Welcome to the Second Year Bulletin!
There has been LOTS going on this week, not least the fantastic Second Year Drama Evenings in which boys performed a poem in The Hammond Theatre in front of their parents and teachers. The boys handled the occasion with aplomb and produced three great shows. They haven’t yet produced a report so please log on next week to read that. Nevertheless, there is plenty more to tell you about…
MERITS
Firstly well done to these boys who have reached their next merit milestone. Keep up the good work!
Thomas P (2H) – 30
Eshaan A (2H) – 60
Kieran BR (2J) – 70
Ben MJ (2W) – 90
TUTOR PROFILE
This week 2W make their debut on the interviewing stage. The subject is my own co-tutor, the yin to my yang, the Fish to my Chips, the Tech to my nology. Read on and get to know the man behind the beard: Mr Richards
Q: What is the weirdest thing you have ever eaten?
A live octopus leg in a South Korean sushi bar.
Q: Have you ever been to prison?
No.
Q: How many pets have you had? What was your first pet?
I’ve had seven pets, the first was a cat named Cat.
Q: When did you first grow your beard?
When I was 22. The longest I have gone between shaving with a razor is ten years.
Q: How long does it take to grow your beard to its normal length?
About 1 month.
Q: What is your favourite type of beard?
My own beard, but other than that, a wizard’s beard like ‘Gandalf’ or ‘Dumbledore’
Q: What jobs have you had?
I first worked in a fence-making factory as a teenager. Then I got a serious job at Rolls Royce making Jet engines. Several years later I began teaching – which I love!
Q: What is your favourite subject other than DT?
Physics.
Q: What is your favourite animal?
A dog.
Q: Where were you born?
Nottingham.
Q: What is your favourite type of bird?
A kestrel.
Q: What is your favourite meal?
Chinese crispy duck with cucumber and sauce.
Q: What is the most dangerous situation that you have ever been in?
I was rock climbing in the Alps, 900m up a 1000m climb and a big storm happened and had to abseil down.
Q: What are your top three favourite computer games?
Bowling on the Wii 2, Mario Kart and Tetris.
Q: What is your favourite football team?
Nottingham Forest.
Thanks to all involved in that and particularly John S (2W) for editing and sending it in. We still need interviewers to tackle the thorny subjects of Mr Sims, Miss Byrne, Mrs Owen and even me, so why not talk to them and arrange. As you can see, you can ask them anything.
SPORT
Thanks to Evan L (2B) for sending in a report on this week’s basketball tournament. By all accounts he is being a little modest in leaving himself off the list of star performers.
Last Thursday’s basketball inter form competition was one of excitement, passion and tension, and has definitely been one of the inter form highlights of the year so far. Great performances included Conrad K (2W), Zac C (2B), Rory P (2H) and Obrad K (2J). The tournament started with two groups: 2B, 2P and 2W and 2J, 2H and 2L. 2B and 2L came out on top in their respective groups and headed to the final. First, 2H and 2W played for third place, with a win for 2H, and in the game for fifth place, 2P ended up victors. Then came the final, which finished 8-0 to 2B, with Evan L scoring six points and Zac C scoring two. When the final buzzer sounded, there were high emotions from every player, mainly because it was the first inter form competition the form had ever won!
Congratulations to all. Mr Bolton was very impressed with the tournament as a whole and 2B in particular. Now, if you weren’t able to travel to Barnes for the U13A game v St. Paul’s on Monday, fear not! Read Josh H’s (2W) report and you will feel like you saw every moment:
Hampton’s U13As beat St Paul’s School 4-2 despite a penalty miss from Chibby N (2H). The U13As had fallen behind as a result of a deflected goal from the home side but a brace scored by Hayden C (2H) granted the team a much needed win in their first match since January. Although, the Hampton boys hadn’t played together for a while, any speculation about rustiness was immediately cleared with a relatively dominant performance for the first ten minutes of the game. However, as the time on the clock ticked by, so did the number of chances that fell to St Paul’s. Therefore, after about five minutes of a change in momentum, St Paul’s number nine was able to find himself a pocket of space, turn and get a shot off into the bottom corner which was narrowly missed by Conrad K (2W) in goal. Once again, the tides turned drastically as Hampton strode onto the front foot for the second time in the match. After a handful of opportunities for the away side, the ball was delivered into a dangerous area and a few miskicks later, in the back of the net – turned in by Hayden C (2H). Following the equaliser, territory became a much more even factor and was divided equally among the two sides up until the half time whistle.
The tightly fought battling that was present towards the latter stages of the first half wasn’t left on the sideline as a similar circumstance occurred with little difference separating the teams. However, about ten minutes into the second half, another promising ball was sent into the box which Toby N (2W) brought down before dribbling around three players and hitting the ball low and hard into the bottom left hand corner. With the goal advantage on Hampton’s side for the first time in the match, the U13As trademark passing virtuosity began to come into action which consisted of lots of link up play down the wings. In one particular move, Chibby N (2H) drove down the wing and cut in only to be brought down in the penalty box. Unlike his usually very high penalty conversion rate, the set piece was scuffed just wide of the post from 12 yards. Subsequent to the miss, the considerable pressure continued and soon, in an effort to redeem himself, Chibby started and finished another passing move to give the away side some leeway.
