Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
It’s been a busy week full of play auditions, musical concerts, board game tournaments and we’ve also been lucky enough to host some fascinating talks by the Diplomatic editor at Sky News and best selling author, Tim Marshall, as well as Laura Bates, who gave a talk titled: The Everyday Sexism Project: 10 Years On.
The big event of the week was… CHARACTER DAY!
There were so many fantastic costumes but there could only be one winner per form group – congratulations to the following pupils:
2J Ashton C (Piggy)
2W Leonardo F (Mad Hatter)
2F Finley H (Sherlock Homes)
2L Max D (Postman Pat)
2P Noah RdM (Mr Bump)
2H Guradaes S (Genie)
2B Thomas G (Hagrid)
Alexander M (aka Gandalf!) was named the overall winner, and I think you’ll all agree that everyone looked fantastic!
MERIT MILESTONES
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Farhan Aroos – 20
Ethan Doyle – 20
Ethan Monk – 20
Jack Haynes – 20
William Denmark – 20
Luc Lam – 20
Danny Prichard – 30
Alex Lapidus – 30
Sam Coupe – 30
Abhideep Sunilkumar – 30
Alex Collado – 30
Dylan Love – 30
Umair Mukhtar – 40
Ethan Geiger – 40
Aadam Khan – 40
Leonardo Falcone – 40
Freddie Turnbull – 40
Kian Iranpour Boroujeni – 60 (Great!)
Josh Millington-Jones – 70 (Fantastic!)
Rory McEwan – 70 (Amazing!)
Theo Liang – 80 (Wonderful!)
Character Day
From Gandalf to Frankenstein and Skulduggery Pleasant to Postman Pat, the Hampton corridors were teeming with literary figures this week as Second Year pupils celebrated World Book Day 2023. Umair M (2L) tells us all about it:
Thursday was World Book Day and Second Years entered school in costumes from books, plays and comics. There were many creative costumes with props including inflatables, lightsabres and masks. The year group photo was covered in colourful costumes. Teachers tried to guess the characters and it was quite ridiculous going into lessons! Character Day was extremely fun, and I hope something similar happens in the future!
Take a look at some of the photos from the day:
Tutor Question Time!
This week the pupils wanted to know: What Hogwarts house do you belong to?
Gryffindor: No one!!!
Hufflepuff: Miss Mattinson, Mrs Owen, Mr VA, Miss Bryant
Ravenclaw: Miss Holt
Slytherin: Miss Tiller, Mr Hooper
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.
STEM Fair
Last Friday we saw the return of the annual STEM Fair – Xavier M (2J) has written about his experience preparing for the fair, and of course, the event itself. Well done to everyone involved!
The reason my friends and I entered the STEM Fair is because we all love STEM subjects. We had been learning about echo-location in Physics and we really wanted to know more about it. Between us we have skills in coding, electronics and game strategy so we concocted a project that could showcase all of these things.
With the help of Ms Woodward we used the amazing 3D printers in the DT lab to construct some casing for the electronics. We then assembled the PCBs (printed circuit boards). Simultaneously some of us were working on the python coding on the Raspberry Pi whilst others were creating the posters and brochure. We wanted it to have an element of fun, so we designed a game strategy that involved the contestant using a laser tag gun to shoot one of us dressed as an alien using only the sonar sensors.
Last Friday Hamptonians and LEH pupils gathered in the LEH main hall to showcase their projects. Everyone set up on different tables feeling prepared for the stream of viewers about to enter the hall. Finally, the bell rang and we knew that we were about to be judged by not only classmates but the judges themselves. Everyone clawed to get a chance to play our Alien sonar-sensor shooter game to win a free bottle of Prime.
While in the queue our brochure was handed to those waiting so that before playing the game you would know how it functioned and how much work, effort and time was put into our alien motion tracker. Many people were fascinated by it. Time flew by, people came and went, as each person played the tension grew. Finally, we were given the heads up by the judges that we should pack up soon, so we went to find our lucky winners who were awarded with either Meta Moon, KSI or Blue Raspberry Prime. After we thanked our contestants, we packed up and headed back to Hampton, feeling very successful.
It was a challenging project, but we learned a lot about how our individual skills combined well using teamwork. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of entering the STEM Fair next year to give it a go and have fun with it!
