Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
Welcome back for the summer term. It is lovely to see boys playing out on the field and to hear the familiar rumble of the cricket bags. Second Years have had a positive first week, taking time to reflect on Grade Cards and set targets as well as coming up with inventive ways to raise money for the School’s charities.
Our bloggers have shared tales of their Easter holiday travels including reports from the Classics trip to Greece and the Adventure Society trip to Snowdonia. Next week we have Parents’ Evening so socks are being pulled up in anticipation.
MERIT MILESTONES
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Newt Hepburn – 20
Esa Saifee – 20
Esa Saifee – 30
Alp Ozcagli – 30
Alex Gancz – 30
Joe Bates – 50 (off to see Mr Knibbs!)
Joe Bates – 60 (Fantastic!)
Lion merits:
Joe Bates – 10
Oliver Yang – 20
EASTER EXPLORING
Classics Trip to Greece
Oliver Y (2P) and Joshua A (2J) enjoyed an exciting trip to Greece over the Easter break. Let’s find out more:
During the Easter Holidays, I went on the Classics Trip to Greece. We went around Greece, visiting major towns including Athens, Delphi, Olympia, Tolo, Marathon and Mycenae. We visited many ancient sites, such as the Temple of Poseidon and fascinating museums that contained historical items found from the ancient sites, e.g. gold coins and statues.
One of the main highlights of the trip for me was visiting the Temple of Poseidon (a magnificent site in Athens for Poseidon, the God of the Sea). The sunset there was also spectacular. In Greek mythology, Aegeus, the King of Athens, committed suicide at Cape Sounion by jumping off the seaside cliff where the Temple of Poseidon is located. So it was amazing to see the site with my own eyes! By Oliver Y (2P)
The Classics Trip to Greece was my first abroad trip with the school and was also my first Second Year trip. It was a very pleasant yet informative experience as I got to understand the Greek culture and history. Our trip began on a Tuesday where we all met at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 during the early hours. Once we had landed, we drove to an ancient theatre where we took a group photo and explored the theatre once used by the Ancient Greeks. Our next stop was to Poseidon’s Temple in Sounion where the God of the Sea, Poseidon was worshipped. Once we had finished exploring, we made our way to the first of many hotels. It was a relatively long journey from Sounion to Athens, but we chatted and played games. On our first day we walked around Athens with a tour guide. She was quite helpful in answering questions and giving information about the sites we were exploring. My favourite was the Acropolis as it had the famous Parthenon standing on a very large incline. After we had done all the exploration, we were able to choose either to go back to the hotel or walk to a site which played a very important part in Greek History and Mythology. We saw the Prison of Socrates and a political area in Ancient Greece.
The third day was when things began to switch up as we would be going to Delphi, Olympia and Tolo before heading back to Athens, making a loop around Southern Greece. Our first stop was Delphi which was based on a mountain and the views from the town were beautiful and stunning. I was speechless with the views and was in total shock. We visited the Museum of Delphic Festivals where in the ancient times, different towns would show their richness and then with that, get to meet the oracle to see what would happen to them. We also went to the museum area of the site where there were many artifacts which showed more about the history. We then drove to Olympia where we rested to go and explore the next day. Olympia was the place in which the Olympic Torch was lit and there was a 200m track where each year group raced. We crowned the three champions. At Tolo, which was our longest journey yet, we relaxed and had fun on the beach. I was sad to leave as I had really enjoyed this trip but I knew that it was worth the memories and fun me and my friends had. By Joshua A (2J)
Adventure Society trip to Snowdonia
David B (2H) and Samrith P (2P) braved the elements on the Adventure Society trip to Wales:
This holiday, I went on the Snowdonia trip and enjoyed mountain biking, climbing and hiking. It was great fun, and I didn’t mind the weather conditions or the mud at all. At the end of the trip however, we went bouldering in the rain (as usual) and we crawled through all sorts of nooks and crags. We even went on an 18km walk over and around mountains. I was particularly struck by the number of crystal-clear streams and I liked crossing over a large stream that was gushing full of rainwater! Afterwards, it was a long journey home which took about five hours, but all of us were laughing and joking about the amazing things we did on the trip. By David B (2H)
