Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
As we reach the end of the summer term, it’s hard to believe just how much has been packed into the past year. This week has been a fitting finale, with Prizegiving allowing us the opportunity to celebrate the many achievements, successes and contributions of pupils across the year group. It is always a wonderful occasion and a reminder of just how much talent, effort and character there is within Second Year. Congratulations to all prize winners, who are listed here. It is impossible for us to recognise every achievement or worthy act with a prize, and we are well aware how many pupils deserve recognition across a wide range of academic and co-curricular achievements throughout the year. Please rest assured that these achievements are recognised and valued by teachers at each and every performance, sports fixture, grade card or event – even if a prize was not forthcoming on this occasion.
Today, we look forward to the Swimming Gala and, with it, the final Interform standings of the year. Whether you have been competing, supporting from the sidelines, or simply cheering as loudly as possible for your form, there has been a fantastic sense of spirit and camaraderie throughout the competition.
This week’s blog also contains one of the most important investigations of the year: which bread can be thrown the furthest? Following a closely fought vote, Mrs Owen, Miss Holt and I put the baguette and naan bread to the test. I won’t spoil the result here – you’ll have to watch the video to find out which loaf was crowned champion!
On a personal note, this will be my final Second Year Blog as I prepare to leave Hampton. Over the past four years, it has been a privilege to work with so many fantastic pupils and to share your achievements, adventures and reflections through these weekly blogs. Thank you to everyone who has written an article, contributed an idea, or simply enjoyed reading them each week.
I wish you all a wonderful summer holiday and all the very best for the future. Thank you for six unforgettable years.
HOt off the Press
We enjoyed a glorious morning at Hampton Pool for our annual Second Year Swimming Gala to round off this year’s inter-Form competition. Spirits were high, especially Mr Hood’s as 2J swam to victory, both in the gala and in the competition overall. Congratulations to 2J!
Swimming Gala results:
- 2J
- 2H
- 2B
- 2L
- 2F
- 2W
- 2P
- 2G
Interform overall:
- 2J
- 2L
- 2P
- 2H
- 2B
Joint 6. 2F and 2G
8. 2W
Merit Milestones
A final shout out of the year for collecting so many merits:
Axel Milston-Bonde – 30
Juan Azpilicueta Vega De Seoane – 30
Luke Whyte – 50 (got his 50 just in time!)
Ralph Leverett – 70 (fantastic!)
Special Shoutouts
Several prizes were awarded in the Second Year assembly this week – congratulations to all the winners!
- STEM Fair – Max D and Aayushmaan C
- LEH and Hampton joint activity winners – create your own environmental pressure group winners – Rahim K, Isaac L, Dara S, Seb Y, Luca D, Hugh H, Peter R-R and runners up – Mohamed T, Panshul B, Yusuf P
- Dystopian Writing Competition winners – Rohan G, Ryan A, Nidaal A
Tutor question of the week
Which do you think you could throw farthest?
- Baguette – Mrs Richardson, Mrs Owen, Miss Tiller, 2W, Miss Holt
- Naan – 2B, 2P, 2H (specified frisbee style) 2J
2L – 50/50 split with 11 vs 11 votes for both.
But Mr Worrall and Mr Lee in all their wisdom made sure order was restored with the winner being crowned as the baguette!
Please watch the video attached to see the results!
Prizegiving Celebration
On Tuesday, I attended prizegiving after School. This was the first time that I had gone, so I was very excited to go. Beforehand, at lunchtime, we had a rehearsal to find out when we would get our prizes, where we should sit, which made the whole occasion go perfectly during the real thing. I was awarded a “Head of Year prize for Endeavour”, alongside Nidaal, Kamran, Jerry, Tom, William, Hugh, Edward, Alexander, Ojas and Jack. After this amazing experience, we were treated to some refreshments, which everyone agreed were incredible. Overall, it was a great experience, and I am very happy to have gone.
By Harri C (2L)
The Heatwave
I think everyone is happy that London is finally cooling down; football matches can resume, finally we can get a restful night’s sleep and hopefully now not get heatstroke, but sadly there are downsides… No football highlights or movies at lunchtime and no more ice pops given at lunch, but I think we can all agree it is far better at this temperature than before!
By Ollie R (2J)
End of Year reflections
As the year draws to a close, a brilliant mix of activities has been lined up for us: ranging from football matches in the Main Hall to ice creams at lunchtime. These final few days truly reflect the amazing year we’ve had. Just last week, the First and Second Years were showed Early Man, a hilarious Claymation movie about cavemen playing football to reclaim their valley from the Bronze Age villains. It was an absolute hit; the room was filled with loud cheers and enthusiastic shouts every time a goal was scored. What these last few weeks really show, is that, despite the summer heat and everyone feeling exhausted, life at Hampton School hasn’t slowed down at all. If anything, it has only got better!
By Dara S (2F)
This week my class (2B) has partaken in an incredible end-of-year speaking and listening project. We joined into groups of two to four and were assigned one of four genres that we read books from and wrote about in our reading scheme throughout the year: mystery, sci-fi, lit in colour and humour. My group of me, Juan, Rory and Axel tackled sci-fi, as we were tasked with creating our own genre-themed episode of ‘Between the Covers’. We each took the book that we were reading for our reading scheme previously in the year and talked about why we recommended them, and the sci-fi genre to other people. I talked about ‘Pig Heart Boy’; Rory talked about ‘0.4’; Axel talked about ‘War of the Worlds’ and Juan talked about the ‘Dune’ trilogy. I am overall very thankful for this opportunity as I learnt about lots of literature that I otherwise will have never known about.
By Asa L (2B)
Mario Kart Tournament
Today, 2P had a Mario Kart 8 deluxe tournament for fun during lunchtime as a way to say goodbye to our Form Tutor, Miss Tiller. We were allowed to use the projector in the Drama Hall, and with the help of Kiyan’s switch and controller, Nick’s 2 controllers and Rayans controllers, we were able to have a well-run tournament that was fun for everybody. Lucas F did a very good bracket which consisted of six heats, where the top two advanced. The first heat (which was the one I was in) was Me, Miss Tiller, Mrs Owen and Zac. Me and Miss Tiller advanced from the opening one. There were then three quarter finals which consisted of two people who finished first in their heats, and two people who finished second in their heats, so at this stage there was 12 people left. The top two of each of those quarter finals then advanced to a semifinal, so there were two semifinals, each having three players. It was originally the first-place finishers went into a 1v1 final, but me and Miss Tiller eventually also joined in the final, as we had enough controllers. Mr Cates (or Mr Quiche as everyone was chanting while doing the infamous Norway rowing ceremony at the World Cup after their games) was someone who surprised everyone – while some may have thought that they were at the advantage playing teachers, they were soon proved wrong after he went straight through to the final after winning his semi final, along with Ethan who won the other semi. Now here is where it got a bit confusing! Everybody had different ideas of what happened if everybody placed in different positions in the final. As me and Miss Tiller had gone through while being second, some people thought that we were playing out a 3rd/4th place playoff in the final, as Mr Cates and Ethan played out the ultimate final, while some people just thought of it as a regular final and a 1v1v1v1. Ethan was ahead the whole time… UNTIL HE GOT BLUE SHELLED (by Miss Tiller) AND THEN RED SHELLED! He was one of the unluckiest racers as in every race something like that happened to him and guess what? I overtook him with less than two seconds to go of the final lap! I had no clue what had happened, I thought me and Miss Tiller were in a 3rd/4th place playoff, while other members of 2P started cheering and carrying me. Overall, the whole tournament was a great success, along with the ending which was bonkers, and I want to thank Lucas F again for putting this all together, along with the people who bought the necessary devices and controllers in!
By Toby S (2P)
Swimming gala prep
Today I will be talking about how I am preparing for the swimming gala on taking place this morning. We start on the day that the swimming gala was introduced to me. I was contemplating if I should do butterfly one length or freestyle in the 4×1 medley. I eventually decided to do the butterfly. I am very good at all the types of swimming strokes, but I decided to do butterfly as I was one of the only ones decent at it. The main way I was used to this stroke was due to my weekly swimming lessons every Saturday. We do a lot of things there such as endurance, diving and just practising swimming strokes. We did butterfly last Saturday which greatly helped my skill in the stroke. In the gala I am hoping for at least third which is alright in my opinion. Good luck to everyone who is in the swimming gala and have a lovely summer.
By Frankie D (2G)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The stage lights were incredibly bright as the familiar, upbeat music filled our packed school auditorium. Playing the role of Mike Teavee in our Year 9 production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was an outstanding experience, primarily because the character allowed me to portray an energetic, television-obsessed individual. Wearing my distinctive cargo costume, I delivered my lines regarding western movies and video games with great enthusiasm, thoroughly enjoying the dramatic freedom on stage.
