Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
It may have been a shorter week but it was not any less action-packed. Third Years returned after a bank holiday for Her Majesty the Queen’s funeral with stories to tell: many had managed to line the route as the hearse passed through Hounslow and Feltham on the way to Windsor. Others managed to make it to London to see the flowers and observe the queue for the Lying-in-State.
Highlights of this week have included successes for our football and rugby teams and an impressive performance by our quiz team. The Co-Curricular programme is now in full swing and we have reports on Chemistry Project Club and Book Group. Three Third Years did a great job at the 13+ Taster Event on Tuesday answering questions from parents on School life. Nathaniel C (3A) dazzled the audience with his high-level vocabulary, dropping in ‘eclectic’ and ‘ostracised’ into his answers and making his English teacher glow with pride.
Today (Friday) Third Years will be introduced to the Arts Award which is an opportunity for the boys to develop a creative skill and their leadership skills and earns them the equivalent of another GCSE qualification. More details to follow next week. Open Day tomorrow so Third Years will be out with the shoe polish tonight ready for showing the School to our visitors.
We would love to have as many of you as possible writing for the blog so please email v.whitwam@hamptonschool.org.uk with any ideas for articles or reports on Third Year life.
Heads of Year Message
We have every faith that Third Year pupils will do an excellent job showing visitors around the School site during Open Morning on Saturday. A reminder that boys should arrive looking smart in their school uniform and enter the school buildings via the Lecture Theatre entrance (half way along the side of the school building, just opposite the 3G) in time to register by 9:30am.
We are looking forward to welcoming nearly 200 Third Year parents for our Pastoral Forum on Monday evening – arrivals from 5:45pm. Thank you to everyone who signed up to attend.
We also have high hopes and expectations of Third Years taking part in Pens Down Day on Thursday next week. This should provide everyone with an opportunity to learn in new, exciting and interactive ways. Crucially, we ask that all pupils embrace this day and participate wholeheartedly, just as they did during Teambuilding last week!
If any boy is unable to attend School due to ill health, please notify the School by contacting Form Tutors and absence@hamptonschool.org.uk, or using the absence link on the Parent Portal.
To encourage the boys to think proactively about their own pastoral needs, one of the School’s counsellors visits each Form Group during an afternoon registration in the early weeks of term. This is a simple introduction to the counselling team and the service they offer in School. It also gives boys the opportunity to ask any questions they may have. These visits have been taking place during afternoon registrations over the last two weeks.
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 & Mr H Moore
Match Reports
Football
Last Saturday the U14As played their first game against a strong Wilson’s side following a well-earned summer break. The game began with a Hampton kick off and after a few minutes of readjusting themselves to school football, a chance opened up when a stray back pass from one of the opposition’s defenders was caught onto by Rio FT (3C) and neatly slotted into the bottom right-hand corner, putting Hampton ahead in the early stages of the game. Shortly afterwards, another chance was finished by Charlie M (3G) making the score 2-0. A third goal came shortly after the second after a highly skilful dribble by Marcus S (3E) through most of the Wilson’s defence ending with a cool finish into the corner. Moments later Alessandro C (3G) smashed the ball into the net after a sweet delivery from the corner flag heading right to him at the back post.
The second half began with a defensive switch-up which meant the Wilson’s attack force looked even less likely to score. It was only a matter of time before the fifth goal arose from Alessandro C (3G) with fancy footwork and a striking finish into the left-hand corner giving Hampton a well-earned 5-0 lead. This topped of a great Hampton performance and a good start to the coming campaign. By Ralph C (3A)
Rugby
Last Saturday the U14A rugby team travelled up to Essex to face a team that we narrowly beat last year, Campion School. The game began with a sudden blow to the other team as one of their key players suffered an injury. Hampton immediately capitalised with a try and conversion from Harry D (3A and Captain). From then on, we kept the scoreboard ticking and went into half time with a 21-7 lead. The game was then put to bed with tries from Jack H, Stanley A, Seb H (all in 3A) and an outstanding score from Ollie W (3A), a front row running the length of the pitch from a kick off. The game finished at 57-7, showing a significant improvement from last season’s 25-20 win. Well done boys! By Jack H and Stanley A (3A)
Club of the week – Chemistry Project Club.
