What talented artists we have in Class 1! Throughout our painting focus in art we have been learning all about primary colours and how to mix them to create secondary colours. We have also been thinking about how to apply paint using different techniques such as sponges and rollers and exploring when we would use paintbrushes of different thicknesses. These skills are on display in our classroom next to our beautifully published ‘Goals for 2025’.

I don't know where to begin as this week has been so busy!

On Wednesday, we were visited by Muhunthiny (a Hindu speaker) who gave us a workshop on the Hinduism religion. We had a lovely morning, trying on the traditional clothing, learning about the religion and how Hindus live their lives, day to day. Our behaviour was impeccable and she is looking forward to visiting us again in the future.

ENGLISH
We have written our draft copy of our free verse poetry and are in the process of editng, improving and writing up our best copies: I look forward to reading them all.

MATHS
Y5s have been completing their multiplication and division this week, focusing on the short method of division. Y6s have been multiplying and dividing fractions by integers and are absolutely nailing the learning.

WIDER CURRICULUM
We have been exploring the construction of suspension bridges in DT. Lily has made a fabulous 3D model and Martha, Elsie and Ava constructed a bridge, spanning the length of a 60cm gap. The class will be moving onto designing and constructing their own model bridge in our final week next week. In Geography, Chaipel have been learning about energy sustainability, about the life and times of Gandhi in RE and in Computing, how to compress images to show how pixel quantity enhances an image without altering its size.

WELLBEING MORNING
Recognising that this week is Child's Mental Health Week, Polperro Primary had a fabulous morning ensuring positive mental health. We began with the RSPB National Bird Watch - dedicating an hour to watching and recording the birds that we saw in our area. After that, in our house teams, we then did four different activities designed to relieve stress and support our wellbeing. Ava embraced her love of art and took a piece of chalk to our playground! It was a truely wonderful morning and as a school, we have decided that we should do more mornings like this. 

Congratulations to our People of the Week, Isaac and Lily, for demonstrating our school values of being 'creative' and 'curious' as well as Lily for achieving her BRONZE in her 99 Club.

That's all from me this week. So have a lovely weekend and see you all for a four-day final week of half term from Monday.

Miss Randle, Mrs Clary, Miss Hodge and Miss Colton

We have had another few busy weeks in Art in Class 1! Continuing on our Simple Printmaking pathway, we have used plasticine to make printing plates. The children chose objects from around the classroom and pressed them into their plasticine to create an impression. They then placed their plates face down into ink pads, applied A LOT of pressure using rollers to ensure the ink was evenly distributed and then finally printed with their plate into their sketchbooks or large sheets of paper. Prior to this session, the children had prepared their paper using Brusho washes to create stunning effects! We’re sure you will agree that the finished prints onto such vibrant paper looked really spectacular! We also used small mount board squares and printing foam to make our own additive print plates. We cut a variety of shapes out of foam and glued them onto the board and then used rollers (in the same manner as last week) to print them onto sugar paper. We didn’t wash our rollers or plates between changing colours leading to a lovely array of colours being produced. When our prints were dry, we cut them out and arranged them carefully against a striking black backdrop. Next week is sadly the last week of our Simple Printmaking pathway, we have thoroughly enjoyed it (me included!) and look forward to our next pathway, ‘Playful Making’ in the summer term.

January in the ARC

Our topic this half term has been vehicles and journeys. We have been learning about different types of vehicles, listening to vehicle stories and taking different modes of transport. 

Last Tuesday we took a train trip to Bere Ferres from Gunnislake. When we were at the station we were lucky enough to have a ride on the steam train that sits at the station. It looks quite different on the inside to the trains that we have today. When the ride was over, we ate our packed lunches while sitting in the carriage. 

In Art we began the the term with colour mixing circles. We then used the circles to create vehicle collages. We think they look fantastic!

Next week we will be taking a bus trip to Tavistock. We will get a chance to play at the park and have a picnic packed lunch. 

