Weekly Message 298 – 27 March 2026
27th March 2026
Arts Award Fused Glass Workshop
As we come to the end of another successful term, it is a great opportunity to reflect on a week filled with achievement and celebration. Our Celebration Assemblies, led by Heads of Year and Assistant Heads of Year, have recognised the many successes of our pupils across all year groups, acknowledging hard work, progress and their contribution to our community. Some Year 11 pupils have also taken part in their GCSE PE moderation this week, demonstrating their practical skills and commitment as they continue their exam preparations. In addition, today’s non-school uniform day has been a wonderful show of community spirit, with pupils supporting a charitable cause, we thank families for their generosity.
Looking ahead, school will be closed for the Easter holiday from Monday 30 March to Friday 10 April. We then return for an INSET Day on Monday 13 April (school closed to pupils), with the Summer Term beginning on Tuesday 14 April (Week B). Year 10 pupils will begin their Summer Exams from Tuesday 15 April to Friday 24 April, an important milestone in their preparation for Year 11.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support, wishing all our families a restful and enjoyable break.
Cams Hill 70th Birthday Celebrations
As part of our 70th anniversary celebrations, we will be creating a special display and archive to show our current pupils how the school has changed over the years.
We would be pleased to hear from anyone with photos or written memories of the school over the years. These can be emailed to cams70th@camshill.com, or copies may be brought into Reception.
Help Arbor Improve the Parent App
Arbor want to make sure the Parent App is as helpful as possible for you and your family. To do that, the team at Arbor would love to hear your thoughts.
How you can help Arbor is looking for parents to join a small feedback group. From time to time, they will reach out with a chance to:
- Test out new ideas before they are released
- Join a quick 30–60-minute online feedback session
- Share your experience of using the app
There is no pressure to join every session – you can just jump in whenever you have a spare moment to help make school life a little bit easier for every parent/carer.
Sound interesting? You can sign up to hear more about the feedback sessions here:
Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award
Last week saw the start of the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. On Friday, Year 9 learned how to work as a team, put up their tents, cook on Trangias and honed their map reading skills. After a fun night camping, they then completed their first practice walk. Sore feet, tired legs and great memories all round!
Testimony 360
As part of our work as a Holocaust Education Beacon School, we were thrilled to be able to offer the opportunity for some of our Year 10 historians to take part in the Testimony 360 workshop, run by the Holocaust Education Trust. The workshop allowed pupils to use VR and AI technology to interview Susan Pollock, a Holocaust Survivor and to take a tour around Auschwitz camp. It was a very thought provoking and moving experience for all involved.
Model UN Conference
On Wednesday, 10 of our Year 9 pupils flexed their geopolitical muscles, debating with pupils from across Hamshire and beyond at the Model United Nations Conference, hosted at Kings Academy Bay House. Pupils debated on a number of issues, including the invasion of Venezuela, the climate crisis, gender equality, economic support and the death penalty. All pupils were excellent advocates for their countries, but special shout outs must go to our award winners. Each committee has 2 awards available (10 in total) and Cam Hill pupils managed to scoop 4 of them:
Best delegate: S Chiu (EcoSoc committee)
Best delegate: I Wimbush (UNEP committee)
Highly commended: P Vincent (Women’s rights committee)
Highly commended: N Salter (Security Council)
Young Carers Get Cooking with Homemade Mexican Fajitas
This week, our Young Carers group enjoyed a fun and rewarding cookery session, where they made delicious Mexican fajitas completely from scratch. The session gave everyone the chance to get hands-on in the kitchen, learning how to prepare fresh ingredients and create their own seasoning blends rather than relying on pre-packaged components.
Pupils experimented with a variety of flavours, discovering how different herbs and spices can transform a dish. From slicing colourful peppers to cooking seasoned chicken and warming tortillas, everyone played an active role in bringing the meal together.
The session was not only about cooking but also about working together, building confidence, and sharing skills. It was wonderful to see such teamwork and enthusiasm, with everyone enjoying the process as much as the final result.
A big well done to all involved for their creativity and collaboration — and for producing such tasty fajitas!
