Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
It has been another busy week of home learning, and I am sure that you are all looking forward to a well-deserved rest over the weekend. This week we have lots of challenges for you to have a go at and an interview with one of our senior mentors. Please do keep sharing with us what you are getting up to!
MERITS
A quiet week on the merits front! Remember to tell Mrs Owen when you chalk up your next 10…
Alex Rust – 10
Trivikram Prashanth – 30 (second week in a row for Trivikram!)
Avi Bhatt – 60 merits
SENIOR MENTOR INTERVIEWS
This year you have all had a fantastic team of mentors attached to your Forms, and I know that you all really enjoy the opportunity to get to know some boys in the U6, and appreciate their help and advice as you navigate your Second Year at Hampton! In our weekly blog this half term we will be featuring an interview with one of our senior mentors. This week, thank you to Sam Axford for answering the questions posed by our blog reps!
What are your top tips for learning at home effectively?
The most important thing to do is to have a change of scenery. If possible, work somewhere away from your room, like at the kitchen table and only do work there. This will make it easier for you to unwind after the school day and allow you to relax without seeing work on a desk and allow you to work without seeing a bed next to you.
What advice would you give when it comes to choosing subject options for Third year and beyond?
The most important thing is to choose something that you know you’ll enjoy. Don’t try to look too far ahead for what may “look good” if you won’t enjoy it and don’t be afraid to try one of the new options. I took Ancient Greek and Latin in my third year and I enjoyed every day of it, even though I knew I would have found other subjects “easier”.
How are you keeping active during lockdown?
I’ve started going on half-hour walks, mainly before school to wake me up. Mainly I explore my local area and so far, I’ve found out about two parks fairly close to me that I didn’t know were there, even though I’ve lived here all my life.
What sport are you doing?
I’ve been doing the short 20-minute routines that Mr Mills has been sending to our year group as well as (occasionally) running.
What other hobbies do you have?
My main hobby is playing my bass guitar.
Now that you are in the Upper Sixth, what advice would you give for successfully navigating each year at school?
A piece of advice that applies to every year at Hampton is: “don’t be afraid to ask”. This applies when asking both fellow students and the teachers. The more you move up the school the more you realise that teachers are cooperative and they want to help you and you can always ask a mentor if you feel more comfortable talking to another boy.
What is your most memorable school experience?
Going on the Third Year History trip to Berlin. I very vividly remember the Soviet Memorial and we had a particularly eventful day afterwards with some people’s railcards not working, leading to a very strange day.
If you could go back in time, what would you like to say to your Second Year self?
Talk more, both in class and out of it!
MICROBE FUN
Avi (2H) reports on lockdown Biology lesson!
This week in Biology 2H have been learning about microbes. Microbes are any form of microscopic organism, which are most commonly seen in the form of bacteria. Even though they are so small their size is measured in micrometres, they multiply so fast that within twelve hours you would be able to visibly see them. That is why it is important to wash your hands – it may look like there is nothing on there but there could be millions without you even knowing, which could result in you getting quite ill. As well as learning about microbes we also tried to find out what substances are best for washing hands and getting rid of microbes, planning a small experiment to test handwash, antiseptic handwash, soap and hospital soap.
LANGUAGE TASTER LESSONS
Next week, all boys will have language taster lessons, instead of their usual language lesson on the timetable. This is to help them make a more informed decision about their option choices for the Third Year. They should join the lesson on their MS Teams calendar and they will then find out which language it is on that day. We would ask the boys to approach each lesson enthusiastically and to participate as fully as they can. Next week in the blog, I hope some boys will share feedback about their experience of new languages…
We hope you will enjoy this chance to try something new!
Hampton Whodunnit?!
The Drama Department introduces: Hampton Whodunnit?!
Who killed Mark Roundim? There’s been a murder at Hampton Mansion and we have no choice but to assume all of the Second Year Hamptonians are suspects. In your Drama lessons next week you will be introduced to a few other suspects and have the chance to defend yourselves.
