Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
Advent has begun and the two-storey Christmas tree is decked and standing proudly in Reception. To add to the festive mood, there have been Christmas recordings this week and Harris, the school puppy, has been spotted emerging from his dressing room with a tinsel lead and light-up collar.
Third Years listened to a fascinating talk from two speakers from the charity, Just Like Us, that focuses on improving lives for LGBTQIA+ pupils around the country.
I highly recommend the podcast linked to today’s blog by Oliver A (3J). It is about the dig we featured last week which is being run by the History, Archives & Archaeology Club. This week our headmaster came along and had a go with the pick axe, hoping to uncover treasures. Impressively, Oliver A has mixed and edited the podcast himself; episode 2 will be released on Monday on social media. The Dig happens on Tuesdays, 1pm near the Old Boys’ Pavilion – all welcome.
Congratulations to Agalyan S (3B) for being Highly Commended in the national poetry competition by the Stephen Spender Trust, for his translation of a Tamil poem into English. The poem and a full interview will appear in next week’s Blog.
Shout outs to the two Third Years who performed in the lunchtime recitals this week: Brandon C (3D) on Wednesday and Aaditya T (3F) today. See news of a new club and an old favourite below.
Have a great weekend!
Heads of Year Message
We are looking forward to watching Third Year boys in action during the remaining Interform Competition events this term – keep alert for notices from Mr Green next week. There is plenty to look forward to between now and the end of term, including Christmas lunch on Tuesday 13 December and the Carol Service at St Mary’s Church in Hampton that evening. Whilst we are looking forward to many opportunities for festive merriment over the coming days, we hope that the boys will recognise the need to maintain their usual levels of good behaviour and mutual respect for teachers and peers throughout.
We are very proud of the U14A Rugby team that lost a thrilling match by the narrowest of margins against Richard Reynolds School in the final of the Middlesex Cup on Tuesday. Defeat is always a bitter pill to swallow, but Mr Beattie was impressed with the performance and the spirit shown by the whole squad, and we are certain that this talented group of players will enjoy plenty of success together in the future. Also on Tuesday, some of our musicians enjoyed a strings workshop and lunchtime performance from The Carducci Quartet. On Thursday, Just Like Us delivered a compelling talk on LGBTQIA+ experiences, along with some valuable advice to help everyone interact respectfully and inclusively.
Looking ahead to Saturday, we are very grateful to the Third Years who are giving up their morning to help us host the 12+ and 13+ entrance exams. They will, no doubt, remember their own entrance exam experiences and appreciate the value of a friendly greeting and considerate hosting around the school site.
Illness
Absence rates were quite high this week as several pupils were struggling with winter viruses. To reiterate to all parents that pupils should remain at home if they are feeling unwell, and we ask that parents contact the school to notify us of absence on each day of illness – either via email (absence@hamptonschool.org.uk) or via the Parent Portal. We will support pupils with any essential catch up work once they are recovered from illness. According to current government guidance, it is not recommended that children are tested for COVID-19 unless directed to by a health professional.
Boys – Please remember to let us, your Form Tutors or the relevant subject teachers know if you are having any difficulties.
Enjoy the weekend and get some well-deserved rest.
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore
Big DIg Podcast
Hampton’s History and Archaeology Club are excavating part of the School field to discover more about our history. Pupils from all years donned wellies to conduct our first ever archaeological dig. Along with unearthing hidden artefacts, the club also hopes its members will develop a range of archaeological skills. The designated area for the dig has been undeveloped for over 200 years making it ideal for unearthing relics.
Keen Historian, Third Year Oliver A (3J), will also be recording an accompanying, weekly podcast to keep us all up to date with the Hampton Dig. Take a listen to episode one:
Hampton Clubs
Club of the week: Volleyball
Volleyball Club is my favourite club as you can play a relaxed game of volleyball with your friends or try and develop your skills. Everyone is really nice and the atmosphere is great. Billy T (3J)
New club: Neurodiversity Soc – Tuesdays in G73 at 12:35pm.
