WELCOME TO THE SECOND YEAR BLOG!
There has been a focus on emotions this week with a stimulating talk on masculinity and the difficulty young people can face in expressing their feelings, and on Tuesday our visiting speaker looked at the chemistry of emotions. From my perspective, I see some of the more intense emotions in Second Year circling around sport and Vayun J writes passionately about cricket in today’s blog. We have also had the STEM Fair this week and a review of the new podcast series, which features some of our Second Year pupils.
Merit Milestones
Great to hear that the following Second Years have collected merit certificates this week:
Samrith Poonia – 10
Arjun Simha – 10
Arjun Simha – 20
Arjun Simha – 30
Neal Hemnani – 20
Siddhant Shetty – 80 (Amazing!)
STEM Fair
Siddhant S (2J) tells us all about this year’s STEM Fair:
Last week we had the opportunity to participate in the STEM Fair at LEH. The teams had been working since December to create their projects. Mine was with Devam K and Gabriel KS about optical illusions in a VR system. The VR system was meticulously created by Devam to include optical illusions and instructions on where to look around. Gabriel had worked on a brilliant poster. I made information sheets for the participants. Our gimmick was that visitors read the information sheets whilst in line (we had a lot of people) and memorise the different types of optical illusions. Once they read the sheet and memorised it (they only had one attempt) before being placed inside the VR to look at the different illusions. They then named them out loud and if they got all six correct, they got a lolly! People of all ages came to look at our project and I can say that most people really enjoyed our VR. The STEM Fair was my first time doing anything like it and I really enjoyed my time. I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking about doing it.
Take a look at just some of the fantastic projects below:
TUTOR QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Each week the pupils decide on a question to ask all the Second Year form tutors. This week, we asked the question, what would you find the hardest thing to give up for Lent and why?
- Meat
- Social Media
- Chocolate
- Coffee
Mrs Owen and Miss Mattinson love a good coffee; Mr Lee said he would find meat the hardest to abstain from. Mrs Kirby and Mrs Whitwam agree that chocolate is wonderful and would struggle without it, although Mrs Kirby once gave it up for 100 days! Miss Mattinson once gave up chocolate for a year and a half and took it up for Lent! 2L voted that meat would be hardest, with social media coming in at a close second. Out of the four, Ms O Connor would find abstaining from social media a challenge.
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.
Talk!
One of the world’s leading experts on evolutionary science, scientist and author, Nick Lane, Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London (UCL), gave an enthralling talk on the science of emotions this week.
Lane, who leads the UCL Research Frontiers, Origins of Life programme, explored the question, ‘What is a feeling?’ He said: “Love, pain, hunger, fear and excitement are deep emotions that seem to define us as humans. But for all the amazing advances in neuroscience, we still don’t know how the brain gives rise to feelings at all.”
Following on from Nick Lane, next week we have another Talk! 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 discuss 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.
HELP projects
Joe B (2B) gives us more information about the Hampton Extended Learning Project otherwise known as HELP:
Recently, HELP was launched. We needed to choose a topic that interests us, and we would like to learn more about. The parameters were that the topic could not be too vague or too broad. We then needed to ask a teacher to be our supervisor. I decided to do my project on the significance of Tiger Woods in golf and asked Mr Roberts to be my supervisor. Jiashan L (2B) is doing his on the history of basketball, Alex G (2B) is doing his on the history of the Euros and Fred O (2B) is doing his on the Russian involvement in international football. We need to submit our projects after half term so I am beavering away.
Cricket update
Vayun J (2W) gives us the latest exciting instalment from the test match in India:
The fourth Cricket Test Match between India and England was a thriller. India were up 2-1, after a shocking loss in the first test, and only needed this one to win yet another series at home.This week it started off with England winning the toss and batting first, the decision made partly because the team which batted first won the previous three encounters. They made 353, with Joe Root regaining some form with a splendid century, and tail ender Ollie Robinson with a great half century. When India batted, they looked solid until their second wicket partnership was broken. Jaiswal scored another half century, and series debutante, Dhruv Jurel, came close to his first century, before succumbing to Tom Hartley for 90. Apart from those two, no one else got in rhythm.
Then, apart from Zak Crawley who made 60, England crumbled, not the first time in the series, for 145, meaning India cruised to victory once again thanks to Man of the Match, Dhruv Jurel, and Shubman Gill, with a 50. India has now won the 5-match series, obviously leaving India fans like me elated. However, there is still all to play for, as India will want to end on a high note and increase their chances of a third consecutive World Test Final. England will want to win so their ranking increases. Overall, the last test of the series should be an exciting affair, and I can’t wait to watch it!
Podcast News
Joe B (2B) tells us all bout the Discover Hampton podcast series that has been released over the last few weeks:
Hampton School have made a podcast series called ‘Discover Hampton’. There are six episodes in total, including one on collaborative music making (new this week) and ‘another all about from English. I listened to the Chemistry episode by Mr Schofield who was building batteries with Second Years and Lower Sixth. The Second Years used different metals to determine which pair of metals produced the highest voltages. They talked about Allesandro Volta, the inventor of the first battery, and used salt solution as their electrolyte. The pupils determined that, of the pairs of metals, magnesium and copper produced the highest voltage. This is because, as they are the furthest apart on the reactivity series, they have the most potential difference, producing the highest voltage as a result. The Lower Sixth did the same thing but in more detail. They used a different solution, but overall the results were the same.
As I said at the start, the Music podcast episode is out this week. The link below is for anybody who wants to take a listen. Miss Mattinson and First Year pupils introduce us to the exciting beats of West African Drumming, alongside Sixth Form musicians unravelling the complexities behind the success of Big Band Jazz.
Take a look at the podcast page here for all the other episodes.
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. Merits go to:
2J: Siddhant S, David W, Josh B
2L: Armaan V, Rajvir S
2W: Esa S, Dean B, Laurie L-T
2B: Joe B, Alex G, Fred O, Ekam R
2H: James G, Manilo C
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 Armaan V (2L) and yes, our minds are turning to Easter! Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers to last week’s questions:
- What date did Lent start this year? Wednesday 14 February
- What is the chemical symbol for Gold? Au
- Who discovered electricity? Benjamin Franklin
- Who won the Super Bowl 2024? Kansas City Chiefs
- Which is the only flag that isn’t a rectangle? Nepal