As the new school year begins, there are many new clubs for everyone to try. I saw Chemistry Project Club on the club sign-up sheet and was suddenly excited as I love chemistry at Hampton and am always eager to do more. I gathered a few friends and went to the first Chemistry Project Club. I went with Kanishk M (3E), John H (3A) and Theo S (3A). It was really great but not at all as I expected as well. I thought it would be experiments pre-planned for us however it was actually a club where we could plan our own experiments and do them ourselves. At the moment we are in the process of planning how to make bouncing polymer balls and next week we will actually make them! By Faris S (3A)
Book Group
Some hungry book worms met to discuss a short horror story called ‘The Lottery’ (published in The New Yorker) and it sparked conversation about the nature of humanity. They are now moving on to The Talented Mr Ripley by Trisha Highsmith. (Meets 12:35pm in the Library on a Wednesday – lunch provided)
Coming up….
The Writers’ Room – a collaborative creative writing course for First to Third years runs at 12:35pm on Wednesdays (sandwich lunch provided)
Junior Linguistics Club is on at 1.10pm Thursday in Room S30 (in the Classics Department). Come along to crack some linguistic codes –the languages involved include Italian, Swedish and Buhid (a language spoken in the Philippines)! The club should appeal to anyone who loves languages and/or problem solving.
Psychology Club is now running in S41 at 1:15-1:45pm on Thursdays for Second and Third Year pupils.
A Poetry Moment…
Inspired by the report last week, Theo S (3A) wrote a short poem about his first week with the new numbering system:
‘Room Changes’
I wanted to go to RS
The whole new system is a mess
I cried out in pain
To my own distain
Oh Lord where on Earth is RS?
Junior Musical
Calling all budding actors! It’s time to audition for the much-anticipated Junior Musical. This year’s production is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat – which tells the journey of Joseph and his coat of many colours. Auditions will take place on Tuesday 4 October from 4 to 5:30pm in the Hammond Theatre with recalls on Tuesday 11 October. The Junior Musical is open to all First, Second, Third and Fourth Year Hamptonians.
The audition song will be Close Every Door to Me. Please familiarise yourself with the song, prior to the audition. There will also be a short and simple dance audition.
More information can be found in the poster below:
Clubs, Clubs, Clubs!
The full list of all clubs, societies and other co-curricular activities on offer at Hampton can be found here:
Co-Curricular Club Timetable 2022-23
We are currently putting the finishing touches to our exciting 2022-23 Co-Curricular Booklet and, with over 130 clubs and societies on offer, the biggest challenge will be deciding which ones to join! Keep an eye out for notices from your Form Tutor for any changes to this year’s clubs.
TALK!
The first Hampton School Talk! of the year will take place on Tuesday 27 September at 1pm in the Hammond Theatre, The Pandemic – Lessons Learned.
Presented by Lung Consultant Dr Felix Chua and Pharmaceuticals specialist Dr Andrew Makin the Talk! will offer an insight into the Covid-19 pandemic, the medical approaches for treating coronavirus, the search for a cure, and what the future might hold for Covid-19 and other pandemics. If you’re interested in all things medicine or can see your future in drug development and research, come along on 27 September and find out more.
Hamptonians from across all year groups are welcome to attend and do not need to book a ticket
Remarkable Women Lecture
LEH School are holding a Remarkable Women Lecture by their record-breaking alumnae from team ExtraOARdinary, led by LEH Head of Rowing Ms Johnston on Thursday 29th September at 7pm. Go along to get the inside story of how two alumnae and their friend with incurable cancer smashed the world record as a trio, rowing across the second largest expanse of water on the planet in the Talisker Atlantic Whisky Challenge earlier this year.
Abby Johnston, Class of 2007, Charlotte Irving, Class of 2008, and Kat Cordiner will reveal how they completed the 3,000-mile crossing in just 42 days, seven hours and 17 minutes, knocking an astonishing seven days off the female trio record.
Ms Johnston says: “We received such amazing support from the LEH community that we’re really looking forward to sharing some of the things we learnt by taking part in the challenge. When you push yourself to the limits, you realise what you are made of. Having been through this together we now have an unbreakable bond and it taught us as much about teamwork as it did about our own strengths and weaknesses. We learnt that if you work hard, really hard, you will succeed.” Reserve your ticket on this website: www.hollesconnect.org.uk/event/remarkable-women-lecture-rowing-for-victory
Connection Corner
A big shout out to the 13 Hamptonians who had a go at the very first Connection Corner of the year and well done those of you who answered all the questions correctly and guessed the connection as Disney characters! Merits go to Nathaniel C, Jasper E, Aaditya T, Ben B, Albert S, Prabodha A, Thomas G, Joshua R and Eugene K.
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:
Which planet was demoted to a “dwarf planet in 2006”? Pluto
What flower often found in fields, is commonly chained together to form garlands? Daisy
Who was elected as the 45th President of the United States? Donald Trump
Which actor played the part of Whiplash in Iron Man 2? Mickey Rourke
Connection: Pluto, Donald, Mickey, Daisy
