Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
We’re now two full weeks into term and Second Year is already buzzing with activity! Lessons are well underway, co-curricular clubs are thriving, and our pupils have thrown themselves into Hampton life with enthusiasm and energy. We’ve enjoyed some excellent sporting performances across a range of fixtures, with pupils demonstrating great teamwork, determination and school spirit. Alongside this, one of our Second Years recently enjoyed an exciting trip to the London Dungeon, bringing history to life through a memorable and immersive experience.
A particular highlight of the week has been seeing our Second Years step into leadership roles as Mentor Buddies for our new First Years. Throughout the week, they have helped younger pupils settle into life at Hampton, offering guidance and helping them find their feet around the school. The programme has been a great success, with our Second Years showing kindness and responsibility as role models. As a well-deserved thank you for their efforts, they were rewarded with a cookie, which proved to be a very popular way to celebrate their contribution!
As we look ahead, we’re also excited for tomorrow’s Open Morning, where visitors will have the opportunity to see firsthand the confidence, curiosity and positivity that make our Second Year cohort such a fantastic part of the Hampton community.
This week’s blog is packed with sporting highlights, the London Dungeon adventure, co-curricular achievements, leadership opportunities and plenty of other Second Year success stories. We hope you enjoy reading about everything our pupils have been up to!
Merit Milestones
We are off the ground with a merit certificate! Congratulations!
Aahil U – 10
Co-Curricular Adventures Begin & Oliver! Takes Centre Stage
This week has seen an exciting start to many of our co-curricular opportunities, with pupils enthusiastically embracing new challenges, developing existing interests and making the most of everything Hampton has to offer beyond the classroom. From sport and music to creative and strategic pursuits, there has been a real buzz around Second Year as pupils explore new activities and meet like-minded friends.
Particularly exciting has been the launch of our pupil-led Dungeons & Dragons Club. Aspiring wizards, elves, rogues, barbarians and adventurers from across Second Year have begun gathering to create characters and prepare for epic quests. It has been fantastic to see pupils taking such initiative in establishing a club of their own, whilst older pupils have generously offered to help run sessions and support new players.
Meanwhile, auditions for this year’s production of Oliver! are now underway, bringing a wonderful sense of excitement to the School. The energy, confidence and enthusiasm on display have been incredible, with pupils eager to showcase their performing talents. Alongside this, our music department is preparing for the first of many concerts this academic year. The Scholars’ Concert, taking place in the Hammond Theatre on Tuesday 29 September at 7.00pm, will showcase the talents of Music and Choral Scholars from across the school, performing on a range of instruments. Together, these opportunities highlight the breadth of talent within our community and the many ways pupils can pursue and develop their interests beyond the classroom.
Rugby’s back!
This year’s rugby has been very different to last year. The training has been more intense and the quality has improved. Last year the only real challenges were dominating certain skilful players, but this season’s teams will have even more players and so everybody who plays rugby in Second Year are going to try and up their intensity and work hard as a team. We have been doing more technical drills and that has been really fun.
On Saturday we will play our first game away at RGS and I hope that all our teams will win. More players have been introduced into scrums, and the pitch has much more space to run with the ball. All in all, rugby this term will be more different to last year and hopefully we can succeed.
By Archie A (2W)
The rush back into School was like a bucket of ice-cold water being dumped over my head, a bit of a shock but bracing and refreshing. But the only thing on my mind was the school rugby season and what it will bring to the U13 squad. Our pre-season training sessions were a reminder of what we were getting into: a fiercely competitive year of physically exhausting rugby. The coaches pushed the players to their limits with drills and matches. We were scheduled to have our first fixture against St Paul’s last Saturday but unfortunately the match was postponed. Instead, we had another gruelling training session to prepare us for even tougher opponents, RGS High Wycombe this coming Saturday. We will try our best and hope we bring home the win. Come on Hampton!
By George C (2H)
Clubs Galore
The second week back at Hampton has (of course) been fabulous – for several different reasons! After the co-curricular fair last week, it was fun to meet new friends at new clubs doing new things. I always find that the clubs are the best part of the entire school. It gives you a chance to try different things and meet more people – all while having fun. I signed up to Biology Club, and it was extremely fascinating to learn about the Galapagos Islands and the wildlife.
Another thing that we did this week was meet our new form buddies from First Year and talk to them about clubs, subjects and, most importantly, lunch! It was hard to imagine that only a few months ago we were in their shoes.
By Evaan P (2B)
Meet the Teachers!
As I walked into School for the first time, I mean the second time, I could not wait to meet my friends! I missed all of them so much. However, as much as I was delighted seeing my friends again, I could not wait to see my new teachers. In the First Year blog I vividly remember writing with my friend, Ruben V, a teacher and sometimes a pupil who would post in the blog. So, then I realised what is better than to start off with this year’s blog posting extravaganza by writing a review of my terrific teachers!
In Latin first lesson of the week, we have Miss Blythe who is so happy and kind to our class that really makes me feel uplifted.
In English we have Miss Pickford-Scienti and Ms Hynes. In my opinion they are very helpful and always helps us with anything we need.
In French we have Madame Peel who is very patient with our class and is always very creative in our lessons.
In Maths we have Mr Cates who loves exploring maths in an inspiring way making us work in a positive manner.
In RS we have Miss Parkes who is extremely enthusiastic about this great subject and makes us dig in deep into our minds.
In History we have Mrs Wilcox who is encouraging and listens to our responses and creates brilliant theories about the early Tudors.
In Chemistry we have Dr Schofield who is very witty and approachable. He is very kind and enthusiastic.