While the dominance remained, more chances appeared but counter attacks also became a threat. After a clearance from a corner, St Paul’s broke and linked together a few passes before dribbling around Conrad K (2W) and winning a penalty before they could get a shot off. The number 9 slotted it in to the bottom left hand corner to increase the tension in the remaining 15 minutes of the match. The final quarter returned to the general style of the majority of the game – an open affair. As a result of this, more attacking moves were by no means in any limitation and often Hampton saw their lead flash before their eyes with some efforts flying past, a whisker away. However, once doubt had started to creep in about who was going to win the game, a long ball was played to Hayden C, who flicked the ball over a defender, took it around the goalkeeper and tucked it home to ensure victory for the U13As.
Mr Trivedi (the U13A manager) stated in the full time team talk: “Considering you haven’t played for a few weeks, it was a very strong and collected performance”
BRASS ENSEMBLE
Paddy H (2H) isn’t one to blow his own trumpet, so I’m particularly grateful to him for sending in a report on this magnificent event in which he, well, blew his own trumpet.
It was a Friday night, and I was in my dressing room getting ready for my performance. We had spent a lot of time and practice on our piece of music. We were performing three different film tune themes. Star Wars, Jurassic Park and E.T. We were the second band performing, so we were ready to go on stage straight away. After we heard the applause of the previous band, we swiftly walked onto stage, in the bright beaming lights. We were all set and ready to perform, as we all looked at Mr Horden. The nerves were now kicking in as I blew my first note of my trumpet. When we finished our last line, the audience stood up and applauded our performance. I was so pleased the Brass Ensemble performed to their best. Mr Horden was also pleased with our performance, and congratulated each one of us. I was now excited to listen to the rest of the concert, as I packed my trumpet away.
KEW GARDENS TRIP
This week also saw the ever-popular Geography Trip to Kew Gardens. Sadly, I wasn’t able to attend this year but I have consoled myself with reading this excellent report from James A (2H):
On Tuesday 19th March, the entire Second Year had a much-anticipated excursion to Kew Gardens.
We all arrived at school at normal times in mufti, allowing some people to hand in homework. Shortly after morning registration we boarded the coaches; the journey was not too long and arduous, and we reached Kew promptly and on-time.
No sooner had arrived than we split into our six forms (each with a Form Tutor and Geography teacher) and began to explore the immense variety of flora, fauna and attractions available to the public at Kew. My form, 2H, first walked to Kew’s renowned ‘Tree-Top Walkway’ – an 18 metre-tall walkway built in and amongst the towering trees that dominate Kew. Although the walkway itself was closed, the colossal structure was still awe-inspiring and a spectacular sight to behold. Our forms wandered from attraction to attraction; the Temple of Aeolus, the Rock Garden, the Princess of Wales Conservatory, the Great Pagoda and even the recently-renovated Temperate House were all destinations on our list.
Lunch was eaten near a café and gift shop, many pupils rushing to buy crisps, drinks and sandwiches. After a quick game of ‘manhunt’, we walked to the Temperate House, the recent renovations being spectacular. Inside, we researched the different organisms growing within, and wandered between the dense leaves and towering trees. We then split into groups of roughly four, wrote a short script and began filming/editing a two minute documentary concerning the impacts of deforestation. This concluded our trip, and we soon re-boarded the coaches, slightly worn-out from the day’s activities.
I am sure this trip was enjoyed by all, including teachers, and hope that we have the chance of doing something like this again.
Thanks James, and thanks to Miss Brown for organising the day.
MATHS CHALLENGE
Now a special report from one of our star contributors, Mo O (2W), who might be auditioning for a job writing our promotional material.
Hampton School is known for many reasons however one of the things Hampton is most famous for is the outstanding mathematical standards. This is why Hampton host an annual maths challenge for the First and Second Year pupils. Those who are in the top 20% of scores go onto the second round where they face yet another challenging paper with fifteen questions. However this paper is much more challenging since the questions are harder to work out and they take more time to read. This is made up for by the fact that we got more time to finish the paper. I didn’t manage to finish because of how hard it was.
We await the results but well done to all who made it this far.
TRIVIA & JOKES
Several people worked out that the answer to Milo B’s (2H) riddle was ‘land’. Well done on your merit. More of a problem-solving exercise this week suggested by several members of 2W. Once you accept the hypothesis, it’s a good test of your logical thinking. A merit for the first few correct answers.
You have eight pills. You [somehow] know that one of them is poisonous and that this one is fractionally heavier than all the rest which are identical. You have a set of libra scales but you can only use them twice [for some reason]. How can you work out which seven are safe?
I don’t know why you need to work it out. The question is, can you?
JOKE OF THE WEEK
This week’s winner is Charlie B (2W), partly because he invariably bursts into laughter in the middle of telling me his joke suggestions:
Have a great weekend!
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