Weekly Message 253 – 31 January 2025
31st January 2025
Children’s Mental Health Week 2025 – 3 February 2025 – 9 February 2025
Our non-school uniform day held this week, ahead of Children’s Mental Health Week, raised an amazing £656! Thank you for all the donations made in support of the local charity, Solent Mind who make sure that anyone with a mental health problem has somewhere to turn to for advice and support. If you still wish to donate, Scopay will be open for a few more days.
This year’s theme, “Know Yourself, Grow Yourself,” encourages children and young people to embrace self-awareness and understand themselves better as a foundation for resilience, growth, and personal development.
We are committed to playing an active role in promoting the mental health and wellbeing of our pupils, staff, and wider community and have planned a range of activities and events to engage and empower our pupils.
By taking part in Children’s Mental Health Week, we hope to equip our pupils with the tools and confidence to better understand themselves and navigate life’s challenges. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about how you can get involved, please do not hesitate to contact the school via office@camshill.com.
80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau
On Monday 27 January 2025, we remembered all of those who lost their lives during the Holocaust (also known as Shoah), by commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day. This year marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi death camps. Last week’s assemblies focused on Holocaust Memorial Day, and members of our History Club produced a short video which was then played in tutor time to mark the occasion and ensure that the atrocities of the Holocaust are not forgotten.
Dance Live!
We couldn’t be prouder of the 2025 Dance Live! Team. Our dancers put on a fantastic performance, demonstrating amazing skill and talent. A massive thank you to the hair and make-up, costume, prop making, lighting and videoing team; they put so much effort into making the performance what it is. We are lucky to have such talented pupils, and we thank everyone for their hard work and commitment.
Youth Speaks Debating Competition
A special well done to all those who competed in Youth Speaks on Monday Night. The Intermediate team consisted of E Boldry, E Moylette and C King. They did an exceptional job and, although they did not win, they did Cams Hill proud. The Senior Team consisted of L Radford, K Boorn and T Martin. They came second overall and did a fantastic job representing Cams Hill! They are all a credit to the school and are representative of everything we stand for as a school. Well done team!
Maths Sessions with Cytiva (PALL)
Last week, selected Year 9 and Year 10 Maths classes were given a presentation from Cytiva (PALL) as part of an Employer Engagement Programme facilitated by EBP South. The sessions looked at the use of maths in relation to gene therapy and its role in creating vaccines. Survey data from pupils showed a significant increase in understanding the relevance of algebra and equations in the workplace by the end of the session.
The Cytiva presenter commented, “It was great to share about my career at Cams Hill, the students were really engaged with the subject, and I hope it helped build connections between school and the real workplace for them.”
Maths Countdown
We Will Rock You
How Safe is WhatsApp for Children – NSPCC
WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messaging apps, used by over 2 billion people in 180 countries. It allows you to send and receive messages, as well as make voice and video calls. You can connect with people individually or join group chats where lots of people can contribute.
Although rated at 16+, all that is required to set up a WhatsApp account is a phone number, and children and young people can easily subvert the restrictions placed on its access. All it takes is one child in a class to be on WhatsApp, and all the others will wish to join. This can lead to increased vulnerabilities for child users. The NSPCC has released its own analysis about the dangers of the app. If interested, please follow the link below:
Sports Results
Year 7 Basketball year lost to Brune Park 23-0
Years 8/9 Basketball won against Bay House 31-33
Menu w/c 3 February 2025
Next week we will be featuring Yaki Soba Chicken Noodles.
Whole School Letters Published This Half Term
Below is a list of letters emailed to all parents/carers this half term together with the date and time they were sent. If you are unable to find any of the communications, please email office@camshill.com and we can send you a further copy.
Non-School Uniform Day in aid of Solent Mind – 1340 24/1
African Adventures Fundraising Music Event – 1026 17/1/25
We Will Rock You – 0917 14/1/25
Celebrating our OFSTED Success – 1417 10/1/25
Sustrans Bike It Project – 1031 10/1/25
Statistics
House Points Averages per Pupil for This Week
Year 7 6.56 points
Year 8 5.87 points
Year 9 5.41 points
Year 10 4.26 points
Year 11 4.11 points
Attendance
This week – 91.6%
Same week last year – 91.5%
MathsWatch and Educake
These are two online resources that we expect pupils to be accessing routinely with homework set by teachers and independently to support their progress in Maths, Science, and other subjects. We ask parents/carers to check in with their child to see whether they are accessing these resources routinely and to encourage the best use of them.
If there are issues with access, please bring this to the school’s attention as soon as possible so that we can help.
MathsWatch
Average number of questions answered per pupil this week
Year 7 10.2 questions
Year 8 9.8 questions
Year 9 11.6 questions
Year 10 23.9 questions
Year 11 10.9 questions
Highest Number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 257 questions
Year 8 58 questions
Year 9 88 questions
Year 10 65 questions
Year 11 62 questions
Over 50% in Maths Homework
Year 7 45%
Year 8 49%
Year 9 35%
Year 10 50%
Year 11 33%
Over 75% in Maths Homework
Year 7 39%
Year 8 39%
Year 9 24%
Year 10 29%
Year 11 19%
100% in Maths Homework
Year 7 27%*
Year 8 24%
Year 9 9%
Year 10 5%
Year 11 5%
*For example, this figure means 27% of Year 7 got 100% in their homework tasks.
Figures in green indicate maintaining or an increase from last week.
Not all Maths homework is set on MathsWatch, which is likely to affect the averages.
Maths Homework Club is open to all Years on Wednesdays in ICT2 until 4pm.
Year 11 Maths Revision on Mondays – see schedule in Maths classrooms for details.
Maths Assessment dates for Spring Term
w/b 27 January – Year 10 – 2 papers, one using a calculator
w/b 3 February – Year 9 – non-calculator paper
w/b 10 February – Year 8 – non-calculator paper
w/b 10 February – Year 7 – Calculator paper (tbc)
w/b 25 February – 7 March – Year 11 – 3 full mock papers, one non-calculator
w/b 5 March – Year 10 set 1 – GCSE Statistics mock paper – see letter 29/1
w/b 17 March – Year 10 sets 2 and 3 – two papers, one using a calculator
w/b 24 March – Year 9 – calculator paper
w/b 31 March – Year 8 – calculator paper
w/b 31 March – Year 7 – Non-calculator paper (tbc)
A revision list will be published a week before the assessment to support with homework preparation for the test. Assessments will be marked by the class teacher and then feedback will be given in class along with a pupil feedback sheet to support future learning.
Dates for the diary: Pi Day bake-off – Friday 14 March
Calculators and other equipment for sale
Casio fx-83GT scientific calculators can be bought via Scopay and collected from the Finance Office. Prices of these and other items for sale are shown below:
Casio fx-83GT scientific calculator- £9.00
Pre-packed pencil case – £2.50
Pair of compasses – 29p
Protractor – 9p
100 blank flashcards – £1.00
A range of GCSE Maths revision materials for KS4 use – See Scopay for details
Educake – Science
Average number of questions answered per pupil this week
Year 7 31 questions
Year 8 20 questions
Year 9 45 questions
Year 10 73 questions
Year 11 101 questions
Highest number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 726 questions
Year 8 165 questions
Year 9 175 questions
Year 10 236 questions
Year 11 1150 questions