Welcome to the First Year Blog!
We now find ourselves with just one more half term to go as First Years at Hampton, and what a journey it has been so far. After a fantastic effort during assessment week and a well-deserved break, it has been great to see the boys back, refreshed and ready for the final stretch of their first year.
This week’s blog is certainly not short of action. From Dorset mud runs where things quite literally got messy, to cricket contests that bowled us over, there is plenty to get stuck into.
There is lots to look forward to in the weeks ahead, trips, interform events, and (even more) exciting lessons. Let’s just hope that the glorious sunshine returns – everything always feels better in the sun!
Whilst we’re so close to the end, do remember to keep standards high. Make positive choices, continue to support one another and take pride in your behaviour and presentation. Finishing the year strongly is just as important as how you started it!
Only 20 more school sleeps left! (I promise I’m not counting…)
SUMMER SPRINT
We are at the time of year now when we have finished our end of year assessments, with only the final half term of First Year at Hampton remaining for us. To start with, we should pat ourselves on the back for a job well done in the summer assessments. At the same time, there is a lot to look forward to in a short space of time as we enter the final stretch of First Year.
The first thing on our minds will be trips – including an RS Trip to a mandir and a gurdwara, and a Biology Trip to Marwell Zoo. They proved very popular in past years, so we will doubtless enjoy them massively as well.
Meanwhile, after all the Interform events we have had this year, such as Interform Wordle and Interform Timeguessr, which drew large audiences, the form that wins the Interform Trophy this year will be decided soon. I can’t wait to see the deserved winners announced!
What a finish it will be to our First Year at Hampton!
By Hiu Yeung K (1P)
MUDDY MAYHEM
On the weekend after our summer assessments, we got loaded onto minibuses and set off on what was going to be an extraordinary trip. On the way we stopped at the services, where we all went mad and loaded up on sweets, crisps, chocolate, anything with sugar really. On my minibus (obviously the best one) with Mr Harrison, we were chatting and listening to music. A long time later, we arrived in Dorset.
After parking and leaving the minibuses, we found out our roommates and had dinner. Dinner was just fairly classic residential food, enough to not starve but nowhere near tasty enough to enjoy. Well, after satisfying conversations and less satisfying food, we went to our dorms to chat, make our beds and get ready for the night walk. We all met at 8pm in the lobby area of our accommodation to depart on what was going to be a very enjoyable and educational experience. We walked up a hill surrounded by fields and then we were in the forest. We also got told about the history of the local castle, Corfe Castle, at which stage we played some fun games and found out why the town next to the castle, Castle Town, earned its name (hint: the castle exploded and the houses were made of the stone scattered all over the hillside). We then headed back to the accommodation, had a quick opportunity to text or call our parents and then it was lights out. I would love to say, ‘And then everyone went to bed nicely, and all was quiet and peaceful.’ Put it this way, it wasn’t quite the case. There was loads of chatting. Everyone I spoke to enjoyed the highs of a midnight feast.
The next morning, we got up to a knock on the door, followed by getting dressed and then heading down to breakfast. Breakfast was scrambled eggs and bacon, enough said. We got, you guessed it, back in the minibuses to go off to the high ropes and low ropes campus. Once we were there, after epic music and company once again, we sat down and got split into three groups. Then the fun truly began. My group started with a high rope called, Gladiator Rings. What you had to do was slowly walk up a log tilted at about a 30o angle and then climb up some staples in a pole. Then, you had a choice, you could either attempt the Gladiator Rings or zipline down. If you chose the rings, then you would leap off the pole and swing on these rings hanging from chains attached to a massive pole. If you chose the zipline, then you would say to the instructor and then he would run across the pole, swinging you from side to side. The next high rope we did was the Leap of Faith where there is a pole with massive studs that you climb and then without anything for your hands, you propel yourself up, so that you are standing on the pole. Then you get the best feeling when your friends who are belaying you tug on your harness and give you a massive boost – you feel elated when you catch the hanging trapeze. We also did one where four people at once went up onto a massive seesaw hanging in mid-air and then we had to do challenges like balance the see-saw and jump in unison. Then we had to knock each other off in a last man standing. Intermittently, we also did various low ropes like Giant’s Finger where you have to use teamwork to lift a tyre off a massive wooden pole. My group achieved this through getting people to support someone’s feet with their hands. That is one example but the recurring theme with low ropes is teamwork.
After lunch, we did some big canoeing which was basically when our group sit in a massive canoe and we went out to an island where we mucked around splashing each other for ages followed by canoeing back for some of us to do bock-flops off the pier. A bock-flop is where an instructor holds you and then as you lean off the pier they drop you into the sea.
