Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
Welcome back Second Year! I hope you all had a wonderful half term break and managed to rest and relax. It sounds like some of you had an amazing holiday and got up to lots of exciting things. This week included the first round of auditions for the Lower School Summer Show: Once Upon a Pine – The Adventures of Pinocchio, well done and good luck to everyone who came along to audition. On Friday we had the much anticipated STEM Fair and I look forward to hearing more about it in next week’s Blog!
As a new weekly feature, the attendees of Blog Club have decided to ask all Second Year Form Tutors a weekly question. This week’s turned into quite a debate and is a good question to bring up over dinner this weekend! Read on to find out more.
MERIT MILESTONES
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Euan Seymour – 10
Sena Kelly – 10
Matteo Mastrodonato – 10
Thomas Scrimshaw – 20
Olly Miles – 20
Jatin Chandra – 20
Svajan Ganesan – 30
Sanjit Baber – 30
Lorenzo Ingrassia – 40
Tutor Question Time!
Do you think there are more doors or wheels in the world?
TEAM DOORS:
Miss Tiller, Mrs Hill, Mr Worrall
TEAM WHEELS:
Miss Bryant, Miss Winstock, Miss Mattinson, Miss Holt, Mrs O’Connor
2F even had a whole tutor group debate and at the end voted, 14 pupils voted for wheels and 8 pupils voted for doors!
Have you ever had a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask your form tutors, like: Which do you prefer – dogs or cats? Chocolate or vanilla ice cream? Then please send your suggestions for next week’s Tutor Question Time to b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk.
History and Archaeology Club
This week in History and Archaeology Club, we have dug to ice age gravel in the trenches! Josh MJ (2J) explains more:
We were back digging, having previously examined some of our findings in the lab, and came back to find that the grounds staff had dug further down with their machines. In some points in the trench, we were at chest height (around 1m down) and we found out something very interesting. A specialist geologist, who teaches in the Physics Department, came to the dig with us, and he predicts that some areas in the dig could be from thousands of years ago. He said that, in the ice age, the River Thames used to flow all around, likely in this area, on the frozen ground and that it carried gravel with it. At the deepest part of the trench, we found this gravel and are hoping to maybe find some animal bones. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet found any animal remains, but we found many interesting rocks: dark red, light blue and a rock with a pattern like a galaxy.
London Junior Chess Championship (part two)
Before half term we heard from Alex L (2J) about his participation in the London Junior Chess Championship, part one ended with the sentence ‘This was a terrible was to end the first day, as the opponents would only get stronger, I thought that this was the end and first place was out of sight…’ Read on to find out how Alex fared throughout the rest of the tournament.
I came back inspired to win; however, this was a massive challenge that I had to face. The first round back, I was paired against a strong player and after over two hours of tight play I managed secure the win. I had ended my losing streak, and I needed to eat on time before my next game. When I saw the pairing, I was incredibly surprised by the rating of my opponent, it was one of the lower ratings in the tournament, but he had a solid 3/4 points just like me. It was only when we were in the endgame that I realised how underrated this person was: I won the game with only two minutes on the clock as we were the last to finish. This put me at a massive disadvantage as I only had ten minutes to recover before the final and most challenging round of the championship. I was shocked when I saw the pairings! I was on board one against one of the best players in England, who was leading the tournament with an outstanding 4.5/5 points. The game started quickly, with my position slightly more passive, I was offered a draw, however, if I accepted then I would only be about fifth which didn’t suit me at all. Suddenly, I noticed an almost invisible tactic, winning me a rook. 15 long moves later, my opponent’s king fell flat on the board. I had won. That made me the London Champion with 5/6 points!
Fantastic to hear Alex – well done!
FORM Charity Event
During the last week before half term a group of boys in 2L hosted a charity event. Thank you to everyone that came, and we hope you had a great time. There were a lot of different stalls displayed at the event including a keepie-uppies stand run by Jack M, a riddle stand, where you had to answer difficult riddles posed by Umair M and Zen N, bowling with Zaki C and even a nerf gun shooting stand. A big crowd pleaser was the Guess How Many Sweet are in the Jar? We raised an amazing £87.42 for charity. Many thanks to everyone that helped out.
By Danny P (2L)
Well done to 2L – keep up the fundraising!
Brilliant British museum
As part of my HELP project, I went to the British Museum in London. Among the sections I visited, the most interesting were the Japanese section, the Ancient World and clocks (a mini ship that travelled across a table and fired a canon!) In the Japanese section, I saw sets of samurai armour and lots of culture. The Ancient World had what felt like endless rooms, full of statues of emperors, freaky mummies and strange devices. Clocks were creepy and cool. I recommend going to the British Museum it really helped with my project!
By Umair M (2L)
Club of the week
Debating Club
On Tuesdays, from 12:35 to 1:15, Debating Club is on. In it, we discuss different ideas put forward, for example, should phones be allowed in school. We get ten minutes to research and come up with a convincing argument, before stepping to the floor and arguing our point. At the end, the overseer decides which groups argument was the best and pronounces them the weekly winner. This is a great club for anyone with a keen interest in debating and if you have a free lunch slot, I suggest you come along.
By Rory M (2B)
EGG-WATCH
The Biology Department had some very special visitors in School this week. Take a look at the video below to find out what happened to the batch of eggs delivered on Monday:
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 Josh MJ (2J). Congratulations, you’ve won a Merit!
There are five cats. The first two cats are sisters. The first cat says to the second cat, “Momma.” The second cat says to the fourth cat, “Grandma”. What does the first cat say to the fifth cat. Think about it.
“Meooow.”
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!
CLassics Talk
If you’re interested in all things Classics, next week we have Dr Abigail Graham coming into School to talk to us about life in Roman Britain. Come along to the Hammond Theatre on Thursday 2 March at 1pm.
SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS!
We love to hear about what you have been getting up to outside of School and to celebrate your successes in the Second Year Blog! Please do send any information about any of your achievements through to Miss Tiller (b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk).
QUIZ OF THE WEEK
Well done to everyone who had a go at last week’s quiz. Merits go to:
2J: Nihal B, Jack H, Josh M-J, Xavier M, Ben G, Ashton C, Kian IB, Issac H
2L: Olly P, Haadi H, Kai W
2H: Svajan G, Guradaes P, AJ C
2B: Rory M, Kiran G
2F: Adam K, Ishaan A
2P: Thomas Q
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.
Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers from last week’s quiz:
- Who is the alter ego of Wade Wilson? Deadpool
- The iconic line “ I’ll be back” became famous after what movie? Terminator
- What movie quote succeeded “It’s over Anakin”? “I have the high ground”
- What was the nationality of the man who invented dynamite? Swedish
- What are the odds of catching a blue lobster? 1 in 2 million
