Weekly Message 264 – 9 May 2025
12th May 2025
As we get further into the Summer Term, please can parents/carers ensure that pupils come to school with a named, filled water bottle which can be refilled at break and lunchtime. A reminder also that jumpers, while optional in colder weather, should not be worn in place of blazers. We are continuing to monitor the weather closely and will inform pupils and parents/carers if a decision is made to relax the requirement for blazers. Thank you for your continued support.
Year 8 Subject Parents’ Evening is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 13 May 2025 – we refer parents and carers to the letter sent on 30 April 2025 for the specific details.
Year 11 Leavers’ Assembly
The Year 11 team were delighted to have our Class of 2025 Leavers Assembly this week! The afternoon was full of celebrating achievements, sharing tutor stories, sentimental messages from parents/carers and staff. We also included many embarrassing photos. It was an emotional afternoon, and we were pleased to celebrate their Cams Hill journey. We were thrilled to end the assembly with a BBQ and celebration with all Cams Hill staff.
We want to wish our Year 11 pupils the best of luck with all their exams.
VE Day 80th Anniversary Celebrations
On Thursday, we commemorated the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the end of the Second World War in Europe. This ended nearly 6 years of war, which had cost the lives of an estimated 85 million people. It also marked the official end of the brutal tyranny of the Nazi regime, which had nearly succeeded in capturing all of Europe throughout the course of the war.
Members of our History Club produced a video that was played in tutor time, containing audio clips from local resident Delia Yule, who kindly shared her recollections and photographs of her childhood living in Portchester.
To celebrate and commemorate, our fab canteen staff provided a special VE Day lunch with the choice of ‘Great British BBQ’ or afternoon tea (complete with a nice cuppa!). The canteen and canopy were decorated with bunting produced by our pupils, and we also had a selection of WW2 memorabilia on display in the foyer by the Events Hall.
Ceramic Glaze Tiles in Art Club
With the 80th Anniversary of VE Day this week, Art Club have been creating some Union Jack tiles. Using different hues of red and blue glaze, we have tried our hand at glazing some donated tiles. There were a few specialist techniques learnt during this week’s club – notably the need to apply lots of thin layers of glaze!
All the tiles have been fired in our kiln and can be collected next week at Art Club.”
School Council
On Thursday the School Council met to listen to a presentation from Miss Noble and Mr Underwood about ‘Praise and Rewards’. Pupils listened excitedly to plans for a newly formatted ‘Celebration Day’. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Pupils were then invited to contribute ideas to make the day even better!
Answers to Maths Challenge Questions
- What is the difference between the smallest four digit multiple of three and the largest three digit multiple of 4?
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Answer – 4. 6
- What is the sum of 20% of 40% of 60 and 40% of 60% of 80?
- 20
- 4
- 24
- 4
- 28
Answer 3. 24
Success in the Maths Challenge
Congratulations to D Taylor (Year 8) for achieving a merit in the Maths Challenge run by Southampton University. This competition offers pupils nine puzzles to solve, an example of which is shown below.
Pupils are encouraged to demonstrate their understanding with working out, clear explanations and/or diagrams. E Read and J Parry, both in Year 7, also entered the competition and although they were not successful this time, they should also be praised for participating at this high level. D Taylor has been invited to an Awards Ceremony at the University taking place after half-term.
The solution to this puzzle is shown at the end of this Weekly Message.
Maths Countdown
Sports Results
Years 7/8 Girls’ Football drew with Fareham Academy 1-1
Year 7 Boys’ Football drew with Bay House 1-1
Year 8 Boys’ football lost to Bay House 0-5
Years 9/10/11 Girls’ Football vs Fareham Academy – Fareham Academy were unable to play so this counts as a 5-0 win to us.
Menu w/c 12 May 2025
Pupils may be pleased to know we will be getting the barbeque out on Friday.
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.
Logo change – sent 2/5/25 1806
PE uniform – sent 2/5/25 1127
Catering price increase – sent 4/4/25 1803
Statistics
Positive Behaviour Points Averages per Pupil for This Week
Year 7 4.33 points
Year 8 3.61 points
Year 9 3.00 points
Year 10 1.63 points
Year 11 0.16 points
Attendance
This week – 93.7%
Same week last year – 92.8%
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 7.4 questions
Year 8 11.1 questions
Year 9 6.3 questions
Year 10 4.5 questions
Year 11 6.5 questions
Highest Number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 45 questions
Year 8 109 questions
Year 9 67 questions
Year 10 51 questions
Year 11 106 questions
Over 50% in Maths Homework
Year 7 60%
Year 8 49%
Year 9 48%
Year 10 50%
Year 11 11%
Over 75% in Maths Homework
Year 7 53%
Year 8 38%
Year 9 35%
Year 10 36%
Year 11 4%
100% in Maths Homework
Year 7 26% *
Year 8 18%
Year 9 11%
Year 10 10%
Year 11 1%
*For example, this figure means 26% 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.
Year 11 Exam Question Practice on Tuesdays and Wednesdays – for selected pupils only.
GCSE Exam dates for the diary
Year 11:
Thursday 15 May – GCSE Maths Paper 1 (non-calculator)
Wednesday 4 June – GCSE Maths Paper 2 (calculator)
Wednesday 11 June – GCSE Maths Paper 3 (calculator)
Year 10 (10X1, 10Y1 and 10Z1 only):
Monday 2 June – GCSE Statistics Paper 1 (calculator)
Friday 13 June – GCSE Statistics Paper 2 (calculator)
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 18 questions
Year 8 16 questions
Year 9 34 questions
Year 10 54 questions
Year 11 42 questions
Highest number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 290 questions
Year 8 201 questions
Year 9 228 questions
Year 10 259 questions
Year 11 893 questions
Solution to Jelly Babies Question
The answer is 39 jelly babies, 15 for the eldest, then 8, then 10 and then 6 for the youngest. To loosely quote the French mathematician, Pierre de Fermat, I have found a truly marvellous written solution but the space in this article is too small to contain it! Pupils can ask Mr Fairhead though, if they would like to share their methods.