Welcome to the First Year Blog!
Who can believe that it’s almost the last week of the school year?? First Year Hamptonians have had a particularly packed week, with the boys taking part in stage combat workshops, and the entire First Year decamping to Marwell Zoo for a Biology trip on Wednesday. The Choir have also been busily rehearsing for Founders’ Day, and will be recording their pieces at St Mary’s Church, Hampton on Monday. Next week, everyone will be participating in the First Year Fun Run on Monday, with all entry funds going towards Form Charity. Monday is also a mufti day for the First Year boys; to help with identifying the forms, we would like them to wear the Hampton t-shirts they were given a Avon Tyrrell, or a t-shirt of a similar colour. There is a ‘Best Team Spirit’ award, which will go towards the interform competition, so it is a good chance to rack up some final points for the Interform Cup!
STAGE COMBAT WORKSHOPS
On Monday and Tuesday, each First Year class had an hour of Stage Combat training, in preparation for their Drama course next year. Charlie E (1W) fills us in on what the boys got up to:
This week, First Years were invited to try a stage combat course. This is the art of fake fighting. Three specific moves were taught. The slap, punch and armlock. Before each one, we were told to find a safe distance by the ‘harmer’ putting their hand out straight and the ‘harmee’ with their arm bent back if the harmer could not touch the elbow then it was a safe distance.
For the slap, the harmer raises their hand and sweeps it across air near the harmee’s face. The harmee will then turn in the appropriate way and react to it while also clapping to make a sound effect. The punch is very similar. All the steps are the same except the sound effect, in which the harmer will lightly hit their chest with a cupped hand. The armlock is the final one. The harmee will twist their arm and bend over while the harmer holds onto their wrist and rests a hand on the appropriate shoulder. All of the first years enjoyed learning it.
ROCK CONCERT
On Friday 17 June, several of our First Year boys took to the stage of the Drama Hall for the Summer Rock Concert. First Year musicians put in a particularly strong showing, with the Junior Rock Band and several soloists performing songs from Snow Patrol, Foo Fighters, Elton John and Aerosmith! Well done to all those who performed and rocked on in such style!
FIRST YEAR TRIP TO MARWELL ZOO
On Wednesday, the First Year set off for a day of animal-spotting and conservation study at Marwell Zoo, near Winchester. Charlie D (1B) and Josh M-J (1J) update us on what they got up to:
We arrived at Marwell Zoo at around 10:30 and we were told the groups we would stay with for the day and got given a booklet that we later filled in with notes about the animals we saw and conservation of these species. First, we went to see a few animals such as the Humboldt Penguins, the Giraffes and the White-Faced Saki Monkey. We then attended a lecture about conservation and Marwell Zoo’s aims including reintroducing animals into their natural habitats and creating habitats for animals to return to. After this, we saw some more animals such as the Rhinos before having a short lunch. After eating, we went to the tropical house, where we saw a number of exotic fish and sloths. We then saw some more animals including the Meerkats, Snow Leopards and my favourite, the Red Panda. We ended the day by having an ice cream and reflecting on the trip. By Josh M-J (1J)
On Wednesday, the First Year went to Marwell Zoo. We left school at 9:00 ready for the exciting day ahead of us. After the hour and a half coach journey, we split up into groups of nine and entered the zoo. First of all, we went into the Science and Learning Centre to have a lecture about endangered species and how to save them. We learnt that exotic animals such as reptiles and other small animals are being illegally exported to foreign countries where they are sold and not looked after properly. My group then headed to the snow leopards and after peering through the gaps in the leaves for quite some time we saw the most magnificent creature basking in the sunlight. This is ironic as it’s called a Snow Leopard! We then moved onto the rhinos and thought about how sad it is that such a unique and special animal is poached for fun and money. After that, we went into this little building that had a whole range of animals from the White-Faced Saki to the Golden Lion Tamarin. For me the most interesting animal in there was the Binturong which is grey furry animal the size of a medium sized dog. It comes from South East Asia and likes to hang on to branches with its prehensile tail. It’s quite vulnerable as the young are sold as pets, their skins traded or the animals are sold for their meat which is a delicacy in Laos.
As we had been walking for quite a long time, we were beginning to get hungry and thirsty so we stopped for lunch next to the Hartman’s Mountain Zebras. It’s not every day I can say I did that! During lunch, my teacher said that we would go to the reptile house which made me very excited as I adore snakes. In there, we saw lots of lizards, snakes and even a turtle. I found it very cool to see how the lizards manage to climb branches so quickly and how the Royal Python finds shelter using its surroundings. When we left the reptile house, we did the Wallaby walk where we saw not just Wallabies but also a Red Panda. We read the description about the Parma Wallabies and found out that they are endangered animals and are threatened because of the habitat clearance. After the Wallaby Walk we headed for the tigers. We were a bit worried that we would not see one but after looking for a while we saw it walking around its enclosure. The beautiful black stripes were very distinct and I think that if I was in a rainforest, I could spot that from a mile away. After this, we proceeded into another building where we saw a group of Ring-tailed Lemurs sleeping on top of each other and as I turned the corner there was the most amazing sight – the most stunning and enormous giraffe towering over the trees. This was definitely the highlight of my trip as I had never seen a giraffe in person before. They are such elegant, magnificent creatures and so tall. Once my group managed to drag me away from the giraffes, we went over to the last animals of the day which were the Humboldt Penguins. There were about ten of them in a nice pool of water where we saw them swim around and lie on the rocks in the sun. It was then time for home after a most wonderful and interesting day. By Charlie D (1B)
Lion Print
Take a look at some of the fantastic work from some of our First Year pupils in this year’s Lion Print here.
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 Peattie will provide the boy with a football to use on the 3G for the week!
This week’s Tutee of the Week is Leo G (1P). Leo’s consistent effort in lessons and politeness and thoughtfulness to those around him have really impressed his form tutor and teachers. Well done, Leo!
SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS!
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 5 QUESTIONS
Well done to everyone who entered last week’s quiz! Merits go to:
1J: Myles B-N, Leo S, Lucas Z, Jake O’R
1W: Oliver S, Abhideep S
1L: William O’S, Olly P, Jack M
1B: Rory M, Salah S
1P: Shanjeet K
1F: Ishaan A
Take a look at this week’s questions – have a go yourself or challenge people at home and see if they know the answer.
- Which class of animals have the most species on the planet?
- Kathmandu is the capital city of which country?
- In cricket, when was the first Ashes competition played?
- Name all four penguins in the film Madagascar?
- Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?
Merits are awarded for everyone who has a go! Just click on the link below and enter your answers; points for the Interform Competition will be awarded to the form with the most entries every week.
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 here are the answers to last week’s 5 questions:
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- Which river flows through Paris? The Seine
- Which swimming stroke is named after an insect? Butterfly
- Which vegetable did Sir Walter Raleigh bring to England? The potato
- Fe is the symbol of which chemical element? Iron
- What is the name of Jack Sparrow’s ship? The Black Pearl
Have a great weekend!
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