The team was: Zach A, Myles B, Xavier M and Alexander M (2J) and the video below showcases their inventive project:
Undef-E-ated Football Team!
Since the start of the season, the U13E team have remained undefeated. We have won all our games apart from our match last Saturday, against St Paul’s, where we drew because our defender managed to kick his own ankle, causing us to concede. However, we won our next game 8 – 0 against Dulwich Prep, putting us back in our winning streak!
By Dominic N (2L)
Chamber Concert 2023
Last week, on Thursday, many groups performed in this year’s annual Chamber Concert in the Hammond Theatre. I performed the piece ‘Sunny’ with my fellow Junior Guitar Ensemble, which went really well!
After our performance, we also got to see other performances, and there were so many instruments to listen to, from bassoons and trombones, to double basses and violins. Also, there were many different styles of music, we played a jazz piece, but there were many others, such as classical. Overall, it was a great experience, and I look forward to performing in many more!
By Guradaes S (2H)
Find out more about the concert here.
Talk! Tim Marshall
It’s great to see so many of you enjoying the Talk! lectures that have been entertaining the Hampton community since the start of the academic year. Rory M (2B) tells us all about Tim Marshall’s visit to School:
Last Friday, the respected author of the book Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshall, was invited to Hampton School to give a Talk! about the Russian invasion of Ukraine a year on. At the start of the lecture, Mr Marshall gave us a brief history of Russia, as well as the causes of the invasion and the reason behind Putin’s invasion. Then Mr Marshall said what had happened since, including where Ukraine currently stood and what had happened after Russian soldiers set foot on Ukrainian soil. Mr Marshall also stated the involvement of other nations, for example, China and the UK, and how they will impact the course of the war over the next few months.
Overall, I felt that the Talk! broadened the horizons of all who went, and I would have recommended it to any future geographers.
the Summer Show
This year’s Lower School Summer show is Once Upon a Pine: The Adventures of Pinocchio. The first auditions took place on Wednesday 22 February. Once everyone had filtered into the Hammond Theatre from their final lesson, Miss Tiller, Mrs Jones and Miss Bryant entered the room. The time spent going over the script was finally going to pay off. First, we were given numbers and then split into groups of five to perform the script. We were given a specific narrator each, and our group was the fifth to perform. I mustered up all my courage and confidently said my lines. Once my group had finished, the remainder of the groups did their performance, and this was the exciting part. In our groups of five we had to make our own slapstick comedy! In my opinion, after five minutes, my group made the most creative 30 second performance.
The call backs were on Monday 27 February and I was given a partner to perform a short script with and with five minutes to prepare, this was what decided if I was in or not. Every group performed and we were given a new partner to perform a different script from the play. That was it, the call backs were over and now I had to hope that luck was on my side to get into Once Upon a Pine: The Adventures of Pinocchio.
By Max D (2L)
Backgammon tournament!
This week, a backgammon tournament began. Although there are not many people entering, it is extremely tense, and everyone is in it to win it. We play multiple games, first to three points, the loser is knocked out and the other player proceeds to the next round. It is like the FA Cup. I beat my opponent 3-0 in three close games. If you looked at the board you would think it was clearly in my favour, however, one double roll could undo it all. I will play my next round soon; I am simultaneously excited and dreading it! However, that is part of the fun. The tournament will happen again next year, so if you want to play, sign up next year and join Backgammon Club.
By Umair M (2L)
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 Dominic N (2L). Congratulations, you’ve won a Merit!
A boy was diagnosed with a terrible disease. The boy asked the doctor, “How long do I have left to live?”
The doctor said, “You have ten”
The boy asked “Ten what? Day, weeks, months, years?”
The doctor said, “Nine”
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!
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, Alex L, Ben G, Harrison G, Jake O, Kian IB, Alexander M, Tristan D, Leo S
2L: Olly P, Dominic N
2H: Guradaes P, Darshan S
2B: Rory M, Kiran G, Daniel M
2F: Siddharth S, Joel S, Manraj G, Ishaan A
2W: Sanjit B, James P, Oliver 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:
- Which country have the highest life expectancy? Monaco
- What does the average American do 22 times a day? Complain
- What is the most common name in Sweden? Lars
- What are the two collective nouns for a group of ravens? An unkindness and a conspiracy
- Switzerland is made up of how many cantons? 26
