Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
Blankets of grey cloud with sun occasionally peeking through; being jostled in the corridors by people struggling to control their cricket bags; the constant drive to open the windows of classrooms, followed by the need to shut them again as it becomes apparent that the wind is still actually really cold – yes, summer term is here! It is a wonderful time of the year, with the promise of brighter, warmer days ahead and the outdoor freedom that that can offer.
The big news of this week was the first whole School photo being taken. It is an impressive logistical feat and the Third Year as a whole must be commended for playing their part in making it run fairly seamlessly.
Of course, the next stage will be seeing the photo itself and finding out whose hair blew out of place at the inopportune moment, or who had their eyes shut. Regardless of your initial reaction to the photo and how you look in it, it is a brilliant memento that you will be able to return to in years to come and will bring the memories of friends you have lost touch with flooding back. Make sure you order a copy – in 25 years you will be thankful for it!
But enough of the future, what about the NOW (or, at least, the recent past) that this blog thrives on? We have a report (already!) on the first cup match of the Cricket season and a report from last term’s Rosslyn Park Rugby Sevens tournament. More than enough to pass a little time on your Friday evening!
HEADS OF YEAR MESSAGE
Eid Mubarak. We hope that everyone in the school community celebrating Eid-Ul-Fitr has a happy and peaceful day. We also hope everyone is enjoying the start of the summer term (and is already looking forward to the two upcoming bank holidays!) having had a lovely Easter break.
Third Year Exams
Third Year Exams will take place during the week commencing Monday 22 May (the week before half term). All boys will benefit from two Study Skills sessions during PSHE this term. The sessions will help boys to plan their revision schedule, consider different revision techniques and review some top tips for maintaining their own wellbeing whilst revising. Many parents have signed up to attend Third Year Study Skills Evening in person on Monday, but we will also share the resources from that event with all Third Year parents next week. We have asked all Third Year subject teachers to stop setting homework (or to set targeted revision homework tasks only) from Monday 8 May. Boys should use the homework time available to prepare diligently for Exams. Subject specific revision check lists will be available online from w/c 1 May.
Co-curricular activities
Boys should continue to listen for Form Tutors announcements, check their emails and the digital screens around school for information about co-curricular activities. We firmly believe that the most successful pupils are those who make the most of the wide-ranging opportunities available at Hampton and enjoy their time at school. The start of term is a good time to review the options available on the co-curricular timetable, which can be found here.
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
Middlesex Cup
On Thursday, the U14A team played their first fixture of the season against St Richard Reynolds Catholic College. It was the first round of the Middlesex Cup, and we are aiming to defend the title we won in 2021.
Hampton won the toss and decided to bat first on a wicket that looked good for batters. Aadi and Akshat looked quite solid, but in the early overs, Akshat unfortunately got caught for 7 runs. A good partnership from Freddie and Aadi meant that we were scoring at a good rate, before Freddie got out for 22. Adhrit and Aadi then batted beautifully and both contributed to the scoreboard with Adhrit scoring 34 off 36 balls, and Aadi scoring a 50 of 44 balls. A fantastic end to the innings from Marcus scoring a rapid 28 of 8 balls, and supported from Aditya K with 11 of 6 balls, meant that we reached a very good total of 173 runs off our 20 overs.
At the start of the 2nd innings, tight bowling from Shiv and Yuvraj meant that the opposition were struggling to score, and a run out from Tom provided a very good start. Wickets from Joe, Dawood, and 2 wickets from Aditya K meant the game was in our grasp. In the end, a couple of boundaries from one of their batsmen got them a total of 111. Hampton had won the match by 62 runs.
We are looking forward to our next match in the cup, and we hope to progress further as well.
Report by Aditya K (3H)
Rosslyn Park Sevens
Overall, this campaign was a great experience for all of our players. This was our second trip to Rosslyn Park and after topping our group last season we came with high hopes.
The day started off well with a great win over Ivybridge College with us putting five good tries past them with a great intercept try from Hayden E (3A), and Harry D (3A) converting all of them.
We then had a bit of time in between our next match so the boys went to see what Rosslyn Park had to offer. There were a lot of fun things to do and some of our players even got to meet ex-international and Lions captain Sam Warburton!
We arrived back at the minibus and began warming up for our second game against Langley School. This game went equally well with four tries being scored and a comfortable win for us. There was some brave play from Gabriel W (3C) and Tom B (3A) who took some hard hits during that match. After this match the boys were starting to feel the effect of working so hard on the pitch, so the time between the next match was spent relaxing on the minibus with some great karaoke courtesy of Will O’s (3A) great speaker.
We began the warmup for Gravesend Grammar School with high hopes for topping the group. A solid game was played with us scoring another four tries to win comfortably. We topped our group going three from three and having only conceded four tries and scoring thirteen. We were into the cup playoffs!
We then faced Northampton School to decide whether we went into the cup or the plate. It was an excellent game for the team with an extremely good defensive performance. Jack H (3A) scored a hat trick and the whole team played some of the best rugby we had played. We went through to the next day of Rosslyn Park unbeaten!
We had a tough draw and came against Sedbergh in the first round of the cup. It was a strong performance from the team but sadly we came away with a loss. The match was well fought with good portions of play but Sedbergh started quicker, scoring first, which helped them to be on top for the majority of the match. Hampton got back in it scoring to make it 14-7 and the game got extremely close. Disappointingly Sedbergh scored an overlap try and finished off the game. An interesting statistic for our 7s team was that throughout our season we did not lose a game when we scored first.
We still had one more game to play against Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg with a small possibility of still being able to go through. The match started very well and we scored 6 tries in the first half. However, Morgannwg came back extremely strongly in the second half and prevailed over us as players began to be struck with the fatigue of playing two days of non-stop rugby.
To summarise our tournament, it was a good success and we got to the last 32 in Great Britain. The team played very well and we look forward to what we can do when we next come back to Rosslyn Park!
Report by Seb H-T (3C)
Two truths and a lie
Before the holidays, it was Mr Walden who had offered us some claims to believe. Which one was the lie?
- Mr Walden once hiked up and down Mount Fuji (in Japan) in one night.
- Mr Walden is a qualified diver.
- Mr Walden and his band once supported The 1975 on stage.
Well, Mr Walden HAS hiked up and down Mt Fuji in a night and he IS a qualified diver. However, he and his band didn’t ever support The 1975. While this was the lie, there was an element of truth as Matty Healy apparently did want Mr Walden’s (obviously excellent) band to support them, but an over-zealous tour manager had already booked someone else!
This week, Mr Hurst is the Form Tutor essentially lying to us all. Here are the three things he wants us to believe.
- Mr Hurst once hit a 6 at the Ageas Bowl, home of Hampshire and Southern brave
- Mr Hurst once scored a goal against Hampton School
- Mr Hurst was once a mascot for Manchester United
Which is the lie? Find out next week!
Talk!
With the coronation of His Majesty The King just two weeks away, we’re delighted to welcome BBC Royal Correspondent Sarah Campbell in our first Talk! of the summer term. Come along to the Hammond Theatre on Tuesday 25 April at 1pm for what promises to be a fascinating event. Find out more here
CONNECTION CORNER
After a break over the Easter holidays, we’re back with another perplexing Connection Corner! Can you spot the connection in this week’s conundrum:
