Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
Welcome to our first blog of 2026! I hope you all had a lovely festive break and got to spend time with your family and loved ones. It sounds like some of you got up to some very exciting things. This week Second Year Hamptonians have been catching us up on what they were up to over the break, reflecting on their first term of Second Year, celebrating successes and identifying some targets for 2026. We have a lot to look forward to this term; the Form Charity Quiz is next week, and I can’t wait to see which Form’s quizzing prowess will come out on top! The pupils have also enjoyed their Greek language taster sessions this week, with sessions in French, German, Spanish, Russian and Mandarin to come next week, so everyone will have plenty of opportunities to try out a variety of languages before picking their options later this year. Come back next Friday to hear how they got on!
Merit Milestones
The first blog of 2026 sees a bumper crop of merits! A big shout out to the following Second Year Hamptonians:
Akshaj Anand – 10
Aadam Nazir – 10
Rahim Khan – 10
Samuel True – 10
Ibrahim Jalil – 20
Emre Kozan – 20
James Moody – 20
Rahim Khan – 20
Alec Hutchison – 20
Diego Cubria-Garcia – 20
Rahim Khan – 30
Max King – 30
Ralph Leverett – 30
Ishaan Jain – 30
Jonathan Greenfield – 30
Rahul Prabhudesai – 30
Jesse Galustian – 30
Rahim Khan – 40
Kaarthikan Mayouran – 50 (well done!)
Joshan Kalsi – 50 (congratulations!)
Edward Jolliffe – 50 (brilliant!)
Ansh Rao – 70 (super!)
Ansh Rao – 80 (wonderful!)
Sebastian Young – 90 (wow!)
Tutor Question of the Week
This week’s Tutor Question of the Week comes from Mr Hill and Miss Parkes in the RS Department!
If you could incorporate the magic from any book/film universe, which would you choose?
- Harry Potter – Mrs Owen, Miss Holt, Miss Tiller, Miss Winstock
Star Wars
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – Mr Hill, 2H
- Lord of the Rings
- Marvel – 2W, 2G, 2B, 2P
Back to School
After a long winter break, we finally returned to school last week. It felt unusual returning to school, waking up early and getting to school. But this first week has been very enjoyable. We’ve had our first sport sessions, despite the weather being horrible, and the C team have our first football match on Saturday because last week, it got cancelled due to so much rain. I’m excited to begin doing my favourite clubs and starting new ones too. Cricket training has also begun during Monday lunch time, which I’m quite excited for. Overall, our start to a new term has been quite busy but a lot of fun.
By Aryan T (2W)
After a well-deserved holiday break, the members of all Hampton Second Year rugby teams returned on a sunny Monday afternoon to continue training hard for the upcoming fixtures and ever-present Rugby Sevens season. Despite my exhaustion that same morning, I was still extremely excited to get back on the rugby pitch and practise some skills (no matter how rusty they were). Both teams had a very productive first training session back, with our team practising passing, before moving (or running) into the Rugby Sevens training. All in all, it was a great first session back, no matter how tiring and I am sure everybody is greatly looking forward to what both Hampton rugby teams have to offer across the next exiting term of rugby.
By Hugh H (2L)
Football returns!
I will be talking about the game last weekend against Kings’ College School and the very exciting upcoming fixture against Forest School in the ISFA semi-finals but first I will talk about last week’s game. It was an away game, and we arrived quite early. I didn’t go on the team bus, so I was there a bit earlier the usual. As I got out the car I saw the pristine flat pitches. Then the team bus came and we headed to the changing rooms and we got changed into our boots and headed out to the pitch. We warmed up and then talked about the starting 11 then the match commenced.
Early in the game we won a corner and Luke and I went for the short option as we have been practising in training. I played to Luke he played it back and I scored from the corner.10 minutes later Ethan played a lovely ball over the defence then Kyle was fouled in the box. Peter took the penalty and it went in but we had to go back because the ref called it before Peter hit the shot. Luckily Kyle scored his pen. Half time. Quite early on we won a throw in in our half and won the second ball and converted the shot from outside the box. Then we kept attacking and almost scored from many chances but unluckily they scored near the end, but we didn’t lose hope. We had many more chances but sadly, we did not convert but this was good preparation for our important game against Forest School in the cup.
By Silas I (2L)
Christmas getaways
Tunisian Travels
Christmas. A time for joy and happiness. I experienced a lot of that during my trip to Mahdia, in Tunisia. Escaping from the cool and wet climate of the UK to a warm and reasonably dry North African country for a week, ended up being a great holiday during Christmastime.
