Interform Update, Special Shoutouts & Sports Roundup!

Welcome to the Fourth Year Blog!

Another term down and you have all been a busy as ever! I am sure there is so much we have missed out, but it is wonderful to celebrate all of your achievements outside the classroom as you continue to get involved with all that Hampton has to offer. Everyone is looking forward to a well-deserved rest over the Easter break, but don’t forget Mr Neville’s wise tips in the start of week email about plugging any gaps – you’ll thank yourself in the long run!

With Silver Duke of Edinburgh and various training camps and trips going out over the break I am sure you won’t be bored, but it would also be a perfect opportunity to craft an entry for the Lion Print creative writing competition! We look forward to hearing about your adventures (and maybe some winning entries?) in the next blog!

Interform Updates

Well done to all Fourth Year Hamptonians who have participated in Interform competitions in such good spirits, and thank you to Miss Singleton for continually putting on such an exciting programme of events and all the other members of staff involved in organising and running the events this term.

Football

Always a popular event, the Interform Football proved exciting as ever, and a huge thank you to the Sixth Form referees for giving up their lunchtimes!

Cup Competition

Plate Competition

Rowing

A hotly contested 20-minute relay saw a range of tactics on display, but 4F were far out in the lead. 4E made a huge comeback to pip the tutors for second place at the last minute – even Mr Studt and Mr Beattie’s power efforts didn’t get us far enough ahead to allow for Miss Brown’s rather a lot slower place….!

Outside the classroom

Partnership STEM Careers Afternoon

On the first Wednesday of March, I was lucky enough to take part in the Partnership STEM Careers Afternoon. STEM is an acronym for “Science, Technology, Maths, and Engineering,” and is all about the huge range of possibilities that can you have if you embark on a journey studying these scientific-related subjects. In the event, we were incredibly lucky to have an afternoon hearing from five guest speakers about their respective STEM careers. The Careers Afternoon was hosted by Hampton, but it was a partnership event, where Hampton welcomed Fourth Year pupils from various local partnership schools.

In the afternoon, we heard from a physicist, Billy Hale, who is working nuclear magnetic resonance; Andrew McHutchon, a data scientist; Helena Gilchrist, a trainee psychologist; Michael Taplin, a petrophysicist, and Charlotte Massey, a physicist at the National Physical Laboratory. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the talks from all of the guest speakers, I particularly enjoyed the talk from Dr McHutchon, who works in McLaren. An Old Hamptonian, Dr McHutchon studied engineering, and then embarked on a PhD, where he studied data science. At McLaren, one of the Formula 1 teams, Dr McHutchon studies how data can be used to demonstrate new scientific concepts, and can help to improve the manufacture of McLaren’s cars.

The talks were incredibly insightful, and it was particularly interesting to see how our guest speakers became involved in the world of STEM. It was wonderful to see how passionate the speakers were about their different jobs, and I think it is really interesting that there are so many possibilities in STEM. I was considering a job in STEM before the talk, and now I think I’m even more convinced that STEM is right for me.

A huge thank you to the speakers who came to speak to us, and Mrs Nicholson and all of the other teachers from Hampton and our partner schools for organising this wonderful event.

By Joshua R (4E)

Special shoutouts!

• Jihwan M made it through to round 2 of the UK Linguistics Olympiad from on Wednesday 13 March, after achieving a gold Gold Award in the first round. Miss Winstock noted that it is really rare for a Fourth Year pupil to achieve this award, let alone doing so the first time sitting the paper!
• A shout out from Mr John to Oscar R, Monty M and Charlie H who have been helping with maths enrichment at Hampton Hill Junior school for their D of E volunteering and have received glowing feedback on how helpful and encouraging they have been! Well done!
• Agalayn S won a Highly Commended award in the Stephen Spender poetry translation competition, translating the poem ‘The Life of a Leaf’ : https://www.stephen-spender.org/highly-commended-individual-youth-entry-14-and-under-agalyan-sathiyamoorthy-2023/
• Well done to Arie B, Hanshi L and Tanmay B for their entry into the STEM Fair 2024
• Big shoutout to Marcus S, who won a gold medal in the Richmond Schools’ Cross Country Championships earlier this term, and all our runners who raced the course

• Mrs Watson-Evans reports to me that the Quiz Teams are still going strong in their national competitions, and we wish the two intermediate teams the best of luck in round 3 of the Schools Challenge Quiz!
• Our First to Fourth Year Junior swim team won the Richmond Borough Schools’ Swimming Championships (boys section) last week at LEH pool. Notable performance from Fourth Year was Fynn A won the 50m Back and Open 100m IM, in what Mr Mills described as a very impressive race!

Drama and Arts

The Music and Drama departments never fail to disappoint with the amount they offer for you all, and the number of you who participate in music and drama alongside school sport is simply outstanding!

The Music department have hosted the Rock Concert, ISSP Music Day, String Concert, Jazz Café, Jazz and Piano workshops, and Piano competitions as part of the inaugural Keyboard Festival and a few Fourth Year musicians also attended the South East Schools’ Chamber Music Competition.

