Welcome to the First Year Blog!
For many of you the highlight of this week was the trip to Marwell Zoo with the Biology Department (report to follow) and others loved the high jinks of the Interform Fun Run on Monday. For me, seeing some of you showing your grandparents and other relatives around School on Friday was a Special moment. I could see how proud they were of you and all you’ve done to settle into your senior school. Hot off the press – here are just a few photos from the afternoon.
Next week is your last as First Year Hamptonians and I hope you will enjoy every moment of it and take the chance to wish your teachers and Form Tutors a happy summer break. I think you’re a tremendous year group and Mrs Owen and the Second Year team are very lucky to have you! Next week we have Lower School prizegiving, the summer concert, and on Friday you will be out of on the fields playing games all morning.
It’s also Giving Day next week and there are plenty of things happening around School. Take a look here and you can find out exactly what we’re raising funds for and how you can get involved. It promises to be an exciting few days at School!
What a finish to a great year!
Have a lovely weekend and good luck with the final sports fixtures.
Charity Fun Run
For Monday’s Charity Fun Run the boys wore their t-shirts from Avon Tyrrell, and they were judged by Mr Hill and Mr Fuldner not for speed but for excellent team spirit.
These are the results:
1: 1G (well done for running in a Giant G!)
2: 1P (well done for bringing along a representative of Edmund and Nicholas Pigeon – one of our school founders and the “P” in your form name!)
3: 1W
4: 1F
5: 1B
6: 1L
7: 1J
8: 1H
Cricket Champions
Last Friday saw our U12A cricketers win the Middlesex Cup. A fantastic performance Hamptonians! Take a look below to find out more:
On Friday 20 June, the Hampton U12A team went out to Barn Elms Sports Centre in Putney and played the Middlesex County Cup final against Queen Elizabeth Barnet’s. We won the toss and opted to bat first in what was the hottest day of the year so far, a melting 30C. In 30 overs, Hampton scored 214 with the loss of 7 wickets with Yuvan M scoring a brilliant 85 (75) and good performances from Bertie E with 38 (27), Kaarthikan M with 24 (23), Smyan M with 24 (35) and Luke W 20 (16).
When Queen Elizabeth went out to bat, they were chasing a target of 215. We took the field with the hot sun on top form and quite literally on top of our heads. Hampton did extremely well to restrict QE to 99 all out (in about 26 overs) with extraordinary performances from both the ball and in field from the whole team with wickets from Rahul P, Rayaan A, Max K, Bertie E, Ansh R, Edward J and I. In those extremely challenging conditions, I bowled 4 overs conceding about 11 runs and picking 2 wickets, both of their stumps uprooted – it was a great sight!
It was a great day out for us, and we reclaimed the cup and qualified for the nationals next year which the present U13As are playing now. This was a great journey throughout both May and June, and we wouldn’t have lifted the trophy without our wonderful coach Mr Green and we would like to sign off in style by winning our final game of the season and remaining unbeaten!
By Arhaan K (1J)
And another perspective of the match from Rahul P (1B):
After a very successful win against Teddington School in the semi-final, the Hampton School U12A team found ourselves in the final of the Middlesex County Cup!
It was a beautiful day for cricket, the golden glowing phosphorescence beaming down on the cricket pitches that lay below ready for 30 overs aside cricket to be played on. We won the toss and elected to bat first aiming to get that scoreboard at a high total. After an impressive batting performance from the team with highlights of 85 of f75 balls from Yuvan and overall tight running at the end of innings with some big shots got us to a promising total of 214/7.
After the break, with bowling warm-ups and fielding practices, we walked out into the field ready for action. Kaarthikan and me opened the bowling and after a near-maiden first over from Kaarthikan, I was bowling. Although, I was nervous I really enjoyed bowling for my team and managed to pick up the wicket of their opener and was very pleased. Overall, our fielding was very tight, and we were extremely happy when we managed to bowl them out for 83! 4 of the 10 wickets they lost was because of our catching and with highlights of Bertie and Max with two wickets each and with low economies. We took pictures with the shield at the end, after our celebrations!!
MARWELL ZOO
As I walked through the main gates of Marwell Zoo, I felt a gentle gust of wind hit my face. The air was cool but had a bit of warmth to it. As we arrived, I went inside a room where one of the zoo’s staff talked to us about how people at the zoo take care of the animals. The guide also talked to us about protection of wildlife. After the talk, I was split into a group to look at all the animals around the zoo.
