Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at School this morning and saw the beautiful Christmas tree in Reception! I have been trying to spot all the little animals hidden within it – let me know if you find any! Rehearsals for the Christmas Concerts and Carol Services are in full swing and if you’re lucky you might hear snippets of rehearsals as you walk by the Garrick. Performances of A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story were another highlight of the week and seeing the Hammond stage covered in snow whilst the cast sang ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ was a particular highlight for me.
On Monday our U13A Rugby team competed in the Middlesex Festival – I’ve been promised a detailed report on this for next week. This Friday there is an ISFA Cup Match and the Second Year team have travelled down to Newton Abbott, Devon to compete – I look forward to reading all about the match next week! This half term is speeding by and it’s amazing to think that in less than two weeks we will have broken up. I hope you all have a great weekend!
MERIT MILESTONES
Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:
Harry Morris – 10
Harry Richardson – 10
Krrish Anand – 10
Finn McLaughlin – 10
Jaibir Gill – 10
Jasper Townley – 10
JJ Osborne – 10
JJ Osborne – 20
Eliott Parker – 20
Liangxu Zhong – 20
Aman Popal – 20
Ioan Popa – 20
Josh Don Carolis – 20
Sujay Neela – 20
Naivedya Agarwal – 30
Dante Athnasious – 30
George Baillie – 30
Maximillian Pruess – 30
Xander Lindsay – 30
Duncan Chan – 30
Milan Samanta – 30
Ethan Sharma- Wadeson – 50 (he’s off to see Mr Knibbs!)
TUTOR QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Each week the pupils decide on a question to ask all the Second Year Form Tutors. This week…
What is your favourite supermarket?
- 2W voted for Costco! But Sainsbury’s was a close runner up
- 2L voted for the Hampton Corner Shop…
- 2P voted for Costco too! I didn’t realise it was so popular!
- 2J voted for Waitrose
- Mrs Owen is partial to M&S but loves the middle aisle of Aldi!
- Mr Worrall is a Waitrose fan!
- Miss Tiller is also a Sainsbury’s supporter
Have you ever had a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask your form tutors?! If so, then please send your suggestions for next week’s Tutor Question Time to b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk.
No Limits Week!
This No Limits week, I attended several clubs that I really enjoyed a lot but one that really stood out to me was Cryptic Crossword Club. The club takes place in my First Year form room (which make it way easier to remember; it is G49) at 1.10pm. My friend, Micheal, attends this club every week and recommended me to go to it this time. Michael is exceptional at these types of things! He aced through all the crosswords in minutes and even the teachers running the club were left in the dust! Me and a few of my other friends went to this club and we really enjoyed it because it encourages teamwork between all the other people at the club and I think it is a good place to make friends. I personally think that more people should be attending this club and recommend that you should go too!
By Tanish K (2J)
String Concert
During the days leading up to the String Concert I rehearsed a lot. After the last period of the day ended, I headed over to the Hammond Theatre to practise with my pianist, Mr Tong. After the rehearsal, I decided with the head of the ‘operation’ (Miss Van Ments ) that we would rehearse right before the concert. During this, I checked the time, and realised it was dinner. Contemplating whether or not to have my sandwich, my friends came to my practice room to listen to my music making. As I got ready to go on stage, I reminded myself of the points in my piece, with all the complicated shifts and dynamics. After the concert, even though I was still stressing about the spots that I messed up, but overall, I was proud of myself and my fellow schoolmates. At the end, we applauded every single pupil that participated in the concert, and it was finally over. It was an amazing experience!
By Colin Y (2L)
Cross Country Success
It was fantastic to hear about the success of our Second Year Cross Country runners in the Richmond Schools’ Championship. In the 4.2km U15 event, our Second and Third Year team of Derin, Isaac, Jiashan, Navid, Oskar, Rafi and Sebastian finished a competitive third place in a very strong field of athletes. Special mention must go to Rafi B (2W), who finished in a fantastic eight place. Well done everyone!
