Welcome to the First Year Blog!
Another busy week has finished, and the First Years have kept themselves busier than ever with clubs, talks and more! Firstly, good luck to all the boys rocking out at the Rock Concert this evening – we hope you give a rock-solid performance! Give it your best and make sure to strike the right chord with the audience!
Next week’s homework holiday and Cooking Week should be a most welcome break (from homework for the First Years, and from cooking for their families!) We’re looking forward to hearing all about their efforts in the kitchen over the week ahead – do let your Form Tutors know what you’ve been up to in the kitchen! Make sure to keep hold of your recipes and take some photos of yourself in the kitchen and your meals as well for the First Year Cookbook; more details on how to submit your recipes and photos will be sent early next week!
INTERFORM POETRY AND SONGWRITING
Calling all songwriters and poets! Win points for your Form by writing a poem or song about friendship. Entries should be a minimum of 10 lines long. For those of you who choose to write a song, there is no need to write the music to accompany it. Remember Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his song lyrics in 2016 so there is a close relationship between the two forms of writing.
All entries will be judged by a panel from the English Office on Friday 7 February with results announced on Tuesday 11 February and published in the First Year Blog.
You may submit only one poem/song for each boy to v.whitwam@hamptonschool.org.uk
Entering the competition = 1 point
Commended entries = 3 points
Winners (x2) = 10 points
Deadline: Friday, 7 February
Theme: Friendship
Entries sent to: Mrs Whitwam (v.whitwam@hamptonschool.org.uk)
TALK! CHRISTINA LAMB
Christina Lamb OBE is the chief foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times. On Tuesday, we went to her talk , where she spoke about how she became a Foreign War Reporter, what it was like to be ambushed by the Taliban, to be constantly traveling to war zones and places of unrest and always in danger. She described why she keeps on coming back to war zones and unrest and also how it is addictive to be a chief foreign correspondent. She has been to conflicts in many countries such as Iraq and Ukraine and has lived in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She described the conditions of living in these war zones. She has been named Foreign Correspondent of the Year seven times. At the end of the talk, she did a Q and A. A few examples of the questions in the Q and A included – How do you think Donald Trump will impact the situation in the Ukraine? To this she answered very interestingly, “I went to a conference recently where they talked about this point, and I would’ve thought that they would be worried but surprisingly they weren’t worried and were actually quite optimistic toward this topic.” Then she said, rather to the crowds amusement “But then when he started talking about invading Greenland, Canada and Mexico and renaming the Gulf of Mexico, my expectations reset”. Overall, we found this talk insightful and interesting and would love to go to other Talks! in the future.
By Jesse G (1W) and Toby S (1P)
Last Tuesday, Christina Lamb OBE, the celebrated journalist from The Sunday Times, visited Hampton to give a Talk! on her work as a war reporter across the world. She described in detail, her first assignment in Afghanistan when she reported the Russians fighting the Mujahadeen tribe and met the leader of the smallest of the Afghan tribes, who later became president of Afghanistan. She also described the time she was with British troops in Afghanistan and got attacked by Taliban soldiers. She was running to cover with the British troops when the leader of the operation turned to her and told her that they were surrounded and unlikely to survive. He turned to her and asked, “Have you ever used a pistol?” According to him, they were surrounded, pinned down, and would have to fight their way back to base. By a miracle, they all made it back completely unharmed.
She also told us about the time she was told to go interview the natives of the Amazon rainforest, because their homes were at risk due to deforestation. To get to them, she had to go by plane, car, boat, canoe, and walk for many hours, so when she got to where they were meant to be, a rusty sign saying ‘Wi-Fi coupons available here’ was the last thing she expected to see. It turned out that they had a Wi-Fi hour every Sunday!
Mrs Lamb told us about the time she was talking to a woman from Zimbabwe, who was protesting against the dictatorship in Zimbabwe. Mrs Lamb was telling her about all her close shaves where she nearly died, and how she was considering quitting. In response, the woman from Zimbabwe said to her “The efforts that people like me are doing are worthless without people like you to let the world know about it.”
By Timothy M and Jonathan G (1P)
BUGSY MALONE
We’ve only been at Hampton for one full term, and there have been multiple things that has made our experiences so special – but a key highlight has been Hampton Drama, especially Bugsy Malone. Our audition was in October – and it was overly exciting. We didn’t have to learn many lines – but we did have to perform a small monologue (which is a solo) or a duo part with someone else. Aryan is a paperboy and butler, and Ishaan has a few scenes in the show (he beats up the main character!!!) We have rehearsals occasionally on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday (in fact we are writing this during a Thursday rehearsal 🙂 Many pupils from First to Fourth Year participate in this exhilarating play. It is filled with comedy! There is still times for YOU to book tickets, the performance dates are 11, 12 and 13 February – and it will be filled with action and suspense. Overall Bugsy Malone is a FANTASTIC experience and has really highted the joy of my new Hampton life.
By Aryan T and Ishaan J (1W)
There’s less than two weeks to go to this year’s Junior Musical Bugsy Malone and tickets are selling like hot cakes!
Tickets can be booked here. Don’t miss out!
DARTS CLUB
Every Friday we go to Darts Club. Right now, there is a big tournament going on where you play a game in pairs against other teams. Even though our result hasn’t been the best, we are still really enjoying it. There are two boards, one inside and one outside, so more people can play games and practise. Last Friday we lost to a very strong and good third year team. Even though there are very few first years that attend darts club, the third years are kind and inclusive and make it a good atmosphere when you are playing. We would recommend more people to come along play. Even if you have never played before, I am sure you will be able to have a go and try it. It is on in the first half of lunch at the smaller pavilion at the back of the fields.
By Max K and Henry M (1W)
Woodwind Concert
Great to see some of our musicians treading the boards of the Hammond Theatre stage at this week’s Woodwind Concert. Well done to Jerry D (1F), Yuhao L (1G) and James C (1H).
Athletics Success
Congratulations to Noah L (1G) for winning a Bronze medal in the Team Richmond Boys and Girls Cross Country at the London Youth Games. A fantastic achievement!
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 Lucas F (1P) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week.
Lucas has a positive attitude, is unfailingly polite and friendly in all his interactions with staff and pupils Well done, Lucas!
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 merit by your Form Tutor the following Monday. And you will get to know the School better in the process.
Last week’s challenge: Which building have the stones next to the main staircase come from?
Looking at the signs next to them you would see they have come from the first school building on the original site!
A big shout out to Rafferty O’C-Z who was the only First Year who correctly found the answer to last week’s Hampton Hunt. Make sure you collect a merit from your Form Tutor next week!
Whose shoulders did Isaac Newton stand on to see further than others?
