Welcome to the First Year Blog!
Another busy week has finished and the First Years have kept themselves busier than ever with clubs, exciting 3G games, talks and more! Next week’s Homework Holiday and Cooking Week should be a most welcome break (from homework for the First Years, and from cooking for their families!) We’re looking forward to hearing all about their efforts in the kitchen over the week ahead – do let your Form Tutors know what you’ve been up to! Make sure to keep hold of your recipes and take some photos of yourself in the kitchen and your meals as well for the First Year Cookbook; more details on how to submit your recipes and photos will be sent early next week!
STEM FAIR
On Monday 26 February, I was delighted to take part in the Hampton and LEH STEM Fair. This was not just a competition but the opportunity to learn about the Science/Technology/Engineering/Maths in the other projects.
Our team (NESA) manufactured a sugar rocket containing our fuel potassium nitrate (KNO3) and sucrose. It is advisable not to make the mixture by yourself and you will require adult assistance. The project required 20 hours of work. In total, I put as much effort into it as I could, I made a PowerPoint, fuel cell prototypes and I supplied videos on the cell launches. Our project required engineering, maths and chemistry so I think that our team should be ready for first place as we have put an immense amount of effort into creating our rocket.
The STEM Fair was not just about making your project, but I also believe that it would put the cherry on top to solve a problem. Thinking about some of the world problems our team decided to create a project that would affect the ecosystem, a good one was sustainability. Potassium nitrate – KNO3 – is sustainable: it has a high availability; it is renewable; it has a low toxicity, and it is cheap.
If only Chile or other countries that play a key role in providing the potassium were able to farm enough, than Nasa could forget about the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen and then pay attention to the wider world and sustainability. In fact, 1,000 tons of rocket soot exhaust are emitted annually!
There were a variety of different projects ranging from, hydraulics, hydroelectric, virtual reality, optical illusions and aircrafts. Thank you for reading! And what would you make for a STEM project, what problem will it solve?
Take a look at just some of the fantastic projects below:
By Ethan S-W (1L)
Lower School Art Exhibition
You are cordially invited to the Lower School Art Exhibition Open Event on Tuesday 5 March between 5.30pm and 7.30pm in the Art Department Gallery. Come and take a look at some of the fantastic artwork Hamptonians have produced this year.
Fascinating Geography
On Thursday last week I went to a Tim Marshall lecture about how geography affects politics and international politics in general. Tim Marshall is a journalist covering foreign affairs, as well as being an expert in international diplomacy. He has written seven books, one of which I managed to get an autograph of.
I went there because I was interested in the books he wrote; the latest being ‘The Future of Geography’ where he talks about the mainstream countries such as USA and UK and their potential in space, as well as what they are doing in space right now. One of the most interesting things he had said in the lecture, when he got asked if geography will ever become irrelevant, he replied that the uses of geography will change based on technology and other factors, such as climate change, such as before places with lithium were considered worthless but now there is a huge market for it in computer parts using it. One of the other things he talked about is the Hamas’ ideology, as he had once talked with one of the leaders of it, Russia’s reasons and their explanation to the public of invading Ukraine, and much more.
By Erik P (1W)
Talk!
Following on from two fascinating Talks! since we returned from the half term holiday, next week we have another one to get our teeth into. Nicholas Hopton has had an illustrious career in British foreign affairs. With the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for 35 years, he was the first British Ambassador to Iran and has also served as Ambassador to Libya, Qatar and Yemen.
Join us to hear Nicholas talk about his life as a British Ambassador, what is diplomacy and why it matters, and his thoughts on the challenges facing the Middle East and how the situation has changed and is evolving since 7 October 2023. Don’t miss Diplomacy & The Middle East on Thursday 7 March at 1:00pm in the Hammond Theatre.
Find out more here.
Hampton Sports Chronicle Poll
In research for an article for the Hampton Sports Chronicle, Theo P (1H) would like to know everyone’s favourite form of cricket: test, ODI or T20.
THE Marvels of Music
This week’s podcast features some of our First Years. Join Miss Mattinson and pupils from 1L who introduce us to the exciting beats of West African Drumming, alongside Sixth Form musicians unravelling the complexities behind the success of Big Band Jazz.
TUTEE OF THE WEEK
Every week, the First Year Tutor team nominate a boy who they have been particularly impressed with, and Mr Hill and Mrs Peattie provide him with a football to use on the fields for the week!
This week’s tutee of the week is Ahaan S (1P) for his kindness, positivity and throwing himself into Hampton life – well done Ahaan!
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 Mr Fuldner (d.fuldner@hamptonschool.org.uk).
PROJECT EXPLORE
Project Explore is an exciting opportunity for all First Year pupils to get involved in! You should visit a local site that you are interested in, tell your Form Tutors about your visit, and with some inspiration from your visit produce your own project. There are no guidelines on what you can make: you could choose to write a poem, cook a meal, make a piece of art, record and edit a film, or any other creative piece you can come up with! The deadline for Project Explore is Monday 22 April – just after the start of the summer term. I know all Form Tutors are looking forward to hearing about your visits and projects, so make sure you tell them all about it!
Mr Hill and Mrs Peattie have recorded this video to explain everything in more detail.
THE HAMPTON HUNT
Each week I will set you a challenge where you need to find out a random fact, number or indeed anything else around the School – you won’t be able to do this from home! Points for the interform competition will be awarded to the Form with the most correct entries over the course of the term! You have until the end of Wednesday to complete the challenge; you will find out in next week’s blog if you’re correct, and you will be given a merit by your Form Tutor the following Monday. And who knows – you might get to know the School better in the process!
Last week’s challenge: how many languages are written in blue on the languages cloud in their corridor?
The answer is 9!
Well done to the following First Years for getting the correct answer: Will H, Ruhaan V, Harry C, Shaurya D, Francisco C I and Richard C.
Make sure you collect a merit from your Form Tutor next week!
If you did know the answer but didn’t enter it into the blog last week, make sure you do so this week as it won’t count otherwise!
This week’s challenge:
On which house number at Lebanon Park did the children rescued by the Kindertransport Live?