This might sound like fun but there is actually so much learning involved when we take a day out. The children have to use checklists to get themselves ready for the trip which encourages independence. We are practicing road safety skills, communication skills ( asking for tickets and liaising with the public). We can also practice our self regulation during a visit out. There are some things that our some of our children struggle with (- e.g walking past a dog.) When we go out regularly, we have a chance to support our children with the things they find tricky and often it desensitizes them so that it is no longer a big problem. 

Happy New Year! 
This half term our big question is 'What do you find where the land meets the sea?' We have been learning the names and positions of the continents and oceans and have re-capped the countries that make up the United Kingdom.
We have started to learn about an abstract artist called  Alma Thomas. Through her work we have learnt about primary and secondary colours. We have also tried to create pictures in her style.
In maths we have been learning to read, write order and compare numbers to 20.

Hello Everyone,

We have enjoyed working with clay this week in Penhallow, as part of our learning about the artist and sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. We chose objects to make imprints into clay, and then used them to make patterns on finger pots that we had made. We are looking forward to finding out how they have dried next week, so that we can paint them.

During our English lessons we continued to use the text; ‘Field Trip to the Moon’ by John Hare to inspire our writing. Year 1 have written some superb recounts, all about their trip to the Moon, while Reception have been busy writing labels, captions and even some onomatopoeia words, after watching a clip of a rocket taking off. They thought of some fantastic vocabulary and used their knowledge of phonics to write their own words.

We have been enjoying our new rocket role play area, and have been busy writing space log books, painting different planets and preparing for journeys into space. We have also used different construction materials to make additions and inventions for the rocket. 

It is now the Chinese New Year, so this week, we have also learnt about the story of the great race, as well as finding out about some of the traditions involved in Chinese New Year. Reception have managed to write a list of some of the animals that were involved in the race.

Have a lovely weekend! 

From the Penhallow team.

Fun, fitness and beating heart

A wonderful beginning to the week. The children experienced fun and fitness through the attendance of a Parkour group. Parkour is a movement activity that promotes health and fitness whilst teaching young people to master their bodies and minds. The children were all full of smiles and enthusiasm as they practised moving their bodies over equipment and climbing on frames. 


To link to the fitness, the children learned how to create an algorithm for a Micro:bit - a mini computer. They created a small beating heart by including instructions and a repeated pattern. Their understanding of computer programs is amazing.

The children have finally completed their first draft of their own version of Hansel and Gretel. Instead of a witch, they have included a Yeti to link with the Class' theme of life in the Alps. They are really enjoying this piece of work and will re-edit their stories next week to ensure the writing contains all the correct capital letters, full stops and figurative language.

During maths, the children have finally grasped the idea of adding and subtracting simple fractions. The new unit covers multiplying numbers using the grid and column method.





Best wishes, Mrs Swabey, Mr Parry, Mrs Walters, Mrs Payne and Miss Rowlands.

Year 5 Assembly
A special well done to Year 5 for their out of this world assembly yesterday. We had singing, dancing, facts and a quiz (congratulations to the winning group of parents – not that it was competitive)! Despite some outer space interference with our IT systems, the children showed great resilience, courage and performance skills. To finish off the week, Year 5 were mesmerized by the space dome experience, whilst Year 6 spent time in the dome experiencing the journey of evolution.

Fire Evacuation
Today, we held our unannounced fire evacuation. We did this during break time when the majority of our classes were outside. The children responded to this very calmly, given this was a different practice to one when we are all inside. We will be holding our lockdown practice before half term. I will write again following this practice to let you know.

Maths Coffee Morning Workshop
Earlier in the week, Mr O’Dwyer hosted a coffee morning and maths workshop. Attached to the email sent home today, you’ll find slides of his interactive presentation.

Trust Visits
On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of joining other Trust leaders for a visit and learning walk at St Cleer school. These visits are always useful to see another school in action and share expertise across the Trust. Next Tuesday morning, we will be hosting our visit, where Trust leads and the Headteacher of Looe Primary will be joining us in a learning walk throughout our school.