We then had a campfire in the evening after some games on the field and we did some reflection on the trip over hot chocolate. The next day, we woke up, had breakfast, got ready for the day, and went out to do the mud run. WARNING: THE NEXT SECTION IS NOT FOR THE FAINT MUDDED. By the end of the run, all you could see was my mouth and eyes, the rest of me was totally covered in mud! We did two kinds of obstacle, normal obstacle but muddy and mud alley. The first one is like clambering over tyres except the ground is muddy and the latter is just a pool of brown water up to your chest. This was so fun, but so so muddy that you wouldn’t believe it. The worst thing was that after we showered, there was a red residue of clay which took ages to get off.
We then got back on the minibuses. After a stop at the services, we arrived back at Hampton, tired, content and ever so slightly muddy.
By Guy H (1H)
This week, I would like to talk about my experience at the Dorset Mud Run trip. On Friday, many First Years left School early and set off to Dorset in the minibuses. We arrived at quite a rural place, within it remaining great history.
On the first day, we arrived near the evening, and while many of us were eager to get to know our rooms, we had a tour around the site that we would be staying in for the next two days. The site had very “agricultural” buildings, and we were shown around the cafeteria, before settling in and having dinner. The dinner was nice, and I enjoyed that the site allowed a comfortable stay with the tasty food. After dinner, we went to the large fields, where I learnt that the average cow was around seven hundred kilograms! Before doing some fun activities, we learnt about Corfe Castle and its history. Corfe Castle is known to be one of the most iconic and majestic medieval ruins, currently managed by the English National Trust. Back in the day, before the site was built, it was an Anglo-Saxon stronghold. King Edward was allegedly killed there upon orders of his stepmother, to put her own son, Ethelred, on the throne. Following the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror built Corfe Castle between two town centres in 1066. This castle became a ruin. After a few battles, the castle was owned by royalty. After betrayal of one of their own officers, the castle was then blown up with gunpowder, to ensure that it never happened again. After a calm sleep in our dorms, we were ready for day two.
As we woke up and had a nice English breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon, etc), then we were given lunches and set off to an outdoor activity centre. First, we did an activity where we had to climb up this big, wooden pole (basically as thick as a totem pole), which was a bit wobbly, and we had to try jump off the top with a harness and grab onto a hanging bar. I managed to do it as the bar was quite close! After that fun activity, we did some more climbing, this one specifically called “Gladiator”, which was a lot harder than it looked. They were basically monkey bars, but they were rings hanging from chains which you had to gather a bit of momentum to get to the next one. I managed to do them up till the very last one, where I had lost my momentum. It was still a solid performance! Then we tried canoeing in a very big boat. We went from one island to the other, and we raced a bit (our boat won against the others despite the others having a 200m head start!) My favourite part of the day was stopping at the beach and having fun as it was really hot and the water was cold. As we set back and won yet another race in the canoe, we got back to the dorms and took a shower. After washing again, we sat around the fire and had tasty hot chocolate in the evening. We admired the beautiful sunset before going back to the dorms.
The third day was probably the best. After splitting up into groups, we enjoyed the mud run. At first, you didn’t want to get that muddy, but after going through some things, you didn’t really care! My favourite thing there was a slide where we went down and landed in a big pool of mud. After we changed into better clothes, we set off back home. Dorset carries many memories, and I wish I could go again sometime.
By Owen S-W (1L)
Take a look at some of the action from the trip:
PEDAL, PUZZLES AND PROBLEMS
In half term me, (Ruben V) and, me, (Ethan V) went out on a trip to London as you are about to find out!
We started off with a nice 10 minute walk through Hyde Park and then ate a plate of chips for lunch. Then, after our meal, we walked towards the hut where we were to rent our boat. It was a blue boat, about 3x1m in size. We were out on the Serpentine for 30 minutes, where I (Ethan) lay down in the sun on the boat while me (Ruben) did all the pedalling! Oh, fine I may be exaggerating a little bit, because I did do 10 minutes of pedalling, but anyways, it was really fun.
After the pedaloing at Hyde Park we went to the London Spyscape Museum in Covent Gardens. First of all, we did a brainpower test (like arithmetic) and a bit of personality. Then we went into a cubical and we faced the Deception Test. In this test we had to say three lies. They only detected me (Ruben) twice, and for me (Ethan), they had 11 bits of proof! After this we were showed an FBI interview, and we were asked whether that person was lying. I (Ruben) got 3/3, and I, (Ethan) got 2/3.
Next up we had the Encryption Test where we had to decipher a code. We both got it right however I (Ruben) got it done ever so slightly faster than Ethan! After that we had the Surveillance Test where we were tested on our observation skills. In the first round we both got 5/5 but in the second round I (Ruben) only got 1/5 whereas I (Ethan) got 3. However, in the third and final round we both got 3/5. Yes Ethan… You won!
