Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
Despite it feeling like the Christmas holidays have only just happened, it is somehow March already! Time flies when you’re busy having fun and this week has seen no change to the wide variety of activities that the Third Years have been getting stuck into. There have been some excellent achievements in the past week, and I would like to give shout outs to the following members of the Third Year:
- Zain A and Alecs L for representing Third Year at the recent UK Linguistics Olympiad
- Ben K for being the only Third Year to be selected for the Head of the River rowing event
It would be great to continue to give shout outs in future blogs to those who have had a positive impact on the Hampton community. If you have a friend, teacher or support staff member that you would like to nominate, please get in touch! It doesn’t have to be limited to achievements like the above; it would be great to hear about someone who has gone above and beyond to be kind to someone, or a small gesture that has had a big impact on someone’s day.
Enjoy reading the rest of the blog – it’s a bumper sport edition this week! There is also the return of the ‘Club of the Week’ feature as well as the second iteration of the Treasure Hunt Challenge. Have a great weekend!
Heads of Year Message
Thanks to all the pupils who have sent match reports and other contributions to this and previous blogs. It is your blog and it is wonderful to hear your voices through it. Please keep the contributions coming to Mr Lees!
Looking ahead to next week, 38 Third Year boys will attend the catch-up session for DTP & Men ACWY vaccinations on Wednesday morning, and the first of the RSE mornings hosted by Esther Hardy will take place for Forms 3A-3D on Thursday.
Behaviour notice
As we approach the middle of this half term, it is important to remind all pupils to maintain the high standards of behaviour we expect of Hamptonians in all aspects of School life. This includes your interactions with teachers, peers, visitors and parents whilst on the school site, on the journey to and from school, and during sports fixtures and school trips.
Covid testing & precautions
Face coverings are no longer required to be worn by pupils in school or on school coaches, although all members of the school community are welcome to wear one if they prefer.
We would advise that boys take a PCR test if they have symptoms of Covid-19 (a raised temperature; a new persistent cough; a change in sense of taste or smell), and continue to follow the isolation guidance if they receive a positive PCR test.
Positive PCR test results should be reported to the School using the Firefly form here. Once received, arrangements will be made for your son to join lessons online and complete work from home if he is feeling well enough to do so.
Absences
For medical absences, please notify your son’s Form Tutors via email (cc’ing absence@hamptonschool.org.uk) on the morning of each day of absence by 8:45am.
For planned absences and appointments, please contact Heads of Year requesting the absence with as much notice as possible.
Boys – Please remember to let us, your Form Tutors or the relevant subject teachers know if you are having any difficulties.
Have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Miss V Smith
Human intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence
By Max C and Gabriel McG:
Last Friday, Madur Seth gave a talk to a group of keen pupils who wanted to expand their knowledge on how human intelligence and artificial intelligence are linked. Madur explained that we cannot reach advanced artificial intelligence if we don’t understand how our own brain functions and works. It was a very advanced speech about how our human brains work – what we found most interesting was when he told us that amazingly even when we are asleep our brains are active.
Madur Seth also spoke about the difference of AI and AGI (artificial general intelligence). AI is programmed by humans so has a limited capacity of what they are able to do. However, AGI can do any task that a human can do. But what programs humans? The answer is ourselves, we have the ability to program ourselves which is what the AGI can do.
Sports Round Up
U14A Football vs Whitgift by Daniel M:
We kicked off our Elgin League semi-final on the 3G with the boys ready and excited for the game. At the start of the match it was fairly equal but 15 minutes before half time Hampton began to gain control of the match. That continued into the second half with Hampton dominating but still the score was 0-0 at full time. Extra time came and Hampton were even more dominant and determined to make the breakthrough but Whitgift’s defence was very well organised and they were difficult to break down. The match would be determined by penalties, with great penalties from Nicholas A, Quinn S and Dexter B the score was 3-3 on penalties and Sam M-J had the chance to step up and win the game for Hampton and he didn’t disappoint, with the ball hitting the post and going in. It was an amazing game from everyone and we fully deserved the win – onto the finals we go!
