WELCOME TO THE SECOND YEAR BLOG!
Welcome back Second Year! I hope you all had a wonderful half term break. It sounds like some of you had great adventures and a number of boys have come back with ski goggle tans. This week included the auditions for the Lower School Summer Show, The Playhouse Apprentice, well done to all who put themselves forward. We had two riveting speakers this week, one who spoke on Alexander the Great and a diplomat who reflected on Ukraine two years on. One of the highlights was the highly competitive interform rugby and football. We have reports and results below.
Next week we have had the STEM Fair at LEH and I look forward to telling you all about it in next week’s Blog.
MERIT MILESTONES
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Academic merits:
Joshua An – 20
Lucas Bennell -20
Ollie Barclay – 20
Isaac de Quintal – 20
Aleksei Lekhanov – 30
Josh Kim – 30
Alex Hodges – 50 (fantastic!)
Oliver Yang – 50 (wonderful!)
Oliver Yang – 60 (congratulations!)
Shishir Vaddadi – 80 (amazing!)
Manav Krishna – 80 (super!)
Armaan Virdee – 90 (what an achievement!)
Lion merits:
Devam Kumarswami
TUTOR QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Each week the pupils decide on a question to ask all the Second Year form tutors. The question this week is inspired by the talk by Mr Vann-Alexander during Monday’s Assembly, when he discussed the virtues and morals of being a Hamptonian and parallels with the fictional houses in Hogwarts and how they linked to different qualities of being a Hamptonian.
Which Hogwarts House would you like to be in?
Slytherin (Cunning)
Gryffindor (Bravery)
Ravenclaw (Intelligence)
Hufflepuff (Loyalty)
Mrs Owen – I have always been a fan of Hufflepuff! Newt Scamander was in Hufflepuff – that’s good enough for me.
Miss Holt – (Somewhat controversially, apparently…) according to the quiz I took after Monday’s assembly I am a Hufflepuff!
Mr Harrison – Looks like all tutors are Hufflepuff so far – me too! Although same quiz told me my animal was a stoat which I’m not very happy about
Miss Mattinson – Hufflepuff, through and through.
Miss Tiller – My form were all very shocked by this but I am… a Slytherin…
Miss Winstock – I would also love to be Hufflepuff, but the Pottermore quiz told me 12 years ago that I am a Ravenclaw! My middle name is Rowena, so perhaps it was nominative determinism.
Mr Vann Alexander sent this:
Mrs Whitwam was also sorted into Hufflepuff and is happy because Eddie Redmayne, a favourite actor, will be there too.
Interform Update
Let’s hear from Siddhant and Armaan who update us on the very exciting interform competitions that took place earlier this week.
Interform Football by Siddhant S (2J)
This Monday we had Interform Rugby and Football all afternoon. The Interform Cup is a form’s greatest prize; this day was a chance to move up the leaderboard as there are two cups which offers the chance to double the points.
In the first game, my form (2J) played against 2H and the results ended in a 1-1 draw. This game was very exciting for me to watch (I was on the bench) and witnessed a brilliant free kick from one of my friends, Charlie M, into the top left corner, sealing a draw. In our next game, we faced 2F and played a very good game on our part, winning 2-0. Thomas H scoring a very good goal and assist. From then on we played our hearts out with some very good football. But it was not to be! We came 5th out of the 7 forms (one better from last year). 2L sealed another interform football victory with 2W in second place with a stunning goal scored by James S. Even though we didn’t win, we still left happy knowing we had played our best.
1. 2L
2. 2W
3. 2H
4. 2B
5. 2J
6. 2F
7. 2P
Interform Rugby by Armaan V (2L)
On Monday all Second Year forms competed in interform rugby. Our team looked strong, and we were eager to play; I felt excited to get out and play some rugby again but was conscious that we would play many strong and talented teams. In our first match we drew, which was great seeing as we played a really strong team. Then we went on to win two more before drawing again, with Joe L (2L) scoring some great tries while Neev G (2L) made some good runs, weaving through the opposition with ease. Then we played one more game, which we lost dismally. After practising during the break, we went to play our last match against 2W, during which I scored a try! We lost again and we came fourth overall. I do want to give a special mention to Tom S and Jonty G in 2L who played exceptionally well and provided many chances throughout the competition. In 2W, stand out players were Huw C and Alex F.
1st = 2H
2nd = 2F
3rd = 2W
4th= 2L
5th= 2J & 2P
7th= 2B
Cool Classics
Shiv V (2W) tells us all about a fascinating talk from best-selling author Ben Kane’s on Alexander the Great:
Have you ever heard about the legendary King of the Macedonian Empire? The extremely powerful, almost psychotic man whose Empire expanded across 2,000,000 square miles? This man, Alexander the Great, was one of the most successful conquerors to this day, and many people write about his awe-inspiring exploits.
