It’s been great to see the weather improving this week, even if there are currently rain clouds hovering over the fields as I write this. Perhaps the First Year boys could tell me what sort of rainfall we might experience this weekend – all good practice for the Weather topic we are currently studying in Geography! We’ve had a busy week in the First Year team, and the boys have been up to all sorts of fun and games. Although, there was time for reflection on Thursday with our counsellor Ian delivering an exceptionally relevant talk on resilience and the concept of neuroplasticity. Some good brain food for us all, and hopefully something that the boys will bear in mind over the coming three weeks.
Athletics begins!
Mr Bolton brings us this news from the Athletics season so far:
A fantastic day, over at Lee Valley in the English School’s Cup last Friday. The best point score we’ve amassed since 2011 at junior level, the impressive part being this was only the first or second competition for a number of our athletes! James Q, Josh S and Nic W, helped strengthen the team, with Nic breaking our 200m record, with a very swift 27.0secs. Our juniors won their first round with a score that would give them a solid standing at the regional A final.
Well done all, it sounds like we have the makings of a great team here.
Creating a bit of a buzz
Isaac C and Abhay B report from a club where there is quite literally a hive of activity going on:
Beekeeping Club – If the weather is good, each Friday boys have the chance to visit the beehives at the back of the sports field. Here’s an account of last week’s session by Abhay B: First, we had to put on our beekeeping suits. Making sure we upped all the zips, we then headed to the hives. We went across the field with everyone looking at us, wondering what on earth we were wearing. So making sure it protected us from the bees, we approached the hives. At the first hive we went to Mr Langton, who runs beekeeping club, and looks after the bees, used a special tool to prise open the lid of the hive and we looked inside. Mr Langton then used his tool to take out each individual frame of the hive one by one. The smell of fresh honey was superb, and it made us both hungry. Each frame had its own raised wax, a hexagon city full of honey, bees, and plenty of eggs. Mr Langton then prised open the Queen excluder (which is relatively self-explanatory). Next, we went through each frame of the lower section of the hive. There were so many bees on each frame, with lots of honey, so it took ages to spot the Queen bee. We eventually found the Queen; it amazed us, the size of her. She was twice as long as any other normal bee. And Mr Langton was happy to find out she had laid another future generation of bees.
You may not know this, but Hampton School holds home to three whole beehives. Since, it’s beginning in 2016, the Hampton Beekeeping Club has accumulated over 25,000 bees in each hive and that number is growing every year, and we expect us to add a further 15,000 to each hive by mid-summer. Each week the club gets kitted up,
walks down to the hives at the back of the cricket pitches, and inspects the bees. This year looks set to be a fantastic one for the hives, and hopefully might lead to the production of the first ever pots of Hampton Honey.
The Head of Biology, Mr Langton, keeps the bees safe and maintains their well-being. However, he cannot do it alone. Hampton Beekeeping Club needs your help… If anyone has a Friday lunchtime free and would enjoy a visit with our 75,000 flying clients pop along to room B6 at 1.00pm, no previous beekeeping experience is necessary! You can be in any year group, from First Year to Sixth Form, so if this entices you — or you just fancy seeing the making of Hampton Honey—join now.
Joke of the Week
Tutee of the Week:
Jonathan M is this week’s Tutee of the week. Well done Jonathan for a fantastic effort on all fronts this term – a thoroughly deserved accolade.
Mr T.Hill
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