WELCOME TO THE SECOND YEAR BLOG!
Two new clubs were a hit with Second Year this week, Programming and Warhammer, and bloggers have shared details of other stimulating lessons and clubs this week too. Darts are very much in vogue among Second Years after the success of 16-year-old Luke Littler and I recommend Monty R’s enthusiastic account of his night watching the young champ. Cricket and tennis fans will enjoy reading other reports of international championships.
There is a Scottish theme to the quiz because it is Burns Night this week when Scots mark the birth of their national poet, Robert Burns. The tradition includes reading Ode to a Haggis and stabbing the poor little thing at the table. Indeed, I will be demolishing a haggis this weekend and sporting a spot of tartan.
Good luck to all those in the Rock Concert tonight! We have the Second Year Quiz next week so I expect Wikipedia will see some action this weekend.
MERIT MILESTONES
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Daniel Savage – 10
Leo Louis – 10
Jack Perry – 10
Kiran Lowe – 10
Mattie Rogers – 20
Sam Diggins – 20
Adharsh Arun – 20
Joe Lloyd – 20
Yule Oh – 20
Matthew Lopez – 20
James Nunn – 30
Konrad Granberg – 40
Push Up Challenge
Tom H (2B) has set himself a challenge to complete 10,000 push ups over 6 months and raise £10,000 for Home-Start in Spelthorne. He started on 1 October 2023 and has persevered ever since, filming his progress along the way. Despite struggling with technique and strength and hurting his shoulder, he is now nearly halfway through and has raised £7,000 already!
Home-Start is a voluntary organisation where volunteers offer regular support, friendship and practical help to young families under stress in their own homes, thus helping to prevent family breakdown. A fantastic cause Tom, well done and keep going!
Club of the Week
Warhammer Club
Max G (2W) tells us all about Warhammer Club, and what to expect if you go along:
I recently went to the Warhammer Club which allows you to paint miniatures to then play with in tabletop games with your friends. There are all sorts of creatures or humans you could paint. When I went to the club my friend had brought some characters in and I started to paint one for him. I was painting a medieval demonic creature which was quite exciting.
The one downside of Warhammer Club is that you need characters to paint and if you don’t have any then you would need to ask someone else if you can help paint theirs. If you are painter looking for a fun experience with something new, Warhammer Club might be for you. It runs on Mondays at 12:35 to 1:15 and anyone is welcomed, experienced or not. Maybe give it a go and if you enjoy it, you could possibly get some miniatures yourself!
Super Darts!
The Darts World Championship this year has attracted millions of fans, all because of one sensational 16-year-old, Luke ‘the Nuke’ Littler. Monty R (2W) gives us a flavour of the championship:
Straight after claiming the Youth World Championship trophy, in a nail-biting fixture against fellow darts prodigy, Gian Van Veen, Luke Littler headed into the tournament with spirits held high. He continued his illustrious run of form into the World Championship becoming the youngest ever player to win a game at the World Championship, aged just 16. In this emphatic victory, he took down former BDO World Champion, Christian Kist, in a 3-0 victory, all whilst averaging a record-breaking 106.15.
The Nuke showed no signs of stopping! After a victory over the UK Open champion, Andrew Gilding, (which I was lucky enough to watch) he continued his winning streak in a victory over the Canadian no.1, Matt Campbell. In his next match, he was set to play his idol, Raymond Van Barneveld, who he beat, 4 sets to 1. The 16-year-old continued his run of form into the quarter finals as he swept aside the man that had knocked out one of the favourites, Gerwyn Price, the history maker, Brendan Dolan, by 5 sets to 1. He carried on his form into the semi finals, when he beat Rob Cross 6-2.
All that was left for The Nuke was the man to beat, Luke Humphries. The stage was set for the youngest world championship final of all time, with Littler aged just 16, and Humphries, aged 28. In the first set, Humphries took the lead after an enthralling battle with high averages. Littler was soon 4-2 up with a dart at D7 to almost guarantee him to lift the Sid Waddell trophy on his very first attempt. After that moment, Littler couldn’t keep up with the newly crowned world no.1, and he lost the next 5 sets, meaning that Humphries was the champion of the world.
Music Tech Club
Joshua A (2J) gives us an insight into one of the many lunchtime clubs:
On Wednesday, I went to Music Tech Club where you can make your own songs using the Macs and Logic Pro X. The club is suitable for everyone whether you are new to the Macs or are familiar with the Macs. It is a very relaxed club as you have freedom of what you want to create! Whether you’re into pop, rock, EDM or any other sorts of music, in Music Tech, there’s nothing that stops you from pursuing your type of music. I personally like the sound of electronic and chiptune music (a style of synthesized electronic music). Right now, I’m creating my own piece in Logic using the different features it has to offer like Helm or Quantise. Music Tech is a very fun and relaxed club and I still would like to improve my skills on music creation.