Ben Kane, a successf ul author who has written multiple books about Alexander and the Roman Empire, came to Hampton on Tuesday to talk about Alexander the Great, and brought his books and props along with him. It was an insightful and gripping talk. He went into detail about Alexander’s amazing exploits, and how he went from being a young king that everybody looked down on to being one of the most feared men of his time.
Alexander became king at the age of 20 and was ridiculed by surrounding empires; Macedon (the name of the area at the time) was attacked from left and right, but after a show of pure brutality, he earned respect as a powerful ruler. As the events of his life went on, he gained more admiration and fear until he had the most powerful empire his time had ever seen.
I recommend Ben Kane’s books to anybody who is interested in Ancient History and The Roman Empire, and I hope he comes back to Hampton to give another talk soon.
Talk!
This week we welcomed senior Foreign Office diplomat Olivier Evans on the second anniversary of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Let’s hear from two of our Second Years who went to the fascinating Talk!
On Thursday, I went to an informative talk presented by Olivier Evans, titled “Ukraine Two Years On” and it highlighted the Ukraine-Russia war in an exclusive perspective as Olivier serves in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Previously, I had read and watched many perspectives of the war and I thought I knew everything there was to know about the subject, but it was quickly evident to me how much more complicated the situation was. By George S (2H)
Saturday marks the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Thursday lunchtime I was privileged to hear the foreign office diplomat Olivier Evens discuss the conflict and the impact that it has had on international diplomacy. I found the subject of geopolitics very interesting. At the end of the talk, he left us to ponder the quote “War is a failure of diplomacy.” From John Dingell Jr. By Huw C (2W)
Drama
By Oliver Y (2P)
Recently, we had an audition for the Lower School Summer Show, The Playhouse Apprentice, a joint production with Hampton High. Our first rehearsal was on Tuesday, and the performance dates are at the end of June. It is a very funny show, containing many jokes and some slapstick. The story is about a theatre being closed and the performers and the apprentice persuading the council to re-open it again. Along the way, they face many difficulties…
Watch this space for more information about how to get hold of a ticket!
CRICKET
Super fan Vayun J (2W) gives us the latest on the cricket test in India:
This week, I watched the enthralling third cricket test natch between India and England. After India backed up a great win, I was hoping the same would happen again. India won the toss and batted first, in which two batters got centuries, and two debutants scored around 50. They posted a sizeable total of 445, before England batted. Courtesy of a spectacular 150 from Ben Duckett, England posted 319. Bazball (an extremely aggressive style of play seen by England) was very much alive, with Duckett scoring above a 100-strike rate, which is so unbelievably aggressive it is almost unheard of. However, their score may seem low compared to India, but even worse considering that ten other batters managed to get roughly the equivalent of Duckett’s score. What is also incredible, is how England were about 180-1 nearing the end of day two play, before the next day India ran through them. Joe Root tried continuing the Bazball tradition, but the circumstances of his wicket sparked much criticism from public for recklessness.
India batted again, and were cruising at 180-1 too, with Yashasvi Jaiswal hitting another magnificent century. However, he went off the pitch for some time due to back pain, which opened the doors for England. They got another wicket, and on day four, picked up Kuldeep Yadav and Shubman Gill, the latter so close to a century. Yashasvi Jaiswal came back in, and him and Sarfaraz Khan batted exceptional. They toyed with the English bowlers, and sent them to all parts of the ground, and Jaiswal reached his second consecutive double century in a row, breaking many milestones along the way with his power hitting. Khan also got consecutive fifties on his test debut. India ended up declaring at 434/4, leaving England to chase 550+.
All hopes were immediately dashed as they fell for 122 in total on that same day itself, leaving India as victors. England will need to rethink their strategy for the fourth match, as their two scores added were still less than India’s first innings total. Bazball may be their current tactic, but we could quite possibly see it changed now due to their lacklustre performance.
DISCOVER HAMPTON – The Power of Poetry
In our latest podcast, we marvel at the power of poetry. Join English teacher Mr Baker with our Third Years and Lower Sixth discussing how poetry reflects the complexities of real life. Click on the link below to listen.
SPECIAL SHOUT-OUTS!
Fantastic to hear that Jai K (2J) won the Chess Muswell Hill Rapid play in an Open section over half term. Well done Jai!
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. Merits go to:
2J: Siddhant S, Neil T, David W, Josh B
2L: Armaan V, Rajvir S
2W: Shiv V, Laurie L-T
2B: Joe B, Alex G, Sebastian W, Devam K
2H: James G
2F: Aiden F, Daniel S
2P: Oliver Y, Samrith S P, 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 Willoughby E (2L)! Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers to last week’s questions:
- In the Victorian era, what were mean spirited Valentine’s Day cards called? Vinegar Valentine
- Where and when was the first Valentine’s Day card written? In a prison in 1415
- Where does the word ‘Valentine’ or ‘Valentinus’ mean? Strong and healthy
- What very popular app/website was launched on Valentine’s Day 2005? YouTube
- In what country is Valentine’s Day called ‘Friend’s Day’? Finlan
HAVE A GREAT weekend!
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