Treading the boards of the Hammond Theatre stage this term were also our budding actors. Well done to all in the cast of Bleak Expectations, it has had rave reviews, as published in the First Year blog here, and the Third Year blog here and according to Mr Neville too! Take a listen again to Oliver A’s excellent podcast here, where he interviewed the cast behind the scenes – we look forward to hearing more from Oliver in future blogs!

Sports round up

With the football season now over, let’s hear from some of our U15 teams.

U15A Football

After a long break for Christmas, the U15As picked up where they left off with a 5-1 win against King’s College School. Just three days after, we pushed through a tough game coming out with a 2-1 win which secured them a place in the ISFA semifinals for the second time. Fifteen days later, the squad travelled to Whitgift to compete for a place in the final. After a tough battle for 80 minutes, we unfortunately came out on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline. Despite an exit from the ISFA Cup, there were still big games in the Elgin League in which we could secure a semi final spot, so the squad looked to bounce back straight away against Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in which they won 6-1. After half term, the team looked to secure a spot in yet another semi final with a win against a tough Royal Russell side. The team fought hard and drew 2-2 in our last game of the league. Despite our hard work and determination throughout each game, we unfortunately lost out on a semi final spot on goal difference for the second year in a row. Despite the disappointment, the squad finished off the season with a 1-0 win against St John’s and a 10-1 win against Tiffin U16s.

By Freddie T (4F)

U15B Football

The U15B team did not disappoint in the second half of the season. In 2024, ten games were played with eight wins, a loss and a draw. This also included a national cup run to the quater finals where we unfortunately lost to Sandringham. Impressively, the team managed to maintain a completely unbeaten streak at home throughout the season. Thanks to all the coaching staff especially Mr Finnerty that made this season so successful.

By Joe P (4H)

U15D Football

The first match after the Christmas break was a match against KCS Wimbledon, which we won comfortably 3-1. After a cancelled match the following week, we played Gordon’s School, squandering several chances when we ought to have won the game. Although there were no more matches for the rest of the half term, we came back from the half term break to record possibly one of the best comebacks we have had, albeit it was not a win. With 10 minutes to go, against Mill Hill and Belmont School, we found ourselves 3-0 down, and our high pressure caused defensive mistakes from the opposition, which Harry G and Dylan M capitalised on. A few minutes later, what I intended to be a cross ended up in the back of the net, sparking wild celebrations on the touchline to result in a 3-3 draw.

In our final match against Epsom College, the game remained at a deadlock for most of the game until defensive errors by the keeper two times in two minutes allowed Oliver A and Joseph M to make it 2-0. A third goal followed (it was offside), but it secured our victory. It was a great end to the season; out of 11 games played, five were won, two drawn and four lost. 40 goals were scored across the games, and we conceded 26 goals. We would like to thank Mr Bracken and the other coaches for their time spent helping us improve this season.

By Joshua C (4H)

Basketball

The basketball team has been doing very well recently. We won our last game of the season to advance to the playoffs, which we are still waiting on excitedly. It was a good year with some brilliant moments, and we can’t wait for next year for even more games.

By Jack L (4D)

Rowing

It was a shame that last term’s Hampton Small Boats Head was cancelled, so the Fourth Year rowers were hugely excited to get back into proper racing! And boy did they race, with the J15 A and B VIII boats both winning gold medals at the Hampton Head! The weather doesn’t seem to be playing ball this year, as the J15 category has been scratched from the Schools Head of the River race due to unsuitable river conditions, but I have no doubt the crews heading to the Junior Sculling head will give it their all on Friday 22 March. The whole squad will be setting their sights on the regatta season and gearing up for success as they give it their all during training camp over the Easter break.

Rugby

Mr Scarrett reports on an impressive term of rugby:

The U15A and U15B rugby teams have enjoyed an excellent season. Highlights have included a run in the National Cup for the U15A side, with stand-out wins against Dulwich and Berkhamsted. An epic quarter final encounter against Radley unfortunately ended in defeat, but the Hampton team contributed to what was undoubtedly one of the best, and tightest, matches in the tournament. The U15Bs have had an equally excellent few months, with statement wins against Trinity School, RGS High Wycombe and The Harrodian School’s A side. In the last few weeks, the VIIs squad has played in two tournaments, reaching the last four in the Surrey VIIs, before winning the John Fisher competition. This final victory of the year was reached in emphatic style with a 47-0 win over Whitgift School in the final. All members of the squad should be congratulated for their hard work, their brilliant camaraderie and their desire to get the best out of each other, both on and off the pitch. They are an incredibly exciting group to watch as they move on to Senior Rugby.

Lion Print Competition

Looking for something to keep you busy over Easter?

Do you enjoy writing?
Are you a budding creative writer?
Do you currently have a draft in the works?

Submit your writing as part of Hampton School’s Creative Writing Competition. This competition is open to all year groups, new writers and wise wordsmiths. Top Entries will receive Merits and Panini points.  Winner and Runner Up with receive a Book Voucher!

The following themes are suggested, however alternatives are acceptable:

• Rebuilding
• Memories
• Hiding

And the genres you can submit are as follows:

• Micro-stories (approx.50 words)
• Prose (max. 1000 words)
• Poetry
• Dramatic monologue
• Scene from a play

To enter, email your entry to Miss Alexander in the English Department by 4pm on Tuesday 16 April 2024. Get your thinking caps!

HAVE A GREAT EASTER HOLIDAYS!