The first animal we looked at was the snow leopards. They were resting on flat rocks above the ground to represent the mountains which is their natural habitat. My favourite animal in the zoo was the red pandas. I saw two red pandas: one of the red pandas was resting on a thick tree branch high up in the trees; the other one was climbing a tree very close to where I was standing. I also got to see the spectacular view of a giraffe walking close to me with its slim and long neck towering above my body. I enjoyed visiting Marwell Zoo overall and one day I might visit it again.
By James C (1H)
And for Moksha K (1B) it was the tigers that stole the show!
On Thursday, we had an amazing day at Marwell Zoo with my friends and teachers. The sun was shining, and I could hear the cheerful sounds of birds and children laughing. As soon as we arrived, I saw some giraffes stretching their long necks to reach the leaves high up in the trees. I was really surprised by how tall they were and how gently they moved. Next, we went to see the penguins splashing and sliding in the water, which made me laugh because they looked so playful and funny.
My favourite part was watching the tigers – they were huge and powerful but also calm and graceful. I learned that some animals which were kept in the zoo are endangered, which made me think about how important it is to protect animals that are endangered. We also went on a little walk around the zoo, which gave us a great view of all the different animals and enclosures. The zookeepers were extremely friendly and told us interesting facts about the animals, which made the trip even better. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget, and I hope to go back again one day.
Borough athletics trials
On Wednesday June 18, we had our Borough Athletics trials. It was an extremely hot day with around 15 to 20 schools competing in the borough. My race was supposed to be at 10:45am but the event was behind schedule by around an hour, so I had plenty of time to watch my friends and prepare. I was racing the 800m at around 11:45am. The 800m only consisted of one heat which played a crucial part in my race. We were probably one of the quickest teams in the whole borough. I was also racing the relay which consisted of me, Henry M (1W), Jonah M (1L) and Peter R R (1W).
Before my race, I got to see Jonah and Ethan racing the 200m and 300m. Unfortunately, as their races were two heats they both came second by extremely close margins. They didn’t get put in the same heat as first place and therefore didn’t really have a target to compete against. Henry Malone (1W) raced before I arrived, so I didn’t get to see his race. However, he won his event – the 80m hurdles.
Then it was time for my race. I knew it was going to be an extremely competitive race. As I said earlier my race was only one heat so I could always see the leader of the race. My personal best was 2:31 and the fastest person coming into the event had a personal best of 2:24. I was extremely nervous but also pumped up as I knew it wasn’t completely out of my reach.
At the start to the first 200m it was a bit of a hustle, and I got pushed down to fifth. Coming up to halfway I clawed my way back into the race and I was in third only 10 – 15 metres away from first. I started closing the gap gradually with some motivation and support from the team. At 600m I was very tired, but I was right up on first shoulder and there is always room left in the tank. I started to take the lead. The person in first was someone I had known from cricket for a long time and all I could hear through the last 200m was people cheering his name on. However, I knew I had an extremely good finish, so I stayed focused and started motoring away. I had made a three second gap on him and I won the race with a new personal best of 2:23.
We won our heat in the relay, but sadly we didn’t win overall as the other school which came first (Grey Court) were in the other heat. I was still very happy with my performance. In every race the top two overall go through to the next round, Middlesex Champions. That is next Monday, and I look forward to competing there and hopefully I can win my race.
By Kaarthikan K (1B)
Spanish Project
Last week, everyone in 1W had to work on a Spanish project. This project could be on a Spanish speaking person (which my group did, we did Fernando Alonso, F1 driver) or it could be a guide to any Spanish speaking city. I believe my group did very well, and am very excited to do Spanish in future, as it is has been ranked by the government department in charge of exams as the most popular language in GSCEs across the UK! This probably reflects the popularity of Spain as a holiday destination, although the Spanish people have launched anti-tourist campaigns. Overall, Spanish has been a very fun language to learn all year round.
By Aryan T (1W)
Tutee of the Week
Every week, the First Year Tutor team nominate a boy 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 Ali E (1J) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week.
Ali has made an excellent contribution to School life, graciously collecting rubbish from the field at the end of lunchbreak and being a thoughtful member of the Form – well done Ali!
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! Points for the interform competition will be awarded to the Form with the most correct entries over the course of the term! 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 who knows – you might get to know the School better in the process!
Last week’s challenge: how many medals have Hampton Chemists won in the past six years of the Chemistry Olympiad and Cambridge Chemistry Challenge?
The answer is too may for the First Year Blog too count! Well done to Harri C, Ralph L, Ashutosh S, Lucas O’C, Akshaj A, Rayan A, Armaan R, Alexander C, Kyle O, Max K, Edward G, Rohan G and Isaac I who had a go at counting.
And, drum roll please, this week’s challenge is the final Hampton Hunt of the school year:
Where would you find this important door?
Enter your answers here:
