Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
It’s been one of those weeks where there’s something new to talk about around every corner! From debating ideas in School Council to spotting unexpectedly rare wildlife on the fields and preparing for the excitement of the Summer Show, there’s been a real sense of curiosity and engagement across the year group.
A particular highlight this week was the extended PSHE session, where pupils took part in Smashed Online, exploring the risks and realities of underage drinking in a really engaging and thought‑provoking way. It was encouraging to see how maturely and thoughtfully you all approached the topic.
What stands out most in this blog is just how varied your experiences have been. Whether you’ve been contributing ideas to improve school life, representing the school in competitions, or getting involved in clubs and creative projects, it’s clear that our Second Year Hamptonian’s continue to make the very most of everything on offer.
Merit Milestones
A big congratulations to the following Second Year Hamptonians:
Daniel Sharipov – 50 (he’s off to see Mr Knibbs!)
Ishaan Jain – 50 (well done!)
Alexander Murphy – 70 (super!)}
Ojas Prabhu – 100 (tremendous!)}
Ethan Chen – 100 (wow!)
LION merits
Sebastian Young – 10
Alexander Chen – 10
Edward Gilbertson – 20
Ashveer Chohan – 50 (fantastic!)
Rayan Amiri – 50 (wonderful!)
Tutor question of the week
This week’s question is from Tim M (2P) he wants to know:
Which of these villains would you most like to be?
- Sauron from Lord of the Rings
- Palpatine from Star Wars – 2P and 2F
- Voldemort from Harry Potter – 2L, Miss Mattinson, Miss Tiller
- Please specify! – 2W and 2G both voted for Bowser from Mario while Gru from Despicable Me got an honourable mention from 2F!
School council
Today, the Second Year representatives from each form gathered for our usual termly meeting to discuss ideas and possible improvements that could be made around the School. In 2G, we usually encourage everyone to brainstorm and share ideas before deciding what should be brought up at the meeting. We came up with three suggestions: one for the School Nutrition Resource Group (SNRG), one focusing on general school improvements, and one based on academic ideas. We ended up voting for our general idea to be an interform dodgeball tournament and our academic idea to introduce interactive quizzes before tests to help pupils revise in a more engaging way. Our SNRG suggestion was to provide more pasta options and additional toppings for jacket potatoes so that vegetarians could vary their lunch. Fortunately, when all the School Councils met together today, our interform dodgeball idea was voted through, meaning it will now be taken forward and discussed further at the next meeting. Unfortunately, our other ideas were not selected, but another suggestion that we supported, introducing fruit juices at lunchtime, was approved, meaning we are hopeful that this will be available before the end of the school year.
By Ayoub R (2G)
PSHE
This Thursday we had a special PSHE lesson where we were learning about the effects of alcohol on someone who was underage. I thought that it was very refreshing and cool that it was presented in a new style as it was more like a film or interactive game rather than a traditional lesson. As well as this I think that the characters shown in the film were interesting as they showed the different type of people that could be caught in the trap of underage drinking.
By Jia Wen X (2G)
Budding David Attenborough
Edward R (2F) spotted a very rare bird on the School fields last week. Let’s find out more:
Last week I was lucky enough to see a male Ruddy Shelduck with two Egyptian geese on the Hampton School Fields. In the UK there are fewer than 30-50 individuals sighted annually, with approximately 10 resident birds. This species breeds in Central Asia, spreading into areas of Western Europe and Southern Africa. In the UK however, most of sightings tend to be of free flying escapees or released individuals, rather than vagrants from their natural breeding range. This sighting likely an escaped bird but a vagrant is possible. Either way it is an incredibly rare bird to see, especially on the School fields.
By Edward R (2F)
Maths Challenge
On Tuesday, many Hamptonians including myself took part in the Junior Maths Kangaroo and Olympiad. These are the follow up tests to the Junior Maths Challenge (JMC) that nearly everyone in our School took part in. In order to do these follow up tests, you had to score 80-111 points for the Junior Maths Kangaroo and 112+ for the Olympiad. The Kangaroo paper was very similar to the JMC as it has 25 multiple choice questions for you to try in an hour. However, the Olympiad paper involves six questions from which you are expected to choose 2-4. These questions are long and each require an explanation for your answer. Since the Olympiad is harder, you are given two hours to attempt the paper. The Olympiad took place from 2-4pm and the Kangaroo took place from 3-4pm. Since these tests took place during school hours, they replaced the subjects you would normally have in the afternoon. I felt that the Kangaroo paper was quite tricky, especially near the end of the paper due to the puzzle-like questions that appeared frequently. We are looking forward to getting these results in the coming weeks.
By Lucas H (2F)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
As many of you know, the Lower School, combined with Hampton High, have been working on a production for the annual Summer Show: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I’ve been to some rehearsals myself, and the show is excellent. From the absolutely immersive acting of the key roles to the buckets of comedy all around, they are almost ready to show what’s in store. The Hammond has been busy too, preparing costumes and set items ready for the actors to get used to them on the Sunday rehearsal where all the parts will come together – sets, props, lights, sound, the actual theatre – and, of course, their excellent acting. There are still tickets available, so if you head over to the ticket site, you’ll be able to book them for nothing – it would be amazing to fill the entire theatre for both nights so please do consider bringing friends & family! Anybody who will be actually in the show reading this, you are doing super well and I am so excited to be there for the show on Tuesday and Wednesday, keep working hard and break a leg! (Not literally, we would prefer not having an actor walking around on crutches while performing, that might be a slight issue.) That’s all from me though, see you soon!
By Rory H (2B)
Don’t miss out and book your tickets here.
Sports Galore
The Richmond Schools meet on Wednesday was a success, with Hampton winning gold medals in most of the age categories. It was held at the St Mary’s University track and there were schools from across the borough, the strongest of which was Grey Court. The athletes doing triple jump or javelin (like me and Yakub) had to get there for 8am as the events started early, but most of the other boys came later. Doing the triple jump, Yakub scored a solid 9.93m which secured him second place; one of the Grey Court boys jumped an unbelievable 11.20m. In the javelin I managed to scrape a first place by 8cm with a decent throw of 26.4m and in the 1500m, Noah L secured gold by a good few seconds. As the day progressed, we had more incredible times with Kaarthikan running around 2:20 in the 800m and Ethan getting a time of 42.8s in the 300m. All in all, the Richmond Borough Athletics Championships was an energetic and action-packed day, despite the dismal weather.
By Fred GvP (2G)
Last Monday, the U12B cricketers faced Christ’s School in an intense cup match which Hampton ended up winning in epic fashion by bowling the opposition all out swiftly with the help of Dulan’s quadruple wicket maiden and a hat-trick to top it all off. It started out well with Ashveer and Ojas taking a couple of comfortable wickets and just keeping the runs low. As the game proceeded things were looking even but then Dulan came on and proceeded to take four wickets in a row seeming to seal the result and bowling them all out for 65. As we started batting, they opened with a strong bowler who quickly dispatched Ansh but not before he was able to score a couple of runs and put us closer to the target. I then came on but was quickly caught out from a top edge as I tried to guide the ball down leg. We then were able to catch up to their score pretty quickly and by the 12th over we had won the game.
By Will Y (2G)
I have been doing rowing for the past few weeks, I have been attending rowing as my summer sports option. I really enjoy rowing as we have great fun rowing down the river. We might have struggled at carrying the rowing boats to and from the river but I think that overall, everyone did great. I saw that even though many people have not done rowing before, they did a great job at picking up the sport. We were lucky that the weather was in our favour as if it was raining too much, we would have not been able to go on the river. I would also like to thank the rowing coaches for their excellent coaching and help whilst we were on the river. They had also shared many things that helped us keep the balance of the boat.
By Alfred C (2P)
Interform Athletics
On the last week before half term, on the last Friday, the whole of Second Year competed against each other in the annual sports day. All the forms compete against each other to try and take home the title. Our form has had a good reputation with interform, Placing second overall in First Year. However, we rarely place first in interform events. Usually coming in second or third. The only event we won was interform rowing, so everyone jumped at the opportunity to win another. Tug of war, chess and even the school quiz (in which I participated in, and it was a fun experience). In my opinion, we had a very strong line up of athletes, so we were expecting a podium finish
The sports day started off with hurdles which was hilarious as many people fell over the hurdles. The fastest time was 13.5 seconds which was really impressive! Then came the sprint which our form excelled at before splitting up to do our separate events. I did the vortex throws and the 50 meter sprint. I came first in the vortex throw with a massive 40-meter throw and we came 5th in the sprint which was a bit disappointing.
In the end, we came third which is a win in our books.
By Arthur B (2J)
Two Fantastic Trips!
Last week, our class travelled back to Tudor times at the Mary Rose museum in Portsmouth. This gargantuan warship sank in 1545 during a fierce battle with the French and it spent over 400 years buried at sea. Seeing the actual wooden hull preserved inside an enormous room where it is quite cold due to the caretakers not wanting any mould on it was truly epic. It was mind blowing. It looked like a dark ghost ship rising out of the past. The museum is dimly lit to protect the wood, which made the whole experience feel surreal.
What made the trip unforgettable were the thousands of Tudor objects on display. We saw everything from heavy bronze cannons and sharp longbows to the personal belongings of the crew like leather shoes, wooden bowls, and even the skeleton of the ship’s dog called Hatch! Thanks to all the awesome staff that were present that day, we were able to uncover different views on how the Mary Rose sank as well as all of the roles on the ship and why it was given its name. This day was one of the most fascinating trip I have had as it was like I was stepping into the past.
By Yuvraj D (2L)
My class and I went on a fascinating trip to the Mary Rose. At first I was confused at why they made a whole museum that just had one boat, but then I realised the story behind it and significance of the Mary Rose. As well as being informed on its history via exhibitions and talks I was also shown a brilliant 4D movie about how amateur divers recovered it by themselves. I was very glad to have visited the Mary Rose as it also gave me detail on the French and English war overseas which ended very quickly. What was crazy to me is that you could see the ship without there being glass blocking your view. I got to see how only 40% of it was actually recovered. Even though I have now been there I would love to go again to explore and history and ask more questions about the ship itself.
By Sebastian D (2F)
Last week we visited the South Downs to look at the River Cuckmere. The coach took a long time, but it was worth it to get out of miserable London and go out in the sunshine. We had our Geography teacher supervising us, and he was adamant that the river was flowing the wrong way. He threw in a stick, but he said that went the wrong way as well! We then learnt about Oxbow lakes, formed when the meander in the river gets closer together and the river chooses the most efficient way to flow. We saw a man made portion of the river, which was very cool and straight. We walked a lot. At the end, we sat and ate a sandwich.
By Max D (2L)
Last Tuesday, we went to visit the Mary Rose: King Henry VIII’s favourite ship. It took around two hours to get there on the coach. Once we got there, we had a short talk on the ship. We discussed the possible ways that the Mary Rose could have sunk and from which countries these theories came from. We then looked at many of the artifacts that had been recovered from the Mary Rose. After this, we got to experience how the Mary Rose was risen from beneath the seabed in 3D. We then had lunch and afterwards went to see some more interesting artifacts and then the Mary Rose itself. It was extremely large and was resting on its starboard side.
By Joshan K (2P)
Last week the Second Year had the opportunity to go and see the Mary Rose. I really enjoyed seeing the story and how it was found after so long had passed since it had sunk due to a cause unknown. The surviving parts of the ship, of which there is much, show what it was like on the ship and were very interesting. Fun Fact: There was a dog, known as the ship’s dog, called Hatch and sadly passed away when the ship sank.
By Sebastian CC (2W)
Clubs
This week, on Monday I went to Photography/Videography Club, where we were reviewing our previous project and assessing what went well, what could have been improved and our plans going forward.
Previously, we had been filming a documentary about old caps from the School archives, which many years ago, pupils who went to Hampton, wore. This was quite fun as it gave us an opportunity to see how Hampton was in previous years and what has and hasn’t changed. We also considered what we could do for the final few weeks, which we concluded could be a short advert (around 15 seconds) centred around sharpie pens!
So, if you want to just try something new, or you would like to practise your photography or videography skills, come try photography club!
By Alec H (2B)
Human Evolution
Recently, the topic of Human Evolution caught my attention. Human evolution describes how humans have developed over a long period of time. Scientists believe that humans and apes share an ancestor around seven million years ago. These were called hominins, and their main change was learning to work on two legs and to travel long distances.
Over time, studies have shown that human brains have become much larger and advanced. These are thanks to the homo habilis, who were typically found around Africa. As most of you know, we are known as homo sapiens and the last human species to be extinct were the homo neanderthals. If you are looking for a movie/ documentary to dive in into this topic, I recommend The Lost Neanderthals (2025), where a team discover what the homo neanderthals did and even some of the resources they used!
By Arjun J (2W)
Lion Print
The Lion Print is a brilliant publication that collects the creative writing of Hamptonians, combines it with the art of Hamptonians and pulls it together into a beautiful book. It’s a highlight of the year and a real showcase for the creativity of the boys at the School.
The deadline for this year’s book is next Friday 19 June.
All you need to do is send your creative writing (or your art) to Mrs Pickford Scienti (R.PickfordScienti@hamptonschool.org.uk). Make sure you put ‘Lion Print Submission’ as the title of your email! If you are sending art, please ensure that the image is clear and of a high enough resolution to reproduce effectively.
- It could be anything you have created (as long as you haven’t used AI!).
- It could be a poem.
- It could be a story.
- It could be a description.
- It can be any piece of art that you’ve created.
- It could be a particularly strong piece of work for your Reading Scheme.
- It could be something you have written that has won a competition.
All in all, it’s a great opportunity to showcase what you are capable of, so get submitting! It is, of course, worth saying that just submitting something isn’t a guarantee of being published – there is a process of selection! But, if you want the opportunity for your work to appear, now is the time to either send it through, or to create something that could be submitted. What a task for the weekend!
Pet of the Week
If you would like to submit your pet please email b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk
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.
Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers for this week’s quiz here:
Here are the answers to last week’s quiz:
- Which country has the most islands in the world? Sweden
- What is the bestselling PC of all time? Commodore 64
- What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
- What was the original name of GTA’s developer? BMG Interactive
- What is the oldest country in Europe? San Marino
Well done to the following Second Year Hamptonians who answered everything correctly – Lucas O’C, Daniyal A, Akshaj A, Ethan C, Reyansh K, Ansh R and Ediz Y.
If you’re keen to write some general knowledge questions for the Blog, please email b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk.
