
Talland have now planned their persuasive letter - they have made some great points and found some really interesting/sad facts about the condition of our beaches and oceans. I can't wait to read these, get them written up in best and send them off to our council.

PE:
In PE, with Mrs. Hillman, Talland were at it again - reading maps, finding objects and have a jolly good time. In badminton, we were back outside (the wind wasn't too bad this time) and we were practicing our overhead shots - great effort!

Celebrations: Congratulations to Harley for being Polperro's FIRST EVER PERSON to complete the final round of 99 Club (platinum - 100 maths questions answered correctly in 2 minutes and 30 seconds). A huge WELL DONE! A great effort from Lowen this week - he was noticed for demonstrating a great work ethic, maturity and demonstrating our school values.

Thank you to Zac and Nevaeh for their show and tells  - it was lovely listening to them and the children asked some great questions.

That's all from Talland Class this week. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing everyone next week.

Signing off, Mr. Langley and Mr. Bishop.

Landaviddy 

In Maths this week, we have continued our learning about fractions. We have been partitioning wholes, finding unit fractions from a set of objects, and finding non-unit fractions from a set of objects. We found finding unit fractions from a set of objects a little tricky, so we will revisit this learning on Monday to help build our confidence and understanding further.

In English this week, we chose our inspirational people that we will be writing our biographies about. These included Taylor Swift, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Simone Biles and Michael Jackson. We have been thinking carefully about how to write a biography and worked together to create suitable subheadings to organise our information. We will also be including our SPaG focus by using commas and 'and' in a list, as well as speech marks correctly in our writing.

In PSHE this week, we have been learning about staying safe online. We looked at a range of games and their descriptions to decide whether they were safe and suitable to use. We also discussed important information that should never be shared with strangers on the internet, such as our full names, addresses and phone numbers. The children showed a good understanding of how to stay safe online and talked sensibly about what to do if something makes them feel uncomfortable or worried. We also discussed how some people may pretend to be children when using online games, even though they could be adults. We talked about the importance of speaking to a trusted adult if we ever feel unsafe or unsure while online.

In Geography this week, we have been learning about Antarctica. We reviewed its key features and discussed who lives there. The children were surprised to discover that no one lives in Antarctica permanently because of the severe climate and challenging living conditions. However, we also learnt that scientists and researchers stay there for periods of time to carry out important research. To develop our understanding further, we wrote postcards imagining that we were currently living in Antarctica while completing research work. We thought carefully about how we might feel in such a cold and isolated environment and included these ideas in our writing.

In History this week, we have continued our learning about significant people who are known for exploring. This week, our focus was Matthew Henson, who is famously known for being one of the first people to reach the North Pole. We learnt about his important role as an explorer and discussed the challenges he would have faced during his expeditions. The children enjoyed discovering more about his achievements and why he is remembered as an important historical figure today.

We are all taking part in our Class Mile of the Day and tracking how long it will take us to collectively run the equivalent of a marathon. The children have shown great determination and enthusiasm as they work together towards our goal. On Friday, we completed our class mile alongside Talland Class in a fantastic team effort to colour in more shoes and move closer to achieving our marathon challenge. It was wonderful to see everyone encouraging one another and working together so positively.

A huge congratulations to Theo and April for being awarded Pupil of the Week! As a class, we have been working hard to show kindness and friendship towards one another, and both children have been wonderful role models. April was chosen because she kindly volunteered to move to another table without being asked so that another child could sit with their friends. This was a thoughtful and caring thing to do. Theo was chosen because he is consistently kind to others in the class. He shows excellent friendship values every day and is a real asset to Landaviddy.

Miss Bolton & Miss Colton

This week we have begun to sow seeds as we explore planting and growing and answer our enquiry question "How do plants grow?"
The children have planted runner beans and flowers seeds and discussed what is needed to help them grow including sunlight and water.
We are excited to watch them grow over the next few weeks.
Outside the children have been digging in the soil and helping to plant seeds in the raised flower beds and helping to get the greenhouse ready.

At story time this week we have enjoyed reading and looking at "Ben Plants a Butterfly Garden" and "The Enormous Turnip".

The children have been trying super hard in phonics as we have explored the garden centre. They have been busy describing and talking about the sounds they hear, matching objects to their initial sounds and assigning instruments to different garden objects and comparing them.

In maths we have been making different patterns, copying patterns as well as creating their own. We have been naming numbers including some larger ones.

We hope you all have a good weekend and see you on Monday.

Julie and Sarah

This week, we have been enjoying finding out about different explorers, including Sir Frances Drake. We looked at ships from history, traced Drake's journey on a map and learned about why he is remembered. We also thought about what it might feel like to be an explorer, taking risks and going to 'unknown' places. The children have drawn some fantastic pictures of the Golden Hind, as well as Sir Frances Drake himself, dressed in the fashions of that time.

