Welcome to the Second Year BloG!
This week began with a moving Remembrance Assembly and the whole of Second Year processed into the Hammond in a respectful silence. Mr Roberts spoke about the lives of two soldiers, describing their personalities and interests as well as their heroism in war. It helped us all to focus in the two-minute silence on the sacrifices made.
This week’s blog is dominated by news from No Limits Week as so many boys have tried out new lunchtime clubs. Odd Socks Day was a colourful one and Second Year could really show off as they were in games kit.
As part of the Talk! Series, Harry Cole, political editor of The Sun, spoke in the Hammond and we have an insightful report in this week’s blog. We are also building up to Interform Chess in December and chess boards are being dusted down and games are being played at a feverish pace in the Library at lunchtime. Watch this space for updates.
MERIT MILESTONES
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Eric Rainey – 10
Jonathan Anandamurugan – 10
Thomas Net – 10
Joshua Witty – 10
Sion Kim – 10
Joshua Aron – 10
Nico Watts – 10
Siyul Pyun – 10
Laurie Lloyd-Thomas – 10
Henry Sage – 10
Eeston Zhang – 10
Oscar Fu – 10
Fred Owen – 20
Vayun Jain – 20
Louis Chun – 20
Alex Gancz – 20
Devam Kumarswami – 30
Anthony Simonov – 30
Siddhant Shetty – 30
Siddhant Shetty – 40
Shishir Vaddadi – 40
Manav Krishna – 40
Tutor Question of the Week
This week’s Tutor Question of the Week comes to us from Oliver Y (2P):
If you were given the chance to go away with £1000 spending money, which of the following countries would you pick and why?
- Estonia
- Portugal
- South Africa
- Wales
Portugal was the favourite, picked by Mrs Owen, Miss Tiller, Mrs Kirby ( ‘I would probably spend most of the money on Pastel De Nata!’); Miss Winstock (‘Lots of beautiful places to visit (Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, Madeira and the chance to practise a Latin-derived language!’)
Then South Africa, chosen by Mr Hood (obviously), Miss Holt and Mrs Whitwam (‘I’d spend the money on a safari’)
Odd Socks Day
It was fantastic to see lots of our Second Years come to School on Monday in a plethora of colourful odd socks to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week, the perfect way to promote kindness and tolerance and celebrate what makes us all unique.
Spot the Second Year Hamptonian in the video below:
Talk! Harry Cole
Vayun J (2W) tells us all about an informative talk from Harry Cole, in the first Talk! of the year:
On Thursday, I went to the Talk!, where Harry Cole, the Political editor of The Sun, would be answering questions about politics and being an editor. He began with a brief introduction, where he described how recent politics had taken a turn for the unexpected in the last 18 months. He also talked about some of the big ‘scoops’ he had unearthed, and he was proud to have played a role in several politicians having to resign after their various scandals were publicised. After that, he took in some questions. One anecdote he recalled while answering someone’s question – he described how Rishi Sunak, who was flying back after a summit abroad, came to the back of the plane where all the journalists were sitting and got angry at them for only asking questions about domestic problems, rather than the summit. Apparently, he asked them why they couldn’t be like France and its journalists!
Overall, it was a very fascinating talk, but the two things that struck me most was his sense of humour, which could be especially funny when talking about the parliament in the last 18 months! However most importantly, his unwavering suggestion that his newspaper, The Sun, was a reader’s newspaper, which meant it was a right-wing, Tory based one. While this method was slightly questionable to others including myself, it made me think how this was different to many other newspapers like BBC. Therefore, to understand what it really is like to read a slightly impartial article, I will certainly give it a go, and would recommend others to do so, and possibly even sign up for other political talks happening.
No Limits Week
This week was all about moving out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself with something new! Lower School Hamptonians were encouraged to try three new clubs or societies over the course of the week. They were each given a ‘No Limits Week Card’ which they took with them to each activity they participated in to be signed off by the relevant member of staff.
