Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
I cannot believe how fast this half term has gone! With only one week left before the break, the Second Years have been busy! Last Friday night was the long-awaited Rock Concert in which pupils from all years performed in bands or as solo artists, and there were some outstanding Second Year performances! It was also the finale of the Interform Quiz competition (spoiler alert!) a huge well done to 2F for their win!
The final preparations for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (the Junior Musical) are underway. The set is in, the costumes are ready, and the music is sounding great! All Second Years are watching the Matinee performance on Monday and I’m so excited to see all of the performers hard work pay off.
Next Thursday 2L are holding their Form Charity event and Danny P (2L) has a quick message for you below:
On Thursday 8 February from 12:35 to 1:10 in P10 (Garrick Building) 2L are hosting a charity fair event. Everyone is invited so please come along if you’re free. You will be able to spend money to buy tickets to play games at different stalls and win sweets and other prizes. All money raised will be donated to the School Charities. We look forward to seeing you there!
Merit Milestones
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Xavier Knowles – 10
Theo Tang – 10
Jamie Rabie – 20
Daniel McCahearty – 20
Alex Milicic – 20
Ethan Geiger – 30
Oliver Champkin – 30
Anton Chetvertkov – 40
Kiran Grover – 40
Rory McEwan – 60 (Super!)
Theo Liang – 70 (Fabulous!)
Interform quiz – the Winners’ story!
It’s been two weeks of fierce competition in this year’s Interform Quiz, Alfie K (2F) tells us about Form 2F and their journey to the coveted title:
We were excited for our first match for the interform quiz against 2W. We had high hopes and trusted our team but were still nervous for the forthcoming match. Luckily, we narrowly won our first group match.
We decided to mix up our team for our second group stage play off with 2P. Again, we anxiously put our fingers over our buzzers and waited for the first starter question. Halfway through we were a long way behind. Amazingly, we made a comeback, and by the last question, we had tied with their lead. Tensely we waited… like lightning, we pressed the buzzer… CORRECT!
We were oozing with confidence at the start of the semi-finals but our hopes were soon shattered by 2H’s incredible start. However, our team pulled through and we did it; we were finalists!
We were all worried; we were facing 2P, who, we had only just beaten and they had changed up their team so we were in completely uncharted territory. With our class watching on, the first question was asked. 2P knew the answer. The second question was asked. 2P knew it again. Despite our slow start we caught up and passed them half way through the match! Little did we know, we were not out of the woods yet. To the dismay of our team and our class watching on from behind, 2P’s team began to creep forward; question by question. At last, it was the final question. If we got it, we would win but if 2P did, they would get the bonuses and it would be all over for 2F. It was all or nothing. Once more, the question was asked and….. we won! It was so much fun to compete in the interform quiz and my teammates and I have certainly enjoyed it. Plus, we have definitely learnt a lot more general knowledge!
Well done 2F!
Rock concert!
This Friday was the highly anticipated Rock Concert. I really enjoyed hearing boys from all different years playing in their bands or performing as a solo artist and some of the standout performances of the night included our Second Years! Thank you to performers Harry S (2F) and Xavier M (2J) who have written articles to tell you more.
On Friday afternoon, lots of us were very excited because in the evening it was the rock concert. After school ended, me and my friends went straight to the Hammond theatre where we were told about how the concert would work. On the stage, they had an amazing setup: from amps to drum kits, keyboards to DJ setups, microphones to speakers – everything was there. We all then had our sound checks and got ready to play – I was in Junior Rock Band B, which is the Second Year rock band (if you want to join us it is on Friday second lunch). My friends and I had dinner and got into our dressing rooms, where we all begin to get very nervous. The concert started at 7 o’clock and we listened to a brilliant first half performance from all the acts. Then, as the final band of the first half, we were on. I got to the keyboard and began preparing myself whilst the guitarists tuned up and plugged their guitars in. Then I started – our first song was ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey. It went very well and we all got an enjoyable applause, but the nerves were still going because we had a second song, my personal favourite, ‘Livin On A Prayer’ by Bon Jovi. Again, I started the song and then soon I was having the time of my life. After the final crash of the drum, we yet again got an applause, and we walked off stage, very pleased with our performance. It went how we would’ve liked it to, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience than that. The rest of the concert was very enjoyable and then we all went home, starting to prepare ourselves for the next concert in June. Overall, it was a very good experience, and you should come and join Junior Rock Band B. By Harry S (2F)
Last week on Friday 27 January many Hampton School rock bands played to a packed theatre. I’m part of the Junior Rock Band and we played the songs: Sweet Child O’ Mine and Immigrant Song; both considered a good challenge. Junior Rock Band were one of the last bands to get onto the stage, so there was a lot of pressure, but we all handled it with ease. All the band members put in effort to come every week on a Friday to practice in the music hall and learn to play with each other in sync. Not only was it fun to learn, but we learned about teamwork and have made many achievements as a band. I am so happy that I joined Junior Rock Band. If others are considering joining, it is an excellent forum to meet other instrument players with the same taste in music as you. I think that we gave a solid performance in the Rock Concert and was I pleased that I didn’t make any mistakes. The audience seemed to really enjoy watching the show, which gave me a lot of satisfaction. We got loads of high fives afterwards. I’m so glad that I performed. It was a great milestone in my musical journey. By Xavier M (2J)
Rock on! Take a look at some of the photos from the evening here.