Arts Award
Every Monday, we have a group of super creative pupils who take part in the Arts Award, led by Mrs Barnden. Each week, they explore a range of artistic skills and have been fortunate to participate in workshops such as mosaic making, felting, graphic design, and even silversmithing.
This week, the Arts Award group enjoyed a wonderful session with Sue from Wat’s on Glass, who hosted a fused glass workshop. Pupils designed and created their own decorative sun catchers, demonstrating great creativity throughout. We look forward to seeing their finished pieces once they have been fired.
Nurture Group Graduation 2026
The Nurture Group started back in September with 12 very quiet and nervous Year 7 pupils. The Nexus staff have provided sessions on Creative Wellbeing, Forest School, Cooking, Maths, Literacy, PE, Gaming and Social and Emotional Communication Skills. Each session has included a snack of toast and jam around the kitchen table and over the two terms we have devoured 38 loaves of bread and 2 buckets of jam. Today we finished our last Nurture session with a graduation and games to celebrate. The pupils have left Nexus today having made friends, feeling more confident around school and proud of themselves.
QA Children’s Ward Egg Drop
On Thursday we dropped off 70 Easter eggs to the children’s ward at QA hospital “with love from Cams Hill School”.
They were gathered over the last few weeks alongside £1 coins which will sponsor a family pizza night in collaboration with Sophie’s Legacy.
Thank you to all involved in this egg drop, if you still have your £1 donation, its not too late, please take it to reception.
Cams Hill is proud to keep spreading our love and kindness in our community.
Sports Results
Year 7 girls basketball won against Fareham Academy 66 – 20 in the final of the Fareham and Gosport Cup. Huge congratulations as the team have gone unbeaten all season and fully deserve their success. Well done to all who have played.
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.
End of Spring Term Letter – sent 27/3/26 1410
Cams Hill 70th Anniversary Celebrations – sent 24/3/26 1136
Coffee morning drop-ins – sent 19/3/26 1222
Detection Dogs visit – sent 18/3/26 1700
Non-school uniform day – sent 18/3/26 1500
Jazz Café – Thursday 19 March 2026 – sent 4/3/26 1600
Non-School Uniform Day Friday 6 February 2026 – sent 29/1/26 1514
Upcoming Gas Works – sent 21/1/26 1014
Menu – w/c 14 April 2026
Menu Week 3 25,26 Inset monday
Statistics
Positive Behaviour Points Averages per Pupil for This Week
Year 7 – 7.31 points
Year 8 – 3.41 points
Year 9 – 4.25 points
Year 10 – 3.16 points
Year 11 – 0.85 points
Sparx 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.
Sparx – Maths
Over 50% in Maths Homework
Year 7 78%
Year 8 test week
Year 9 83%
Year 10 57%
Over 75% in Maths Homework
Year 7 75%
Year 8 test week
Year 9 67%
Year 10 49%
100% in Maths Homework
Year 7 73% *
Year 8 Test week
Year 9 52%
Year 10 30%
*For example, this figure means 73% of Year 7 got 100% in their homework tasks.
Figures in green indicate maintaining or an increase from last time.
Year 11 are working independently with revision homework.
Maths Homework Support is open to all Years on Wednesdays in ICT2 until 4pm.
Next In-Class Maths Assessment
Year 10 – w/c 13/4/26 – Year 10 exams
Year 9 – w/c 27/4/26 – calculator
Year 7 – w/c 4/5/26 – non-calculator test
Calculators and other equipment for sale
Casio fx-85GT cw+ scientific calculators can be bought via Arbor and collected from the Finance Office. Prices of these and other items for sale are shown below:
Casio fx-85GT CW+ scientific calculator- £11.08
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 Arbor for details
Educake – Science
🏁🏃➡️Crossing the 1 million questions milestone – the Science Department reached 1 million questions answered by pupils!
Percentage of Questions Answered Correctly This Week
Year 7 59%
Year 8 67%
Year 9 76%
Year 10 78%
Year 11 71%
Highest number of questions answered by one pupil this week
Year 7 237 questions
Year 8 308 questions
Year 9 690 questions
Year 10 406 questions
Year 11 691 questions