At the end we did a Special Ops task. We clung onto a wall, and we could only touch the blue holds (they lit up). That would get us one point. However, if we touched a red, we would lose one point. Sadly, I must admit that Ethan did beat me on this challenge as he scored 73 and I scored 60. After this we went to see what type of spy we were. Ethan was an Intelligence Analyst who worked for RAW in India and I was an Agent Handler who worked for Bundesnachrichtendienst in Germany.
After an active day, we went to a very nice ice cream shop in Covent Garden where we had a nice big scoop of ice cream. Sadly, our happiness turned into sadness, when we found out our train at Waterloo had been cancelled while we were on it!. From me (Ethan) lazing around on a boat to the frustrating train delays, overall, we had a fun day, and I (Ethan) think we would both want to do it again.
Ethan, I (Ruben) agree.
By Ruben V (1F) and Ethan V (1F)
FAMILY FESTIVITIES
Over the May half term, I really enjoyed meeting up with my grandmother for Eid at Westfield. We call her ‘Nano’, which means ‘maternal grandma’ in Urdu. This year, Eid ul-Adha took place on the 27 May, and it is celebrated by Muslims all across the world to mark the occasion of Hajj – the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.
We drove to Westfield, and me and my dad went to the bus station to receive Nano. Finding her took us a while, as Nano had not been to Westfield in a long time, so she was not very good at describing where she was. This was hilariously hard. When we finally met up, she gave me and my twin sister Vienna a big hug. We went back into the shopping centre and looked around some shops. Surprisingly, Nano did not like any shops and said that she did not like shopping.
We then sat down for drinks. Nano gave us some Eidi (money given by relatives to young ones on Eid). She also made us some of her famous yellow sweet rice, which is really delicious. Fortunately, she didn’t add nuts, which I am not a fan of! I wished her a lovely Eid and gave her another hug.
Then we found a delicious Italian pizza place and ordered some margherita pizzas. Since Nano is used to Pakistani food, she kept calling the pizza ‘roti’, which is a flatbread. Either way, she still enjoyed it. She even tried some of their homemade lemonade. Soon we had to say goodbye. Since we only see her once in a while, I was really happy to spend Eid with her. From searching for Nano to the phenomenal pizza, I enjoyed every moment.
By Aahil U (1G)
CRICKET CLASH OF TITANS
On a cloudy, mundane Wednesday, I knew that there was light at the end of the gloomy tunnel. Lessons seemed to fly by and after period 8 finished I tidied away and dashed off back to form. I hastily grabbed my cricket kit in preparation for the HPL (Hampton Premier League) which, as the coaches say is even bigger than the IPL (Indian Premier League)! After sorting out into our teams, made from the B, C and D teams, we named ourselves the Tesco Titans following in the name of Gujarat Titans. The game was played in a T20 format, but we had to split the match into two parts due to the time. One side bowls today and one side bats. We got to bowl. After two or three overs, we found our breakthrough. Ranvi pulled a masterclass over, finding two wickets in those six balls. Wickets came and went and we were flying. Our wicketkeeper Aditya showed fantastic determination and managed to claim two catches. Our leader, Jasper was outstanding and arguably to of our loudest (in a positive way!) players were Joseph and Rayan. In the end we did finish the innings with nine wickets, an amazing way to finish the midweek!
By Pesandu W (1W)
FOOTBALL FIRSTS
Last Tuesday I saw my very own team, Chelsea, for the very first time in my life and saw my team win 2-1 against Tottenham. It first started when I saw that Chelsea were playing Tottenham again this year and I really wanted to see it because I have never seen a match in person before. I also wanted to see Chelsea smash Tottenham, just like we did last year. After school, I was ecstatic to go to the home of my club, Stamford Bridge. When we first arrived, we went to a Chinese restaurant which was insanely good. Afterwards, we got to the stadium to see the two teams perform. It started off with Enzo scoring an excellent goal, right at the corner of the goal where the goalie could not reach. Then, after half time we scored another goal, followed by Tottenham finally scoring. It ended with us winning 2-1 and securing our place of 9th.
By Yifan C (1L)
TUTEE OF THE WEEK
Every week, the First Year Tutor team nominate a Hamptonian who they have been particularly impressed with and Mr Hill and Mr Fuldner present him with a certificate and a tasty treat to eat!
Congratulations to Louis N (1P) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week.
Louis is always a kind member of the form and gives his all in everything that he does. Well done Louis!
SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS!
We love to hear about what you have been getting up to outside of school and to celebrate your successes in the First Year Blog! Please do send any information about any of your achievements through to Mr Jimenez (v.jimenez@hamptonschool.org.uk).
THE HAMPTON HUNT
Each week I will set you a challenge where you need to find out a random fact, number or indeed anything else around the School – you won’t be able to do this from home! You have until the end of Wednesday to complete the challenge; you will find out in next week’s blog if you’re correct, and you will be given a LION merit by your Form Tutor the following Monday. And who knows – you might get to know the School better in the process!
The Hampton Hunt is back! This week’s challenge:
What is the School’s motto?