Junior Guitar Ensemble
Junior Guitar Ensemble takes place every Monday. Right now, we are a group of six with three Guitar roles. We have played in multiple concerts since I joined in First Year including the Christmas Concert where we played Jingle Bell Rock and soon, we will be playing in the Chamber Concert so do come. We are playing “Sunny” it is a really hard but rewarding piece and that is the atmosphere of Junior Guitar Ensemble. However, the atmosphere is also really fun.
By Umair M (2L)
London Junior Chess Championship
Alex L (2J) recently took part in the London Junior Chess Championship, find out how he got on:
Day 1
During the recent end of term break, I participated in the two day long London U14 Chess Championship with each person having a time control of 120mins +10sec every move. Amazingly, I won first place, and this is how:
I arrived at the avenue with my dad and the first round was starting soon. When I saw that I was seed 8 one thing was certain: this was a very strong tournament. My first and second rounds were an expected win as I was playing lower rated players, to my surprise a few people seeded above me weren’t able to win, meaning that they were dropped multiple boards down, allowing me to move up. However, on board 5 of the third round I found a challenging opponent. Since having misplayed the opening I was in a visibly worse position and despite all my efforts I resigned in a hopeless position after a long battle. 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…
Tune back in to find out more about the London Junior Chess Championship next week!
Lego Architecture Club
This week, saw the much anticipated bridge testing finale in Lego Architecture Club. Judges Miss Moore and Mr Richards assessed the strength and design of the amazing constructions. Who will be crowned master builder?
History and Archaeology club
Following on from last week’s report, let’s hear from Josh MJ (2J) on the fascinating
This week in History and Archaeology Club, we have gone into a lab to further examine our findings from when we have been digging in the trench. We first measured our archaeological finds, using a ruler to see how long they are and then looked at them under a microscope to further see what we could find.
In the early days of digging in the trench, we found this ceramic. We believe it to be English delftware, a type of blue and white plate-like pottery, originating from around 1600. However, we believe this artefact to be considerably older, as we found it quite near the surface of the trench, meaning it is probably from the mid 19th or early 20th century.
This is the delftware under a 40X microscope, where we can see considerable wear and tear and also the colours in more detail.
This is a completed example of delftware, but we have found many pieces of a similar size of this ceramic, and hope to possibly fit them together. Overall, it was very interesting to look at what we have found under the ground in more detail, and we hope to find more interesting objects from the past, which we can look at under a microscope too!
National Storytelling Week
This week, Hampton School teachers and pupils have been helping celebrate National Storytelling Week 2023 by reading extracts from their favourite stories. From Douglas Adams to Agatha Christie and John Grisham to Isaac Asimov, why not give one of their recommendations a read?
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat
Only four more sleeps until opening night! There are a still a few tickets available for this year’s Junior School Musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat! The joint cast of Hamptonians and Waldegrave pupils will bring this magical musical to life. Performances take place on Tuesday 7, Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 February and tickets can be booked here.
SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS!
A huge congratulations to Guradaes P (2H) who achieved a Merit in his Grade 2 guitar exam.
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).
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 Kian I (2W). Congratulations, you’ve won a Merit!
Q: Did you hear about the new restaurant called Karma???
A: There’s no menu: You get what you deserve.
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!
QUIZ OF THE WEEK
Well done to everyone who had a go at last week’s quiz. Merits go to:
2J: Lucas Z, Nihal B, Jack H, Josh M-J, Alex L
2L: Umair M, Olly P, Haadi H, Alexey M, Kai W
2H: AJ C, Darshan S, Guradaes PS
2W: Abhideep S, Oliver S
2B: Rory M, Salah S, Daniel M
2F: Kota D, Siddharth S
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:
1. Which film has the most 2023 Oscar nominations? Everything Everywhere all at Once
2. What is the national sport of Pakistan? Squash
3. Which exoplanet rains molten iron? Wasp-76b
4. What is the national animal of Sweden? The moose
5. Which country has the highest school attendance rate? Sweden
