Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
Wow this half term has been flying by; it is hard to believe that we only have one week left until our October Break! This week, we have had the excitement of Biology Week, and it is fantastic to see so many of you collecting lots of merits!
MERITS
Well done to the following boys for reaching their merit milestones this week!
Max Flannery – 10
Aiden Hughes – 10
Oliver Booth – 10
Jihwan Moon – 10
Nathaniel Chukwu – 10
Ameya Mathur – 10
Gabriel Spooner – 10
Joshua Ripon – 20
Arie Biju – 20
TUTOR INTERVIEWS
Our weekly interviews, are a great opportunity for you to find found out a little bit more about your Tutors! So, thank you to Aadi (2L) who interviewed Mr Sims; the other half of 2L’s tutor team!
Why did you want to be a teacher?
I think the job offers me everything I enjoy – working with young people; working outside on a daily basis and being heavily involved in sport – it’s perfect for me!
What are your favourite sports to teach children?
I love teaching all sports really but I guess my favourites would be gymnastics and volleyball.
What’s the hardest part of teaching PE?
Trying to engage pupils who aren’t naturally sporty. This, to me, is also one of the most important parts of my job and is a real challenge to help pupils find an activity or exercise that they really enjoy and can continue with into their adult lives.
What skills do you think makes up a perfect teacher?
I think you have to be passionate about your subject, approachable and very patient! And obviously have a real desire to help young people develop. I am sure there are many more but I think these things are important to me.
What degree do you have and where from?
I have a BSc (Hons) degree in Sports Rehabilitation and I studied at the University of Salford.
What’s your teaching style/philosophy?
Number one for me is ensuring pupils are enjoying physical activity. If you enjoy something, I think you are much more likely to learn something too.
If you won the lottery, would you leave teaching?
Tricky one! I think I will always be involved in teaching in one way or another. When I win the lottery, you’ll be the first to know.
What sports do you like watching Hampton boys play?
Any sport where the pupils look like they are enjoying themselves! But particularly football and cricket.
Last but not least, pie or cake?
I can’t believe you’ve asked that question to a PE teacher! I would have to say cake (with a huge helping of fruit on the side and only once in a blue moon!)
HAMPTON HISTORY
Kanishk (2W) tells us more about the history of our School, this week introducing John Jones and Nathaniel Lacey
John was born in Shrewsbury but probably soon moved to London where he became a prominent businessman and leading citizen. He was a staunch Parliamentarian (a Civil War captain), an MP and for a short time, was probably imprisoned in the notorious Tower of London. When he died in 1692 the School was a considerable beneficiary of his will, but neither the original nor the modifications were properly witnessed. They were therefore challenged by some of his relatives in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The court initially awarded all of Captain John Jones’s real estate. But after the lawyer Nathaniel Lacey intervened, the will was amended, for £264 this land was conveyed to a body of trustees to be used as Jones intended.
Jones seems to have merely wanted to increase the endowments of Hampton School without elevating it from an elementary institution, but, by the terms of his will his executors had been left some discretion in the disposal of any funds remaining after all of their obligations had been met. Accordingly, in 1697 they bought three-quarters of a freehold of a property in Fleet Street, housing a very popular Nando’s Coffee House. Two of these quarters was transferred to the trustees, the rental to be used to employ a man to teach local children “the English and Latin tongue” thus transforming the school into a Grammar School. So, it was Jones’s trustees who laid the foundations for the type of school we are today.
IN LESSONS SNAPSHOT
This week in Physics, we were learning about deafness and hearing loss. Some symptoms of hearing loss are:
- difficulty hearing other people clearly, and misunderstanding what they say, especially in noisy places
- asking people to repeat themselves
- listening to music or watching television loudly
- having to concentrate hard to hear what other people are saying, which can be tiring or stressful
Hearing loss not only can affect your hearing but can affect your life as well. If someone can’t hear well, they can be socially excluded, and this can negatively affect their mental health. It was really interesting to learn about hearing and the difficulties that people face when experiencing hearing loss. By Ameya (2J)
MATHS CLUB
On Fridays, there are a ton of challenging and fun questions waiting to be solved at Maths Club! Last week, Second and Third Years teamed up to solve a ridiculously hard mathematical crossword. I, personally, am awaiting this Friday with great anticipation of what is to do there then. If you like Maths, or want to learn the ways of a genius, pop into room 7 at second lunch period on a Friday! By Arie (2P)
BIOLOGY WEEK
The Biology Department hosted a number of fantastic events this week, in aid of Biology Week 2021, which showcases the important and amazing world of the biosciences! Second Years were able to enjoy Cyanotype Nature Prints at Lower School Art Club, and were treated to a fascinating talk by Wildlife Photographer David Fettes during Form Period on Thursday. Finally, on Friday, pupils that attend Biology Club were treated to a special animal encounter experience with Safari Pete!!
