Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
A huge welcome to all back to our Second Years as we begin another exciting new school year at Hampton! This blog is your weekly snapshot of life in the year group; a place to celebrate our achievements, share our stories, showcase all of the highlights of School life, and of course, to provide the all-important Interform updates!
From thrilling summer sporting successes to the buzz of new clubs, fresh faces, and returning favourites (yes, Dog Club included!), it’s already shaping up to be a brilliant year. Whether you’re trying a club for the first time, taking on new challenges, or simply catching up with friends, there’s so much to look forward to.
So dive in, enjoy this week’s edition, and get ready for a year packed with fun, friendship and plenty of Hampton spirit!
Tutor Question Time!
Each week we like to poll the Second Year tutors on a different hot topic. This week’s question is…
Which time period would you most like to travel to on a school trip?
- Ancient Egypt – Miss Holt
- The Stone Age – Mr Lee
- Victorian London
- 100 years into the future – 2F, 2W, 2G, Mr Boyes
- Other (please specify!) – 2P (although they couldn’t agree where to go!), 2B (to the invention of Bitcoin!), Mr Hill (Ancient Greece so I can wear a toga and hang out at the Agora!)
Have you ever had a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask your Form Tutors?! If so, then please send your suggestions for a future Tutor Question Time to e.holt@hamptonschool.org.uk.
Co-curricular Chronicles
Following last Friday’s Co-curricular Fair, this week Second Years hit the ground running and have enjoyed a wide variety of clubs and lunchtime activities.
On Wednesday, Junior Physicists competed to build the strongest boat out of a sheet of tin foil. Well done to Ashveer C (2H) who won first prize with his boat holding 370 grams before sinking!
So far for the first few days I have really enjoyed our subjects and meeting our new teachers. I also really enjoyed the Co-curricular fair and picked many fun and interesting clubs. On Wednesday, I tried something I had never done before: Junior Jazz Band, a junior ensemble made up of trumpets, a tuba, two guitarists, percussion, and a drum section. Junior Jazz Band made me really feel the music and I really enjoyed the syncopated rhythms and funky notes I got to play on the piano.
Firstly, we attempted to play a piece called St Thomas’, a piece with many jazzy trumpet melodies and an excellent percussion part. I was playing alongside two really good guitarists and really enjoyed playing the swing rhythms and the really jazzy and funky chords that complemented the sound of the band really well. Secondly, we did something I really enjoyed. We did a 12-bar improvisation. We were given four chords, and a melody was made for the trumpets. The rest was all improvisation, and I had to improvise with chords by creating really cool repetitive rhythms which accompanied the rest of the band. We played through and finished with an excellent ending with a tremolo and a funky end chord.
Overall, Junior Jazz Band was really fun because I had never played jazz piano or any piano for an ensemble or band before and the music we produced sounded really good including the improvisation which ended an exciting and fun rehearsal. I look forward to going to many more rehearsals and performing in the Jazz Café with Swing band!
By Rahul P (2B)
Wednesday was the first day of Dog Club for new joiners as anyone who had already gone was told to come on Monday or Friday. However, Haohao and I were both regulars last year, so we went on Monday. Usually, we walk around with Harris throwing a ball for him and playing with him. Other times we help him get used to new tricks taught by Dr Hendry (like teaching him high 5 or low 5).
By Joshin F (2G)
Harris was very happy when he saw us, jumping and barking around us like the energetic dog he always is. Even though after 40 minutes of play time, Harris does not seem tired at all and still wanted to play with us, but Dog Club is over, and we needed to eat lunch as well! There are also two other sessions for Harris on Wednesday (for newcomers as Joshin mentioned) and Friday (for people who could not attend the Monday session).
By Haohao L (2G)
Clubs and societies are a great way to meet like-minded Hamptonians, make new friends and discover a new activity. Take a look at the booklet below and decide which club you’ll try next. The timetable for 2025-26 can be found here.
Spectacular Summers!