The definitive highlight of the evening occurred during my character’s technological downfall. As I stepped directly into the television set, the backstage crew immediately triggered a total blackout, allowing me to exit unseen. Moments later, a member of the ensemble produced a miniature figure of my character, which generated immense laughter from the audience. Hearing that positive reaction made our intensive after-school rehearsals completely worthwhile. It was an exceptionally memorable performance.
By Noah NA (2H)
County Championships
On Monday, the First and Second Year athletics teams went to county championships in StoneX Stadium (home of Saracens) to compete for the borough of Richmond. There were lots of good performances, with the standout from our year being Fred GvP (2G) winning the javelin. All of our athletes competed well, with some of the first years winning races and quite a few people securing podium finishes. Overall, it was a great experience and having done it last year, it was even more fun (especially because our borough won for the second year in a row).
By Ethan C (2G)
Cricket Galore
U13A cricket game vs Whitgift
Hampton batted first and posted a strong score of 168-6 of their 25 overs; this innings was built with a very impressive 90 from Yuvan M, who batted with confidence and class throughout. He was well supported by Smyan M scoring 45 helping Hampton establish a strong platform. Useful contributions towards the end of the innings ensured the team finished well and set Whitgift a challenging target.
In reply, Whitgift were kept under pressure from the outset by a disciplined Hampton bowling. Our pace bowlers were very tidy with Ashveer C, Rayaan A, R P setting the tone. Wickets were shared around the side with Max K taking 3, Berite E and Kaarthikan M both taking 2. Strong fielding from Jesse G and Kyle O backed up the bowling throughout the innings as Whitgift were eventually dismissed for 109, giving Hampton a 74-run win.
By Max K (2W)
It was a sunny day when we played Whitgift School on Saturday. Last year, we lost the game by two runs so we aimed to win this time. First, we batted. We had twoi big scorers who were Alec and Edward who both scored above 30. Overall, we scored 144 runs in 25 overs. Whitgift were up to our challenge, but we bettered them. We had many key bowlers but a few who really stuck out were me, Edward, Ansh, Ojas and Ashveer. The game was very tight, and they needed three runs in the last 10 balls with one wicket. Edward bowled the second last over and something extraordinary happened. The batsman hit the ball up right to the side of Edward. Edward was up to the challenge and caught the ball. It was an amazing catch. We were all so happy.
By Dulan PH (2G)
This Cricket season the C’s have had once another solid season with three wins and three very close losses. Throughout the season there has been some great performances from each and everyone in the squad. But last weekend we had our best game yet against Whitgift.
We batted first and hit a total of around 130 runs with a contribution to that from most of our team after a decent batting performance, we then had to bowl. We had probably our best performance bowling yet. Our captain Seb got two great wickets and Edward got two great ones as well. I also contributed for one wicket and I kept for the second half of the innings. It was really tense there was a stage when it looked like it was going to be a loss for us but we then got a wicket, and they needed sixteen runs of four overs and we needed one wicket. When we got that wicket, it was amazing and we all celebrated and it was a great end to the season.
By James M (2F)
Father’s Day!
The weekend before last, we celebrated our dads in England and across the world. It was definitely enjoyable for my dad. To begin with, the morning started with a perfectly stationed coffee. I do not however want to know how warm coffee bean juice wakes people from slumber, but it works. We bought steaks the day prior, but honestly, I’ll have to say due to the cost of them and their marbling it has to be considered as an investment. Moreover, his presents that my mum and I bought played hand in hand to these delicious slabs of meat. STEAK KNIVES. Along with multiple grill accessories, the day couldn’t be more splendid, the sun was shining but not torturous like the last couple days.
The day ended with our stomachs feeling happy but completely full, especially after the nice M&S Banoffee cake, small but practical. Definitely for those with a sweet tooth. Overall, it was perfect, a great celebration of what my dad has done in the past year and how important he is to the family. Hopefully, we can top such a show in the next year.
By Benjamin M (2G)
Quiz of the Week
Well done to everyone who’s taken part in Quiz of the Week over the last 11 months. Take a look at the very final set of answers below:
- Which English architect designed St. Paul’s Cathedral in London? Sir Christopher Wren
- What is the boundary around a black hole called? Event Horizon
- Which treaty ended World War I? Treaty of Versailles
- What word means high inflation at the same time as high unemployment? Stagflation
- Who wrote the novel Frankenstein? Mary Shelley
Big shout out to Ansh R, Benjamin M, Jesse G, Ediz Y, Hayk F, Ollie R, Harri C, Armaan R and Ryan A.
And all that’s left to say is…