The capital of Tunisia, Tunis, was known in the times of the Roman empire by a different name: Carthage. The Punic country, which went to war with Rome many times, left plenty of ancient artefacts and monuments behind after their downfall, dotted all around modern-day Tunisia. Seeing the old remains of Punic gates, walls, forts and harbours was a fascinating experience, which contrasted with the modern cemetery nearby which overlooked the sea.
The hotel we stayed in was great, the weather brilliant, and the overall trip was fantastic. Freezing in the water of the Mediterranean Sea, a marvellous adventure as well. Spending Christmas there was another pro of the holiday, with watching a spectacular acting and dancing performance put on by the hotel for the guests on Christmas Eve being one of the main highlights of the festive season. Playing table tennis every day, walking on the beach shore of the Mediterranean, finding special rocks and seashells that were washed up onto the shore by the tide and the waves, as well as spending time in the sun all made the vacation even more refreshing.
In the streets of Mahdia, there were lots of things to see, things that were perhaps different from our daily lives in England. Fish markets with many different species of fish, cephalopods (octopi, squids etc.) and other edible marine life (some of them still alive), cages outside butchers filled with live chickens and turkeys, as well as towering date trees planted on the pavement of the roads can very rarely be found in England or the rest of the UK. Finally, I can’t leave out the quality of the food that I ate. Delicious meals every day, filled with countless varieties of fish, meat and vegetables (yes, vegetables are important as well) meant that all our activities were filled with heaps of energy from the meals. I greatly enjoyed the holiday to Tunisia, and I would greatly enjoy a second trip to the North African country.
By Rayan A (2H)
This isn’t all Rayan’s been up to either! We were thrilled to hear that he recently successfully passed his ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory examination with Distinction. This is a fantastic achievement and it’s wonderful to see his hard work paying off – well done, Rayan!
Britain Bound
During the Christmas holidays, I had the most enjoyable time and some lovely experience in Edinburgh and Birmingham where I went to my cousins’ house to spend Christmas Day with them. Firstly, our trip to Edinburgh was beautiful, filled with stunning scenery, wonderful fresh air, and full of special moments. We climbed some mountains, including the unforgettable Ben Nevis. It was an amazing experience seeing Edinburgh from a decent height above the ground. It was quite cold (my parents were practically ice), but the fresh air and amazing views made it worth it. We also did some easy family walks and enjoyed spending time together. We tried many different kinds of food, like warm meals in cafes and traditional Scottish food. The cold weather made hot food, and drinks fell even better. We stayed at a nice house that was warm, comfortable, beautiful, and even had a fireplace which was very useful as it was quite cold outside. It felt like a real home while we were there. I would recommend visiting Edinburgh Castle and walking around the old streets as they can have a lot of interesting facts and history.
Secondly, we went to Birmingham on Christmas Day to spend time with our cousins. It was very special to be together on such an important day. We all had a brilliant time and enjoyed every moment. We ate Christmas dinner together, and the food was delicious thanks to my mum and aunty. Everyone sat around the table talking, laughing, and feeling happy. Later in the evening, we stayed up until 2am playing board games with the whole family. It was very fun and full of laughter. We also went out for some nice walks to get fresh air. Another highlight was doing an escape room in a nearby place. The escape room was about us being gangsters who had to break one our ‘friends’ out of jail because he was a naughty bay and got caught and locked up in prison. I did extremely well in the escape room, which made it even more exciting. The funniest part was when a guard came in with a flashlight and shone it right at me, but for some reason he did not seem to see me at all! Overall, I had an extremely enjoyable Christmas holidays with my family, cousins and friends.
By Moksha K (2B)
Super Switzerland
In the winter holidays, I went to Switzerland. We travelled by car which took about 10-hours and a 2-hour ferry ride. We had set of for Switzerland early in the morning with the car full and the roads silent. At the start of our journey, which was quite easy, we had encountered no troubles and had reached our ferry ride after 2 hours. After that we had reached France, which had beautiful scenery you could see farms, small towns, and their unique architecture. However, after that, that was when things started to go wrong.
We were driving on the highway when suddenly, we could see a large group of cars behind each other and in front of them you a large amount of black smoke rising into the air and a group of cars laying in the middle of the road. That was when our journey went wrong. Because, those cars were stuck in the middle of the road, we had to wait two hours for the cars to be removed and by that time we were all already bored out of our minds. When we thought that that was the last of it, but that was when we realised that we were not even halfway there.
