Weekly Message 257 – 7 March 2025
7th March 2025
National Careers Week Tutor Group Winners
Congratulations to all Year 11 pupils with their Spring mock exams – there are just a few more to go for some pupils. Their hard work and dedication during this challenging period are truly commendable. A huge thank you also goes to the exam invigilators for their support in ensuring the exams ran smoothly.
The feedback pupils receive from these mock exams will be invaluable in helping identify strengths and areas for improvement, allowing pupils to focus their efforts as they prepare for their final exams. Compulsory Year 11 morning intervention sessions re-start next week and we encourage pupils to attend the additional revision sessions available across the curriculum. Keep up the great work Year 11 and use these opportunities to refine your knowledge and skills for success.
We remind parents and carers that the school is closed to all pupils on Monday 17 March 2025 as it is an INSET Day. Please see the school calendar for all details of all events and activities taking place across the year.
Chess Club
The best of luck to the Chess Club who are competing against pupils from Fareham Academy today in their first interschool tournament!
Our pupils have shown great dedication, sharpening their skills every Monday 1500-1600 in the Library.
We are extremely proud of the chess community establishing here at Cams Hill – win or lose!
Sports Results
Year 10 football team won against Portchester Community School 3-1
Year 9 netball team won against Crofton 25-6
Year 7 netball team lost to Brune Park 9-7
Year 9 rugby competition – the team played 3 games and won 2 in the pool stage, progressed to the final stage and finished 6th out of 20
Cross Country
We took 12 pupils to Basingstoke on Tuesday to represent Fareham and Gosport in the Hampshire School’s Cross Country. All pupils performed with effort and enthusiasm with two notable performances. B Knipe (Year 8) finished 12th out of 90 and qualified to represent Hampshire next weekend and F Smith (Yr7) finished 17th out of 80 and is waiting to hear if this results in a qualification to represent Hampshire.
Years 7-8 Girls’ Hampshire Football Tournament
After 6 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses we found ourselves in the semifinals. After a 2-0 win in the semifinal, we came up against Brune Park in the Championship Final. A fantastic team performance saw Cams Hill win 4-0. Congratulations and well done to all involved.
Year 9 Rugby
On Tuesday the Year 9 Rugby Team played in a local tournament hosted by Boundary Oak School. The team played three games in their pool stage, winning two games and just missing out for the top place on points difference. The tournament was the first rugby competition they have played this season. We couldn’t be prouder, with them putting everything on the line for their school. Well done to all who took part.
Options Evening
Options Evening took place on Tuesday 4 March. This was the opportunity for Year 9 pupils to speak with staff at Cams Hill School to explore the curriculum offer available for Key Stage 4 and what it means to commit to studies in each subject. There was a real enthusiasm around the school site as pupils begun their decision-making process. Our Options booklet and further information can be found here: https://www.camshill.com/school-life/broad-and-balanced-curriculum/options/
National Careers Week
To celebrate National Careers Week, pupils were encouraged to hold a careers conversation with an adult known to them. Pupils submitted their conversations via our survey which has provided us with a wealth of information about careers within our community. Thank you to everyone who took part and congratulations to our winners.
Pi Day 2025
Maths Countdown
Attendance Spotlight – Attendance and Punctuality Matters
With a new half term and hopefully germs beginning to subside, we wish to remind you of some important points regarding morning punctuality and absence from school.
- The pupil gate opens at 8:20am for all pupils.
- Years 7 – 10 gather on the blue courts (south side) and Year 11 go directly into the building.
- The gate closes at 8:30 am. Pupils arriving late will remain with staff on duty at the gate.
- Pupils arriving after 8:30 am receive a 20-minute breaktime detention, recorded on ClassCharts. Snacks can be brought to detention.
- Missing breaktime detention escalates to a 40-minute after-school detention, with further escalation for non-attendance.
- Arrival after 9:00 am is an unauthorised absence and pupils receive a 40-minute detention.
- Repeated lateness will prompt contact from the Year Team.
- All pupils are held to the same standards, regardless of distance from school. Traffic issues or cold weather (e.g., de-icing cars) are not accepted as reasons for lateness.
Attendance reminders: Your support is appreciated
- Do you know your child’s overall attendance?
Your child’s attendance percentage shows how much school they have attended out of the total possible school days. Here’s what it means in simple terms:
- 100% attendance = No days missed (perfect attendance!).
- 95% attendance = About 10 days missed over a school year (still good but starting to add up).
- 90% attendance = About 19 days missed (this is almost four weeks of learning lost!).
- 85% attendance = About 29 days missed (over half a term!).
- 80% attendance = About 38 days missed (this is nearly eight weeks, or almost two whole months of school!).
While 90% might sound good in a test, in attendance, it means your child is missing one day every two weeks, which can make it harder to keep up with learning in lessons.
- Please inform the school in advance of any medical appointments that may cause a late arrival. Whenever possible, book appointments outside school hours. If an appointment during school hours is unavoidable, evidence such as an appointment card is required prior to the appointment.
- Please report your child’s absence using the Studybugs app or by ringing the school. We are seeing a few absences where no information is provided. These will be recorded as unauthorised absence.
- When reporting your child’s absence, provide specific details. General terms like “illness” are insufficient, and we may need to request more information. If we don’t receive adequate information, the school may unauthorise the absence.
- According to NHS guidance (link), children can attend school with minor ailments like colds, headaches, sore throats, or coughs. Please encourage attendance to build resilience.
Menu w/c 10 March 2025
We will be featuring:
- NEW Double Chocolate milkshake with cream topping
- NEW winter warmer, Hot Apple & Cinnamon Pie pocket
- Korean style pulled pork bap on the Pod
Pupils can help us to support Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance by recycling cans in the specific bins provided; money from the recycled cans will be donated to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.
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.
There have been no whole school letters yet this half term.
Statistics
House Points Averages per Pupil for This Week
Year 7 8.21 points
Year 8 8.02 points
Year 9 4.82 points
Year 10 4.92 points
Year 11 2.20 points
Attendance
This week – 93.9%
Same week last year – 92.4%
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 5.8 questions
Year 8 8.2 questions
Year 9 9.0 questions
Year 10 4.0 questions
Year 11 3.0 questions
Highest Number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 80 questions
Year 8 47 questions
Year 9 163 questions
Year 10 82 questions
Year 11 60 questions
Over 50% in Maths Homework
Year 7 87%
Year 8 71%
Year 9 57%
Year 10 70%
Year 11 n/a%
Over 75% in Maths Homework
Year 7 73%
Year 8 59%
Year 9 34%
Year 10 35%
Year 11 N/A
100% in Maths Homework
Year 7 37%*
Year 8 34%
Year 9 9%
Year 10 10%
Year 11 n/a
*For example, this figure means 37% 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 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.
Date 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 24 questions
Year 8 27 questions
Year 9 109 questions
Year 10 69 questions
Year 11 48 questions
Highest number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 157 questions
Year 8 175 questions
Year 9 1414 questions
Year 10 423 questions
Year 11 446 questions