Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
The start of this week began with the much anticipated first England game of the 2022 World Cup! The 3G was empty at lunch time for the first time ever as Second Years flooded to either the Lecture Hall or Mr VA’s classroom to watch the start of the match; the energy and atmosphere was incredible!
Before the football began, there was also the equally anticipated interform Chess competition – congratulations to 2J who took the win! The results are as follows:
1st = 2J
2nd = 2W
3rd = 2B & 2F
5th = 2H, 2L & The Tutors
8th = 2P
A huge well done to everyone who took part! I’m sure you are all looking forward to the rest of the interform competitions throughout the year.
Merit Milestones
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Zachariya Iqbal -10
Dylan Coates – 10
Haadi Hariri – 10
Farhan Aroos – 10
Ben Govier – 10
Ethan Doyle – 10
Luc Lam – 10
Charlie Donald – 10
Oliver Maisuria-Hull – 10
Haadi Hariri – 20
James Phillips – 20
Freddie Turnbull – 20
Haadi Hariri – 30
Umair Mukhtar – 30
Ethan Price – 30
Homework Holiday
This week at Hampton is a homework holiday! This means that the teachers cannot set any pupils homework. This is a great opportunity to catch up on classwork and pursue out of school activities. I myself have used this brilliant opportunity to catch up on my music practice as well as enjoy a bit of free time in a normally very busy schedule. This opportunity only comes once or twice a year, so it should be seized and enjoyed.
Rory M 2B
Interform Chess
Alex L (2J) has written us a report on his tutor groups exciting win at the inter-form chess competition:
On Monday 23 November 2022 in S11 at the start of lunch was the beginning of interform chess. My class (2J) consisted of myself as board one, William as board two and Jack as board three. In the first round we were playing 2P, unfortunately none of their chess players arrived for the match so we won by forfeit. In the second round we were playing 2B, they won their last match against 2H 2-1. Fortunately, we beat 2B quite quickly with everyone in my class winning their games. This meant that we had extra time to eat the packed lunch! Whilst my form were eating we spectated the games between 2W and 2F, the games were very close and tense, especially on board one. Sanjit from the second school chess team was playing Siddarth, eventually the games ended with the result of 2W beating 2F 2-1. The final round had come and I was playing Sanjit, I knew that this match would be harder than the previous. The game was very close until it went into a rook endgame and because of my positional advantage I managed to take some time pawns. However, I wasn’t able to win on position as Sanjit’s time had run out. We won all our matches again meaning that 2J were the interform chess champions!
Meet Miss Bryant
Our weekly interviews, are a great opportunity for you to find out a little bit more about your Tutors! So, thank you to Alexander L (2F) who interviewed Miss Bryant, Drama teacher and one half of 2F’s tutor team!
Why did you choose to become a drama teacher?
Before joining Hampton School, I was a professional actress, singer and dancer in musicals. After travelling the world performing, I realised my passion was in teaching. Drama is, of course, the best subject (not biased at all…). I love the creative freedom it provides you. Exploring different characters and immersing yourself in a variety of worlds and stories is such a joy.
What’s your favourite food?
Pasta, pizza and ice cream. I am in food heaven in Italy!
Cats or dogs?
Dogs! I have a dog called Kobe Bryant…
As a drama teacher, what’s your favourite play?
This is a tricky one, I have so many favourites! I recently saw the musical Come From Away in the West End and it was fantastic.
What’s your hobby?
I enjoy fitness, travelling and crocheting. You may see me in some of my crocheted scarfs around school.
What would you have done if you didn’t go into drama?
The dream job would have been a professional chocolate taster at Cadburys or Lindt but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.
Who are you supporting in the World Cup?
England… good job I picked England out of the hat for 2F’s sweepstake. Come on the Three Lions!
WORLD CUP: WHO WILL WIN!?!?!?!
AI technology has predicted that the winners of the World Cup will be… Brazil! According to AI, Brazil have a 25% chance of winning, followed by Belgium and Argentina. The AI got these results by running 100,000 simulations of this World Cup. However, they cannot account for weather, fouls and penalty shootouts. Since the World Cup started, there have been many interesting matches and upsets. Many are still recovering from the shock defeat of Argentina after losing to Saudi Arabia 2-1. Nevertheless, England fans are celebrating the team’s absolute victory against Iran. They won 6-2. The World Cup had a great record breaking opening match with Qatar, becoming the first host nation to ever lose their opening match. Meanwhile the opposition, Ecuador won 2-0 with Valencia becoming the highest scoring Ecuadorean in history (37 goals in 75 matches!!!) Probably, more records will be broken and in my opinion, with so much talent on display, it is unclear who will win the World Cup. Our class (2L) have done a sweepstake with the outcomes being unexpected. Harris the School dog got Portugal while Mr Knibbs got the Netherlands.
