Weekly Message 201 – 13 October 2023
13th October 2023
House Points Averages per Pupil for This Week
Year 7 6.08 points
Year 8 3.04 points
Year 9 2.76 points
Year 10 4.51 points
Year 11 2.62 points
Well done to the Year 11 pupils who have taken their MFL Speaking Exam this week; these will continue into next week too. Parents and carers should be in receipt of a letter from the Head of Year 11 outlining the arrangements and timetable for the mock exams. We ask pupils, parents, and carers to read through these arrangements carefully so that pupils are fully prepared.
We encourage pupils to prepare for all these exams by making use of the materials provided by their teachers and other revision resources available. The Tutors, Head of Year and Assistant Head of Year are on hand to answer any questions and address any concerns pupils may have, appreciating that this can be a demanding time. We wish Year 11 all the very best with these exams and their preparation for them.
Year 7 and Year 10 Parent/Carer Evenings – Tuesday 17 October 2023
Our first parent/carer evenings are due to take place on Tuesday 17 October 2023 – the Year 7 Settling-in and Learning Support Evening and the Year 10 Parent Tutor Evening.
The Year 7 evening will be held on site, so that parents/carers are able to meet with their child’s tutor in person, face to face, for the first time. The Year 10 Tutors, however, will be meeting with parents and carers online – booking details were shared with parents/carers on 10 October 2023.
Amendments to Lunch Timing for w/c 30 October 2023 Only
During the first week after half term, w/c 30 October 2023, Year 11 pupils will be sitting their mock examinations. To accommodate the afternoon mocks which starts at 1300, Year 11 will move to the first lunch sitting (1220 – 1250 except Tuesday which is 1205 – 1230) and Year 9 will move to the third lunch sitting (1320 – 1350 except Tuesday which is 1300 -1325)
Please be advised that this amendment will be for one week only with Year 11 and Year 9 swapping back w/c 6 November 2023. As a community, we seek to ensure that the exam window runs as smoothly as possible to give our pupils the best chance of success and we are grateful for this team effort.
Date for your Diary – Year 10 Work Experience – Monday 25 March 2024 to Thursday 28 March 2024
Year 10 work experience will take place Monday 25 March 2024 to Thursday 28 March 2024. Further information will be sent to parents/carers next week.
Year 9 Rotary Shoebox Appeal
Year 9 are delighted to be taking part in the Rotary Christmas Shoebox Appeal for disadvantaged and displaced children in the Ukraine. The year group in their tutor groups will be putting together boxes for either:
- A boy or girl aged 1-3 years
- A boy or girl aged 4-7 years
- A boy or girl aged 8-11 years
- A boy or girl aged 12-15 years
There is a useful video on assembling a shoebox on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WplgVDMbNoQ. The photograph above shows a list of suggested items that can be included, and it specifies items that can’t.
Each box also needs to have £2.00 sellotaped to the top to cover costs such as the boxes themselves and the shipping costs.
We are looking for all of Year 9 to get on board and start bringing in some items that can go into the boxes. The deadline for the shoebox collection is the week beginning Monday 6 November 2023.
Frontline Living History
Frontline Living History visited Year 9 pupils in school this week. Pupils had the opportunity to handle authentic WWI artefacts and uniforms. They explored life in the trenches and the experience of WWI soldiers.
Chichester Festival Theatre Trip – A View from a Bridge
On Wednesday afternoon, 63 Year 10 pupils and the English Department journeyed to Chichester Festival Theatre to watch a performance of ‘A View from the Bridge’. It was an excellent production and provided a great opportunity for pupils to see a play they studied in Year 9 performed by an exceptional cast.
Year 8 Football
The Year 8 football team went to Brighton Hill School in Basingstoke this week for their County Cup fixture. After a bright start, they fell behind and were 3-1 down at half time. With an inspiring team talk, they went back out and got a quick goal and then equalised five minutes later with a beautiful diving header followed by two further goals. Fantastic performances from all in the team to come back and win. Congratulations to all who took part.
Year 11 Information Evening
On Thursday evening, we opened our door to the parents of our Year 11 pupils for the annual Parent Information Evening.
Curriculum Leaders were on hand to give lots of useful information about how parents/carers could support the pupils through this important year, and there was also a presentation on the Science of Learning. It was wonderful to see so many of our parents/carers, and we’re looking forward to a successful year of working together with our fantastic Year 11s!
If you have any questions relating to the forthcoming mock exams, do not hesitate to contact the school and we will be able to direct your query to the right person.
School Council
Today saw the first School Council meeting of the year with over 100 representatives from five year groups coming together to discuss all matters relating to the school.
The meeting was led and chaired by the fabulous Senior Pupil Leadership Team with Mr Hudson (Headteacher) feeding back on questions that had come to him prior to the meeting along with further questions raised during the session.
It was phenomenal to see so many representatives in attendance and asking some really good questions about meet and greet, praise and rewards, school uniform, the bike sheds and more. Minutes will be fed back to the tutors to share with their pupils and the Senior Pupil Leadership Team will be recording a video to go out next week ahead of half term to summarise the main points.
Meanwhile, if pupils have any questions or matters they wish to raise with the school, they can approach the Senior Pupil Leadership Team at any time or put their questions or suggestions in the box by the School Council notice board.
World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day 23 10 13
As we come to the end of the week where we have recognised #worldmentalhealth day, we celebrate the fact that mental health is much less of a taboo subject. We will all have times when the health of our minds fluctuates and normalising and talking about it is proven to help. We are attaching a ‘read and celebrate’ we shared with our own staff this week in the hope you may to take some time to support your own wellbeing this weekend.
On World Mental Health Day, we encouraged all staff members to dedicate just 10 minutes of their day to engage in a shared reading activity with their classes. Reading has been proven to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and improve overall mental well-being.
Investing a brief amount of time in reading not only benefits our own mental health but also sets a positive example for our young people. Through participating in this activity, our aim was to demonstrate the significance of self-care and highlight our dedication to promoting positive mental health within our school community.
Year 11 Fareham Universities Conference
Pupils from Cams Hill School were invited to attend Fareham Universities Conference, hosted by Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC MP at Fareham College. Twelve Year 11 pupils attended the conference which included a number of talks and Q&A sessions on every aspect of university life: selecting a university, the benefits of attending university and curating a personal statement.
A27 Cams Hill Improvements
This scheme is due to commence at half term and Hampshire County Council have published the revised road layout during the first phase of the scheme which can be found on the link below.
You can keep appraised of the construction information and future updates on their scheme webpage at A27 Cams Hill Improvements | Transport and roads | Hampshire County Council (hants.gov.uk)
Menu w/c 16 October 2023
Below is a link to our menu for next week.
Next week’s features:
- Chefs Pod BBQ Chicken and Cheese Burger
- Oreo Milkshake on Friday
Online Safety – Epic Games and WhatsApp
The following information has been provided from Alan McKenzie – safety advisor. The links give tips on how to keep children safe online whilst gaming using ‘Epic Games’ who are behind top games such as Fortnite, Fall Guy and Rocker League. The second link is a guide for WhatsApp.
Epic Games Store parental controls guide | Internet Matters
What is WhatsApp? A safety how-to guide for parents | Internet Matters
Online Safety – Supporting Children to Deal with Upsetting Content
Prospectus
Please check out our prospectus using the QR code below or find it on our website.
