Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
Well, here we are on the cusp of the end of year exams. In what could be viewed as a sort of ironic reversal of pathetic fallacy (but in real life) the sun has finally chosen to come out and stay out. It is wonderful, though of course it raises the ongoing ‘can we open the window, Miss?’ discussion held throughout Hampton’s classrooms to a whole new level. Exciting times.
What IS exciting is this week’s blog. Mr Wong’s lie is revealed, while Mrs Clarke’s two truths and a lie betrays her love of 90s pop music (or does it?) U14A cricket captain Aadi K returns with a report on the weekend’s match. Did they bounceback from their cup loss? Finally, there is a report from the joint Third and Fourth year Athletics squad and their first round victory in the Track and Field Cup.
Before we hit the content, the blog would like to wish you all good luck in the upcoming end of year exams. Remember, they are important because of what you can learn from them about yourself, not because of how you do compared to anyone else.
Heads of Year Message
Exams
Third Year Exams will take place next week. Third Years should continue with their preparations for exams over this weekend. We ask that they prepare as best they can and concentrate during the exams to ensure they are achieving personal best. We ask no more of each pupil than that. There is no failure, only learning if mistakes occur.
Interform Athletics
Interform athletics will take place on Thursday 25 May. All Third Year pupils should attend school in their Hampton PE or Sports kit that day. J14 rowers going to the National Schools Regatta on Friday can participate in Interform athletics until 2.50pm that day, when they will meet for a training session.
HPV vaccinations – advanced notice
The School Nurses will write to all Third Year parents about upcoming HPV vaccinations which will take place in school on the morning of Wednesday 7 June.
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 – keep up the good work over this weekend and next week. Make time for breaks in between purposeful study. Maintain a healthy diet and hydration, along with regular sleep patterns. Continue to be thoughtful and kind to the people around you. Please take care of yourselves this week and let your Form Tutors know about any difficulties or if you need support.
We hope you enjoy showing what you are capable of next week – good luck!
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Miss M Bedford
U14A Cricket Report
Cricket captain Aadi K (3A) gives us the latest from the U14A cricketers:
The Hampton U14A team were looking forward to playing a strong Reed’s side after the unfortunate loss in the cup. We won the toss and elected to bowl first. Up front, our opening bowlers bowled excellently. Joe P and Aarush J picked up two early wickets each which meant Reed’s were 12-4! The Reed’s batsman started to get a bit of a partnership going, but a great run out from Dawood A meant that we were back in the game. In the middle overs, Adhrit P bowled brilliantly, picking up three wickets. Eventually, Reed’s were 83 all out. That meant Hampton needed 84 to win.
We decided to change the order a bit so that meant Freddie T and Akshat N opened the batting. We lost one early wicket, but Aditya K and Freddie T built a great platform before Aditya K was dismissed for 29 after playing some exquisite strokes. At this point, victory was in sight and we achieved it comfortably. Hampton won by seven wickets. A great team performance resulted in our second win of the season.
U15 Track and Field Cup
Last Friday, the Third Year (and Fourth Year) had great success in the Track and Field Cup held at Lee Valley. A few notable performances were Fraser K coming second in the 200 meters, beaten only by a boy in the year above. Beyond this excellent performance, Marcus S won the 1500m and Sam M-J (a Fourth Year) came first by a stretch in the 100 meters. However, of course, the most important achievement of the day was the convincing win in the Third and Fourth Year relay with the Hampton team consisting of Third Years Marcus S, Sooho J, Rio F-T and Arjen W from the Fourth Year on the final stretch.
Overall, it was a very successful day for the team, coming home with a deserved win of the whole competition, meaning that they move on to the regional rounds.
Report by Marcus S (3E)
Two truths and a lie
Last week’s Third Year tutor trying to pull the wool over your eyes was Mr Wong.
Here are his three claims:
- Before he was a teacher, Mr Wong was a game developer
- Mr Wong is a Freemason
- Mr Wong is an experienced Handball coach
Which was the lie?
Well, as it turns out, Mr Wong is an experienced Handball coach. Maybe an opportunity for a new School sport? Before that, though, he was a game developer in Hong Kong developing two games: ‘Anyway’ and a windows game called ‘Chicken Oz’. As I understand it, they are both considerably better than ‘Stumble Guys’. What this means is that Mr Wong wasn’t a Freemason – he is actually a member of Mensa which is considerably more impressive.
This week, we have a ‘pop theme’ for our two truths and a lie from Mrs Clarke, form tutor for 3B:
- Mrs Clarke’s mother is the famous singer Petula Clark (she removed the ‘e’ from her surname for her stage name)
- Mrs Clarke once sat next to 90s pop icon (!!) Peter Andre on a flight to Japan
- The first album Mrs Clarke bought was Jason Donovan’s ‘Ten Good Reasons’
(Editor’s note: for those unaware of Jason Donovan’s work, I can point you towards this albums biggest hit single ‘Especially for You’, a collaboration with Kylie Minogue, which stained the charts for what seemed like months at the time).
Which is the lie?
CONNECTION CORNER
Well done to the everyone who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. We were after something quite specific last week, merits go to all those who correctly guessed that the answers were all counties of Ireland. Big shout out to Avraj M, Ali T, Albert S, Oliver A, Greg M, Max F, Ben B, Stanley A, Prabodha A, Ollie W, Samuel H, Neel M, Leander K-B and Joshua R.
Another tricky one to have a go at over the weekend:
In case, you’re still perplexed here are the answers from the last week’s conundrum:
What is the name of the poem where the first, second and fifth lines have the same rhyme and rhythm? Limerick
What is the name of the impermeable buoyant material that is most commonly used to stopper bottles of wine? Cork
Which sports presenter will host Wimbledon on the BBC this summer? Clare Balding
What is the name of the chain of local bakers’ shops that can be found in Hampton, Hampton Hill, Teddington and Twickenham? The Cavan Bakery
Connection: All counties of Ireland (County Limerick, County Cork, Country Clare, County Cavan)