What a summer it’s been! From thrilling football tournaments and dramatic cricket finals to heart-racing rollercoasters at Thorpe Park, our Second Years have made the most of every moment. With national titles already under their belts and more fixtures to come, it looks like our Second Years are heading into the new academic year on course for another season of sporting success! Let’s catch up with what they’ve been up to…
Over the summer, my team played in the ESF National Finals, which my team and four others had qualified for by winning our regional tournaments. and in the final of the regionals, we beat Elite London Academy, which meant that we progressed to the National Final of the UK’s largest grassroots football festival. We played four matches against high level opposition and won three games (2-0, 1-0 and 2-1) and drew 1 (1-1), going unbeaten and winning the Nationals on 10 points. This was the highlight of my summer and I was overcome with joy after winning!
By Faaris M-C (2W)
It’s been a standout cricket season for Hampton boys who play for Teddington Cricket Club in the Tier 1 squad (Jesse G – 2W, Kaarthikan K 2B, Max K 2W, Bertie E 2G, Edward J 2G, Kyle O 2W, Ansh R 2G and Ashveer C – me!).
After battling through a series of hard-fought matches, this weekend we emerged triumphant as champions of both the Surrey North-West League and the Middlesex League! The Middlesex campaign ended in dramatic fashion, with a tense final showdown against Finchley CC. Spectators were on the edge of their seats but the players held their nerve beating Finchley’s score in the 19th over to lift the cup.
I have really enjoyed this cricket season but have to admit, I am looking forward to a (very) short break before winter nets begin!
By Ashveer C (2H)
Towards the end of the summer term last year the U13’s made it to the national cup final which was a great achievement. Unfortunately, the final was held in the holidays which meant that two of the U13’s couldn’t play the game. Luckily, they picked me and my friend Bertie (2G) from the U12’s to fill in. It was a great opportunity, and I was looking forward to it.
On a tranquil Saturday morning I was woken up around 5.30am for an extremely early 6.15am leave time. In the final we were playing Worksop College, a school that England Cricketer Joe Root went to. The final was held at a neutral ground called Oakham School, around a three-hour drive from Hampton, which was not the most convenient! We arrived at around 9.15am for a warmup, photos and a match start at 11.00am. The format was 35 overs with all other standard rules. Fortunately for us our captain (Ruaan, Third Year) won the toss for us and chose to bat. It was a great day for cricket with the sun blazing down and a perfect clear blue sky.
I wasn’t batting very high and therefore didn’t bat during our innings. We lost an early wicket, but our captain Ruaan and number three Rey were able to make a great partnership scoring 50’s each and giving us high hopes. With some back end hitting were able to claw ourselves up to a decent total of 170 which we thought was around par maybe even a bit above par. The ball was tossed into my hands to open the bowling. My opening bowler partner Kailan was able to take a quick wicket before their opener and number three were able to make a decent partnership. Unfortunately, I was wicketless but didn’t concede too many runs. At 15 overs they were around 60-1. The game was in the balance with any possible outcome. However, that partnership extended and Worksop College were now 90-1 after 20 overs. The game was in their favour, and it seemed they were going to cruise to victory. Our captain brought himself on to bowl with an immediate impact as he picked up two vital wickets that brought us back into the game. We started to lower Worksop’s run rate and picked up regular wickets. In the last six overs they needed 36 to win. I bowled the 28th and the 30th overs not conceding many runs but unfortunately still wicketless. However, Kailan was able to take one more wicket and victory was heading our way… Ridhaan was then able to pick up the last two wickets and we won the match!
It was a great day as we were the first Hamptonian side to win the U13 national cup final and this year as I am turning 13, so I hope that we can retain the cup.
By Kaarthikan K (2B)
Over the Summer I did many interesting things related to my hobbies which are photography, motorsport and wildlife which complement each other very well! First, I went to Thruxton Race Circuit to watch the British Superbikes and other bike events including a junior category consisting of under 18s! In the main event McAMS Racing Yamaha’s won for the 13th consecutive time! It was a fantastic day out taking photos and listening despite the immense heat on that day.