U14A Football vs Wellington by Alex A:
On Saturday, the Hampton U14A team played Wellington College. We started quite poorly and they did not capitalise upon their aggressive play, forcing a close and tense beginning, but we fought on throughout the match. We had a depleted squad and the people who needed to stand up and make a difference were able to do so. Billy W, Nolan B, and Mikey D all performed very well coming up from the B team. Late in the game, Ollie S played a through ball to Billy W who put in a nice cross to Sam M-J who was able to finish from close range. After a hard fought second half, the game ended 1-0 – a good result considering we were missing players and were not at our best for much of the game.
U14C Football vs Wellington by Rocky McC:
Hampton U14C Football match against Wellington College ended in a close 0-0 draw. Both sides created good chances throughout the match but neither side was able to get that all important goal. It was a balanced game with much of Wellington’s play coming from long balls into the channels. However, the most interesting parts of the game were in the second half. Hampton’s standout chance came from a corner when the ball was delivered to the back post and Hampton striker Max T volleyed the ball towards the goal before being brilliantly saved by the Wellington goalkeeper. Hampton defended strongly with the only close call being a header that went flying over the bar from a corner and a miscommunication between the Hampton goalkeeper Rocky M and Connor H almost resulting in a goal, which was cleared off the line just in time.
U14 Rugby Sevens by Gabriel McG:
This half term the Rugby squad has taken up Rugby Sevens instead of the normal 15 a-side Rugby Union that we have played up until this point. Rugby Sevens is a very fast paced and tiring game due to the fact that half the people have to cover the same amount of space as a normal game of Rugby Union, making speed and momentum imperative to a good offensive strategy. This half term the team is looking forward to a number of friendly Sevens tournaments alongside some Rugby Union fixtures for the B team which we are all very excited to play in.
U14 Surrey Sevens by Tobi Q:
This was our first tournament as a Sevens team. We started off the tournament very strongly, playing against Weydon School, comfortably beating them 44-0. Next, we played Esher Church of England High School, another comfortable victory, 36-0. Our heads were high and our confidence was building. However, the next two games were going to be the hardest of the group stage, so we really needed to focus on these games. In the first of these, we played The Cedars School, who we comfortably beat 34-0. The next game was back-to-back with the previous match, so a lot of us were feeling tired from the previous game. We played Emanuel School, and this was a closer match, but we still won 24-7. After we had our lunch break and a well-earned rest, we were in the quarter finals of the cup but it was now the knockout stages. We found out that we were play St Johns Leatherhead, and we knew we had previously drawn against them in 15-a-side, so we knew this would be a very close match. We started off the first half very strongly, winning 12-0 at half-time, with Will scoring, and Omar sliding in with another, which was given as a penalty try. But after the half-time break, we seemed to change our style of play, moving from brilliant 7s rugby, to more of a 15s rugby style. We ended up losing the match 12-17. For our first tournament as a team, we played really well and accustomed to the style of play that 7s needs. Everyone had a great day and a big thank you to Mr Lashley and Mr Beattie for encouraging us and giving excellent advice. We learnt a lot from the day and hope to bring that forward to the next match or tournament.
Rowing by Max C and Daniel M:
On Sunday, members of the Third Year represented Hampton in a friendly rowing race between ourselves, St George’s and LEH. The race was great fun and enjoyed by all, topped off with Hampton’s top boat placing first overall. I recommend that other Third Years come along and try Sunday Rowing. Anyone is welcome to come along, even if you don’t normally do rowing – there are lots of footballers and rugby players there that enjoyed the race with us. We hope to see you there – it’s really fun!
Rowing Update
The rowers raced in a private match last Sunday against St. George’s College. Continuing their winning streak, the top boat of Alex N, Max C, Henry H, Henry C, Monty H, Leo R, Mitul A, Freddie M and coxed by Trivikram P was the fastest crew in the race, beating the St George’s A crew by a good margin. Our lower boats were less successful, and we are hoping that our Easter training camp will be a great opportunity to bring these crews up to speed ready for the Summer regatta season.
