Welcome to the Fifth Year Blog!
Before we begin this term’s blog, we wanted to mention and remember Mr Gray who sadly passed away last weekend. This news has obviously rocked the whole School community, and our thoughts are very much with Mr Gray’s family in this sad time.
We hope you have a restful time over Easter and are in a position to study hard and give it one last big push before the exams begin. You are now three months away from it all being over, here we go! We will be back with a one-off blog at the start of study leave but for now, read on and celebrate all things (there were more but a few articles didn’t materialise…!) you and your peers have done this term… what an amazing amount you have fitted in to your last full term of School before the Sixth Form!
(P)raise The Bar
- Abhi S and Luke F – always take the time to tidy the classroom and tuck in chairs at the end of tutor time/end of the day.
- Dylan L – always making good choices and leading with empathy.
- Atulya S – high levels of effort
- Harry L – for being constantly jolly and positive
- Krishang T – unfailing politeness
- Rafe M – staying positive during his injury
- Alex M – improved attitude
- Freddie T – high levels of effort in everything he does
- Chris K – excellent interpersonal and politeness skills
- Zen N – improved attitude and positivity
- In a time when it’s easy to stay silent, Theo L chose to be brave. Starting to sing publicly on Instagram and consistently posting new videos every few days takes real courage. Sharing something as personal as your voice with such openness isn’t easy, but he’s done it anyway. That courage hasn’t gone unnoticed. It shows confidence, resilience, and a willingness to grow in front of others — qualities that deserve real respect. Theo should be proud of himself and absolutely keep going.
- Mr Towl… in times of trouble and unfortunate deflections and rebounds, the way he has handled himself to rise above adversity, poor fortune and events conspiring against him leading to results that were less than expected, he has been a splendid example and used all of his experience to show how to carry oneself when the going is getting tough and in spite of your best efforts you just cannot produce the goods.
STEM Fair
In March, with a group of friends, I set out from Hampton to LEH to witness the marvels of the STEM Fair. The STEM Fair is held in LEH with a wide variety of projects on show. I interviewed lots of people there, including: the makers of the plane project, Hampton pupils who have come to look and the one and only Mr Malston. Unfortunately, there was only one Hampton Fifth Year project on show this year, however this can likely be explained by lots of GCSE revision.
My focus was on the Fifth Year project, run by Anton C, Theo L, Sam F and Ben G. They had ingeniously made a plane with both a manual and autopilot mode for flying. Asking the creators of this project about how it worked, I learnt about their programming of live telemetry data displayed on a laptop, with ‘five different variables mapped in real time.’ It has an incredible ‘8km range, with two hours of flight time’, using AI to detect obstacles and map an optimal flight path, which can be used in real life. According to Anton, it was ‘wonderful’ to work with the team, and after previous successful tests, they can confirm that the AI system ‘all works.’
I moved on to interviewing Hampton Fifh Year pupils who had turned up to show their support for the projects on show. They all praised the plane project, saying it was ‘quite phenomenal’, ‘very cool’ and ‘the most incredible of things.’ I even managed to catch Mr Malston, who, when asked about his favourite project, said ‘without a shadow of a doubt it is the plane’, describing it as ‘amazing’, and further saying ‘he had no idea about the amount of programming work’ that had gone into this successful project.
Of course, there were many other deserving projects, such as an automated digger which gave one interviewee ‘great happiness’ to use, a Greenpower racing car which was purely electric, and finally a recreation of the famous ‘double slit’ experiment, using lasers to demonstrate quantum physics. There were many more projects worthy of mentioning, and I had a great time looking through them all. Thanks must go to Mr Walsh in the Physics Department for organising Hampton pupils going to the event, who was very helpful in letting me go on such short notice. The 2026 STEM Fair was excellent to go to, and I would encourage everyone to think about taking part in the 2027 edition.
