Weekly Update - 12 December 2025 - Calthorpe Park School

See this letter about our charity fundraising Christmas Jumper Day and the Candy Cane sale at the end of term. The deadline for ordering candy canes has been extended to 8am on Monday, so there is still time to get orders in over the weekend!

Road Closure – there is no access to school from the Church Crookham end of Hitches Lane due to emergency roadworks by South East Water at the Hareshill Estate. It will possibly be shut until Tuesday – if so, buses will be diverted and we recommend checking signs and leaving extra time if using a different route.

Term Dates – we finish for the Christmas holidays on Friday 19 December at 12.50pm. Please check this page on the website for details of key dates and parent consultations across the remainder of the school year.

Attendance Matters – Since the mocks we have seen a drop in Year 11 attendance; last week their attendance was down 3% on the same week for Y11 last year, at only 88%!

We cannot emphasise enough how being in school improves outcomes for students, here is our latest data from our 24-25 cohort of Year 11s:

	Average Grade
Greater than 95% attendance	6.00
90-95% attendance	5.16
80-90% attendance	4.49
Less than 80% attendance	2.74

For students with 95% attendance or above over 76% achieved 5+GCSEs at grades 9-5, whereas students with less than 80% attendance only 6% achieved 5+GCSEs at grades 9-5.

In addition, as it’s now winter we have seen an increase in absences relating to viruses, especially flu-like illnesses. Please find a link from The Department for Education, Top tips on how to keep your child healthy at school. It gives practical guidance on how to keep our school community healthy and reduce illness-related school absences.

Science need a working dishwasher to use within the department – can you help? Looks are unimportant, it can be free standing or integrated, full or compact size. Dented/scratched machines are welcome – it just needs to work and be capable of passing a PAT test (which we can check here). It’s needed for lab glassware as our previous one has broken. If you can help, please email m.harris@cps.hants.sch.uk if you have something to offer/sell.

We are holding a Business Day for our Year 10 students on Thursday 26 February 2026 and are looking for volunteers who would be able to come in that day to run workshops in the morning and/or to conduct mock interviews with these students in the afternoon.  If you are able to commit to this time and help us, please complete this form. Thanks for your support!

Thank you for your thoughtful contributions to the Kindness Bucket. Your generosity has made a meaningful impact on our families, and we sincerely appreciate your support.

As we look forward to the festive season, please can we ask that acrylic nails and eyelashes for students are arranged once school has finished on 19 December and are removed for the beginning of the Spring term.

Events this week:

Our annual visit to Chithurst Buddhist Monastery was a memorable experience for some Year 8 students. They were warmly welcomed and looked after by a Buddhist monk from the Forest Dwelling tradition who shared insights into monastic life. They had the chance to sample some of the food that was prepared and donated for the monks, as happens every day, and even lent a hand with washing up and tidying the kitchen. A walk around the beautiful grounds revealed hidden meditation huts, including one with a roof made entirely from recycled Wellington boots—a real highlight! Students also took part in a guided meditation, a new and calming experience for many. We spent time in the temple, listened to traditional chanting, and learned more about Buddhist practices. It was a day of reflection, discovery, and connection that we will all remember.

Christmas Concert – On Wednesday we enjoyed an amazing evening of music making from our singers and musicians across all year groups, who presented a diverse mix of seasonal music to our invited audience. Some of the funds raised from our Christmas Concert will also go to support our partner schools in Sri Lanka.

Year 7 Disco – What an incredible evening! Our Year 7 students truly danced the night away at the end-of-term disco, creating a fantastic atmosphere full of energy and smiles. The event was expertly organised by our Ocean Stars Team 2026, who ran a variety of fun stalls to raise money for charity. A huge thank you to our Year 11 Prefects for their support throughout the night, ensuring everything ran smoothly. And of course, a big shout-out to 45X (Dexter in Year 10), our resident DJ, who kept the tunes flowing and the dance floor buzzing! Year 7 students were an absolute pleasure to host, making this celebration a perfect way to mark the end of their first term at CPS.