Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
We are now firmly ensconced in the second half of term. Routines are re-established and everyone is getting on with the rigorous business of being a Hamptonian. As always, there is plenty of this rigorous Hamptonian business to talk about.
On the face of it, the big news this week was nothing to do with the Third Year at all – the First XI are returning to the ESFA Cup Final, having beaten Forest School. While this is wonderful, it certainly shouldn’t overshadow the fact that the U14A team also won a cup match taking them in to the semi-final of the County Cup. This is a marvellous achievement befitting a side led by the magnificently coiffed Mr Hurst (you can’t help but feel that he should probably be striding up and down the sideline in a black and gold three piece suit) that has won 14 of its 18 matches this season. A report from goal hero Marcus S awaits you below.
Football may be the headline this week, but cricket is coming. Nothing says summer at the School like the muffled cry of ‘howzat’ heard through a Geography classroom window, or the sight of Mr Harrison determinedly marching to the nets carrying four sets of stumps. We have an update on how the U14 cricket squad has been wintering.
Finally, while sport may offer an outlet for the energy of many a Hamptonian, it is nothing compared to the energy of exploration that can be found at the Hampton STEM fair. This is one of the more remarkable moments in the Hampton calendar, where pupils have the chance to pursue their own scientific muse and see what they are able to discover. We have a report from one of the participants below.
The weekend looms (in a nice way for the most part – this isn’t an oppressive ‘loom’) and with it a brutally early start on Sunday for those going on the History Battlefields Trip. If experience tells me one thing, it is that little inspires a 14-year-old like having to be at School at 4am on a Sunday. It will be a thought-provoking trip and we will certainly be reporting on it next Friday. For now, turn your attention to the delights below…
Heads of Year message
Thanks to all the pupils who have sent match reports and other contributions to this and previous blogs. It is your blog and it is wonderful to hear your voices through it. Please keep the contributions coming to Mr Green!
Looking ahead to a very busy week next week, the first of two Battlefields Trip departs early on Sunday morning. We hope that Forms 3A-3E will enjoy their time in France and Belgium whilst representing the School and themselves with dignity throughout. Mr Roberts has set a project for boys that are not attending the trip – they should attend School as normal on Monday. The first of the RSE mornings hosted by Esther Hardy will take place for Forms 3A-3D on Thursday. Also on Thursday at lunchtime, there will be an opportunity for boys to put forward their views at the Year Group Council meeting whilst three boys per form will be asked to donate £2 to participate in the Form Charity Quiz at LEH (where Interform points will be available).
Co-Curricular
We encourage all boys to keep up their attendance at lunchtime co-curricular clubs and activities right through to the end of term.
Behaviour notice
As we approach the middle of this half term, it is important to remind all pupils to maintain the high standards of behaviour we expect of Hamptonians in all aspects of School life. This includes your interactions with teachers, peers, visitors and parents whilst on the school site, on the journey to and from school, and during sports fixtures and school trips.
Absences
For medical absences, please notify your son’s Form Tutors via email (cc’ing absence@hamptonschool.org.uk) on the morning of each day of absence by 8:45am, or complete the absence form via the parent portal. For planned absences and appointments, please contact Heads of Year requesting the absence with as much notice as possible.
Boys – Please remember to let us, your Form Tutors or the relevant subject teachers know if you are having any difficulties.
Have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Miss M Bedford
Quarter Final Success
Marcus S (3E) tells us all about the quarter final victory for our U14A team:
Last Friday, the U14As played against Harrodian School to compete for a place in the Surrey Cup semi-finals. Hampton began the match well, putting pressure on the opposition early and creating some nice attacking moves. At the same time our defence remained solid throughout the whole of the first half, leaving Harrodian with no clear cut chances at all. However, despite Hampton’s domination, we could not seem to find the back of the net from multiple opportunities.
We went into half time confident that we were the better team, but disappointed that we had not scored a deserved goal. Moving into the second half, our lack of a clinical finish continued, with even more goal scoring opportunities. But finally, when School had finished, we had a large crowd supporting us and a series of unconverted chances led the ball to fall out to Marcus who finished it off. We were relieved to have scored the winner, and our solid defence led us through to earn a hard fought 1-0 victory. We look forward to the semi-final.
