WELCOME TO THE SECOND YEAR BLOG!
It’s been a fun packed 4-day week for our Second Years; after enjoying an extra day off they returned to School to find that filming for the new School film is underway, lots of pupils got involved and I’m excited to see the final product in September!
Due to some poor weather last week we finally got to enjoy the School’s Coronation celebration lunch, with games, penalty shoot-outs and not one, but two, but three ice cream vans! I thoroughly enjoyed my Biscoff waffle cone combo – but I did see some questionable blue marshmallow creations from some of the Second Years! Despite the rain we all enjoyed the special celebrations so thank you to everyone involved in organising.
MERIT MILESTONES!
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Ethan Doyle – 30
Dylan Love – 40
Guradaes Singh – 60 (fantastic!)
Umair Mukhtar – 60 (excellent work!)
Anton Chetvertkov – 60 (super!)
Radical revision
With revision underway for the upcoming end-of-year assessments, Umair M and Dominic N (2L) share their top revision tips:
For the past few weeks, in PSHE, we have been learning how to revise for our end-of-year assessments. We did a step-by-step guide to how to revise for these exams. First, we learned about when to not revise and when to take breaks. We should eat properly and sleep well while we revise. We should also take 30 – 40 mins to revise and then take a 10 min break. Your mental health is more important than your exam results! Also, we learned about mind maps, mind palaces and note taking. Personally, I think the mind map and notes are the way forward. Also, making quizzes on Blooket/Quizlet is a fun way to revise.
TUTOR QUESTION TIME!
This week the pupils wanted to know… Would you rather fight nine duck sized horses or one horse sized duck?
Nine duck sized horses: Miss Tiller, Mrs Owen, Mrs Kirby, Miss Winstock (although she’d rather see the duck sized horse), Mrs O’Connor (and all of 2J!), Miss Holt, Mr Worrall (and all of 2B!), Mrs Hill.
One horse sized duck: Miss Bryant – looks like you’re on your own there, Miss Bryant!
Have you ever had a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask your form tutors, then please send your suggestions for next week’s Tutor Question Time to b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk.
Cracking Coronation
Over the weekend, the world witnessed a historic event. King Charles III was crowned in Westminster Abbey, making him the 40th monarch to be crowned there. However, the number of physical guests was dialled down, as Charles did not want such a flamboyant event, taking into consideration the cost-of-living crisis and other matters. To put this number in context, Queen Elizabeth’s coronation had 8,000 visitors, over four times the amount for Charles. However, a whopping 20 million people watched it on TV.
As Charles paraded through the streets of London in the drizzling rain, he was met by warm applause and a large gathering of the general public. They adorned crowns and waved Union Jack flags, obviously delighted with their new King. As well as this, an army regiment from Scotland, Wales and England respectively, marched with the royal parade, pledging their allegiance to the King through their actions.
Overall, the coronation of our new King has seemed to lift the spirits of many people, and his promises to the nation will lift them higher still.
By Kai W (2L)
Fantastic filming!
This week, you may have seen a professional film crew with us, filming an exciting new School Film. Charlie D (2B) tells us all about it:
On Tuesday, my class and I were taken out of period four and five to be filmed for the School film. It was a great experience and we enjoyed it very much. Firstly, I was kitted up with all the sound equipment to make sure that my voice was heard loud and clear. After that, my classmates and I were directed into the correct position to make sure the camera had the right angle. From there, we repeated the same thing over and over again to make sure that the film company had many takes to choose from. At some points it was quite frustrating because you could have the perfect take but then the weather conditions were not good enough because maybe the wind was too loud or there was a cloud covering the sun for example. Finally, the director thought we had enough takes and said that we were finished. Overall, I thought it was a fantastic experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It’s a wrap!
Playful Pinocchio Rehearsals
After the success of Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, the Drama department quickly moved on to the next show: ‘Once Upon A Pine: The Adventures Of Pinocchio’. It is the Lower School Summer Show and involves First, Second and Third Years. I am part of the cast, and we have rehearsals after School on Monday, Wednesday and even some Sundays. Even though this may sound tedious, the rehearsals are fun and you are never always on the stage. We perform on the 20 and 21 June, so please come and watch. It would make all the hard work feel worth it!
By Max D (2L)
Riveting Recital
Last Friday, me and several other musicians waited in the Hammond for the recital to start. We were all slightly nervous but prepared. I had already had a quick warm up and was prepared to perform. The first few performers were skilled First Years, then Kiran G (2B) stepped up to perform his piece New Kid. Then Theo L (2B) performed two pieces – Mazurka in A minor and Impromptu in Eb Major. Then, it was me. I was playing All Alone by Ryan Linham on my trumpet. It went very well and I was pleased with my performance.
