Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
Half term is right there. Indeed, by the time you read this, it will BE half term.
On one level, this seems unfeasible. Stephen Hawking would probably be better placed to articulate this, but it feels as if the half term has flown by while it simultaneously feels like Christmas was about a decade ago.
Not only this, but this half term essentially marks the halfway point in the School year. As of the point we return from the break, you are closer to being Fourth Years than you are to being Second Years. The Third Year Blog doesn’t really know if this is meaningful in any way.
Regardless of the vagaries of time, we are where we are. A week of glorious rest, recuperation and other things that begin with the letter ‘r’ (and other letters, of course; we are an inclusive learning environment) awaits.
In the meantime, let’s see what the Third Year have been doing with themselves!
Heads of year message
Thanks to everyone for supporting our Form Charity partners by coming to school in Mufti today. We can sometimes do this on autopilot on the final day of term, but it is worth reminding everyone of the money we raise in the process and the educational purpose of looking beyond the school gates at our impact on the local, national and global communities of which we are a part. All funds raised from the £2 billed contribution will go directly towards our three charity partners for this academic year – The Single Homeless Project, UCLH Cancer Charity Fund, and Save the Children. We’re also grateful for the many Food Bank donations that pupils brought to school this morning.
We thoroughly enjoyed watching the Interform Rowing challenge on Thursday lunchtime. A strong showing from every Form meant that over half the Year Group participated in (or supported) the event. The boys put in a phenomenal effort and between them covered over 30,000m of rowing in a lung busting 15-minute race. Well done to 3B who determinedly held onto a slender lead to win the event, but also to 3E who pushed them all the way. Everyone should be very proud of their efforts after the race!
We look forward to the next instalments of the Interform competition next half term with the arrival of the chess, football and rugby tournaments. The aim of these events is to encourage participation and inclusion, so please keep an eye out for announcements next half term and get involved.
On the topic of rugby, good luck and safe travels to all those Third Year pupils taking part in the U15 & U14 Rugby Tour to Bristol this weekend. We expect high standards of behaviour from everyone going on the tour and we look forward to hearing all about it on your return.
We wish everyone a peaceful and restorative half term holiday, and we look forward to seeing you in a week’s time – refreshed and rejuvenated for next half term. Have a lovely week off!
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore
LEH Model United Nations
A couple of weekends ago, I was fortunate enough to attend the annual LEHMUN event as one of the delegates of Greece. This is the third MUN (Model United Nations) conference Hampton have attended this year, with REIMUN in October and LOSMUN in November. This is the biggest conference of the school year, consisting of three days of interesting debate and lobbying to get involved with. For those of you who don’t do MUN, let me give you a quick explanation: MUN is a recreation of the debates in the United Nations, often debating political and social issues democratically. MUN is split up into “committees”, each committee debating different topics and represented by different delegates. Delegates are the people part of a delegation, which is simply a member state of the UN (e.g. France, UK or Venezuela etc).
The committees for LEHMUN were the Human Rights Committee, Special Committee, Economic and Social Committee, Political Committee, and the Security Council. Each committee has one delegate per delegation in the conference, apart from the Security Council, which has 10 non-permanent rotating members and 5 permanent members (The “P5”: Russia, United Kingdom, France, USA and China, but more on that later).
Debate starts with a “resolution”, submitted by a country (or in rare cases multiple countries). This is then debated “for” and “against” for a period of time, before a final vote. If the vote is more for than against, the resolution passes and (in the real UN) the things outlined in the resolution become legally binding for all member states. If there is more against than for, or if the vote is a tie, the resolution fails and the committee moves on to the next resolution. Countries can also abstain in a vote, meaning they don’t vote for or against. In the UN, you are not allowed to say “I” or “you”, so “the delegate” or “(country)” are usually used. I and You are known as personal pronouns, something which has frustrated me many times at conferences!
