The Easter holidays proved a good opportunity for the Second Year boys to spread their wings; many used the break to travel in the UK and beyond. Before hearing about those trips, let’s start with reports about some exciting events that took place at the end of the Spring Term.
‘On Tuesday 22nd March, seven pupils from Hampton school were chosen to go on a technology event organised at Tolworth Girls’ school. Once there, we were mixed with pupils from other schools in small groups ranging from three people to six people. Each group was given a number to represent the group. We were given a total of three activities: baking bread from a group-devised recipe, building a catapult to fire a ball onto a target and designing an ergonomic toothbrush. The end products of each activity were judged by a panel of teachers, who awarded points to each group for each activity according to some success criteria. At the end of the event, these points were added up for each group. The winners with the highest score were group 1 and group 7, Danilo Delic (2B) being in group 1 and Alex Crisan (2B) being in group 7.’ Alex Crisan – 2B
‘On Monday 7th March the U13A rugby team played in the Surrey Schools Rugby Sevens Tournament, held at Trinity School in Croydon.
In our first pool game we played Christ’s Hospital and started off the tournament well with a good win while conceding no tries. After four other tough matches against well-known rugby playing schools such as Reigate Grammar and Caterham, we emerged as the victors of our pool having won all our games and conceding only two tries.
The next match was the semi-final where we were to face the host school, Trinity. In the same competition last year we suffered a narrow defeat in the final and having also just won the National Schools XV-a-side tournament, they entered the game in confident mood. However, Hampton played very well to win a hard fought game, scoring at the end of the match to secure victory.
This meant we’d made it to the final where we were to face a very competitive Wimbledon College side. Wimbledon are a very strong team of big, fast players who had won their all their previous games easily. Despite our best efforts, they were too strong and won scoring six tries to our one.
While it was disappointing to lose, the team had done well to reach the final and beaten some very good schools along the way.’ Johnny Powell – 2W
The U13 Rugby players also faced some tough opposition during the holidays, when they traveled to Holland for a four day tour.
‘A mixture of boys from the rugby A team and B team left for their tour on Tuesday 12th April. They arrived later that day at their accommodation in Center Parcs. The next day the boys enjoyed swimming in the huge water park filled with fun slides before leaving for their first match of the tour against RC ‘t Gooi. It was a gripping game and a real test for the boys as they played against some big opponents. However the boys came out on top winning 31-24. On the Thursday of their trip, they once again had an amazing morning in the water park before leaving, slightly less nervous, for their 2nd game. There was a little confusion with the opposition Hilversum however was soon resolved and the boys started the game. With some quick tries the boys outplayed the opposition and ended up winning their last game of the season.’ Jesper Hartikainen – 2B
Elsewhere, 30 Second Year boys hit Barcelona for non-stop linguistic and cultural extravaganza.
‘On the last day of the Spring Term, 30 boys from classes 2L, 2J and 2L had an early start at Heathrow to catch the flight to Barcelona for the Second Year Spanish Trip. Once we arrived in Barcelona, we went to the beach for a few hours to get lunch and play football. After that we visited Las Ramblas and La Boqueria where we bought smoothies and ice cream. We had dinner and to end the night, we went bowling in the Diagonal Mall.
The next day we woke up, had breakfast and took the metro to the city centre. We went on an open roofed bus tour where we got to see many of the famous landmarks of Barcelona including the old bull ring and Gaudí’s Casa Batlló. We got off the bus at the Poble Espanyol Architect museum where we were guided around by a crazy electrician. At the end we went in groups to try some local Spanish cuisine.
We got back on the bus and got off at Plaça de Catalunya, where we had free time to explore the shops.
The last attraction we visited was the Barcelona aquarium where we went in a tunnel with sharks and stingrays.
The next day we took the Metro to the Sagrada Familia. We took photos of the outside and got ice cream. After waiting for an hour, we managed to get on the bus to go to Park Güell.
We arrived at Park Güell and were allowed explore the park for 45 minutes. We went to the highest point and got amazing views of the city. We then saw the famous Gaudí buildings in the park.
After that, we went to the Camp Nou. We got to see the gigantic stadium where we went into the museum to see old shirts and footballs from famous matches. At the end of the visit, we went into the official shop to buy football shirts and other merchandise.
On the last day of the trip we went to the beach, having packed our bags. We spent an hour playing footy before heading home.
The Barcelona Trip was really fun and we learned loads about the city and culture. It also gave us a chance to improve our Spanish.’ Corey Hamilton Lane – 2L
Other Second Years put themselves to the test in Wales as they headed to Snowdonia with the Adventure Society for a five action-packed days.
‘On 10th April, about 30 Hampton boys got on a van, heading towards Wales. After nearly five hours in the car, the boys arrived at Snowdonia. We were split into 3 groups, and my group did orienteering on the first day. After being split into small groups, we searched for posts in the woods just using a map and a compass. It was great fun, and the adventures in the woods were thrilling. On the next day, we set off for a walk. Sadly, due to the weather, we could not climb up Mount Snowdon but the hills we hiked across were beautiful, and we had a fun race across clear, graceful lake. I was deeply impressed by how much the teachers cared about the environment, such as rescuing an apple that fell down the river! After the adventures across the hills and caves, we were exhausted, but more adventures were waiting for us. The next day we woke up with the sun shining above us and we knew that it was sure to be an amazing day. We met our instructor and walked to our activity for today – rock climbing. When we finally reached there, we were all stunned. The slab of rock was huge. We spent all day there: climbing up a set of paths 15m high and we all abseiled down a slab of rock 30m high. It was an amazing experience and we had the upmost fun. On the last day of activities, we had an action packed day. First up was a stunning kayaking session on a beautiful lake. After those fun but cold few hours, we did mountain biking. Although tiring, it was just as fun. First of all, we did infamous ice cream challenge – a 1.1km bike ride going up a whopping 100m altitude in the course. Next we joyfully cycled around the gorgeous Welsh hillside until it was time to go. Overall the trip was very enjoyable and we would all like to thank the teachers who took us on it.’ Alex Kim and Alex Kavanagh – 2B
Finally, let’s hear from one Second Year whose gymnastic prowess has taken him all the way to China.
‘On 23rd March 2016 I travelled to the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in China. After a long day flying we arrived in China at 12:00 midnight. For the next two days we had three hours of training each day with the GB team. On the first day of the competition we did a great dynamic routine and came first in the world. Then on the second day we did an amazing balance routine too coming second in the world. Overall in the qualifiers we came second in the world but because of the one country rule (which means that only one pair from each country is allowed to go through to the final) and the fact that the men’s pair that came first was also from team GB, it meant that, sadly, we were not allowed to proceed to the finals.’ Finlay Gray – 2W
If your son has any news that should be mentioned in a future bulletin, please do encourage them to see me in school or email me at f.byrne@hamptonschool.org.uk and I shall be delighted to include it.
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