In Physics we have Miss Singleton who loves Rugby and incorporates it into physics in a fun yet sensible and kind way.
In Drama we have Ms Rowe, who loves our ideas and arranges the lesson in a nice way.
In Biology we have Miss Eamens who is very passionate and patient with our class. She does love microbiology and keeps motivating us.
In Geography our teacher Miss Brown is approachable and encourages us to do our very best. We are learning deserts and I find it fun.
In Computer Science we have Mr Hui and Mr Wong who is passionate and will always help you in our classes’ needs and problem.
In Art our teacher Miss Kelly is amazing in the way she weaves fun, creativity, and passion in this astonishing subject.
In Design Engineering Mr Zannettou is creative, fun and loves designing and creating interesting design features. Fun fact did you know that he is my football coach!?
Also, our form tutors are amazing they have made us feel happy and involved in the general Hampton buzz! . Miss Mattinson is our music teacher who is great, lively and adores opera and the legendary musical theatre. Mr Boyes is our Coach and is fantastic and witty. Both are very approachable.
Our Head of Year Mrs Owen is very nice and kind. She loves helping fellow Second Years and is great at inspiring us to do the right thing.
Fantastic teachers for a fantastic school!
By Ronak B (2F)
Best Buddies
This week was very exciting for multiple reasons. One of these reasons was the revelation of our buddies. Last year, we wrote a message on a card that was to be sent to our buddies when they joined Hampton. I wrote about the things that make Hampton so great, and so my card was fully covered with compliments about multiple perks I got in the First Year. It was especially exciting meeting my buddy. He was very friendly and absolutely bursting with excitement! It’s a great way to start the term on a high and raise the spirits of all the Hamptonians, new and returning.
By Kayan A (2F)
It has been our second week back at School and time has flown by. Clubs are back, the pitches are buzzing again and classrooms are busy.
This week we met our buddies and it was fun because I remember being in their position and meeting my own buddy in First Year. It was a fun and enjoyable experience because we got to tell first year pupils our opinion of the school and things like which clubs I recommend.
Also, last week we had the co-curricular fair which gave everybody a new chance to pick new clubs to try for the next academic year. Personally, I picked 3 new clubs: Psychology Club, Beekeeping Club and Chess Club. I’ve tried all of them and it was fun and an excellent way to spend my lunchtimes. I am looking forward to our next week of school and the open day on the weekend in which I will help in the chess section.
By Luca F (2L)
Let’s do the HAFA!
Nothing says, ‘Welcome Back To Hampton Sport’ like the famous Hampton Aerobic Fitness Assessment, affectionately nicknamed ‘the HAFA.’ As our class turned up to our PE lesson on Wednesday, we were greeted outside the Pavilion by a smiling Mr Towl – nothing beats a PE teacher’s mood on HAFA day!
Last time we did the HAFA was the spring term of First Year, where myself, Danny and Felix ran together, pacing each other to a score of 2900m – a record for me at the time.
After Mr Towl told us that we would be doing the HAFA, I looked at Danny and Felix thinking, ‘this time we break three kilometres.’
With determination running through me, I lined up with the rest of my class at the start line. Here we go! Mr Towl announced, ‘on your marks, set… GO!’ We were off! The HAFA started well, with the three of us setting the pace with a few other boys, creating a break after about a kilometre. By kilometre two, we were flying at a pace of four minutes a kilometre by my watch. We were going around the First XV Rugby pitch at the 2400m mark when we heard the two-minute whistle. We had to hurry. We sped up to around three minutes and 40 seconds per kilometre. It would be down to the wire!
As we reached the 2900m mark, we had very little time. It was a sprint finish!
Agonisingly close! We were just out of time, finishing on a score of 2950m – a personal best for us, but not the almost tangible 3000m dream that we had hoped for.
This has put a fire in my belly for the next HAFA – we will not hold back!
By Alex B (2L)
Spooky Saturday
Last Saturday I went to the London Dungeon, which was probably one of the scariest things I have done in my life. I walked through the entrance trying to stay calm. I had mixed feelings about this, I was excited but very, very scared. There were many petrifying moments, but not everything was that scary. My friends kept going around a corner so when I walked past, they would say London Dungeon in a creepy voice which kind of freaked me out. Although the most terrifying thing by far was when one of the actors pretended to be possessed, and then the lights went out, it was pitch black… and she appeared right in front of me! I would highly recommend the experience, and it is a great thing to do as a day trip or while you’re in London. What’s also great is the location as it is about a minute’s walk away.
By Yuvi U (2F)
Quiz of the week
Welcome to the Quiz of the Week! Each week, we’ll be putting your knowledge to the test with five general knowledge questions. Why not have a go yourself and see if you can get full marks, or challenge family and friends at home to see how they fare?
Merits are awarded to all those who get five correct answers. This week’s quiz is inspired by all things September, so get thinking!
Here are the answers to last week’s quiz:
- Which ancient monument in England is famous for attracting visitors at sunrise during the summer solstice? Stonehenge
- What process allows plants to use longer daylight hours of summer to make food? Photosynthesis
- Approximately how long does it take the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun? 365 ¼ days – one year
- The word solstice comes from Latin. What does it roughly mean? Sun stands still
- In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, what type of magical creature is Puck? A fairy
Well done to the following Second Year Hamptonians who answered everything correctly – Simon B, Evaan P, Jacob B, Yuvi U, Sam W, Julian H, Gilby R, Aiden G, Guy H, Avirat P, Barney D, Edin H, Zac N, Thomas D, Al M, Ryan P, Aiden G, Jack M, George U, Thomas N, Arthur C, Alex B, Ronak B, Aditya S, Alex W, and Armaan A.