I would recommend the recitals for any budding musicians. Sign-up sheets are in the Garrick Foyer if you are interested.
By Rory M (2B)
Help Project – Mid-project Review!
For my HELP Project, I am creating a 10-minute video on a 2000-year-old mechanism – the Antikythera mechanism. The video details what it is, discovery, how it works and more!
I have collected pages of research from over 20 different sources, written a script (roughly 1200 words) and voiced it over. After the cinematic intro, the first section of the video (the Discovery of Antikythera) outlines the fascinating story of how Greek sponge divers unearthed parts of this mechanism, and that it was x-rayed by members of the Stais family (one of which was the Minister of Education of Greece). We now know that Archimedes made the mechanism, and that it used to track positions of the Sun, Moon and potentially the known planets at the time!
The second section of the video (How the Mechanism Works) was made using a heavily modified version of Minecraft (my potato computer cannot render/display such a complex 3D model any other way so I had to import it). It outlines the different parts of the mechanism – how the hand crank turns so many gears at the same time and precisely – and recent scientific discoveries.
Scientists and archaeologists are constantly making new discoveries about Antikythera – it is a extremely fascinating topic, and I am enjoying making a HELP Project on it!
By Theo L (2B)
Notorious NBA
James R (2L) gives us a whistle-stop tour of the NBA season:
As all 82 games of the NBA season have been played, many of the predictions made back in September have been completely thrown out of the window, Joel Embiid for MVP? Lauri Markannen an All Star starter and the most improved player? The kings clinching the Pacific division title? The whole of the Western conference standings? It’s been full of surprises. Amongst these surprises include the All Star game’s new format, Paolo Banchero’s almost historic rookie campaign and Jimmy Butler and his postseason heroics leading 8th seed Miami past the 1st seed Miluwake (the best team in the NBA with two All Stars, one of them being Giannis Antetokounmpo) in just 5 games. It’s been full of shockers and it’s safe to say my bit earlier in the year was very wrong. Now New York face off against Butler and Miami, a thriller, as well as Phoenix going up against Denver. Philadelphia against Boston is going to six games (threatening seven) and the star of the show Lakers versus Golden State thriller. If you want to tune in, I recommend you watch the games, highlights will be on the NBA website as well as live games if you have Sky Sports. Give the playoffs a watch!
Subject of the Week: Abstract Art
Last week, in Art, we had been studying Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian painter and art theorist, and his style of abstract art. Kandinsky suffered from a condition called synesthesia, where one sense simultaneously triggers another sense. For example, when he heard the sound of the trumpet, he would instantly think of the colour yellow, and red when he heard the violin. So, we also had a go, listening to pieces of music, drawing random shapes, and using different colours. In the end, they all looked very ‘unusual’, but it was our form of abstract art, which we thought was pretty impressive!
By Guradaes S (2H)
Club of the Week: Wonderful Writers’ Room
The Writers’ Room takes place at 12:45pm on a Wednesday for First to Third Year pupils. It is hosted by Mrs McLusky. In The Writers’ Room, you get to create a story based on any genre the group are doing. This can vary from Sci-Fi to Horror to Fantasy. In the first few weeks of the term, you plan out your story. Often, when planning, you get to draw out the world. After that, we move on to looking up good adjectives and verbs. We also start to think about our characters and the protagonists and the antagonists. Finally, we move on to writing the stories. This part is particularly fun because we get to put everything we’ve been planning together. We also get a chance to be more creative. It’s definitely a worthwhile experience and something you should try if you have a spare lunchtime.
By Zachariya I (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 Daniel M (2B). Congratulations, you’ve won a Merit!
What did the pig scream when the wolf grabbed its tail?
“Oink – That’s the end of me!”
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: Josh M-J, Harrison G, Lucas Z, Ben G, Kian IB
2L: Olly P
2H: Darhan S
2B: Rory M, Kiran G
2F: Ishaan A
Take a look at this week’s questions below, 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.
This week’s questions come from Guradaes S (2H). Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers from last week’s quiz:
- How many pages in our merit books not including the yellow ones ? 44
- Who was the first person to pee on the moon? Buzz Aldrin
- What 2 mammal lays eggs? A duck billed platypus and echidnas
- Who was the oldest US president ? Joe Biden
- Which animated movie features a tortoise turning into some blossom and flying away? Kung Fu Panda