Cricket Season
The cricket season is rapidly approaching. While many Hamptonians excel at several sports, there are also summer specialists and it is these boys who turn their faces to the slowly warming spring sunshine, waiting for the ground staff to cut the grass short and unrope the squares. The start of the summer term, with the accompanying thwack of the cricket ball is a marvellous moment. Of course winter nets are already well underway, so here is a little insight in to how training is going as well as a recap on last year’s season. Let’s hear from Aadi K (3A):
Looking back on last year, the U13A season was pretty good. The team won 5 out of their 9 matches. There were some rather excellent performances given by lots of players across the season. Akshat N scored a magnificent 75 runs against The Merchant Taylor’s School. It was a very high-pressure situation, but he stood alone and composed a very good innings. Another great innings came from Marcus who scored 60 not out against Whitgift, making sure Hampton crossed the line. There was also some remarkable consistency from Aadi K who ended up with 290 runs with an average of 145. Unfortunately, Hampton were knocked out of the National Cup by Dulwich College. However, we are back in the Middlesex Cup and as reigning champions we will look to defend that title. The team bonded really well over last year and we all look forward to the awaiting season.
Looking ahead to that season, which is nearing by the minute, all U14 cricketers can look back on a wonderful training programme across the winter led by Mr Harrison along with Mr Hooper, Mr Roberts and Mr Banerjee. The U14s have done various drills to combat high pressure situations in matches. A key focus has been trying to play in the ‘V’ when batting. This year we have also done a lot of work on our fielding, as that remains a key part of our game. This training programme has been excellent for all cricketers, as our skill level has increased a lot. We are now ready and looking forward to a great season ahead.
Interform Cooking results!
Following the images from last week, Mr Moore has completed the mammoth task of working out the Interform points that each form gets for their efforts.
First place went to 3A, who clearly gave their families a half term filled with epicurean delights. Second were 3E, with 3D and 3H coming in joint third. Also of note was 3C’s ‘effort’, with no cooking at all from what we could see. I can only pity their poor families. Well done all (apart from 3C)!
Of course, this means that the overall table has been updated…
| Form | Teambuilding | Penalty Shoot-out | Codebreaking | Tug of war | Cooking |
| 3A | 8 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 9 |
| 3B | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| 3C | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| 3D | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
| 3E | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 8 |
| 3F | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
| 3G | 9 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| 3H | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| 3J | 1 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
For those doing well: well done.
For those doing less well, we are only just past the halfway point in the School year, meaning that there is more than enough opportunity to catch up, starting with next week’s Hampton/LEH Charity Quiz, which will offer Interform points based on each Form’s performance.
Super STEM
The STEM Fair last week featured several Third Year teams sharing the inspired investigative projects that they had come up with. Sreyosh M (3D) and Anirudh S (3F) each tell us about their projects:
The STEM Fair was a fun experience. We went at the end of break to LEH where we had to start to set up for the fair. Then people started coming in to see our project. In the 6 weeks leading up to it, my partner and I had to create an artefact and a poster. We did ours on the life cycle of a star as it interested both of us. Over the course of 20 hours, we had made an in-depth poster and a few models about how stars develop over their lifetime. During this project I learnt many things about stars that I didn’t know before and I enjoyed the process greatly. I would like to thank everyone involved in the STEM Fair for providing us with such a great opportunity. Thank you!
Last week, Advait B, Aaditya T and I took part in the STEM Fair. Our project was a model rocket which we had launched on Thursday and had taken videos of. Our model rocket had a black powder (gunpowder) motor and a delay charge of 3 seconds (estimates the time at which the rocket reaches its maximum height and activates the parachute once it reaches it). Unfortunately, during the launch the parachute did not open up properly, but otherwise the launch was immaculate. On the day of the STEM Fair, we had many visitors from Hampton Prep, even 5 appearing at one time! They were very intrigued by our rocket and were in awe of our slow motion and normal time videos. There were other older students who came over too but the vast majority of visitors were from Hampton Prep.
CONNECTION CORNER
Well done to the everyone who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. It caught a lot of you out, so well done to those of you who correctly guessed the connection was Colours of the Rainbow – remember the song Red and Yellow and Pink and Green….. Merits go to Neel M, Leander K-B, Adam M, Ben B, Joshua R, Ollie W, Samuel H and Felix B.
What is Manchester United’s nickname? The Red Devils
Which American National Park sits across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana? Yellowstone
In the Harry Potter series, Professor Dolores Umbridge mainly wears which colour? Pink
On what surface do you play the game of bowls? Bowling green
Connection: Colours of the rainbow (red, yellow, pink, green)