Year 6 Stay and Learn – Friday 7th February
Next Friday, after drop off, Year 6 will be hosting their Stay and Learn session, where Year 6 families are invited to join their children for a shared learning experience. This event will focus on creative writing, helping children discover the joy of writing in a fun and engaging way. There will be teas, coffees, and exciting games to enjoy. Should the car park become busy at drop off, parents/carers of Year 6 can use the staff car park in the morning.

Farewell to Mrs Jess Valter
It’s with very mixed emotions that I let you know that Mrs Jess Valter (Year 2 TA and Breakfast Club TA) will be leaving us at the end of this half term. Jess has found making the decision so hard as, in her own words, appreciated the experience here at school and will really miss the staff and the supportive, collaborative atmosphere. Jess’ contribution to the school has been immense both in class as a TA, an HLTA, out in the playground and community, and of course rustling up tasty breakfasts in Bridge Kids. Jess has been offered an amazing new opportunity in the hospitality industry, and we wish her the very best!

Year Group News
Attached to the email sent home today (and posted on the Class pages of our website), you’ll find your child’s fortnightly Year Group News, which highlights some of the teaching and learning from the last couple of weeks and what’s coming up next. Do take a look to see what’s been happening.


Dates coming up

Monday 3rd February
Children’s Mental Health Week
House Event launch
14:00-16:00 KS2 Netball Skills Festival Wednesday

Wednesday 5th February
Year 1 Shackleton & Seaside Visitor
YR/Y6 Weight and Height Check

Thursday 6th February
Reception and Year 2 Trip to Eden Project
Year 3/4 Trust Dodgeball Competition at Callywith College

Friday 7th February
08:45-09:45 Year 6 Stay & Learn

Tuesday 11th February
Safer Internet Day

Thursday 13th February
09:00 Year 1 Assembly

Friday 14th February
School closed - INSET

Monday 17th – Friday 21st February
Half term break

Monday 24th February
Back to school

This week, as part of our learning based around our focus story 'Goldilocks and the three bears', we have been learning about '3'.

We have been looking at our activities to see if we can find or make 3; some children  have even drawn the 3 bears from our story. Others have made groups of 3 and have found the number 3.

We have noticed that some of our friends are 3 years old, too.

w/e 31.1.25

We've had a fantastic and busy week in Year 3 and 4, packed with exciting learning experiences and opportunities to develop new skills. Here's a look at what we've been up to:

English
This week, the children have been working hard on writing their own stories set in the past. They have demonstrated a range of writing skills, including: Using fronted adverbials of time and place; accurately punctuating speech; maintaining correct verb tenses; creating rich descriptions and characterisation through 'show not tell'. It has been wonderful to see their creativity shine through in their storytelling!

Maths
We have continued our work on multiplication and division. A strong foundation in times tables significantly supports mathematical learning, so please keep practising key facts at home. Quick recall of these facts makes learning across all areas of maths much easier once they are embedded.

History
In history, we have been exploring the Bronze Age. The children learned about: How bronze was made and where it came from in to Britain; the differences in how people found food during the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and today. This has been a fascinating topic already, and the children have engaged well with historical thinking and discussions.

PSHE
This week in PSHE, we have focused on having a growth mindset. The children tackled various challenges in groups, demonstrating perseverance, resilience, and teamwork. It has been great to see their confidence grow as they approached each challenge with enthusiasm.

Dance
As part of our whole year group dance, we have been adding rain elements to our routines. The children have displayed excellent collaboration and creativity, working together to refine their performances.

Art
Taking inspiration from the Stone Age, we ventured outside to find natural materials to use as paint. The children experimented with making their own paint and recorded their findings in their sketchbooks. This hands-on activity really helped them connect with how early humans created art.

Science
In science, we investigated reflective surfaces. The children explored how different materials reflect light and discussed how this knowledge is useful in everyday life.

Special Events 
We've had a particularly exciting week with some special events:

~ St Anne's visit for some of our class - it was National Chocolate Cake Day so we made Krispie cakes with the residents! Yum!
~ Arts Lab Parkour Theatre Performance – The children greatly enjoyed watching a performance representing neurodiversity and even had the opportunity to try out some Parkour themselves!
~ Scooter Workshop – On Thursday, the children took part in a scooter workshop, showing fantastic enjoyment, resilience, and skill development.
~ Tree Planting for the King – Three members of our class proudly represented us by planting a tree for the King in Victoria Gardens.
~ Reading Assembly – We explored the book 'It's a No Money Day', which provided a valuable opportunity for the children to see into the lives of others through 'windows and mirrors'.

