Weekly Message 139 – 4 March 2022
4th March 2022
Credit Averages for This Week
Year 7 8.94
Year 8 6.71
Year 9 4.55
Year 10 5.25
Year 11 1.69
Pupil Attendance
Please see below the school’s attendance figures for our pupil cohort this past week. For your reference, it is our intention to share these details with you in all future weekly messages.
| This week (W/e 4 Feb) | 91.6% |
| Last week (W/e 28 Jan) | 91.5% |
| National Average year to date | 89.5% |
The ‘Attendance Policy’ can be found on our website for further details on how the school and parents/carers can work together to ensure that all children attend school regularly.
Firstly, a huge well done to all our Year 11 pupils who have completed their mock examinations this week, their last formal practice of sitting exams in the examination rooms, ahead of the final exams in the Summer Term.
With nervous anticipation and with the support of their teachers, pupils have absolutely risen to the challenge and they have followed the instructions of our team of invigilators impeccably. Pupils will be doing in-class assessments next week and teachers have begun marking, standardising and moderating.
‘The Standard You Walk Past Is The Standard That You Accept
The school is focusing on standards and expectations which we place in very high regard; often cited by parents/carers as a contributory factor in the determination of Cams Hill School as the school of choice. As well as being part of the ethos of the school, the expectation of pupils to meet standards, follow instructions and consider their actions towards others also prepares them for adult life beyond school.
Mrs Harrison-Jones (Headteacher) has written to all parents/carers this week to seek their support in ensuring their child meets all expectations with uniform and with equipment so that they are prepared for their day in school. This leads to interactions between pupils and teachers that are solely focused on teaching, learning and development.
A couple of reminders …
Chewing gum: pupils are reminded that chewing gum is not permitted in school at any time. Pupils choosing to ignore this rule will be followed up using the Good Behaviour Policy.
Medicine: Prescribed and non-prescribed medication must not be carried in school by pupils. This is an important safeguarding measure to keep our school community safe. Should your child need to have medication in school, please contact reception and ask to speak with the schools ‘Lead First Aider/Pupil Admin Officer (Attendance and Safeguarding)’ to make the necessary arrangements.
World Book Day
Thursday 3 March 2022 saw the nationwide celebration of World Book Day when pupils and staff alike celebrated the joy that reading can bring. This year saw a Staff Fancy Dress Competition where staff dressed as book characters and pupils guessed who they might be.
Pupils got the chance to investigate a Literary murder in Cluedo@Cams and searched the school site for clues on whodunnit! Our Librarian visited pupils in Years 7 and 8 and were offered the chance to claim their free World Book Day book from a range of new titles; they spent the rest of their English lessons engrossed in their new books!
Design and Technology – Upcycled Sock Monster Competition
We were blown away with the time, effort and creativity shown by staff and pupils for our D&T house competition. Thank you to all who took part. Results were posted on our Instagram page earlier this week.
Vacancy – Clerk to the Governors
We currently have a vacancy for a Clerk to the Governors as per the link below.
2022 February – Clerk to Governors Advert
Please see our website for details of all current vacancies.
Charity Events – March 2022
Cams Hill School will be supporting two charity events in March: Comic Relief (18 March) and The Great British Spring Clean (25 March – 10 April).
Comic Relief: We would love as many pupils to get involved with Comic Relief as possible. This year, lots of tutors will be running different events as well as whole school activities. We will send out a letter next week with more details about how your child can get involved and the ways to donate.
The Great British Spring Clean: If pupils would like to take part, they just need to take a photo of themselves litter picking and an image of the bin bag(s). We can loan litter pickers, we have gloves available and can source bin bags via the council if pupils need equipment. If they are interested in participating, please could you and your child read the guidance on Litter Picking via the link Clean-up preparation and safety advice | Keep Britain Tidy to ensure they keep safe.
Fancy a Challenge? Then ‘Puzzle of the Week’ should appeal to you
Launched three weeks ago, schools around the world have been participating! It is open to all members of our school community, so parents, carers, and staff can enter too!
Proudly, we are currently 15th place on the overall leader board but need your support to maintain or improve on this position. Puzzles vary from week to week, so some will be more accessible than others. You can enter the puzzle below until the end of Sunday 6 March, then a new one will be posted on their website from Monday.
To enter, go to: https://www.puzzleoftheweek.com/home and register. Pupils need to use their school email address. You will be sent a User Code to submit your answer each week. I’m delighted to see that we have three families involved so far, fingers crossed this may appeal to other parents and carers! Don’t worry if you get the answer wrong, you can re-enter as many times as you like and only the last one will count.
Good luck!
Year 7 Rugby Tournament
The Year 7 rugby team participated in their first ‘Mini Tournament’ of the year (happening every Tuesday for the next few weeks). Some of the boys have never played rugby before this year, so it was amazing to see them enjoying and loving a new sport. Even with the introduction of scrums, rucking, full contact tackling and a lot of RAIN!!!
Now the results:
1st match vs Brookfield ended in a draw. Good result seeing as they have some established players within their team.
2nd match vs Henry Cort ended in a victory against a good team mixed with new players and established players.
3rd match vs Bay House (crunch match) ended in a narrow loss. We were very impressed with this result as they brought a team with all but one player who play outside school and have lots of experience in playing rugby.
Yesterday was a great start for the Year 7 rugby team and we hope that this will prompt other pupils to join. If your child is interested, training takes place every Monday after school.
There is a 7s Tournament on Friday 4 March 2022 and we will update you all next week with the results.
Senior Volleyball
On Saturday 25 February we travelled to Avanti Garden School in Bristol for the second National Cup Grand Prix. The pupils represented Cams Hill impeccably by demonstrating passion, athleticism and great teamwork. Two Year 9 pupils stepped up to fill gaps in the squad as some of the older years were unavailable. They quickly cemented themselves as key players in the team!
We placed a respectable 4th this time around, following reshuffles of teams based on performance in the last round.
Congratulations to all the pupils on their performance.
Their next GP event is Saturday 26 March 2022.
Morning Badminton and Basketball Clubs Update – Break Time Vouchers
Badminton Club is still available to all every Tuesday morning and Basketball Club is still available to all every Thursday morning. Both clubs run from 07.45 to 08.30. All participants of these clubs will now receive a voucher to use in the canteen at breaktime on either a biscuit or piece of fruit. For any further information please see Mr Worthy (Curriculum Leader of PE).
Year 8 Rugby
Huge congratulations to the Year 8 rugby team who competed in their first ever tournament on Thursday. In very wet and muddy conditions they did themselves and the school proud. Training continues on Monday evenings with another tournament next Thursday.
Hampshire Schools Cross Country
We have eight pupils who qualified to represent Fareham and Gosport in the County Cross Country finals. The event is next Tuesday in Basingstoke and we wish them the best of luck. We will publish the results next week. Good luck.
Fixture Update
- Year 7 rugby tournaments are scheduled for Tuesday 8 and 15 March
- Year 8 rugby tournaments are scheduled for Thursday 3, 10 and 17 March
- Years 9, 10 and 11 girls’ football tournaments are scheduled for Monday 7 and 14 March. For further information please contact Miss Caddy (Teacher of PE).
Extra Curricular Timetable
Please follow this link to access the extra-curricular timetable.
The Headteacher’s blog contains more informal reflections and is available here:
https://camsheadteacher.wordpress.com/