In music this week, we have enjoyed singing sea shanties, and reception have enjoyed using a range of percussion instruments to accompany songs about the sea.

Our art lessons this week, have focussed again, on Henri Rousseau. This week, we studied several paintings by this artist and focussed on the colours and shapes of the different jungle leaves. We have recreated some of the leaves and foliage that we have observed in the paintings, using both watercolours and oil pastels.

Our English unit based on 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea'  have come to an end this week, and we have produced some fantastic stories. The children have been able to innovate their own stories by changing the characters or the animal in the story, and/or writing an alternative ending.

Reception have been busy learning the story of superworm by Julia Donaldson, and writing character descriptions. They have also been making lists and comparing different characters in the story.

From The Penhallow Team

Landaviddy 

In maths this week, we have been continuing our learning on fractions. We have been adding and subtracting fractions, as well as learning how to partition a whole into equal parts. We have been working hard to understand how fractions represent parts of a whole and how they can be combined or separated.

In English this week, we have been researching our inspirational person. We had a go at constructing our own interview questions to help us gather information for a biography. We also took part in role-play activities, where we interviewed each other, taking on the roles of both the interviewer and the interviewee. This helped us to think more deeply about our chosen person and how to present their life and achievements in an interesting way.

In PSHE this week, we have been focusing on friendships and how to resolve conflicts with our peers. We explored different scenarios and discussed how we might respond in each situation. Using our friendship charter, we worked together to find positive and respectful ways to solve problems. This helped us to think carefully about our actions, understand others' feelings, and make good choices when working and playing together.

In Geography this week, we have been learning about lines of latitude and how they help us understand locations around the world. We located Antarctica on the globe and discussed its position in relation to the Equator and other lines of latitude. We also practised using an atlas to find different countries, developing our map-reading skills and learning how to locate places more accurately. Everyone has been working hard to build their confidence in using geographical tools.

In computing this week, we have chosen a book that we are planning to create a video trailer for. We discussed and planned the key elements we need to include to make our trailers engaging and persuasive. We thought carefully about how to entice viewers and encourage them to want to read the book, including which scenes, characters, and moments to highlight. We are excited to begin creating our trailers next week!
A huge congratulations to Iylah and Brody for being awarded pupil of the week. Iylah, for always being on task, completing her work to the best of her ability and always willing to help others in the classroom including the teachers. Brody, for being able to manage distractions and immediately get back to work and focus on what he should be doing. Brody works hard in every lesson and really tries to complete all tasks and helps others on his table if they are stuck. 

Miss Bolton & Miss Colton

Thank you for sending your children in with sun hats and sun cream this week. They have been enjoying lots of time outdoors on the field; however, as there is limited shade, hats remain essential.

We're pleased to let you know that the pool has now been tested and is up and running. Please ensure your child brings their swimming kit each week, as lessons will take place whenever the weather is suitable.

Health and Well Being - new initiatives As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting pupils' health and wellbeing, we are introducing some exciting whole-school initiatives to encourage active lifestyles and healthy habits. We have shared these with the children as follows:
• Marathon Monday which invites families to walk, jog, or run to school, with pupils building distance on our playground track together. We will be tracking to see if we can run the distance of a marathon by the end of the summer term.
• Wheely Wednesday which encourages travelling by bike or scooter, promoting fitness and eco-friendly habits (please ensure safety measures are followed).

In addition to Marathon Monday and Wheely Wednesday, children are encouraged to bring a water bottle daily containing water and enjoy healthy snacks at breaktime such as fruit, vegetables or yogurt. These fun, inclusive activities will be celebrated in school, and we appreciate your support in helping children develop healthy habits. Further details can be found on the attached document. Please contact the school if you have any questions.

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend.

We look forward to seeing the children back in school on Tuesday 5th May.

Anthea Hillman

TALLAND'S BLOG 1.5.26

Hoping everyone has had an excellent week and is looking forward to the Bank Holiday Weekend! The children in Talland class have been their usual bubbly, fun and curious selves.

Here's a snapshot of what we've been learning:

Maths:
Year 5 have completed their second unit on FRACTIONS and have now begun VOLUME. Today we investigated Cubic Centimeters.
Year 4 have also completed their unit on DECIMALS and PERCENTAGES - they have worked really hard! They will be moving on to MONET next week.


English:
During our persuasive writing, Talland have come up with their three reasons why we need to protect our oceans and beaches, explained their points and given examples to justify their point of view.

PE:
In PE, with Mrs. Hillman, Talland were on the field, reading a map and using their map to find objects during orienteering - a great little treasure hunt!
In badminton, we continued to practice serves and underarm shots - we got the hall this time - it was much more successful!

Geography:
This week, we delved further into the ocean and how we can help protect it - why not ask your child their thoughts on how we can protect it... 