By Thomas D (5J)
Arsenal U16 Independent Schools Invitational Trophy
Whilst it would be an understatement to call the Hampton U16A team’s season anything short of brilliant, The Arsenal Academy Invitational Tournament provided the perfect opportunity for the team to begin to draw to a close their last season together before heading into the senior teams next season.
On a mild but gusty spring morning, Hampton’s U16As set off across London to Hale End, the venue for the highly-anticipated tournament. With the format of the tournament taking the shape of a round-robin configuration, and all matches being 20 minutes long, the team were wary of the colossal effort they were about to partake in but knew that they most certainly had it in them to play their usual attractive brand of football in all five of their matches.
First up was Bradfield School, a side that Hampton had previously beaten 3-0 earlier in the season, however a lack of sharpness in the opening moments of the fixture ultimately left Hampton with a mountain to climb in very little time. Despite staying resilient and grabbing a goal back courtesy of an expertly placed free – kick from Alex P, Bradfield claimed a 3-1 victory to open the tournament.
Hampton’s next challenge came in the form of a stubborn Bede’s side who, despite facing an onslaught of chances from the team in black and gold, were able to keep a clean sheet and come away with a creditable point in a 0-0 draw. Up next for Hampton was top of the group, Buckswood School, who despite looking threatening in their previous games, were largely unable to break down a determined Hampton defence, scoring with arguably their only clear-cut chance to tie the game at 1-1 late on.
Heading into the penultimate game of the day, Hampton knew that they had it in them to find a win, and after a coherent team display against Dulwich College, ending in a 2-0 victory, the final was very much in sight.The only team that stood in the way of Hampton now was Millfield School, a team they had already met in a 4-3 victory earlier in the season. However, aware of the very different challenge that faced them this time, Hampton went into the game knowing that the three points up for grabs were vital in order to sustain their challenge for the title. After a frustrating 1-0 loss that paid little in the way of attacking dividends, Hampton could no longer finish in the top two of the group, therefore drawing their tournament to a close.
Despite the disappointment of it not being Hampton’s day, the team were able to reflect on what had been an enjoyable experience for all, playing at a professional training ground against competitive opponents in a fun filled day.
By Tom S (5C)
U16B Football
The U16B team had an excellent year this year winning 15 out of 19 games and remaining unbeaten in normal time. We started off our season with a comfortable 7 – 0 win against Winchester College. Other highlights included our 3 -2 win against Bradfield with the highlight being Danny Pritchard’s stunning free kick to win the game. Our 3-2 win against Eton College was also a game to remember with Adam scoring in the last minute to give us the victory. Along with an astonishing five goals from our top – scorer Issac H against John Lyon School 2nd XI. Our ESFA was one to remember this year with a 3- 2 win to Glyn School in third round with goals from Issac H, Tioba S-B and Theo J. Unfortunately, our ESFA run came to an end with a loss to Kingsdale in the fourth round on penalties. However, the team’s performance was outstanding with a bullet header from Arthur K and a classy finish from Grigory D to keep us in the game. The tireless work of the midfield made up of Ollie H, Ruben E and Bailey H-Clifton also can’t go without a mention.
By Tioba S-B (5E)
First XI ESFA Semi-Final
Read on as Alex P gives us a first hand account of how the dramatic final minute of the ESFA semi-final occurred.
The team knew going into the game we had to leave it all out there. To set the scene, the score is 0-0 in the closing seconds of extra time. It had to be now, or the game would be settled by a penalty shootout. To start the final attack the ball is hoisted high into the centre circle to meet Alex as he brings it down before playing a 1-2 with captain Ollie, and then playing out to Charlie, who turns to find Angus in space. As he sets the ball out of his feet and then whips a cross in, the whole pitch watches the ball float onto Rio’s chest in the penalty area. Rio brings it down before firing it across the goal for Ollie to strike it into the back of the net and send the First XI into the ESFA final. Absolute scenes and the team and crowd celebrated by the corner flag.