After School on Friday, we walked over to LEH as a group and immediately went to our committee rooms. There is no debate on the Friday, only “lobbying” where you try and get other people on your side. After a quick break, we each said our policy statements, which are short speeches made to outline your country’s goal for the conference and the issues. After a tense game of Mafia within my committee, the Security Council, it was time to go home for the day.
The next day, we started debate early and debated a resolution on the question of resource denial as a method of warfare. I found this debate really fun, although as Greece isn’t a member of the P5, I sadly couldn’t veto. But hang on, some of you may be asking what a veto is? A veto is where one of the P5 member states can cancel the effect of a vote and immediately fail a resolution. This is then debated within the P5 before a final decision. Theo L in the Fifth Year, representing China, used his veto twice in an hour! The rest of the day followed suit, with many
personal pronouns said and resolutions passed, including mine on the question of the UN’s right to impeach world leaders. Towards the end of the day, France used their veto right at the end of debate, annoying everyone, including the chairs of the committee! They were evicted from the committee room temporarily for “time wasting”!
Sunday was the turn of the General Assembly, where everyone comes and debates together. Sunday was the shortest day, and it was likely the weirdest debate I have ever been part of! I still enjoyed it, nonetheless. After the debating finished, I found out I had won an award for doing well in the committee. This was the first award I had won at a major conference, so I was very happy. I really enjoyed the conference, and it is my favourite in the school year.
MUN is a great way to explore different viewpoints from different countries, and it tests you to get in the mindset of that country rather than your own personal views. It is a great way to get into politics, and it is great fun for First Years all the way up to Upper Sixth. It runs weekly on a Tuesday at 12.35pm in the Lecture Theatre, if you want to try it yourself, and I definitely recommend coming along at least once, even if politics isn’t your thing. If you want to improve your public speaking skills, MUN is the club for you. Thank you to Mrs Field, Mrs Havord and all the Sixth Formers who helped and chaired at the conference!
By Charlie F (3A)
Rock On
A Stage. A Microphone. A Sensation.
I am sure you have seen my pictures on the School website regarding the rock concert; it did make me feel like a celebrity (even though maybe three people told me they saw them). So, let me tell you about my experience on and off the stage during the concert. Our band consists of Alex B (our prized guitarist), Ethan C (an amazing drummer), and Richard C (an exceptional drummer and keyboard player). Being a four-man band is quite hard, especially because there is no secondary guitarist, but we make it work.
For the concert, we picked R U Mine by Arctic Monkeys – an indie rock and pop song – and The Pretender by the Foo Fighters, which is a more classic, famous rock song. I guess we spent the longest practising The Pretender because I was very off-key during the intro, but after listening to the song a few times I got better (I did not get perfect), and it still worked out. R U Mine by Arctic Monkeys was a whole different vibe: it was not about being a rebel, but about the anxiety of being in love, which can sometimes be overlooked on a day-to-day basis.
The day before the rock concert, I was practising solo at home. It was nothing like a calm rehearsal, but more like a crammed revision session; and I do apologise to my parents and the neighbours who had to listen to my rehearsing on a booming loudspeaker. It was like an early taster for the rock concert that would happen the next day. With that out of the way, I went to bed with a slightly sore throat.
It was Friday lunchtime, and after hitting a few shots on the basketball courts and eating lunch, I was ready for my sound check with the band. This went smoothly, and I think I did well, but it was not really the sound check that mattered; it was the concert that was going to happen in the next seven and a half hours. I walked out of period eight, brushing the weight of the school day off my shoulders, only to be met with the weight of singing on stage within the next couple of hours. After listening to a long brief by Mr Daly in the Hammond, the Garrick was nigh – this is where I would relax in the final hours before the start of the concert. When it started, I was invited downstairs to sit and watch the bands playing in the first half of the concert, and I was blown away; the standard had been set high. It was sad to know that this concert would be the last for some of the Sixth Formers performing, some of whom I had watched all the way back in First Year when I first sang.