After a couple of hours, the land began to rise, and we saw hills and mountains ahead of us. Then after a few more hours we had entered a very long tunnel which cut straight through a mountain, and which had finally taken us to Switzerland.
By Yusuf P (2G)
Christmas Celebrations
For Christmas 🎄 this year, we went to see my mom’s side of my family in Worcestershire. We stayed at my grandparents’ house 🏡, but my relatives all live really close. When I went downstairs on Christmas Day, Santa had been 🎅! Me and my sister unwrapped, and we were done in just 5 minutes. In the afternoon, we went to my cousin’s house for Christmas dinner 😋, where my parents made me eat Brussels sprouts 🤮. In the end, though, everything was great 👍, and we went home with just enough room to fit all the presents in our car 🚗🎁.
By Oliver H (2F)
Quins Big Game
In the Christmas holiday, I attended Harlequins Big Game 17, an annual rugby event, which took place on Saturday December 20, 2025, at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham. The event showcased a significant match between two major teams: Harlequins and Bristol Bears. Before the match, the whole atmosphere and occasion was enhanced by some entertainment. Groove Armada (a famous DJ duo) entered the pitch and set the scene, followed by a light show, fireworks and flames. The event maintained its high standards and lived up to everyone’s high expectations. However, the rugby match did not. Sadly, the game was dominated by Bristol who scored 40 points to Harlequins 14 and secured the bonus-point victory as well. Even though the rugby match didn’t go the way I would have wanted, it was a great day out.
By Samuel T (2F)
2B or not 2B faithful?
At the start of last half term our class decided to play our own game of The Traitors. This was a popular idea as it brought a lot of energy and excitement to the class.
I was unfortunately murdered in the early stages, but watching the game unfold and knowing who the Traitors were was thrilling. In the end, the Faithful managed to narrowly win with only two Faithful and one Traitor remaining, the winners receiving a huge bag of chocolate coins!
This term, we have started a new game of The Traitors and have just had our first attempted murder where the Traitors made the mistake of targeting someone with a shield! I’m hoping to stay in for longer this time, learning from my early demise last term. I highly recommend this game for your class if you enjoy teamwork, exhilarating strategy games and want to get to know your classmates better!
Keep your friends close …
By George MH (2B)
Drama Club
Drama Club is on the second half of lunch on Thursdays, it’s available to all First and Second Year Hamptonians. Every term we do a production and perform it. Last term we performed the tempest after school in the Hammond. This term we are performing a play that we are creating in our lessons and will perform it at lunchtime in the Hammond.
At the start of each lesson, we do a warmup game and then we get into the main part. You can still attend drama club. If you don’t want to be in the production. Drama club is very fun, if you want to practice your drama skills.
By Edward G (2H)
Hampton Sinfonia
Sinfonia is an amazing orchestra and club. I joined in First Year, and I have attended and look forward to it every week. You need to be at least grade four on an orchestral instrument like the violin, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, cello, double bass, oboe, flute, clarinet, bassoon etc… and it is held every Thursday at 12:35pm in the music hall in the Garrick. We learn one or two pieces every term and perform them in concerts including the String concert and the Winter, Spring and Summer concerts. These take place in the Hammond Theatre and to hear everyone play together is majestic and it is incredible to be part of this musical team. I always have had fun learning the pieces which can range from classical like Symphony No. 8 by Schubert and the Hungarian Dance by Brahms to main theme songs from movies such as Somewhere in My Memory from Home Alone. Playing as a whole orchestra is a great experience and the sounds it creates are wonderful. I highly recommend this club to anyone who loves music to come and tune in!
By Rishi S (2G)
AMAZING ART WEEK AWAITS
Get your paintbrushes poised and imaginations ignited – Hampton Art Week begins on Monday 19 January, and the School is ready to burst into a kaleidoscope of colour! This special week is all about celebrating creativity, noticing the Art woven into every subject, and discovering just how inspiring it can be to get properly stuck in and creative.
Starting Monday, the Art Department will have various crafty workshops, listed below.
Monday
Lower School Art Club at 12.35pm in F60 with Mr Bannister
Wednesday
Tie Dye in F60 at 12.35pm with Ms Elliott
Thursday
Clay Construction at 12.35pm in F60 with Ms Carolan
Lastly, the Art Department are running a competition where Lower School pupils are asked to design a neckerchief for Harris using our School colours.
Templates can be collected during lessons or from the Art Office and are due Friday 30 January.
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.
This week’s fiendish questions come to us from Eli M (2W). Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers below:
If you’re keen to write some general knowledge questions for the Blog, please email e.holt@hamptonschool.org.uk.
