From The Headmaster's Study
15 December 2023
It was uplifting to hear so many Hamptonians, parents, alumni and colleagues in such fine voice at Monday evening’s Carol Service at St Mary’s Church, Hampton. Over 170 of our School’s choristers and musicians joyfully raised the rafters and heralded both the end of term and the festive season in splendid fashion.
Seasonal joy was also in plentiful supply at last week’s three Christmas Concerts. As you will discover in the accompanying e-newsletter, our First Year pupils’ rendition of Shoulda Been A North Pole Elf was especially endearing, while the performances by our Symphony Orchestra and senior soloists, Tomás Escobar (piano) and Charlie Bishop (cello), were simply breathtaking. We are, as ever, indebted to Mr Roland and his departmental colleagues for overseeing a musical programme of such exceptional quality and variety. You can catch up on many of these events in the autumn edition of News from Hampton (NfH); a digital copy will have arrived via SchoolPost earlier this week and it is also linked here.
It has certainly been full steam ahead for the good ship Hampton since September, with our autumn term characterised by a palpable sense of energy, possibility and purposefulness across all areas of School life. Notably, our thespians have treated us to two memorable productions and the front page of NfH rightly showcases one of these: the joint Hampton-LEH Senior School Musical, Little Shop of Horrors. The show was a triumph of talent and dedication, whether by on-stage performers, the technical crew, and those in the orchestra. A special mention is also due to our Junior Theatre Company for their impressive production of Macbeth in November.
Over 720 Hamptonians have headed out on School trips to destinations ranging from the New Forest to Barcelona, and we wish those currently on the Junior and Senior Ski trips an enjoyable time on the slopes of Austria and Italy. There has also been plenty of memorable action on the sporting front. Our Fourth Years have been particularly impressive in this regard, with both our U15A rugby and football squads progressing to post-Christmas national quarter-finals in the RFU Schools’ Cup and Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) Cup respectively. We wish them well and send our congratulations to the five senior footballers who have been selected for ISFA national representative squad training camps over the coming days. And we should also recognise and celebrate the remarkable collective efforts of pupils, parents and staff in the Hampton and Holles Boat Club community during mid-September’s sponsored row, which raised over £80,000 for Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.
Giving back to the wider community is fundamental to Hampton’s ethos and values, so we were pleased to be recognised in the 2023 UK Social Mobility Awards (SOMOs). You can read more about our School’s wide-ranging partnership programme in the latest Celebrating Partnerships review, linked within the e-newsletter.
As the end of 2023 approaches, I should like to express my personal thanks to everyone for ensuring that Hampton life has remained so joyful, vibrant and inspiring over the past 12 months. During our final assembly of the calendar year, I asked Hamptonians to remember always that fun and laughter are integral elements of having a successful and fulfilling time here. With this in mind, I do hope that our 2023 Christmas video (linked here) will raise a smile among Hampton families and we thank our wonderfully talented Voices of Lions for providing a perfect seasonal soundtrack. This year’s festive offering features an enthusiastic array of pupils and colleagues from across the Hampton School Trust ‒ see how many of them you can identify and please, in the generous spirit of Christmas, forgive the rather limited musical talent of the triangle player!
I wish all members of our Hampton community a peaceful and relaxing festive period and a Happy New Year.
With kind regards and season’s greetings.