By Max D, Umair M and Dominic N (2L)
The big dig
Josh MJ (2J) tells us about an exciting project that the History and Archaeology Club began this week:
Last week at History and Archaeology Club, we started the long awaited archaeological dig on the School site. Mrs Arnott and Mrs Willcox, the teachers who run the club, have been trying to organise the dig since 2019, but due to COVID were unable to do it until now. Last Tuesday, we started the dig, next to the fence near the Old Pavilion, in an area which was already slightly dug out. We are looking to find archaeological objects (man-made objects) such as pottery, but other things too! So far, we have not dug that far (only about 30 centimetres each) in pairs, but have already found a few objects. For example, my pair believe that we have found a piece of a glazed plate or pottery, and we have also found a large piece of brick. We have learnt that a way we can identify how old an object is, is the colour change of the dirt (how far down). Although this may not seem like much, we are just at the start of this project and we hope to find much more!
Festival fair
Last weekend I exhibited my art at the Christmas Art & Design Fair in Chiswick. I make cell art with pouring paint. I’ve been doing this for about three years and started selling some of my paintings last year. I make my paintings by mixing acrylic paint with pouring medium and silicone oil. I layer each of the colours into a cup and use that to pour onto the canvas. It is very tricky and messy to spread the paint onto the canvas how I want it to go. Then to bring out the cells I use a heat gun which brings the paint underneath up to the surface. This was my third time exhibiting my paintings and it went well. I sold three large paintings and a lot of smaller pieces.
By AJ C (2H)
Snap your Summer!
This summer, I took part in the UK-German Connection Competition, Snap Your Summer, which required me to take photographs representing my travels over these nine different travel scenarios: (1) an unusual or remote bus station or train station, (2) Your ticket or a ticket machine, (3) An electric bicycle or scooter, (4) refreshments on board, (5) hiking or walking, (6) train or train station, (7) on the waves!, (8) your bike or a cycle path, (9) a picturesque view from a train or bus. I enjoy photography and I had lots of fun looking for scenes to photograph for this competition. I was awarded one of the 3-in-a-row prizes for some of my pictures, which you can see below.
By Ryan W (2P)
U13A ISFA Cup Match vs Berkhamsted School
Harrison G (2J) fills us in on what is another thrilling ESFA match, congratulations to the team and good luck in the next round!
My alarm startled me and groaned, rolled over and looked out the window. It was a cold, bitter Saturday morning and mist coated the thin air. ‘Oh great, what a morning for standing in a goal for an hour.’ I thought to myself.
My mate collected me from my house after a rushed breakfast. When we arrived at school, I said a quick thank you and jogged to the changing room, I was late. I took off my tracksuit speedily and pulled on my boots. A layer of white frost lined the pitch, as we started our warm up the sun slowly came over the rooftops, but the air was still fresh and the ground wet. Then a clamour of metal against concrete and some nervous laughs forced me to look up, the opposition were here. They were a big team with strong players. There were a few smaller kids but, no doubt they fast and we had to look out for them.
Before we knew it, the game had started. I was wrong about it being freezing, as the sun rolled overhead it warmed the pitch and made it less wet, more damp. My thoughts didn’t last long as I had to deal with an early free kick, I ordered my wall but the ball was blasted over the crossbar. Whew. After a couple more dodgy free kicks, they were pressuring us a bit too much for our liking, so we sent a ball over the top and it was cleared for a corner, the ball was sent in towards the far post and it was headed in to the back of the net. What a goal! We could win this after all! The game began to go our way after that and we spent a lot of time in their half. When halftime came, we were a goal up and in the second half we battled hard to keep it that way. But it didn’t last… for we got another, a tap in from our striker. The game went on and we were being pushed deeper and deeper every play. Finally, a dangerous ball came through the middle of my centre backs but it hit one of their hands and the ref called a free kick and sanctioned him with a yellow card. I caught the shot and got it away but with 5 minutes to go, they back and I was in a 1on1 with and attacker, they shot but a strong arm on my part blocked it, I grabbed it and got it away. It proved a crucial save and when the final whistle blew, we were overjoyed. A clean sheet, my second of the season. We progressed through to the fourth round of the ISFA cup off the back of a 2 – 0 win.