By Alex P (5F)
Rosslyn Park Sevens
The day started off well. Our first game was against Park House School when a great hat-trick from Kian W in six minutes and a few scores from Fourth Year Archie S gave us the comfortable 54-5 win.
Our next opponents were Duke of York Military School who we had experience with in previous tournaments and we knew it would be a tough game. Another well-fought try got us back into the game causing the half time score to be 14-7. With some decisions not going our way, the game finished 22-19 to Duke of York. Going into our final group game, we now had to beat Haberdashers Monmouth, a strong all-round team, by more than seven points to qualify for the next stage of the tournament.
A try from Konrad R and a good conversion from Archie brought us back to 7-7 at the half. Despite our best efforts, with standout performances from Matteo B, George E and Lucas W, our tournament ended after a resilient effort against a well-drilled Monmouth side.
Although the results didn’t go our way, the boys played well and persevered through tough opponents and weathering conditions to end the 2025-26 season.
By Xavier K (5C)
It has been a super sevens season for our U16s, with a well-deserved win at the Middlesex 7s! They remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, conceding only two tries and emerging victorious against Mill Hill in the final. Well done boys!
Schools’ Head of the River
In March, the J16 rowing squad headed to the Tideway for the Schools’ Head of the River Race, the main junior head race of the season. This was our first opportunity to establish the national rankings among the country’s top crews. Although our J16 A and B crews had already posted promising results at Hammersmith, Hampton, Kingston, Teddington, and Bedford Head races earlier in the season, our focus had been building toward this specific event. Following last year’s results where the A crew placed third behind St Paul’s and KCS, and the B crew placed second to St Paul’s, there was a clear desire to beat these rivals.
The A crew started 7th and the B crew started 3rd in their respective events. This meant both crews would likely need to overtake slower boats to contend for the top positions, a disadvantage compared to the St Paul’s crews, who enjoyed clear water by starting 1st in each event.
Despite concerns regarding the weather leading up to the event, we were relieved the race proceeded as planned, with the first crews crossing the line at 12:30. In the J16 Ch 8+ event, the A crew had a strong start, settling into a powerful rhythm. At the Bandstand (1.5km in), we trailed St Paul’s by only one second, with Radley a further second behind us. By Harrods (4.3km in), we were two seconds off the lead after a strong first stint. However, a combination of overtakes, deteriorating conditions, and a lack of experience in such long events caused us to lose touch with St Paul’s pace. We dropped 13 seconds in the final stretch, finishing 2nd overall, 16 seconds behind 1st place a strong marker heading into the regatta season.
Shortly after, the J16 B crew event began, with our boat starting fifth in the pack. The B crew maintained a strong pace through the first two-thirds of the race despite several overtakes, trailing St Paul’s by five seconds. They suffered a similar fate to the A crew in the closing stages, falling 1 second behind by the finish line, but still secured a commendable 2nd place.
Overall, the squad found this an overwhelmingly positive experience. These two silver-medal finishes show our strength as we transition from head season into what promises to be an exciting regatta season.
By Harry L (5C)
TALK! Jon Varney
Earlier in the spring term, the Hammond Theatre was packed with Hampton pupils, all eager to hear from the CEO of one of the most remarkable football clubs in England. Jon Varney had worked for a variety of sports-adjacent businesses before he became Brentford CEO in 2019. However, his new position at Brentford was even more special to him as a Brentford fan. After a brief overview of his own career, Mr Varney answered several questions about Brentford, who fought their way up from the Championship to the Premier League in 2021 and have since established themselves in the top flight of English football and defying most pre-season expectations this year with a remarkable season so far.
As a Brentford fan myself, I was somewhat aware of their transfer model, whereby previously unknown players from across the world are bought for low prices and then sold for a higher price after development, but I had no idea how refined this process was. According to Mr Varney, the club have data on players from the top two leagues of every footballing country in the world. They can then optimise their search for new players by specifying what type of player they would like, before sending scouts to look at the top candidates. Such a data-driven approach to football is telling of the advances in technology and its global reach.