Looking Ahead to Next Week

We have lots to look forward to, including:
~ Art Week – A celebration of creativity and artistic expression.
~ Children's Mental Health Awareness Week – Encouraging positive discussions and activities around mental well-being.
~ NSPCC Number Day (Friday) – A fun and educational event focused on maths.

Thank you for your continued support. We are excited for another fantastic week of learning ahead!

Let's Get Moving!

We've had a very active week in Tregantle this week! The brighter weather towards the end of the week has meant that we have had lots of time outside. The children have been really helpful around the garden as we have been clearing out and preparing for spring. The highlight of the week was definitely our scooter workshop with Ashlea on Thursday. The children learnt how to scoot safely and completed an obstacle course going in and out of cones and dodging the  volcanoes! What a fun way to stay active and develop gross motor control. 

Class 3 Blog W/E 31st January 2025

Class 3 have had a busy and productive week with a variety of activities both in and out of school.

Earlier in the week, we went on a school trip to Plymouth’s Immersive Dome, where the children enjoyed a rainforest experience and learnt lots about the life cycle of bugs. A memorable part of the visit was being placed inside a giant lemon, which caused plenty of smiles and curiosity.

Back at school, we’ve been preparing for our performance at Cotehele which will take place on Tuesday 4th March. The children have been working with the group Perghenegi during singing rehearsals, and a trip letter with further details was sent out yesterday.

In art, we’ve been creating pieces inspired by the work of Henri Matisse, focusing on his use of bold colors and shapes to ‘paint with scissors’. The children have approached this with creativity and as you can see the pieces are starting to come together well!

Our PE sessions this week have continued to develop skills in netball, with the children practicing passing, movement, and getting away from a defender.

Overall, it’s been an interesting week with lots of opportunities for learning and exploration. Well done to Class 3 for their hard work! Next week, there is plenty to look forward to including a cross Country race on Friday afternoon!

TERRIFIC TAMAR TRIP!

We have had a lovely week of learning in Chaipel, topped off with our trip to the Tamar Learning Centre as part of our enquiry into bridge construction.

ENGLISH
We are at the stage of planning our free verse poetry and have compiled some effective poetic devices. Next week, we will be writing, editing and creating our final versions.

MATHS
Y6 have been completing our ratio unit and then multiplying fractions with integers as we further our fractions knowledge and the Y5s have been multiplying a range of numbers using grid and long multiplication methods.

WIDER CURRICULUM
In DT, we have been testing the strength of an unsupported arch bridge by experimenting with height and weight. In Geography, we have been debating on whether mega farms are a good idea and we have some strong opinions!

We ended our week with our trip to the Tamar Learning Centre and it was amazing! We had a tour along the Tamar bridge footpath, learnt how the Royal Albert Bridge was constructed and broadened our knowledge on the different types of bridges and their unique features.

Congratulations to Martha who was our Person of the Week, but really, WELL DONE to all Chaipelers as you did our school proud with your curiosity and responsibility today.

Enjoy your weekend,

Miss Randle, Mrs Clary and Miss Hodge.   

Wider Curriculum

In Science, Class 2 have also continued their enquiry into the world of Everyday Materials by going on a material hunt. We concluded the lesson with a very heated class discussion around why we use certain materials to make different objects. Some of these opinions and comments have been captured on our Science wall for everyone to read.

In RE, we summarised our learning about Islam so far by discussing what we thought God meant to a Muslim based on our understanding of the Shahadah and the 99 names of Allah. On wednesday,  we continued our enquiry into using music to create mood and pictures with Mrs Lane.

Year 1s from Class 1 joined us again for another afternoon of Computing. We reviewed our rocket design and have begun to look at what digital softwares can help us with our design. We are all really excited about using Sketchpad to design our rockets next week.