Music Tech Club is at 12.35pm on Wednesday in P6 in the Garrick Building. Why don’t you come along and have a go at something new?
Subject of the Week
Art
Last week in our Art Lesson, we used charcoal to draw a picture of an Egyptian Pharaoh. We used the two different types of charcoal – thin charcoal, which is used to outline the main shape of the Egyptian king and a dark charcoal, which is used to make different shades of grey/black in the background to add shadow to make it look 3D. I chose King Tutankhamen and started off well with the outline shape of it and then added shading to the costume to make it look more realistic.
By Oliver Y (2P)
Geography
In Geography we’ve been studying crime with Mr Harrison. On Friday, we walked in expecting a normal geography lesson but instead we split into three groups of seven to play a game. Each group had to come up with a list of causes of crime. Then one person had to come up to the board from each team and write one down. If you’re wrong your team is out. The first two rounds went well with everyone getting correct answers. But then, Ishaaq went up and he had to phone a friend, but we got it wrong. We ended up in a three-way tie. It was a great lesson and I thanked Mr Harrison for it.
By Shishir V (2J)
Tennis News
The Australian Open has been going on for nearly two weeks now, and for the men’s singles, we are well into the quarter finals. The quarter finals started on the 23 January, with Novak Djokovic (seed 1) beating Taylor Fritz (seed 12) by 3 sets to 1. Djokovic won the first set 6-3, then the next 6-2. He lost the third set 4-6, but came back with a win, 7-3 in a tiebreaker. On the 24th, Daniil Medvedev (seed 3) beat Hubert Hurkacz (seed 9) by three sets to five. He won the first, third and fifth sets 6-4, 6-3, and 7-4 in a tiebreaker respectively. Hurkacz won the second set 7-5 and the fourth set 6-2. Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz (seed 2) lost out on a place in the semifinals by three sets to one. He lost to Alexander Zverev (seed 6), who won the first, second and fourth sets 6-1, 6-3 and 6-4 respectively. Alcaraz narrowly won the third set 7-2 in a tiebreaker. Jannik Sinner (seed 4) destroyed Andrey Rublev (seed 5) winning all three sets (3-0 in sets) 6-3, 7-5 in a tiebreaker, and 6-4 in that order. This means that in the semi finals we will have: Djokovic vs Sinner, and Medvedev vs Zverev. Both matches will take place on Friday 26 January, and the final will take place on Sunday.
Stop Press – with Djokovic beaten in the semi final this morning, it’s all set up for a fascinating final on Sunday.
By Joe B (2B)
Cricket news
England are set to play a test series (five matches across five days) against India on the 25 January in Hyderabad at 4am London time. A test series is a set of five matches played across five days and is about not getting out and having a steady stream of runs unlike a T20 (20 over match); a T20 is about scoring runs quick and fast to win the game. Unfortunately, one of India’s best batsmen, Virat Kohli, isn’t going to be playing in the test series due to personal reasons, and neither is Harry Brook. It’s bound to be a thrilling game, so make sure to catch all the action! You can watch the series live on TNT Sports.
By Shiv V (2W)
Discover Hampton Podcast
This week saw the launch of the very first episode of Discover Hampton, now available wherever you listen to your podcasts! In The Magic of Maths, we meet Hampton teacher Mr Griller whose love of Maths is infectious.His lesson is all about combinatorics – a kind of clever counting! Join us in the classroom as Mr Griller shows his pupils how to apply strategies and short cuts to help them count without actually needing to do all the hard work – why not have a go at the questions yourself?
Have a listen here.
Calling all budding Actors!
This year’s Lower School Summer Show is The Playhouse Apprentice, a fun and comical production with pupils from Hampton High. Performances will be on 18, 19 and 20 June in the Hammond Theatre. Auditions are open to all First, Second and Third Year pupils, and will take place on Tuesday 6 February 4.00pm to 5.30pm, with recalls on Thursday 8 February 4.00 to 5.30pm. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs Richardson in the Drama Department.
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 First 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 Form 2J with the most entries. Merits go to:
2J: Siddhant S, Shishir V, Louis C, Danyal P, Joshua A
2L: Macsen B
2W: Esa S, Shiv V
2B: Joe B, Devam K, Alex G, Jiashan L
2H: James G, George S, Joshua L
2F: Daniel S, Adharsh A
2P: Oliver Y, Sion K, Samrith S P
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 Siddant S (2J), and has a Scottish theme following the celebration of Burns Night this week. Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers to last week’s questions:
- What is the term for a severe snowstorm with strong winds and low visibility? A blizzard
- What is the average high temperature in January? 8 degrees Celsius
- What is the highest recorded temperature in the UK ever? 40 degrees Celsius
- Which year had the most rainfall in the UK across the year? 2000
- What is a pea souper? A thick yellowish fog