After the interval, Junior Rock Band 3 was ready to hop on stage. I walked on, reassuring myself that this would last for a couple of minutes and that it would all go well. As soon as Ethan C counted in R U Mine, with Alex on the guitar and Richard on the bass, I knew that this was real – standing on stage and singing in front of a large audience is probably one of the most real feelings I will experience in my life. Alex smashed the intro, and I think I did solidly. Then came The Pretender, with Richard drumming, Alex as our lead guitarist, and Ethan Choi as the bassist. Personally, this was the song that I was really looking forward to. The intro, per usual, was a bit off-key, but before the concert I reminded myself that people do not remember notes; they remember the vibes and the feel. That was all the reassurance I needed to move forward with the song. When the audience applauds, it is more than just noise. It is a sensation. And you cannot replicate that feeling without being in the situation. Even though I think I did fine, my parents told me I did very well. And as much as I like to convince them I did not perform as well as they say I did, they will not budge.
And I guess that’s a good thing.
Because us humans naturally make ourselves feel worse about what we have done, even though it may be a good thing. But having someone there to tell you that you have done well and that they are proud of you always cushions your fall.
By Ethan S-W (3H)
Book review
During the Christmas break on a trip to Sainsbury’s, I stumbled across a Jack Reacher novel on a discount. As an avid Jack Reacher series reader, I bought it. I was instantly hooked. The book was called ‘The Hard Way’. So, here is an honest review of the book.
The plot follows Jack Reacher as he sits in a café in New York. He witnesses a car being taken which turns out to be full of ransom money for a kidnapped woman and child. The owner of the car implores for help from Reacher but from that point, things take a turn for the worse as things turns out not to be what they seemed. It is a great book and action packed. It is one of the older ones of the Jack Reacher series, so I have to say, I am extremely impressed by the quality of the plot. The Jack Reacher series can be read in any order and this would be one of the books that I would recommend to a reader who has not read any of them.
By Ian L (3J)
Interform Rowing
The Interform Rowing competition is always a highlight of the Interform tournament during the course of the year. It is also one of the loudest events, with dozens of Third Years crammed into the Sports Hall, screaming their support for the teammates. So how did it go?
We have a couple of reports as well as the results…
Yesterday, Thursday 12 February, was the Third Year’s Interform Rowing event. For me personally there was a lot of anticipation and responsibility, because I had been selected as team captain.
Luckily, at the event, the whole team showed up promptly, and we got off to a strong start with David L, followed by Toby B and Seb M. We kept up a decent pace right to the end, with particularly strong efforts from Toby B and Seb M, as well as Alex A and David L. We ended up in sixth place, and only 20m separated us from fifth place.
By Kaya K (3D)
Yesterday marked the start of the Third Year Interform Rowing competition, where all forms were racing to see which boat finished first. At the beginning of the contest, our form (3C) got a good start from the get-go, and we needed it as we were pushing for top spot. We were rowing with speed and at one point we were in the lead. However, we started to slow down due to exhaustion, and we began to fall down the rankings. Eventually the race came to an end and we just missed out on third place. However, our form is super proud of achieving 3,997m in the competition.
The winners were 3B followed by 3E and 3J. It was a really enjoyable experience, and we look forward to the next Interform competition.
By Uzair V (3C)
And so, to the full results:
1st – 3B – 4135m – 9pts
2nd – 3E – 4127m – 8pts
3rd – 3J – 4030m – 7pts
4th – 3C – 3982m – 6pts
5th – 3D – 3966m – 5pts
6th – 3G – 3916m – 4pts
7th – 3H – 3828m – 3pts
8th – 3F – 3752m – 2pts
9th – 3A – 3734 – 1pt
And finally, disappointingly…
10th – Tutors – 0m – 0pts
And what does this all mean for the Williams Cup??
1st – 3B – 44pts
2nd – 3D – 40pts
Joint 3rd – 3G & 3J – 37pts
5th – 3E – 32pts
Joint 6th – 3F & 3H – 24pts
8th – 3A – 23pts
9th – 3C – 20pts
It is still all to play for!
