Welcome to the First Year Blog!

With December now upon us, the entrance of the School has been transformed, with the Hampton Elves putting up the Christmas tree overnight! Rehearsals are well underway for the Christmas concerts next week, and a number of First Year boys were involved in the tech team for the Christmas show, ‘A Midwinter’s Nightmare’. The sporting scene has been no less busy, with over 100 boys involved in football or rugby block fixtures last Friday, and the U12A rugby team away today at the Middlesex rugby festival – good luck, boys!

Next week is set to be particularly busy, with all the First Year taking part in the Christmas concert, and many other boys singing or playing in choirs and orchestras at our other musical events. As tiredness kicks in towards the end of term, it is even more important to behave towards each other with kindness and respect, a point that was emphasised in this week’s assembly and PSHE session on bullying and considering the impact of words. Remember that one kind word can go a long way!

A CHRISTMAS NIGHTMARE!

This week, the Christmas show, ‘A Midwinter’s Nightmare’, took place in the Hammond Theatre. Alex S (1H) went along to see what it was like:

The Christmas show, A Midwinter’s Nightmare, is a very strange and unique show. It is unique because it is spread out across five different scenes happening at the same time. The directors split the stage into five sections; each section is a different place in the show. The show itself is about a murderer killing someone at a festival. Each scene contains different actors acting out an interrogation between a police officer and the witness. The detectives take the audience around each scene and let them figure out the murderer all by themselves. You have an opportunity to ask questions about anything. There were other scenes like the festival song and the exposure of the murderer at the end. 

If you missed it, take a look below at a whistlestop performance of the whodunnit:

 

CLUB OF THE WEEK

This week, Alex L and Josh M-J (1J) tells us a little about the clubs they attend:

Badminton Club is a perfect place to have fun competing with your friends, or just to play casually. Simply grab a racquet and play. It begins from the start of lunch on Wednesday and ends at 1:15pm in the Sports Hall. There are coaches if you want to improve or, if you want to just have fun, you can just play your friends! If, at any time you get bored, you could always switch to table tennis, which is also in the Sports Hall at the same time. Josh M-J (1J)

Basketball Club starts at the start of lunch and ends at 1:05pm on Fridays so it is usually 30 minutes long. At the start everyone takes a basketball and shoots into the hoops whilst waiting for more people to come. Then we do dribbling and skills for a bit and play matches for the last 15 minutes. I think that this club is brilliant for enhancing your basketball skills and showing them to your friends. If you demonstrate great play and teamwork you might get chosen to play for the First Year Basketball team. The club takes place in the Sports Hall. Alex L (1J)

Goalkeeper training: If you are a goalie then this is a very good club for you as it helps to improve on your football goalkeeping skills. It begins at the start of lunchtime and ends at 1:25pm every Tuesday at the back of the sports fields. This club requires games kit, chin pads and goalie gloves and it is open for goalkeepers with any level of skill. Use changing room three as it is for football training and goalkeeper training for First and Second Years. I think that this is an enjoyable and fun club for you to do during your lunch break. Alex L (1J)

In Chess Club you can play chess games whenever you want (for the whole lunchtime) against whoever you want and however you want. It is open every Thursday in Room 25 (the room that is next to the library on second floor). If you don’t know how to play then you can ask and someone will explain the rules to you. The club is open to any age – First Year to Upper Sixth and any level of skill. Basically it is a chance to enjoy a relaxing game of Chess. Alex L (1J)

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 Jasper M (1P). Jasper really impressed us with his helpfulness as a volunteer at the 11+ examinations, where he went above and beyond to help the invigilators and make the applicants feel comfortable. Well done, Jasper!

SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS

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).

FIRST YEAR FIVE QUESTIONS

We had an impressive 30 entries for this week’s First Year 5 Questions. 1J are this week’s champions with seven entries! Well done to everyone who entered!

1F: Ishaan A, Tom S, Rahul B, Manraj G, Ivan S

1J: Zach A, Lucas Z, Nihal B, Jake O’R, Alex M, Leo S, Alexander M

1B: Kiran G, Alex M, Rory M, Habib T, Dylan L

1W: Abhideep S, Atulya S, Oliver S, Lorenzo I, Ethan M, James P

1L: Kai W, Haadi H, Zen N, Danny P

1H: Adam S, Max A, Darshan 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.

  1. What is Joe Root’s ODI shirt number?
  2. Name the 2021 winner of the Great British Bake Off.
  3. What is the capital of Finland?
  4. How many elements are in the periodic table?
  5. What is the longest Harry Potter film? (Non-extended versions)

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:

  1. What is Collins Dictionary ‘s Word of the Year 2021? NFT (Non Fungible Token).
  2. In what part of the body would you find the fibula? Leg
  3. Rafael Nadal has won all four majors at least once in his career – true or false? True
  4. Who authored The Hunger Games book series? Suzanne Collins
  5. Who discovered penicillin? Alexander Fleming

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Back to All Articles