Next, I went to the Hawk Conservancy Bird of Prey Centre in Andover which was an amazing way to acquire knowledge of many birds of prey which I will hopefully one day see in the wild. Even birds I have seen in the wild such as black kites, kestrels and others I managed to see them up close which was an amazing experience by itself. But I must mention my favourite display “Woodland Wonders” which was a truly magical experience seeing owls of all sizes including Barn Owls, Tawny Owls, Little Owls and others do what they do best, fly completely silent. If you couldn’t see them, you had absolutely no idea where they were!
Finally, I went to Brands Hatch to watch a variety of events including Ginetta GT, GT Academy and Junior, then GB3 and GB4s and the main event the British GT. This was going to be a very interesting day since going into this event there were Championships on the line, and it sure was! By the end of the day, we had lost track of the number of yellow flags put out during the highly competitive Ginetta GT “sprint” race. Also in the main GT Championship, for the first time a Mercedes car took 1st place at Brands Hatch !
All in all, I had an exhilarating time during the summer but am looking forward to the exciting year ahead.
By Alec H (2B)
Over the summer I got up to a lot of different and exciting things, but one of my favourites has to be going to Thorpe Park with my friends. Thorpe Park was very exciting as it was the first time I had ever been. As we arrived, we immediately headed for our first ride which was swarm. Swarm is one of the lighter rides at Thorpe Park, but this doesn’t mean we weren’t nervous! We arrived at the peak of the ride and then we dropped, and it was incredible! I enjoyed it so much, and it is definitely one of my favourites. Afterwards, we decided to take down one of the giants of Thorpe Park: Stealth. One of the fastest and tallest rollercoasters in all of the UK so I was very excited. After an hour queue we were there. The acceleration of the ride was incredible! I could feel my entire body being pushed to the seat. For the final ride we chose Hyperia. The TALLEST, the FASTEST and the SCARIEST rollercoaster of them all. After finally getting through the hour and 30 minutes queue we were there, and I was more ready than ever! As we reached the peak, which took ages, everything was so far down! People looked like ants! The drop was amazing, and the entire ride was exhilarating, definitely my favourite. Overall, I had a great time and would definitely do it again!
By Edward W (2J)
Second Year So Far
On the first day back, it felt strange not to be the youngest anymore. I felt like I really ‘grew up’ (even though I’m the shortest in the form)! I was quite sad initially because the holidays had ended, and some of the First Years were taller than me! However, then I realised School was pretty good. I saw my friends after not seeing them for two months, we had lots of interesting lessons and played one-bounce with the Form. Coming back to Hampton has definitely had its upsides (even if I have to wake up 7am in the morning instead of 10am) and overall, I feel happy to be back at School.
By Eden J (2P)
Coming back from the holidays, I thought Hampton might be boring after two months of the summer holidays; I had grown accustomed to waking up late and playing games all day. However, when I came back, I realised I could finally talk to my friends and go to all the clubs I enjoyed such as Board Games and Biology Club! I like how there is a school trip within the first three weeks, which I am going to which is water sports in Dorset and all my friends will be going too. I’m now definitely looking forward to the year ahead!
By Leyan L (2F)
Archives and History Club!
This week was the first session of the NEW Archives Club. Pupils met in the Library on Wednesday lunchtime to explore some of the treasures in the School’s Archives. This week we looked at some of the Headmaster’s scrapbooks from the 1930s and learnt all about the opening of the current School site which was at the outbreak of the Second World War. Pupils also got the chance to have a look inside one of the School’s Archives and were intrigued by some of the items on the shelves – for example, the winning trophy of the 1975 Chess Champions and a piece of the Berlin Wall.
The Archives Club meets every other Wednesday and welcomes everyone from the First to Fourth year who is curious to uncover some of the School’s histories!
Weekly Questions
Welcome to the Weekly Questions! 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 Inter-form Competition will be awarded to the form with the most entries over the term.
If you’re keen to write some general knowledge questions for the Blog, please email e.holt@hamptonschool.org.uk
This week’s questions come from Freeman W (2L):
