Welcome to the First Year Blog
The rather autumnal weather this week has not put off the First Years from enjoying themselves, including a very wet and windy rugby practice on Tuesday! This week was Biology Week in School, and the boys enjoyed learning about aspects of Biology outside the normal curriculum (more below!). As we head towards half term, the boys have an exciting final week ahead of them, with a Geography trip to the South Downs, and a History theatre experience held at School to keep them busy!
BIOLOGY WEEK
For Biology week, the Biology department has put on a host of activities and talks for the boys to celebrate all things biological! Alexander S (1H) reports on what the First Years have been getting up to:
Biology week, consists of one week where you get to hear from great biologists describing what can happen with biology and amazing activities that you get set by your teacher. Throughout this week I have discovered what a microscope can really do and what it consists of. We also learned about the electron microscope which can zoom to make the cell 5,000,000 times bigger! WOW!
The biology talk lasted about 25 minutes and was very interesting. The speaker (a biology professor) talked about the adaptation of different animals including elephants, hippos and giraffes. Although we were not watching with our own eyes, the tech didn’t let us down. The biology teachers planned this week very well and I think we should thank them all.
CLUB OF THE WEEK!
Every week, we will be looking at one of the many clubs that Hampton has to offer, and what the boys get up to. This week, Ethan P (1W) tell us about Chemistry Club:
A handful of eager First Years, inspired by a previous Chemistry lesson, kicked off their Tuesday lunch with Chemistry Club. Excitement was raised when the First Years were told about their first experiment: elephant toothpaste. They started off by mixing hydrogen peroxide and washing up liquid. They then added food colouring to give their toothpaste a certain flare. The final ingredient was the catalyst: yeast. The catalyst would give the elephant toothpaste the ability to rise. As the First Years added the yeast, the reaction began. The foamy liquid rose to the top of the measuring cylinder and spurted out.
Once all the individual experiments were finished, the pupils came together to create one big experiment. 5x the amount and power of hydrogen peroxide was used in hope of getting 5x the reaction. Their goals were certainly achieved as the elephant toothpaste ended up filling the tray. The teacher then sparked another chemical reaction by setting a stick alight and then burying it in the toothpaste. This caused the foam to glow brightly and then evaporate. That last experiment saw the first meeting of the Chemistry club come to a close.
A great report from Ethan. This week the young chemists learnt all about the iodine clock reaction. Take a look at the boys experimenting below:
CLUBS GALORE
With just one more week until half term, there is still plenty of time for First 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!
MODEL UNITED NATIONS
This week, a group of Hamptonians, including several First Years, travelled to Reigate for their first Model United Nations conference this year. Manraj G (1F) reports on their progress:
This weekend I attended my very first Model United Nations conference. The conference was centred around debate on various international matters, including health and security. I was very nervous, yet excited as I boarded the coach to Reigate School. When we arrived we were taken into our different committee, mine was the health committee. We debated resolutions on issues such as drugs and euthanasia.
The country I was representing was North Korea therefore there was a lot of controversy around our ideas. I made speeches representing my country’s views on drugs and also debated other topics.
After a fruitful and enjoyable morning of debating we had a hasty lunch, eager for the debating to continue. Interrupting the afternoon debate we suddenly received a call for an emergency meeting as we heard news that the Taliban, China and Pakistan were invading Israel, Palestine and part of Egypt. Due to the fact that I was a delegate of North Korea I was supportive of the invasion as an ally of China. We then debated about what to do and tried to convince the other nations to support the invasion!
Then to conclude the day the awards were given out. I did not win an award but I am delighted that other Hamptonians were recognised for their achievements. Congratulations to the award winning Hamptonians representing the UK and Turkey.
Tutee of the Week
Each week Tutors in the First Year team nominate a boy who they have been particularly impressed with and Mr Hill and Mrs Halford will provide the boy with a football to use on the 3G for the week!
This week’s Tutee of the Week is Brennan C (1H). Brennan’s teachers have been really impressed with his teamwork skills and enthusiasm in the past few weeks. Well done, Brennan!
SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS!
Manraj G (1F) and his younger brother recently won First Prize with their entry to the James Parsons Crazy Comic Club. Manraj reports:
I was ecstatic about winning a comic drawing competition recently. During lockdown last year drawing and painting was a fun way to pass the time and even now l find it is one of my favourite hobbies.
Well done, Manraj!
We love to hear about what you have been getting up to outside of school. Please do send any information about any of your achievements through to Mrs Ziegler (h.ziegler@hamptonschool.org.uk).
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.
FIRST YEAR 5 QUESTIONS
We had an impressive 52 entries for this week’s First Year 5 Questions. 1L are our weekly champions once again with an astonishing 20 submissions! Well done to everyone who entered!
1P: Noah RdM, Matteo B, Rufus L, Thomas Q, Seb H, Nileeth G
1F: Adam K, Kota D, Manraj G, Ivan S, Ishaan A, Siddharth S, Theo T, Rahul B, Tom S
1J: Lucas Z, Leo S, Alex M, Jack H, Alexander M
1B: Kiran G, Anton C, Ethan G, Tolu I, Sena K, Salah S, Rory M, Daniel M, Habib T, Jamie R
1W: Oliver S, Ethan P, James P, Abhideep S, Charlie E, Sanjit B
1L: Alex C, Dylan C, Olly P, Josh G, Danny P, Max D, Luke T, Jaime R-B, Joe T, Kai W, Oliver C, Zaki C, Rafe M, Haadi H, Dominic N, Jayden C, Alexey M, Oscar M-C, Umair M, Max P
1H: Alex S, Huw P, Thomas D, Adam S
Take a look at this week’s questions – have a go yourself or challenge people at home and see if they know the answer. Merits are awarded for everyone who has a go! Just click on the link below and enter your answers; points for the Inter-Form Competition will be awarded to the form with the most entries every week.
- What is spaghettification?
- Unscramble these words to make the name of a popular Disney film: think legion
- What language is spoken in Brazil?
- Name the eldest Weasley sibling?
- Which new British military force was established in 1918?
Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Remember to write your name in the form so you can be credited with merits!
Take a look at next week’s blog to find out the answers and which Form is crowned our weekly champion.
And here are the answers to last week’s 5 questions:
- What is the most sold flavour of Walker’s crisps? Cheese & onion
- What does the Latin Tempus mean in English? Time
- How many Grand Slam singles titles has Serena Williams won? 23
- Which UK city is situated further west – Bristol or Edinburgh? Edinburgh
- Which country was the first to give women the right to vote, in 1893? New Zealand