Our final race of this term will be on Wednesday 16 March at the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head at Dorney Lake. This race attracts the strongest opposition and we are looking forward to seeing how we compare with the large number of crews who usually compete at this event.
Rowing is not all about being strong, fit and mentally tough. Each boat has a steersman called a cox, who is normally picked for being small, loud, smart and enjoys the leadership opportunity of controlling a crew of his peers. The cox is very much the most important person in the crew on race day as they take over from the coaches, making sure that their crew is safe, rowing technically well and motivated all the way down the course. Coxes also sometimes have the opportunity to train and race with older age groups, and we are delighted that Ben K has been selected to cox the Senior 2nd Eight at the School’s Head of the River on Monday 14 March.
Club of the Week
Cryptic Crossword Club by Marin M:
Cryptic Crosswords (or more commonly known by the year group as ‘Crippies’) occurs on the second half of Monday lunchtime where we all meet in Room 11a and start deciphering the Times Newspaper’s weekly challenge. The classroom is almost full once the club has started where we tackle each cryptic clue one by one, giving our brains a relaxing but invigorating exercise after the weekend for the school week ahead. For those of you wondering what a Cryptic Crossword is, as it suggests in the name it is crossword that has two parts to a clue, the first part being the answer and the second part being the cryptic section where you are supposed to deduct the answer from. There are trigger words such as confused, indicating an anagram or ‘in’ which often indicates that the word you’re looking for is actually in the cryptic part of the sentence. For example, an easy cryptic would be ‘paper money produced by a musician.’ First of all, we would split it up into two parts, the answer being ‘paper money’ and the part of which we deduct the answer from, ‘produced by a musician’. The answer to this would be notes due to being a symbol relating to music of which would be ‘produced by a musician’. Then we would be able to check this due to ‘paper money’ often being referred to as a note. Now that you know the basics, come along at 1:10pm on Monday and give Cryptic Crosswords Club a try.
Talk! Sir Anthony Seldon
For any aspiring politicans among you, or if you just have an interest in what’s going on in Westminster, the first Talk! of the term takes place on Tuesday 15 March in the Hammond Theatre at 1pm. Find out more here.
Treasure Hunt Challenge
Well done to Nathan N for exploring the School and solving last week’s Treasure Hunt Challenge. The answer is as follows:
If you subtract the number of benches in Cloisters (12) from the year that P. W. Greenwood was School Captain (1952) and then divide by one less than the number of pillars in the Atrium (5), what number do you get?
Answer: (1952 – 12)/5 = 388
Below is this week’s challenge, as well as a box for you to input your answer. Good luck!
Connection Corner
A record-breaking number of entries for last week’s Connection Corner – well done to the 37 Hamptonians who had a go! And nearly everyone guessed the connection correctly as chocolate
Merits go to Rohan L, Theo D, Oliver C, Tobi Q, Gabriele C, Angus H, Alex R, Ben R (x2), Viren A, Rohan P, Noel Y, Noah K, Arun B, Jeff L, Joseph B, Angus H, Monty H, Aryan S, Mikael N, Lewis W, Samuel B, Ed M, Sam M-J, Alasdair M, Monty S, Charlie C, Eddie H, Nathan N, Viren A, Pedro CM, Eashan A, Oliver D, Thomas W-M.
Special mention to Mrs Reilly from Form 3J who obviously rallied the troops this week, as 3J are crowned this week’s overall champions with a whopping 16 entries!
Another tricky one this week, have a go over the weekend and see if you can spot the connection:
In case you’re still perplexed, here are last week’s answers:
What are the famous red vehicles driven around the streets of London? Double-decker bus
Which American singer sung the hit singles “24K Magic” and “That’s What I Like”? Bruno Mars
What form of talking can only just be heard by those it is directed at? Whisper
A system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction is know as what? Galaxy
Connection: Chocolate bars – Double-decker, Mars, Wispa, Galaxy
