Weekly Message 247 – 6 December 2024
6th December 2024
French trip to Amiens
This week, we welcomed Ofsted for an inspection. This visit provided a fantastic opportunity to highlight the exceptional contributions of our pupils, staff, and parents/carers, who make our school community truly special. It also allowed us to gain valuable feedback, helping us to assess our current practices and identify areas for further development.
We hope parents and carers had the chance to share their views through the Parent Survey and have received the Parent Guide, issued by Ofsted and shared via email by the school. We look forward to sharing the final inspection report, which, based on Ofsted’s timeline, is expected to be published in January 2025.
We remind parents and carers that the Year 11 Subject Parents’ Evening is taking place at the school on Tuesday 10 December 2024. Specific details have been sent to parents and carers directly including information on how to make an appointment with each teacher. We look forward to meeting on Tuesday with the evening starting at 1500.
Christmas Lunch – Wednesday 11 December 2024
The deadline for purchasing Christmas lunch has been extended to Sunday 8 December 2024. Please note that no other food will be available at lunch time on Wednesday 11 December 2024. Pupils eligible for Free School Meals will be provided with Christmas lunch without the need to pre-book. Any other pupils who have not pre-booked will need to bring a packed lunch on that day.
Portchester Christmas Lights Switch On
Dancers from the Year 7 and 8 Dance Club performed brilliantly at the Portchester Christmas Lights switch-on event on Friday 29 November 2024.
They were a credit to the school, and it was lovely for us all to be involved with our wider local community.
French Trip to Amiens
Last week, the GCSE French pupils had a fantastic time discovering the beautiful towns of Amiens and Arras as well as a magical day in Disneyland Paris. Pupils had the opportunity to explore the local Christmas markets and visited a French chocolate factory. They put their linguistic skills to the test and experienced a small taste of French culture. Thank you to all pupils and staff who made this trip a real success.
Soul Band Visit to Wallisdean Junior School
Our new Soul Band played their first gig on Monday to a hugely appreciative and enthusiastic audience at Wallisdean Junior School. The new band are already sounding great, and we appreciate the hard work and commitment of all the pupils. Well played, Soul Band! Their next appearance will be at the Christmas Concert on Thursday 12 December 2024.
Class of 2024 Certificate and Art Work Collection
On Tuesday we welcomed back pupils from Class of 2024 to collect their GSCE Certificates. If you were unable to collect your certificate, please do get in touch to make alternative arrangements. It is always a pleasure to catch up and hear all about their post-16 studies; what they are enjoying and what they are adapting to, as they study new subjects and subjects to a higher level. In the short amount of time from June to December, they change so much! We wish them all the very best for the future.
Year 10 Geography Trip to Gunwharf Quay
This week the Geography Department took their classes out to Portsmouth Harbour to investigate the regeneration in the city as a fieldwork study. The pupils excellently personified Courtesy to the public and Commitment to their GCSE as they completed their dot maps and bipolar grids.
South Hampshire College Group Assemblies
On Thursday and Friday this week a representative from South Hampshire College Group (SHCG) delivered assemblies to Year 10 and Year 11 pupils. Pupils were given an overview of the facilities and courses available at each campus. SHCG offer vocational qualifications, including T-Levels, in a range of subjects including Engineering, Health Science, Digital Design and Business.
Mission Christmas and Food Bank
We are thrilled with the generosity and kindness from all our pupils at Cams Hill School and this week Mrs Oswald-Cutler was over the moon to count all the donations that her tutor group, 8C1, have so far given to Mission Christmas and the Food Bank causes. In total the tutor group have achieved over 200 positive behaviour points for kindness, thank you!
Maths Countdown
Attendance
This week we kicked off the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ attendance incentives. It’s been a delight to hand out rewards to pupils, who have been genuinely surprised and thrilled and there is still more to look forward to! Congratulations to the following pupils for their outstanding attendance—keep up the great work!
Year 7 – A Norman, K Clements, L Gasser, D Frith, Z Woods
Year 8 – R Woods, S Chiu, C Nabarro, P Bramble, J Smith
Year 9 – S Page, T Reeder, N Willsher-Holmes, D Smithers, R Garrett
Year 10 – L Dunn-Weedon, J Allen, A Trafford, L Riley, B Tidbury
Year 11 – G Oliver, O Bolster, G Norris, S Killpartrick, G Anam
The “Get on Your Bike” attendance streak initiative is now underway! We’d like to remind pupils and parents/carers that pupils must be present for both morning and afternoon registration to maintain their streak. Please note that absences for medical appointments will count as missed sessions and could impact the attendance streak. Wherever possible, we kindly ask that medical appointments be scheduled outside of school hours.
Menu w/c 9 December 2024
NEW menu Week 3 Christmas Meal
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.
Detection dogs visit – 3/12/24 0916
OFSTED Inspection – 2/12/24 1100
Attendance Matters – 26/11/24 1348
Christmas Concert – 19/11/24 1004
Christmas Lunch, 11 December – 8/11/24 1801
Odd Socks Day, 12 November – 8/11/24 1700
Non- School Uniform day, 15 November – 8/11/24 0905
Remembrance Day – 5/11/24 1405
Uniform Expectations – 31/10/24 1318
Homework for Learning – 28/10/24 1414
Statistics
House Points Averages per Pupil for This Week
Year 7 9.91 points
Year 8 7.82 points
Year 9 6.19 points
Year 10 5.68 points
Year 11 4.18 points
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 12.7 questions
Year 8 9.9 questions
Year 9 9.8 questions
Year 10 26.8 questions
Year 11 8.7 questions
Highest Number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 74 questions
Year 8 76 questions
Year 9 59 questions
Year 10 99 questions
Year 11 47 questions
Over 50% in Maths Homework
Year 7 65%
Year 8 45%
Year 9 34%
Year 10 51%
Year 11 37%
Over 75% in Maths Homework
Year 7 56%
Year 8 31%
Year 9 26%
Year 10 22%
Year 11 20%
100% in Maths Homework
Year 7 33%*
Year 8 15%
Year 9 12%
Year 10 4%
Year 11 4%
*For example, this figure means 33% 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 Autumn term
w/b 9 December – Year 9 – calculator paper
w/b 16 December Year 8 – calculator paper
w/b 16 December – Year 7 – calculator paper
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.
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
Please note that pupils in Years 9 and 10, who are currently in middle sets for Maths are covering the Higher tier syllabus. This will be shown as Intermediate on the assessment feedback sheet that gets emailed home.
Educake – Science
Average number of questions answered per pupil this week
Year 7 29 questions
Year 8 30 questions
Year 9 48 questions
Year 10 65 questions
Year 11 77 questions
Highest number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 194 questions
Year 8 174 questions
Year 9 278 questions
Year 10 222 questions
Year 11 390 questions