Weekly Message 234 – 19 July 2024
19th July 2024
Pupils’ work exhibited in Portchester Library
We have ended our year with some wonderful Awards Evenings and Celebration Assemblies for pupils in Years 7-10.
On Tuesday 16 July we celebrated with an Awards Evening for pupils in Year 7 and 8. Subject awards for outstanding effort and commitment and outstanding achievement and progress were awarded to pupils across all subjects. A variety of special awards were also given to pupils including the Governors’ Award, School Council and Headteacher’s Award. Throughout the evening we enjoyed musical performances including the Year 7 and 8 choir.
On Thursday evening, it was time to celebrate the achievements of pupils in Year 9 and 10. We were treated to musical performances from the string ensemble. Our pupils are a credit to the school, and we are very proud of them all. Thank you also to all parents/carers who attended these very special evenings.
Each year group has also had their end of term Celebration Assembly, a fun and joyous occasion with lots of laughter to round up what has been another exceptional academic year.
End of Term – Summer 2024
We remind pupils, parents, and carers that the school closes to pupils at 1230 on Tuesday 23 July 2024 for the Summer break. Beginning of term arrangements are detailed below.
Beginning of Term Arrangements – Autumn 2024
Monday 2 September -Week A
INSET Day – School closed to all pupils
Tuesday 3 September
INSET Day – School closed to all pupils
Wednesday 4 September
First Day of Term for pupils in Year 7 only
Thursday 5 September
First day of term for pupils in Years 8 – 11
All pupils in Years 7 – 11 in school
Friday 6 September
Normal school day for all pupils
Rewards Day
On Wednesday pupils in the winning house Endeavour and those with a 95% positive to negative ratio enjoyed their Rewards Day. Pupils enjoyed a BBQ, candy floss and popcorn, as well as time on inflatables, playing tennis and football and many captured the moment in our photo booth. There was such a lovely atmosphere and pupils were so polite and grateful for the opportunity. Congratulations to all involved and a huge thank you to all staff who helped and made the day such as success.
Changemaker Challenge Day
On Tuesday a group of Year 9 pupils attended a “Changemaker Challenge Day” hosted by Unloc. This included a talk from Natalie Evans, Founder and CEO of Little Barn Door who shared her journey of starting her own business and how her passions led her there. Pupils then had to work in teams to create a clothing line to raise money for charity with each member of the team taking on a different role such as team leader, finance, marketing, and design. At the end of the day, they had to pitch their ideas in front of the group. Staff and visitors were incredibly proud and inspired by their creations.
Year 10 Business Studies – Enterprise Challenge
On 15 July, a group of Year 10 Business Studies pupils took part in an enterprise challenge competing against other schools in the Gosport and Fareham collaboration. The competition was hosted by St Vincent College and the pupils were tasked with designing a new healthy drink for the Coca Cola brand. After presenting their ideas to the judges, our pupils came away with two prizes – Most Sustainable and Most Creative ideas. Congratulations and well done to all participants and to St Vincent for hosting the event.
Music Department News
Another busy week in the Music Department! On Monday 15 July our String Ensemble paid a visit to Wallisdean Junior School and performed to their Year 3 pupils. This was their first outing as an ensemble and it was very well received by both pupils and staff.
On Thursday 18 July our Cams Hill Soul Band visited Baycroft School and performed in the blazing sunshine to pupils, parents, carers, and visitors at their annual CreateFest. This was a successful visit, and they are already keen to have us return in 2025.
Today it has been all systems go for our Summer Concert. This is the first Summer Concert for many years and both pupils and staff are very excited. We look forward a lovely evening of entertainment.
Year 9 Art Workshop – Red Barn Primary School
On Thursday the Art department along with three super Year 9 helpers visited Red Barn Primary School as part of our masterclass initiative which saw the whole of Year 5 create hanging clay birds.
The pupils learned about embellishment and the quality of mark making to create texture. The birds have been brought back to Cams Hill to be fired in our kiln and will be given back to the pupils to paint and hang around their school. The Art department have enjoyed visiting many primary schools over the last few weeks and have created over 200 clay birds with the children ready to adorn their schools in the new academic year.
Pupils’ Photography Work Exhibited in Portchester Library
What a wonderful way to end the year with an exhibition of the Year 10 GCSE Photography pupils work in our local library in Portchester. The work on display is a selection of their best shots from our photography walking workshop with @strongislanduk @photowalkshops earlier in the year and will be on display all summer. Please do visit Portchester library and take a look if you have the opportunity.
Key Stage 3 Design and Technology Cook Club
Our final Key Stage 3 Cook Club of the year took place after school this week and was a super end to what was a very rainy Monday! Fresh scones warm from the oven, served with homemade lemon curd. Well done team. We loved working with you to create your mini ‘afternoon tea’.
Keep an eye out for details of our next seasonal cook club session which will take place in the Autumn Term 2024 and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram – cams_dandt.
Careers Webpage Updated
The Careers section of our website has been overhauled to include much more information to support pupils, parents, and carers to navigate careers education both in school and the future. Sections include post-16 options, useful career related links, work experience, part time work and volunteering. You can find this under the “School Life” tab of the main page.
Literacy Newsletter
We hope that you have had chance to check out our latest Summer Literacy Newsletter filled with lots of interesting information about what has been happening in Literacy over the last term. We hope that many of our pupils will take part in the summer reading challenge – details can be found on the newsletter.
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.
Summer Concert – 18/7/24 1317
Literacy Newsletter – 15/7/24 1110
Canteen Price Increases – 5/7/24 1701
Detection Dog Visit – 1/7/24 1601
Sports Day – 21/6/24 1503
Summer Concert – 21/6/24 1101
Communication with Parents and Carers – 14/6/24 0925
Punctuality to School – 12/6/24 1703
Informing the School of a Pupil Absence – 12/6/24 1201
House and Rewards Celebration Day – 6/6/24 1009
Uniform Expectations – 24/5/24 1601
A27 Cams Hill Improvement Scheme – 10/5/24 1702
What Parents/Carers Need to Know about Worry and Anxiety
Below is a link from the National College concerning What Parents Need to Know About Worry and Anxiety.
Useful Resources for Parents/Carers
Below is a link to useful resources for parents/carers from Safeguarding Support Ltd.
Statistics
House Points Averages per Pupil for This Week
Year 7 2.24 points
Year 8 1.55 points
Year 9 2.09 points
Year 10 2.41 points
Attendance
This week – 90.7%
Same week last year – 91.4%
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 to check in with their child to see whether they are accessing these resources routinely and to encourage best use of them.
MathsWatch
Average number of questions answered per pupil this week
Year 7 8.4 questions
Year 8 6.5 questions
Year 9 5.5 questions
Year 10 11.6 questions
Highest number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 94 questions
Year 8 73 questions
Year 9 38 questions
Year 10 52 questions
Not all Maths homework is set on MathsWatch, which is likely to affect the averages.
Educake – Science
Average number of questions answered per pupil this week
Year 7 29.72 questions
Year 8 13.85 questions
Year 9 23.95 questions
Year 10 48.09 questions
Highest number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 412 questions
Year 8 148 questions
Year 9 314 questions
Year 10 486 questions