Who can help us solve this most dastardly of crimes?
ENVIRONMENT COMPETITIONS
A reminder to get involved in the following competitions and let us know how you are getting on.
- 2W: Design the best birdfeeder from recycled materials
- 2L: Grow a plant from seed
Miss Kugele is going to give growing Bonsai trees a go!
GET BAKING!
Raphael (2W) introduces a cooking challenge!
During lockdown we unfortunately miss out on much of the more practical work that we would normally do in subjects such as DT or Art when in school. However, this does not mean that there aren’t some things we can’t do at home. 2W had the idea of doing a bake-off competition to allow students to have some fun and get away from their screens. This week, me and my fellow blog reps, would therefore like to encourage the whole of the second year to join in on a cake competition! The judges won’t be able to taste your cakes so it’s all going to be down to how they look! I am looking forward to seeing what you can come up with. Email Miss Kugele with a photo of your finished cake by the end of Thursday next week to be in with a chance to win.
GET COOKING
Thank you to Richard (2L) for sharing with us his fantastic exploits in the kitchen!
Because I had enough spare time after school to make something, I decided to look through some of the cookbooks on the shelves and found one that I liked. I discovered a couple of recipes that looked curiously delicious and decided to try and make them. The first one I made was a Malaysian chicken curry. It took me about two hours in total to make and ended up with a super tasty curry for dinner. Next, I fancied having a go at some crepes. The crepes turned out to be quite easy to make (learning the flipping technique was less so but I mastered it). My brothers were particularly happy! More recently, one of the recipes that caught my eye was a lemon tart so I decided to try it too. It took about two hours to make as well and came out looking and tasting delicious. The tart wasn’t my favourite because one my brothers didn’t like it (although my parents disagreed with him). He “ordered” some chocolate chip cookies…
Well done Richard! If you’ve also been cooking up a storm in your kitchen, or are now inspired to have a go yourself, then please tell us about it and send in your photos!
Crisp Packet Challenge – Can you guess?
Our Environment Committee are running a competition to highlight the easy measures that we can all take to protect the world we live in.
During the autumn term, members of our Environment Committee collected snack and crisp packets recycled by our School community and we’d like you to try and guess the number recycled. Take a look at the photo below, can you guess how many crisp and snack packets were recycled during the autumn term?
If you would like to enter, please click on the link below:
The closing date for entries is 6pm on Thursday 28 January. The closest guess to the total number of crisp and snack packets collected last term will win a £25 Amazon gift voucher. Go on, have a guess!
PE & SPORTS
Looking for a workout to do this weekend? Here is Mr Hooper with another Beat the Coach challenge for you to try:
U13 Football Lockdown Competition!
Second Year footballers – it’s competition time! (see below and on Firefly)
Junior Footballers (U12-U14) Lockdown Competition
You have a number of tasks to complete under the categories of Physical, Technical, Tactical and Mindfulness.
Points can be accumulated which are added to your squad total and the squad with the most points by half term will win!
Evidence of task completion must be uploaded onto a form (more details from your football coaches next week). In the mean-time, keep the evidence titled and in a folder ready to upload.
Good luck!
TRIVIA
Have a go at our weekly trivia questions and send in your answers for a merit!
This week’s questions have been set by Trivikram (2P) and are based on world records!
Here they are:
- How large are the largest hands on a teenager?
- How many people were in the largest human image of a rocket?
- How tall is the tallest cantilevered building?
- How old was the youngest Tetris champion?
- How much does the world’s most expensive car cost?
Answers to last week’s questions:
- Quito
- Cheese and Onion
- 1970
- 8
- Lewis Hamilton
- Bond Street, Oxford Street, Regent Street
- Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United
- Blinding Lights (by The Weekend)
- Ice/cold
- Ben Nevis, Snowdon, Scaffel Pike