Celebrations:
Congratulations to Kayla and Amber for progressing to the next round of the 99 Club - well done! A big well done as well to Kayla (AGAIN) for demonstrating our school values. It is clear how hard she is working and the benefits are showing!

That's all from Talland Class this week. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing everyone next week.

Signing off, Mr. Langley and Mr. Bishop.

We have been whizzing through our practice SATs papers this week and all feel that we are in a really good place. It has been lovely to see everyone working together to support each other; helping to bridge any last-minute learning gaps and just be there for moral support. I feel blessed to be teaching such a lovely bunch.

It has been all about coordinates this week in Maths: translating, reflecting and problem solving. In English, our best copy write-up is complete and we have self-assessed and chosen our Summer 1 writing target. We are moving on to characterising speech, and are currently reading a diverse take on the classic fairytale Rapunzel, titled, Rumaysa: a fairytale. We are already gripped on the plot twists in the tale and I am excited for what the children will produce.

In PE, Chaipel have been orienteering with Mrs Hillman and refining their badminton skills with Mrs Lister. We have been investigating MRS GREN in Science (the seven life processes of all living things) and are building up to writing an explanation text about their importance for survival as well as focusing upon how to maintain positive mental health in PSHE.

Congratulations to our People of the Week - Leo, Frankie and Isaac -for demonstrating our school values and being role models to others.

REMEMBER that it is a 3-day weekend, so enjoy the weather and see you all on Tuesday!

Miss Randle and Mrs Clary.

We have had a great couple of weeks back to nursery. Our enquiry question has been "What can you see on the farm?"
The children have been busy getting creative and making lots of different farm animals including bubble wrap sheep and paper plate cows.
We have had the farm in the tuft tray and the children have been singing the song "Old McDonald had a farm".

At story time we have enjoyed "Baa Moo, what will we do?", "Farmer Duck" and "Moo Moo Mooing".

In phonics this week the children have been blending sounds together, breaking down words into syllables and have enjoyed a game of cafe bingo.

In maths, we have been naming, ordering and writing numbers. 

It's a bank holiday on Monday so we look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday.

Julie and Sarah

Welcome to the Summer Term!

It has been lovely this week to finally enjoy some outside learning in the sunshine. We have been enjoying our recently purchased trikes and our writing shed has been transformed into an explorers base with a jungle theme. 

Our learning this term, is based on the enquiry question; 'Who are explorers and what do they do?' We have launched the topic by discussing what we already know about explorers, and have researched the equipment that explorers might need in different environments. The children have asked some interesting and thoughtful questions such as; 'Can anyone be an explorer? Are explorers allowed to take home what they discover? and 'What is the furthest anyone has ever explored?' This led us to find out the recent space mission which ventured to the far side of the moon.

'The Tiger who came to Tea' has been the focus of our English learning in Year 1 and Year 2 for this week as well as next week. We have drawn a story map, summarised the story and used interesting verbs in sentences. Reception have been busy using 'Supertato' as their text for English, and have written some lovely wanted posters as well as going on a search for the evil pea. It's so lovely to see the children have so much fun with their learning this week.

What a brilliant start to the term everyone! Well done.

From The Penhallow Team

TALLAND'S BLOG 24.4.26 

Welcome to Summer 1 everybody and the sun has shown its face - YAY! It's great seeing all of the children and hearing about some of their fun-filled adventures over the Easter Holiday.

Here's a snapshot of what we've been learning:

Maths:
Year 5 have begun their second unit on FRACTIONS where we have been multiplying fractions.
Year 4 have begun their unit on DECIMALS and PERCENTAGES where they have been solving problems with tenths and hundredths.


English:
We're going to write a persuasive text this term to the local council about beach and ocean pollution. This week, we have been looking at different persuasive texts and exploring which features make an effective one. 

Geography:
In Geography, we are investigating the ocean. This week, we explored the different oceans of the planet, why the ocean is so important and took a trip to Australia to look at the Great Barrier Reef.

Science:
Talland investigated the water cycle this week and all of the magnificent things it does. 

PE:
In PE, with Mrs. Hillman, Talland were finding clues to help them solve problems during orienteering and with me (Mr. Langley), we practiced badminton serves outside in the wind - it was a little challenging - based on the weather - but lots of fun at the same time. Lots of giggles were had!

Celebrations:
Congratulations to Rory for progressing to the next round of the 99 Club - well done! A big well done as well to Amelia for demonstrating our school values. She showed kindness towards her peers and fantastic determination towards her handwriting - it is looking fantastic now! Also, great work from Isabelle in our HANG TOUGH CHALLENGE! She lasted a whopping 2 minutes and 28 seconds - WOW!

That's all from Talland Class this week. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing everyone next week.

Signing off, Mr. Langley and Mr. Bishop.