The sessions are centred on Lego Social Skills, which involves working in small groups to build Lego items with a given theme. This is open to anyone at Hampton, who identifies as or is diagnosed as neurodivergent. Commonly diagnosed neurodiversities are – Autism (ASD), ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, OCD and Tourette’s, but there are many more. We make up a much greater percentage of the population than you may realise.
I believe there is a very strong group of pupils at Hampton who are successful with their neurodiversity and recognise that getting together can be a really positive activity. I will be happy to talk about my experiences in this area too.
Mr Richards
World Cup news
The World Cup is a tournament that brings people from all backgrounds and lives together by the power of football. It’s a tournament notorious for shocking upsets which we’ve seen a few of already in the group stages. Most of us were pleased by Tuesday’s 3-1 win against Wales (although I was not!) We all look forward to seeing how far England go this tournament and look forward to this weekend when they face Senegal in the Round of 16.
Seb R (3A)
Rugby Update
On Tuesday evening, the U14A rugby team travelled up to Grasshoppers Rugby Club to play in the Middlesex Cup Final against a strong Saint Richard Reynolds team. Nerves were high going into kick off due to quite a few players missing from our starting squad. Nevertheless, the boys coming up from the B team seized their opportunity and put in a solid performance. Going into halftime, we were down 17-5 with our captain Harry D (3A) unfortunately getting a head injury (he is better now). With the odds against us, but emotions high, the second half began and there were 3 scores from Stanley A (3A). As the final play came along, the team unfortunately could not convert and ended up losing the game in the last play. Although we did not take the trophy home, the performance that was put in by all of the team was outstanding. Next year will be a different story.
By Stanley A and Will O (3A)
HSPA Raffle
The Charity Committee’s fundraising raffle has new prizes and tickets can be purchased here for £3. The prizes are:
- NEW! One of two bottles of Jack Daniel’s whisky
- NEW! Two all day guest passes at David Lloyd’s
- NEW! A £15 voucher to spend at Green and lovely, an independent deli store.
- PJ Dale Butcher’s generous £15 voucher
- The Anglers voucher for a 2-course meal for two with a bottle of wine
- A voucher for a bottle of prosecco at Shambles restaurant and bar
- The Primitivo club’s cheese board and fizz for two gift voucher
- Lunch for two at Mezzet restaurant
- Two tickets to a film at Everyman cinemas
- One of two sets of greeting cards from Eli The Goat
- One of seven Bonne Maman Advent Calendars
- 2-course lunch and wine for two at the The Fat Badger
STEM Fair
The STEM fair is jointly run between Hampton and LEH. The aim is for you to design and implement your own project in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics. Projects should aim to answer a question and should produce some sort of physical object (artefact). This is a team activity and each project should have a team of three people. You will have to ask a member of staff to supervise your project, and you should keep that teacher up-to-date with your progress. There is no paperwork or report required. You will need to make a poster (single A2) and you will present your poster and artefact at the STEM fair which is the week after the February half term holiday. Projects should take around 20 hours to complete.
This year’s fair will be launched on Tuesday 6 December at breaktime in the Lecture Theatre.
If you are interested in completing a project, please do come along. Or if you cannot come, at least one member of your team comes to the presentation.
SOUND BATH
Breathe and relax! Ms Garrido-Soriano will be running her final Sound Bath session of the term on Wednesday 7 December in The Hammond Theatre at 1pm. Come along and let your thoughts float blissfully away!
CONNECTION CORNER
Well done to the 31 Hamptonians who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. Merits go to all those who correctly guessed last week’s Connection as types of pie. Big shout out to Jasper E, Ameya M, Henry P, Felix B, Leander K-B, Robbie M, Max M, Tom B, Albert S, Juan-Leonardo SH, Samuel H, Harry N, Gabriel S, Oliver A, Neel M, Stanley A, Gregory M, Prabhodha A, Alex W, Eugene K, Agalyan S, Ben B, Teddy H, Jude LS, Johnny R, Maurice R and Eric M
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 major tech company was founded by Steve Jobs in 1976? Apple
What is the name of the stadium where Fulham FC play their home games? Craven Cottage
What is a Jack-o’-lantern made from? Pumpkin
Hanger, porterhouse and strip are types of what? Steak
Connection answer: All types of pie (Apple pie, cottage pie, pumpkin pie, steak pie)