Let’s hear from some of our Second Years on the different clubs they tried out:
Board Games Club
This week it is No Limits Week, where you are encouraged to try three new clubs that you haven’t tried before. On Monday, I went to Board Games Club which I found amazing and also fun. You can take your pick of any games available and there are so many to choose from including the classic games – Monopoly and Scrabble. There are also the strategic team player games – Forbidden Desert and Codenames as well as other fun tactical games – Perudo, Exploding Kittens and Mastermind. This week, my friends and I decided to play Monopoly Go, which is a shorter and quicker version of Monopoly (as that usually takes too long) and you use cards instead of a board. There are cash cards, property cards and other special cards. Overall, Board Games Club is exciting and I encourage other Second Years to come along during lunch on Monday and/or Thursday.
By Oliver Y (2P)
Geography Club
Geography Club is great for people who want to test their knowledge and have fun whilst doing it. From challenging quizzes to new games made in other countries, Geography Club has it all. I tried it out because I wanted to improve my knowledge and experiment with something new. I was not disappointed. I believe it is a great way to learn new facts, for example I now know Peru’s capital is Lima and New York has only five boroughs. I would highly recommend it; it’s in G67 at 12:35pm on Wednesdays.
By Siddhant S (2J)
Junior Physics Club
I tried out Junior Physics Club and found it to be very fun. In the club, run by Mr Walsh, we were using the hologram effect to create beautiful 3D holograms. First, we cut out nets to fold into trapezoidal pyramids to place on our screens. The result, a 3D bird chirruping, was refracted through the film. I would highly recommend anyone with an interest in Physics to come to G17 on Monday at 1.20 pm.
By Shishir V (2J)
SPECIAL SHOUT-OUTS
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 Mrs Whitwam v.whitwam@hamptonschool.org.uk
Well done to Joshua A (2J) on his performance at the Sutton Music Festival. Let’s hear more from Joshua:
Today was the day that I had my first performance in the Sutton Music Festival. This was my third attempt at getting a prize. It was quite a nerve-wrecking experience as I had practised lots for this day. I arrived at the venue where I proceeded to register my name. My slot would be after a performance before, so I decided to watch the performance. After the previous performance, my performance was next. As I prepared, the adjudicator called out my name. I walked onto the stage and introduced myself and the piece I would be playing. I sat down and then, began to play. I felt a deep connection to my music which helped me from messing up and then, I finished my piece. I bowed and then proceeded to my seat. Once all my competitors played their pieces, the adjudicator talked about what he liked and some feedback. Once that had ended, my heart slowly began to race with thoughts in my head. But then, the adjudicator said, “First prize to Joshua.” I was relieved and happy that I got a first place prize. I was joyous as I went onto the stage to collect my prize. This would be a key memory and I cannot wait for my second performance next week.
QUIZ OF THE WEEK
Well done to everyone who had a go at last week’s quiz. Big shout out to Form 2B with the most entries. Merits go to:
2J: Siddhant S, David W, Josh B, Shishir V, Jai K
2L: Macsen B, Armaan V, Konrad G, Jonty G
2W: Dean B, Benjamin J, Vayun J, Brooklyn N, Inwoo Y
2B: Joe B, Ekam R, Devam K, Jiashan L, Alex G, Sebastian W
2H: James G, Joshua L, Manilo C
2F: Oscar F, Dean F, Daniel S, Aiden F, Yule O, Adharsh A
2P: Oliver Y, Sion K
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.
This week’s brain-busting quiz questions come to us from Oliver Y (2P). Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers from last week’s quiz:
- What is ‘cynophobia’ the fear of? Dogs
- Who named the ‘Pacific Ocean’? Ferdinand Magellan
- What is the only edible food that doesn’t go off? Honey
- What is the smallest country in the world (it’s less than half a square mile!)? The Vatican City
- How many hearts does an octopus have? Three