RUGBY UPDATE
Second Years have had the pleasure of doing rugby matches against other schools. Since in First Year we couldn’t do rugby matches, it has been really great. This year, we have had enough rugby players for three teams: C, B and A! This means that all of us have a chance to play matches, which is great as we can all have a chance to play! We have played three matches so far with lots of results. The all the teams have been doing very well in their matches. The A team recently won their match against St Georges Weybridge! It has been great to get back to competitive sport! By Lucas (2P)
3G FUN
The 3G. It’s one of the best places to go in Hampton. It’s just so much fun to play football with your friends and just have a laugh. I’m so grateful that Hampton has given us an abundant amount of goals. Instead of having to use our blazers, me and my friends can play in any one of the goals. It’s also a great place to hone your football skills. Another thing that I enjoy about it is that it is basically permanently open. I really love the 3G and thank Hampton for such great facilities. By Aarush (2J)
Hampton Sports Chronicle
Great to see more match reports from some of our budding sports reporters appear on the Hampton Sports Chronicle website. Well done to Omer O (2F) who reported on the U13Bs game against Alleyn’s School here and Arun C (2F) and Neel M (2F) who told us all about the U13Cs match here to continue their unbeaten run. Well done boys!
ACHIEVEMENTS
A big well done to Marcus (2B) who competed in a Mini-Marathon at the weekend and finished inside the top 10!! Thank you, Marcus, for telling us more about your achievement below!
The Mini Marathon took place on Sunday 3 October which was also the day that the actual Marathon happened. It started off by having to wake up very early to get to our team coaches. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and each other region came to this event in London, picking six of their best runners to compete in London. The London region was so big that they had to divide it into 33 different London boroughs and I competed for team Kingston. The race was 5km in previous years but they had to reduce it to just 2.6km for COVID-19 regulations. It was a crowded start with everyone hustling to get as far to the front as possible, and as would be expected, a quick start. The route for the Mini Marathon is simply the last stretch of the London Marathon course, ending at The Mall with Buckingham Palace there as well. I managed to come 8th place in the end out of just over 200 athletes.
CLUBS GALORE
With just one more week until half term, there is still plenty of time for Second Years to try out some new and exciting lunchtime clubs that are such a part of what makes Hampton so brilliant – have a look below and pick a club to try out before the break!
From Art Club to Cryptic Crosswords, Book Club to Badminton, why not have a go and try something new!
Guys and Dolls
Next week sees the long awaited return of the Senior School Musical, as Hamptonians and LEH pupils entertain us with Guys and Dolls and there are still tickets available! Tickets are available on the School website.
NEWS ROUND-UP
A round-up of this week’s news by Akshat (2J)
This week the fuel crisis is still raging across the country but recently in the last couple of days there has been less chaos in the North. In happier news, celebrations across the world have taken place to celebrate Black History Month which is taking place during October. This event is important to millions of people around the world as it makes sure that we don’t repeat the mistakes of our past. There was also a massive crash on Monday afternoon as all the Facebook servers switched off and across the globe Instagram and WhatsApp was inaccessible for everyone. Mark Zuckerberg apologised for this event for happening and explained that its cause was an ‘internal power outage’. In the sports news, there have been question marks over the Ashes tour coming up between Australia and England and even England’s backbone Joe Root is not yet confirming whether he will go down under. If this is true, England fans should prepare for a 9-0 thumping in a 5-match series.
WEEKLY QUESTIONS
Welcome to the Weekly Questions! Every week, we’ll post 10 general knowledge questions, and, if you have a go, you can be awarded a merit if you send your answers to Miss Kugele (r.kugele@hamptonschool.org.uk)! This week’s science-based questions have been set by Ben and Joshua (2J)
- What is the chemical symbol for gold?
- What is the name for the biological study of fish?
- What was the name of the first animal to be cloned?
- What is the name of the process which happens to matter in black holes?
- What does DNA stand for?
- How long does it take for the Sun’s light to reach Earth?
- Which prehistoric period was the Tyrannosaurus Rex from?
- What is the equation to find out Force?
- Who created the Periodic Table and which number element is named after him?
- What is known as the powerhouse of the cells?
Here are the answers to last week’s questions:
- Who is the most successful Olympian of all time (In terms of medals)? Michael Phelps
- Who won the recent Ryder Cup that took place during this month? Team USA
- Who has won the most IPL matches in its’ history? Mumbai Indians
- Who has participated in the most F1 races without getting a podium? Ans- Niko Hülkenberg
- Which footballer has won the most major trophies? Dani Alves
- Who won the 2015 Super Bowl? New England Patriots
- Who won gold in hockey at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics? Belgium
- As of July 2020, what is the most popular game on PlayStation in terms of hours played? Ghost of Tsushima
- What NBA franchise is the most successful of all time? The Lakers
- What sport is Charlotte Dujardin famous for and where is she from? Horse Riding and she is from the UK