Well done!
Hijacker’s Island – Part two!
I’ve been waiting on tenterhooks since the introduction to Hijacker’s Island – did they make it to Florida? Read on to find out…
“What the heck is this?” Daniel asked.
“This is just dumb,” Luke muttered. “It’s probably a pit stop, right?”
“Hmm,” Theo said.
The plane was a-babble with noise.
“What’s going on?” Kipper yelled.
“We in Florida?” Lewis asked.
“No, you’re so-” Fred shouted. “I mean, where are we?”
“We could be at a pit stop, like Luke said,” N said.
“No Nitral,” Jackson said.
Edmund unwrapped a sweet.
“GIVE ME A SWEEEET!!” Barry roared.
“Please can I have one, Ed,” Peter said.
“Please, Ed, I’m craving,” Rupert begged.
“Back off!” Johnny yelled.
“Be quiet, John!” Luke bellowed. “I’ll give you all one. Catch it, you keep it!”
He dug a large handful of Mike and Ike’s out of his pocket and threw them into the mass of roaring kids. Barry piled over Peter to one, Lewis was trampled by Theo, and eventually everyone who participated wound up with at least one sweet.
By Lucas Z (2J)
JOKE COMPETITION
The Second Year Joke Competition continues to bring those who come to Blog Club a good laugh, thank you for all your submissions! This week the winning joke was submitted by Harrison G (2J) congratulations, you’ve won yourself a Merit!
What did the drummer call his two twin daughters?
Anna 1, Anna 2!
We will be continuing the competition next week, you can enter by emailing b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk . If your joke gets a mention in the blog, then you can collect a merit from your form tutor. Remember to use your name and form otherwise you won’t get any credit for entering.
Try your best to crack us up – good luck!
CLUB OF THE WEEK
Every week we feature clubs that Second Year Hamptonians have been loving, whilst No Limit’s Week might be over, it’s never too late to try out a new club or activity.
Basketball club
Basketball club is open for everyone at the start of lunch (12:35) to (13:05-13:10) The club takes place every Wednesday unless cancelled. Always remember your kit if you want to participate as if you don’t have it then you can’t play the mini matches and only do the drills. This is a great club to go to if you are determined enhance your basketball skills and try to get into the basketball team. The club starts with shooting any of the six hoops whilst some people are still changing. After this, we usually get in small groups and do some drills to improve on our shooting and dribbling. Finally, we get in bigger teams and play matches, sometimes full court and sometimes half court depending on the amount of people that come.
By Alex L (2J)
Golf nets
Golf nets club is a great club to improve your golf technique, and just generally have fun. I attended golf nets this week for no limits week, having only ever played golf once, and found that it really helped me improve my technique. Mr Worrall was very helpful and gave me many tips to improve which was really useful. You meet on the tennis courts by the Garrick and don’t have to bring your own golf club or golf balls, as they supply them there. It is run on Mondays from 12:35 to 1:10 and you play in the golf nets by the basketball court. See you there!
QUIZ OF THE WEEK
Well done to everyone who had a go at last week’s quiz. Merits go to:
2J: Lucas Z, Kian IB, Ben G, Nihal B, Xavier M, Jack H, Daniel T
2L: Oliver P, Kai W, Alex C
2H: AJ C, Darshan S
2W: Oliver S, Abhideep S
2B: Ethan G, Kiran G, Rory M, Daniel M
2F: Kota D, Arshan N
Take a look at this week’s questions, have a go yourself or challenge people at home and see if they know the answer. Points for the Interform Competition will be awarded to the form with the most entries over the term.
Thanks to Guradaes S (2H) for this week’s questions. Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers from last week’s quiz:
- What is the latest Star Wars show to be released on Disney+? Tales of the Jedi
- What movie has the largest box office opening weekend for November? Black Panther Wakanda Forever
- What Does Ek het gevra mean in English? I asked
- What movie got the highest rotten tomatoes rating this year? Top Gun Maverick
- In July 2022 how many first years won the form prize for academic excellence ? 14
Have great weekend!
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