Mr Varney also underlined the heightened risks of transfers in the top flight of any league, as transfers become more expensive and therefore more costly to get wrong. He also mentioned the financial burden of getting to, and staying in, the Premier League, and how failure to do so can result in the sale of a team’s best players, such was the case when Brentford were forced to sell Ollie Watkins to Aston Villa after failing in 2020 to gain promotion to the Premier League.
Overall, I found Mr Varney’s TALK insightful and useful in understanding how a football club (particularly one of Brentford’s standing) conducts its business, and how a CEO has to fit into that system to help the club run smoothly.
By Rory M (5A)
Steinway Scholar
My journey started back in March 2025 when I won the Hampton School Steinway Scholarship Piano Competition. Since then, I have been looking forward to having my own recital which took place this month at the prestigious Steinway Hall London. During the run up to the recital, I had the chance to be coached by Steinway Artist Danny Driver, I really benefited from his expert guidance which set me up well for the performance.
I arrived at Steinway Hall in the afternoon and started my final preparations and as the time of my recital drew near, I made my way down to the practice room for Steinway Artists. Walking into Steinway Hall, I was greeted by an enthusiastic and intimate audience including school music teachers, church members and family and friends (unfortunately no classmates since it was a weekday). The six pieces I chose to perform for the hour-long programme included Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Beethoven’s Sonata in C minor (‘Pathetique’) complete which lasted well over 20 minutes, Chopin’s Nocturne in C sharp minor, Debussy’s La plus que lente-Valse, Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in E flat major , and Schumann’s Novellette in F major. After a tentative start I settled and played with freedom, and found the whole event enjoyable, from the compliments received afterwards I believe the audience enjoyed it too.
A huge thank you to my Piano teacher Mr Tong for the excellent advice along the way and to Mr Ferrier for his support during the performance, and to Mr Roland for hosting the competition and making the recital such a success. All in all, it was an incredible and unforgettable experience!
By Theo T (5H)
Gorton and Denton By-election
The Green Party won its fifth Common’s seat on Thursday, with Hannah Spencer becoming its newest MP after garnering 40.7% of the vote in Gorton and Denton. But what is Gorton and Denton, and why did an election take place?
Gorton and Denton is a borough in Greater Manchester, which recently experienced the resignation of its MP, Andrew Gwynne, after he fell victim to “significant ill health”. The former Labour health minister had taken the Greater Manchester seat with more than 50% of the vote in 2024, but after the recent poll, Labour were pushed down to third place, behind both the Greens and Reform UK. However, this result is significantly better than what the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats achieved, who were each unable to obtain more than 2% of the vote and lost their deposits. This makes this by-election the Conservative’s worst ever result. But why do people care?
Firstly, the result is thoroughly disappointing for Labour. The Gorton and Denton seat had previously been a stronghold, held by them for nearly 100 years. The catastrophic loss in support will not bode well for Keir Starmer’s leadership, with questions likely to be asked about the NEC’s decision to block Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, from contesting the seat. Any moves within the party are unlikely to occur before the May elections, but scrutiny on Starmer is bound to increase.
Furthermore, the result reflects the growing prominence of the insurgent parties, Green and Reform, who now seem to be mounting pressure on both the right and left of the two major parties. With the Greens and Reform achieving a combined 69% of the vote, and the Conservatives and Labour only taking 27%, the end of two-party politics may be closer than expected.
By Ollie C (5D)
Solar Tubing
Many have pondered the question on how to make Hampton more eco friendly. Some argued for wind turbines or replacing school fields with solar panels but due to the high cost of those measures, I suggest the use of solar tubing. Solar tubes are skylights with reflective tubing that would guide natural light into the building whilst being cost effective and removing some of the energy cost of regular lighting. Therefore, I believe that solar tubing should be the future of our school-wide attempt to carbon neutral.
By Ethan D (5E)
And all that’s left to say is…