Take a look at some of the action from the race:
Let’s hear from Reuben N (2W) who was one of the Second Year runners who took part in this year’s Richmond Borough Cross Country Championships:
Last Friday I did a Cross Country race in Bushy Park. We started by having an early lunch before getting into the minibuses and driving down to the Teddington Cricket Club where the race began. The course started at Teddington Cricket Club and then went towards Hampton Hill, where we turned a corner and went back down over a bridge and went back down to the Cricket Club. After that we did the lap again. When people say that they are going for a run in Bushy Park on a Friday afternoon you would think of a relaxing jog through beautiful nature and maybe a stop at a café at the end. This was not that. I was racing with Third Years as well as Second Years so there was a fast pace. But, in the end I finished in about the middle of the pack and I was pleased with my effort. Unfortunately, though, I won’t find out my official result for a bit longer. This was my third cross country race of the year, and I hope there will be more.
Rock Concert!
All pupils should have received an email inviting them to sign up to audition for the Rock Concert, which is being held on Friday 31 January 2025, but with auditions in the last week of this term, after school on Wednesday 11 December 2024.
In the email, there is a link to a form for them to fill in. Pupils need to complete that form and submit it by Friday 6 December if they would like to be considered for the concert. Please come and speak to Mr Thomson or Mr Ferrier in the Music Department if you have any further questions.
Interview with Mike Wooldridge
Ethan SW (2L) had the opportunity to interview Mike Wooldridge over half term. As the interview itself was very detailed, we’ll be including a couple of questions and answers a week! As a reminder, Mike Wooldridge is an academic and author specialising in Artificial Intelligence (AI), amongst being an author he is a professor of AI at the University of Oxford:
As AI’s knowledge increases, we have biased responses influencing bad over good and also sparking not just political controversy but controversy. Is it possible to restrain AI in this sense? Yes, it’s perfectly possible to retrain AI in this way-but we really have to want to do it. I’m worried that people are so excited about artificial intelligence at the moment they are rushing to release new applications of the technology without thinking these issues through.
Linking to the previous question, we as human beings like to refer to AI as having no emotions. Could there be a time when AI experiences regret or guilt? For example, a driverless AI driven car that injures a child. How would AI be punished, is it even necessary or is AI perfect? These are very philosophical questions, and to be honest at the moment nobody really knows. For my part, I’m not very interested in building AI programs that have emotions. Why would I build a toaster that felt guilty about burning my toast? Emotions are fundamentally human. Let’s reserve them for humans.
What do you like to do in your spare time unrelated to Computer Science and AI? I live in Oxford, which is a beautiful city, surrounded by beautiful countryside. I enjoy walking my dog in the countryside and visiting country pubs!
What advice would you give to a 12-year-old taking interest and looking to pursue a career in AI? I think a lot of people who want to get into artificial intelligence don’t understand how important mathematics is. There is a lot of mathematics behind a clever eye programs that you see today! So if you really want to get into AI, don’t be afraid of mathematics. There are now many online resources you can use to download AI programs and to contribute your own. One online repository is called GitHub: if you’re interested in programming, go there, and search for artificial intelligence. There’s tons of material there! Start by having a look at programs that play simple games like noughts and crosses. Roll up your sleeves, and get stuck in!
SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS!
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 Miss Tiller. B.Tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk
WHO’S THAT BABY?!
Last week’s baby was 2J’s Form Tutor Miss Holt!
Who do you think it could be this week? Don’t forget, I make all the photos black and white to make it that much trickier!
QUIZ OF THE WEEK
Welcome to the Quiz of the Week! Every week, we’ll post five general knowledge questions. 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 questions come to us from Naivedya A (2L). Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Here are the answers to last week’s quiz:
- Who voices Paddington in the newly released ‘Paddington In Peru’? Ben Whishaw
- In which year was the first Thanksgiving celebrated? 1621/1623
- What is Mike Tyson’s current professional win count? 50
- When was the heaviest snow day in London in the past 20 years? Between 28 November – 3 December 2010
- What is the most recent play performed by the Junior Theatre Club? You’ll have to read the previous blog to find out! The Comedy of Errors
Well done to Leo S,Harry C, Naiveyda A, Charlie F, Milan S and Caesar C who answered everything correctly.
