Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! A chill wind is whistling round the School and boys are buying up vast quantities of sweets and chocolate for their form’s Secret Santa. If you are lucky, when you walk past the Garrick you may hear the choir rehearsing for the Christmas Concert and the Carol Service. This week the whole School has been involved in a challenge to reduce screen time and a full report is below. There are edible prizes for the forms with the most marked reduction and as Second Years are driven by their tummies, I’m hopeful for a win.
The Lower School play, Macbeth, was a huge success and we have a review in this week’s blog, as well as a little video for those of you that missed it. Well done to all those involved on stage and off stage in Second Year. We have a report on the badminton tournament at St James’s School. Next week the interform competitions begin with table tennis and badminton, to be followed by basketball and chess. I am expecting intense competition!
For Dr Who fans it has been an exciting week with two newly restored episodes. My father was a director of Dr Who in the 1960s and so this weekend he is speaking at a convention in Kew. I wonder if any Hamptonians will be there? Look out for Tim Combe who saved the Daleks from being eradicated.
Amazing to think that in less than two weeks we will have broken up. Happy Advent and have a great weekend!
MERIT MILESTONES
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Academic Merits
George Scholes – 10
Matthew Kuenzel – 10
Neel Hemnani – 10
Matthew Lopez – 10
Max Grierson – 10
Jamie Spasov – 10
Alex Paton – 10
James Stott – 20
Zidan Akhtar – 10
Alp Ozcagli – 20
Konrad Granberg – 30
Joe Bates – 30
Fred Owen – 30
Oliver Yang – 40
Lion Merits
Oliver Yang – 10
TUTOR QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Each week the pupils decide on a question to ask all the Second Year form tutors. This week’s question comes from Joshua A (2F):
Which fictional world would you live in for the rest of your life?
- Neverland (Peter Pan)
- Asgard (Thor)
- Pandora (Avatar)
- Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings)
Miss Mattinson said she and her Form (2L) gave support for Asgard (‘because it’s most like Kingston, said one of them!’)
Mr Richards proposed Atlantis from Aquaman saying ‘Asgard (Thor) doesn’t exist as it was destroyed.’
Miss Holt is moving to Pandora and Miss Winstock is making her way to Middle Earth.
Mr Vann-Alexander chose the Shire from Lord of the Rings (‘However, if given the option, I’d choose Narnia!)
Mrs Whitwam plumped for Neverland (‘I want to wear pyjamas all day and chase away pirates.’)
No Homework Week
This week is No Homework Week, this means that this week our teachers don’t set any homework for us! This means that we relax for a whole week and do not have to bother with our homework. This pairs up beautifully with our interform challenge to stop usage on our phone. This meant that this week I could learn many cool new things. For example, I learnt out how to do a magic trick that always baffled me, a disappearing trick! Besides that I learnt the hard way about how dirty my room is, courtesy of one hour cleaning my room! However, my favourite activity, by far, was a movie night with my family! We had a great time eating dinner and watching my favourite movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
By Siddhant Shetty (2J)
Put down your phone!
What are you doing reading this on your devices?! This week Hamptonians were challenged to reduce their screen time on their phones, in favour of other activities like reading a book or learning magic tricks. I personally enjoyed learning a new board game – Backgammon – while my friend Siddhant enjoyed watching a movie.
Last Friday morning, boys recorded their average screen time on a normal week, so that this week, when we tried to reduce our screen time, we could find out how much of a reduction we made. Additionally, First to Fifth Year forms with the lowest average screen time or the highest average screen time reduction will get edible prizes; definitely worth it!
By Shishir V (2J)
Macbeth
Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble! Second Year dramatists took to the stage this week, let’s find out more from Oliver Y (2P):
On Tuesday evening, I went to see my friends perform in Macbeth, a tragedy by William Shakespeare. First Year and Second Year pupils were involved in this Junior Drama Club production. One of my friends was the main character (who?) and he put on a very convincing Scottish accent as Macbeth. One of my favourite parts was when the witches were entertaining the audience with their trembling and frightening voices. The narrators and characters certainly conveyed this dark and bloody story well.
SPORT Roundup
La Liga League
For the weeks leading up to Christmas we have been treated to a special league of football. Mr Boyce split us into different teams randomly and named us after actual La Liga teams! We have a round robin for the first few matches and the top two teams get to play in a hotly-contested final at the end of the term. It’s a great way to round up the term with excitement, joy of winning and the sadness of losing. The games have started very well for my team with two wins and no losses. It leaves us in a great place to look forward to a place in the final. However, it won’t be so easy as there are lots of other teams looking for the trophy and jubilation. I can’t wait to play another game and I’m sure that everybody else feels the same too.