After our early start from school on Monday, we made two stops at service stations to get lunch and stretch our legs. When we finally arrived, we started our first activity, orienteering. We had to climb up a steep mountain with thin pathways that were incredibly wet. We were grouped in fours and started our trek upwards whilst also looking out for post with the answers to our orienteering on them. We walked through a small, rushing river and our group accidentally dropped our pen in. After an hour of walking through mud over rocks and attempting to find the letters, we headed back to the minivans. When we arrived at the hostel we collapsed onto our beds after the long tiring journey and the orienteering. The next day we went on our 18km walk. The pouring rain from last night had turned the footpaths into streams and five minutes in everyone had got their shoes soaked. The views were amazing though and that made it all worth it. On our third day we went climbing but as it was once again raining, we had to do it indoors. We all had fun climbing and belaying each other, We even got to use the auto belays. Some of the climbs were harder than others but we all greatly enjoyed it and had loads of fun. On our final activity day, we first did some mountain biking which was very tiring, and all enjoyed a challenge set by the teachers. By the time we finished the challenge we were all exhausted and were grateful for the downward stretch of the journey where we all went whizzing down the hill we had just cycled up. Our second activity of the day was weaselling and that was incredibly fun and my highlight of the trip. We got to squeeze between rocks, climb over boulders and crawl under them too. After that we headed back to our hostel for an early start to school the next day. By Samrith P (2P)
Family Travels
Last week, my family and I were desperate to go anywhere but home; so we ended up driving to the East Coast of Britain and exploring Norwich. It was not beach weather so instead we discovered that a very important person in my culture used to live in Norwich: the last raj (king) of Punjab and Sikhs also the last king in India before British rule. We ended up devoting a day to learning all about this king by going to his statue and his grave and even watching the movie when we got home! I learned that before the British Empire took control of India, there were maharajas (kings) of different kingdoms around India. The last kingdom to be conquered was the Sikh kingdom and when the British Maharaja Ranjeet Singh they took his son away from the Queen to England.
Queen Victoria became his guardian and brought him up as Christian. When the young king became of age, he returned to India to meet his ailing mother. He learnt about the atrocities that his people had faced at the hands of the British and he converted back to Sikhism. The young king, Maharaja Duleep Singh spent the rest of his short life, trying to return to India to fulfil his mother’s dying wish to take back his kingdom from the British. On our trip to Suffolk, we found out more about him and his life in the UK. watching the film about him, called Black Prince, was a fascinating culmination. By Ekam R (2B)
Over the Easter holidays, I visited a small city on the south coast of Croatia called Dubrovnik. It has a Mediterranean climate and high walls surrounding the old city. One of the best things you can get there is the food. One traditional dish is borek, which originated in Turkey but there is a unique Crotian variant. It consists of many layers of thin savoury pastry and traditionally has veal meat at the base, but you can get a vegetarian variant with spinach as well. Another classic is Cevapi which consists of a Balkan flat bread which filled with minced meat and topped with raw onions. This dish originates from Croatia and Bosnia.
There is also much history behind the city. The main reason a lot of tourist visit is because Game of Thrones was filmed there. The tall walls surround the whole city and have a cool medieval look to them. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and no cars are allowed inside. Dubrovnik is also thought to be one of the first cities to abolish slavery which they did in 1416. The city is also believed to have one of the world oldest pharmacies, dating back to 1317, which was in a monastery where they helped the sick. By Esa S (2W)
Spring Concert
Last term, we had an exciting concert and I was involved in the performance by one of the choirs. This year’s theme was the environment. We sang two songs – The Colours Of The Wind, which was accompanied by the Concert Orchestra, and Beyond The Sea. There were also many other performances showcased in the Spring Concert, ranging from Brass Band to the Symphony Orchestra. The concert was amazing and I was thrilled to take part.
By Oliver Y (2P)
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: Josh B, David W, Siddhant S, Devan D
2F: Nico W
2W: Laurie L-T, Shiv V
2B: Joe B, Sebastian W
2H: James G, Kailan Y
2P: Samrith S P
2L: Armaan V
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 have a cricketing theme and come to us from Shishir V (2J)! Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers to last week’s questions:
- How many eggs are eaten every year in the UK to the nearest billion? 12 billion
- What colour were the first Easter eggs coloured? Red
- In which country was the Easter bunny started? Germany
- What is the Sunday before Easter called? Palm Sunday
- What do children in Finland dress up as on Easter? Witches