U14A Football
Two weeks ago, Hampton U14A’s played Wilson’s School on the slightly muddy pitch of F8. The Hamptonians started slowly, with Wilson’s left winger scoring first, following a mistimed clearance after about 10 minutes. However, after Rafi B’s strong challenge on an opponent, the rest of the team was spurred on, allowing us to come to life.
Then just before the end of the half, Neil M played a beautiful whipped corner into the box, where JJ O met the ball with a clean header into the top left corner. At halftime, Mr Hooper gave us an amazing half time talk, giving us the energy we needed. At the start of the second half, Rafi played a perfect through ball to Robert W who held the ball up and played it straight to Yule C who outpaced two of the Wilson’s defenders and scored an amazing goal using the outside of his foot, curling it into the top left corner.
For the rest of the game the Hampton side held on to the lead closing the game out with a needed 2-1 win. A great victory!
By JJ O (3J)
Things to do at lunch!
Have you ever been looking for things to do at lunchtime? All your friends are busy with their own lives and you’re left feeling in need of some new activities? Don’t worry, I have too. Luckily for you I’ve compiled some clubs to entertain you before the afternoon
Clubs are the best way to spend your lunchtime while meeting new people and expanding your skillset. Here are some clubs I like to try:
Monday – Dog Club, Hampton Sports Chronicle, Running and Cross Country Club, and a Third Year exclusive, Scalextric4Schools
Tuesday – Model United Nations, Mosh Pit Club with Mr Barber, Croquet Club, Geography Club, and the Sound Bath
Wednesday – Lego Architecture Club, Board Games Club, Karate Club, Climbing Club, History and Archives Club, and my favourite club at Hampton, Cryptic Crossword Club
Thursday – Chess Club, Drama Club, Psychology Club, Modern Language Society, and Backgammon Club
Friday – EDI Club, Beekeeping Club, Young Philosophers, Breakdancing Club, Illusion Lab, History Society and Gardening Club.
The days for some of these clubs might have changed, so if one catches your eye, make sure to verify the day, time, and room of the club.
If you’ve tried all those clubs and you’re still not entertained, then I don’t know what to say….
By Michael C (3G)
Two Truths and a lie
Last week, U14A Football coach Mr Hooper told us a filthy lie. But which one of his claims was that lie?
- Mr Hooper (Senor Tonelero?) has a Spanish A Level
- Mr Hooper is a Leeds United supporter
- Mr Hooper’s father won the Junior Wimbledon Tennis doubles championship
Mr Hooper is a Leeds supporter. But, we all have our faults. I haven’t seen Mr Hooper play tennis, though he looks like the sort of person who might be handy with a racquet. Not as handy as his father, though, who did win the Junior Wimbledon Tennis doubles championship. This means that Senor Tonelero does not have a Spanish A Level. However, he does have a French A Level, meaning we should really be calling him Monsieur Cerceau.
This week’s liar is from the English department – Mr Bradley. Could it be that his willingness to embrace the inherent subjectivity of his subject, also allows him to embrace a willingness to bend the truth? One would hope not, for the sake of the moral core of the School. Regardless, Mr Bradley has been asked and he, as always, has delivered.
These are his claims:
- Mr Bradley got to the final auditions to be a member of Take That
- Mr Bradley once took part in a month-long sausage eating competition
- Mr Bradley is an excellent drummer
Which is the lie?
Connection Corner
Well done to the everyone who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. Merits go to all those who correctly guessed that the answers were all the first names of the four Gospel authors. Big shout out to Lucas F, Callan B, Uzair SC, William M, Stephane A, Reuben N, Richard C, Mehrad M, Naiveyda A, Toby B, Rishi V, Charlie F and Liangxu Z.
Another tricky one this week, have a go over the half term break and see if you can spot the connection:
Who played Ferris Bueller in the iconic 1980s film? Matthew Broderick
Who founded Facebook and is still the Chief Executive of the company? Mark Zuckerberg
What is the name of the Man Utd defender who plays in the number 23 shirt? Luke Shaw
Which actor starred opposite Olivia Newton John in Grease? John Travolta
Connection: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – Four Evangelists, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel
