Welcome to the First Year Blog!
What an exciting week it has been for the First Years! I am writing this week’s blog from Avon Tyrrell and it has been great to see them get to know each other during exciting activities, building great team spirit within and between forms, and developing new skills in the process. Since 1B, 1F and 1H will still be on their way back to Hampton when this blog is published, this week’s blog is focused on the adventures of 1J, 1L, 1P and 1W on Tuesday and Wednesday – stay tuned for more stories from the other trip next week!
However, the week is not quite finished for the First Years! Tomorrow has both the Open Morning and the first football and rugby fixtures in store – I hope you’re not too exhausted to enjoy them! Thank you all in advance for supporting such an important day for the School and for sharing your enthusiasm and no doubt your fantastic stories about your first few weeks as a Hamptonian and your Avon Tyrrell adventure with our visitors tomorrow!
BASKETBALL CLUB
Although Avon Tyrrell was the highlight of the week, the co-curricular programme has continued as usual on the days we have been in School. Max C (1H) reports on his experience of Basketball Club:
Brilliant, exhilarating and magnificent are my three adjectives to describe the Hampton clubs especially Basketball. The Hampton clubs are fantastic and give so many opportunities to every pupil who signs up. Hampton School have a wide range of clubs but Basketball is surely my favourite. The Hampton basketball courts are state of the art; it makes the club a million times better and makes me look forward to the club every week. Coach Matt from Richmond Knights coaches the sessions which makes them intense and teaches you a lot in a short amount of time. The club provided lots of drills and matches which increases your ability to play the game on a much higher level. In summary, joining Basketball Club was one of the best choices I have made and I’m excited to continue with it in the future.
AVON TYRRELL – VOLUME ONE
On Tuesday and Wednesday 1J, 1L, 1P and 1W made the short trip to Avon Tyrrell for two exhilarating days of archery, high ropes, raft building and so much more! Danyal and Eashan from 1J and Oliver from 1P report on their experiences:
Avon Tyrrell was exhilarating! We started our adventure by doing the tight ropes which were very frightening at first but eventually we had all overcome some of our fears. We then ventured off and spent the rest of the afternoon having lunch. For a while we watched Top Gear until it became night. This is when we went for night walk and played a few games in the darkness and saw how it affected us. The very next morning our day was full of activities and we were split into teams. We were supposed to earn as many points as we could. After our activities we made rafts that we were meant go in the lakes with, and with those points we bought oars to steer our rafts. In summary, Avon Tyrrell was a thoroughly exciting trip and made me explore new experiences. By Danyal P (1J)
My trip to Avon Tyrrell was an experience I will never forget. As soon as I stepped off the coach, I was welcomed by the warm staff and the Heads of Years. We were placed in groups and walked to our first activity the high ropes which I found extremely exciting climbing up obstacles and jumping on to a trapeze and attempting to swing on it as long as possible which I barely managed to hold onto. Activities like orienteering were also were also very popular because while being an adrenaline packed experience, you explored the campus and realised how big the campus was. Personally, my favourite was the raft building because you used different materials like barrels, planks of wood and rope which we tied around using different knots and methods. To conclude, I substantially enjoyed the trip and I will look back on the memories that I have made as time passes. By Eashan B (1J)
On Tuesday, we went to Avon Tyrrell, where we all had an exuberant time – it was a fantastic experience. We had chit chats with our friends, Sixth Form mentors and the teachers; it was a great way to get to know each other. The activities were entertaining and cheerful, especially the raft activity on water. As we skipped onto the coach excitedly, we wondered what activities we would be doing at Avon Tyrrell and played card games during what seemed to me an interminable wait. After two hours, we arrived at Avon Tyrrell, noticing a very large house with a giant field plus a snooker table and two table football tables. Our kind and caring Form Tutor, Mrs Scorer, and our lovely Heads of Years, Mrs Peattie and Mr Hill were all waiting patiently for us. Not long after we dropped off our bags, we began our first activity. This is going to be thrilling! Starting off our trip with orienteering, we all cheered and couldn’t wait any longer. We got split up into groups of threes during this activity and we had to find four different cones with letters in this giant place – this is going to be challenging! Using the compass, my group managed to find the first cone after about ten minutes. However, after that, we were struggling to the rest of the cones before our 30 minutes timer was up. We only found the first one before we had the chance to find our second cone, so I would say that this orienteering activity was extremely demanding (but might seem quite simple).
In general, food at Avon Tyrrell was fine, but I wouldn’t say that it was great. We had some delicious meals – Full English Breakfast and Beef Burger. Some of the meals were a bit daunting – Pork Taco. The drinks were good though, there were a variety of options, lemonade, blackcurrant and fresh water. After lunch, we went out to the gargantuan field for our high ropes and low ropes activity, which was probably the most exhilarating activity during the entire trip. We cheered each other on, as we took turns one by one. We had to climb up to the top and then slowly and steadily walk our way across on a rope about 15 metres high – it was quite frightening. For Low Ropes, we had to work as a team, using communications skills and teamwork to try to complete challenges containing a range of thinking.
Just before dinner at 7pm, we had to make a contraption to land an egg without cracking it outside a five metres high window. We had limited materials: a piece of card, a balloon (which is probably the most useful item), tapes, a piece of string and a pair of scissors. After some time of hard thinking, we decided to tape the whole egg and wrap it up using our piece of card. Then, we connected the balloon with the egg (wrapped with card) using the piece of string. For me, it was quite easy. The result was that our egg didn’t crack, meaning that we made the perfect contraption. Another highlight of the trip for me personally would be the night walk on Tuesday. I would describe it as the most fascinating activity at Avon Tyrrell. We completed a few experiments during the night walk, such as trying to detect the colour of a crayon with our night vision, opening a closed envelope to observe the rapid flash of light coming out and noticing blue flashes in someone’s mouth eating a sugar block. In addition, we spotted an airplane, which was likely to land at Southampton Airport. After the night walk, it marked the end of the day. We went up to our dorms, which contained 4-10 beds, to brush teeth and sleep. Receiving our own Hampton School T-shirt before we went to bed at 10pm felt amazing, it was just indescribable.
We woke up to the brand-new day at 7am in the morning on Wednesday. As quick as we could, we dressed up into our Hampton School T-shirt and shorts. After breakfast, we had to complete some problem-solving tasks, such as solving a magic square using numbers 1-9 with all sides (horizontal, vertical and diagonal sides) adding up to 15, it was very tricky, but in the end, we managed to figure it out. Then, we were split into groups of around 10 and had to gain as many points as we could for our group after completing a range of activities: archery, raft building, catapults and once again high ropes. I enjoyed catapults the most, because we got the most points from that activity – 7070. After collecting points, we were on the water with the raft that we built earlier. It was calm and tranquil. The river water was rippling slowly against us, but we managed to make our way back to the starting point. What a way to end our trip!
Before we left, the Heads of Years revealed our points and which group came first. Unfortunately, we came second, and I felt very devastated, because we just so close to getting first place. It was the end of our trip to Avon Tyrrell, so we got onto the coach once again, and after two hours, we were back at Hampton School. Overall, it was a great and fun trip. By Oliver Y (1P)
Problem solving was all about teamwork to solve many enjoyable tasks such as grid lock, magic square, handcuffs, tangrams, the island, the hoop and colorblind. Our favourite activities included the hoop which we completed in the quickest time and the tangrams where we made a square of triangles and parallelograms. We were only given ropes, strings, scissors, bamboo sticks and nets. For fifty minutes we worked away at our builds with our mentors. The catch was they were blindfolded. We tested and tested till we had enough. Then refreshments. Whilst some people stayed some people searched there was all sorts there was even one were you swung whilst blindfolded. We were given an egg, a balloon, a piece of paper, sellotape and string. One of the eggs collapsed at first contact of the team’s hands, unfortunate. Some teams used the balloon to keep it in the air. Some used paper as parachutes. Some even scrunched up the paper put the egg inside and used the string to go around it and somehow, they survived. By Ishaaq A (1J)
The long-awaited Avon Tyrrell trip had arrived and the days have been extremely fun and adventurous. I got to know a lot more people than before and I loved all the activities. Low ropes involved me and my friends working as a team in order to get our team to the other side. It involved some heavy logic and phenomenal teamwork to get everyone across while avoiding the so-called shark-infested custard, but I suppose teamwork makes dreamwork! It was great fun when everybody cheered each other on and we finally got to the end. The night walk was an extremely unique insight into the New Forest at night. Encountering deer and bats, we ventured deep, learning about the forest’s unique history with many enjoyable games to play and chemical bonds to break! We broke envelopes and ate sugar in order to create light in the deep dark woods. Archery was a wonderful activity where we used bow and arrows to shoot. A few of my friends managed to shoot a bullseye, but nevertheless we all worked hard and cheered each other on. The catapult, however, was used to shoot barrels and gain points for our team. Problem Solving was all about teamwork to solve many enjoyable tasks such as grid lock, magic square, handcuffs, tangrams, the island, the hoop and colourblind. Our favourite activities included the hoop where we had to get everyone through a hoop and the tangrams where we combined shapes to make a square. By Shishir V (1J)
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 Benji J (1W) for always being positive and showing great teamwork skills in Avon Tyrrell. Well done Benji!
Junior Musical
Calling all budding actors! It’s time to audition for the much-anticipated Junior Musical. This year’s production is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat – which tells the journey of Joseph and his coat of many colours. Auditions will take place on Tuesday 4 October from 4 to 5:30pm in the Hammond Theatre with recalls on Tuesday 11 October. The Junior Musical is open to all First, Second, Third and Fourth Year Hamptonians.
The audition song will be Close Every Door to Me. Please familiarise yourself with the song, prior to the audition. There will also be a short and simple dance audition.
More information can be found in the poster below:
Clubs, Clubs, Clubs
The full list of all clubs, societies and other co-curricular activities on offer at Hampton can be found here:
Co-Curricular Club Timetable 2022-23
We are currently putting the finishing touches to our exciting 2022-23 Co-Curricular Booklet and, with over 130 clubs and societies on offer, the biggest challenge will be deciding which ones to join! Keep an eye out for notices from your Form Tutor for any changes to this year’s clubs.
TALK!
The first Hampton School Talk! of the year will take place on Tuesday 27 September at 1pm in the Hammond Theatre, The Pandemic – Lessons Learned.
Presented by Lung Consultant Dr Felix Chua and Pharmaceuticals specialist Dr Andrew Makin the Talk! will offer an insight into the Covid-19 pandemic, the medical approaches for treating coronavirus, the search for a cure, and what the future might hold for Covid-19 and other pandemics. If you’re interested in all things medicine or can see your future in drug development and research, come along on 27 September and find out more.
Hamptonians from across all year groups are welcome to attend and do not need to book a ticket
FIRST YEAR 5 QUESTIONS
A whopping 47 First Year Hamptonians had a go at last week’s quiz, well done to everyone who had a go! Big shout out to Form 1B with an impressive ten entries, 1W were close behind with nine. Merits go to:
1P: Thomas N, Oliver Y, Lucas B, Alp O, Julius M
1J: Louis C, Finn R, Danyal P, Shishir V, Josh B, Henry S
1L: Neev G, Macsen B, Konrad G, Willoughby E, Eric R, Rajvir S, Edison Y
1W: Inwoo Y, James S, Marcus P, Shiv V, Huw C, Dean B, Yusuf A, Siyul P, Benjamin J
1B: Gabriel K S, Jiashan L, Alex G, Pierce B, George H, Dennis H, Lewis H, Nathanial O, Devam K, Joe B
1H: Bavin J, James N, Manilo C, George S, Luke F, Joshua L
1F: Daniel S, Oscar F, Yevin S, Ben J
Take a look at this week’s questions – have a go yourself or challenge people at home and see if they know the answer.
- What is the smallest planet in our solar system?
- Which country in the world is believed to have the most miles of motorway?
- What are the five colours of the Olympic rings?
- Name the first actor to play Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.
- Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived – who was Henry VIII’s last wife?
Merits are awarded for everyone who has a go! Just click on the link below and enter your answers; points for the Interform Competition will be awarded to the form with the most entries every week.
Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Take a look at next week’s blog to find out the answers and here are the answers to last week’s 5 questions:
- With what sport would you associate Sachin Tendulkar? Cricket
- What is seven cubed? 343
- What is the highest-grossing Marvel movie without the word ‘Avengers’ in the title? Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Which type of pasta’s name means “little worms”? Vermicelli
- Roughly how long does it take for the sun’s light to reach Earth – 8 minutes, 8 hours or 8 days? 8 minutes
Remember to write your name in the form so you can be credited with merits!