By Siddhant S (2J)
Rugby Tournament
On Monday 27 November the U12A team took part in a tournament at St James’s which lasted all day. Overall, we played well and we won three out of our six games in the group stages against Gunnersbury, St Richard Reynolds and Vyners School. We were in the cup! On top of that, we lost another two games and drew one, the team that we drew against was St James’s and they were probably the biggest and strongest team of the tournament. Initially we weren’t too keen on playing them as they topped their group. In the first few minutes we went 1-0 up which boosted our morale and we believed we could win the match. Once half time came, the team had a break from the relentless tackles and rucks. With a pep talk from our coaches, we came back on the pitch a bit too confident as we quickly let two tries slip past us. But we weren’t feeling like losing and so from a scrum in the last two minutes our winger ran past their defensive line and put the ball over their try line which meant we drew the game. Overall, we came joint third with St James. We were a very muddy and happy team.
By Archie S (2F)
Football
On Monday, the U12B team went up against Ibstock Place A team. We knew we were the underdogs in this situation as we were a B team. The game had a great start! From a great through ball, Sewon P (2W) cut the ball round the keeper and slotted the ball into the back of the net. 1-0. The game went on with Hampton dominating possession until half time. After the second half kicked off, Ibstock swung a ball in from a corner and headed the ball into the back of the net. 1-1. The game continued this way until the final whistle blew. It ended as a draw and we are ready for our next game which will hopefully bring home a win.
By Benjamin J (2W)
PE Lesson of the Week
Last week in PE we were playing handball and learnt all the different techniques of the game and which one was the best. The first technique was man-to-man marking which was when each player in the defending team had to mark a player in the attacking team. This technique was quite useful because all the players on the attacking team were marked. The second technique was zonal which meant defending spaces. This technique was quite useful because it means that the opposition don’t have much space. Overall, I believe zonal is the most effective technique.
By Danyal P (2J)
Talk!
Next week sees the second Talk! of the autumn term. Sir John Curtice is a leading expert in electoral behaviour, famed for his incisive analysis of the exit polls and live results on election night coverage. In his unmissable Talk!, Sir John will speak on the voting behaviour seen in the most recent UK elections, whilst also delving into current opinion polling to explore the likely factors which will determine the outcome of the upcoming national poll, which must be held by January 2025. With the next General Election on the horizon, don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to hear from one of the leading authorities on how we vote and why.
The Talk! takes place on Wednesday 6 December at 1pm in the Hammond Theatre, there’s no need for pupils to book tickets. Hopefully we’ll see you there!
SHOEBOX APPEAL
This Christmas, Form Charity is organising a Shoebox Appeal in aid of Solace Women’s Aid, which will run from Monday 4 December to Friday 8 December.
Each form will donate a maximum of three shoeboxes filled with donations for Solace.
- Please ensure the lid and base of the box are wrapped separately
- Please do not individually wrap gifts
- Please ensure all items are new and unused and suitable for their intended use
Why? Solace is a leading specialist charity in the UK supporting women and children experiencing domestic abuse and sexual violence. The lifesaving support that Solace provides to over 20,000 women, children and young people each year is so important. With the Cost of Living Crisis the need for donations is increasing and our gift donations can make a huge difference.
We would like Second Years to bring in the following items:
Soft toys
Stickers
Clothing (gloves, hats, socks)
Books
Pens and pencils
Colouring book
Puzzles
Stickers
Games
Hair accessories (in particular products for afro hair)
If you need support or have any questions regarding the Shoebox Appeal, please speak with Miss Embiricos, Miss Holt or Mrs Michelson at Form Charity.
On behalf of Form Charity and Solace, we thank you for your support and donations!
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
QUIZ OF THE WEEK
Well done to everyone who had a go at last week’s quiz. Big shout out to Forms 2W and 2B with the most entries. Merits go to:
2J: Siddhant S, David W, Shishir V, Neil T, Henry S
2L: Macsen B, Armaan V, Rajvir S
2W: Dean B, Brooklyn N, Laurie L-T, Siyun P, Inwoo Y, Shiv V
2B: Joe B, Devam K, Alex G, Jiashin L, Ekam R, Sebastian W
2H: James G, Jojo O’S, Joshua D-L
2F: Daniel S, Ben J, Joshua A
2P: Oliver Y, Samrith P, Lucas B, 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 Vayun J (2W). Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers from last week’s quiz:
What country touches the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal? India
What’s the city with the most diversity in terms of language? New York
Which country borders 14 nations and crosses 8 time zones? Russia
What country has the most natural lakes? Canada
Which Central American country has a name which translates to English as “The Saviour”? El Salvador
