Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
I can’t quite believe we’ve reached the end of the spring term already — what a brilliant and busy finale it’s been for the Second Years. With Character Day, Revolting Rhymes performances, rugby and football fixtures, Parlaufs, and so much more, this week’s blog is absolutely packed with pupil voices and reflections, so I’ll keep my part brief!
It’s been a joy seeing your creativity, teamwork, and enthusiasm in full force across so many different activities. Whether you were taking to the stage, stepping onto the pitch, or throwing yourselves into new challenges, you’ve brought energy and positivity right through to the final day of the term.
As we head into the Easter break, I want to wish you all a wonderfully restful holiday. I hope you enjoy some well‑earned downtime with friends and family, whether you’re travelling somewhere exciting or relaxing closer to home. Fingers crossed for a bit of sunshine, too!
Have a fantastic break, and I look forward to seeing you all refreshed and ready for the summer term.
Merit Milestones
A big shout out to the following Second Year Hamptonians:
Merits
Rishi Schneider – 20
Rishi Schneider – 30
Max Offer – 30
Ethan Chen – 30
Ethan Chen – 40
Rishi Schneider – 40
Daniel Fitzpatrick – 40
Noah Neoh-Arhbi – 40
Ralph Leverett – 50 (He’s off to see Mr Knibbs!)
Ethan Chen – 50 (He’s been hiding merits!)
Ethan Chen – 60 (Well done!)
Ethan Chen – 70 (More from Ethan!)
Ethan Chen – 80 (Fantastic!)
Edward Robinson – 80 (Super!)
Kaarthikan Mayouran – 80 (Fabulous!)
Timothy Mountain – 80 (Congratulations!)
Ansh Rao – 130 (Amazing!)
Sebastian Young – 140 (Woweee!)
LION Merits
James Cao – 10
End of term
As the new term approaches, I find myself feeling excited and motivated for everything the summer term has to offer. There’s something about this time of year that brings a fresh sense of energy — longer days, warmer weather, and new opportunities to learn and grow. One of the things I’m most looking forward to is continuing my studies with a renewed focus. After settling into the rhythm of the school year, the summer term feels like the perfect chance to push myself further, improve my skills, and aim for my best results. Whether it’s tackling challenging topics or preparing for upcoming assessments, I’m ready to give it my all. I’m also excited about spending more time with friends, both in and outside of lessons. The summer term always seems more relaxed and enjoyable, with everyone in a positive mood. Break times in the sunshine, group projects, and shared achievements all make this term special.
By Ibrahim J (2W)
For the last day of term, I feel so excited!
- It is a half day so School finishes early
- I am going to Kingston with my friends
- Three weeks of relaxation
- And Easter of course!
I will miss my friends but maybe we could meet up.
End of term, here I come!!!
By Eden J (2P)
Character Day
Last Friday we had Second Year Character Day, where ‘all’ of the Second Year dressed up as their favourite character from a book. While some people decided to use this as an opportunity to wear mufti for the day, most were creative and embraced the chance to show the year their characters. Some highlights include Lucas F in 2P – Banana in Pyjamas and Arthur in 2J – the Bush. Perhaps the standout of the day, though, was when Alice McIlroy – author of ‘The Glass Woman’- gave us a dystopian writing workshop, where we developed our own ideas for writing dystopian stories. Dystopian writing is when a story is written in a different version of Earth where there is a cruel or hard ruling authority who suppresses the community and the protagonist. My story is about how money can monopolise sport and create a one-sided nature to tournaments. The plot is about how underdog teams try to overcome the favourite to win. I look forward to expanding on this in future English lessons. Character day is an amazing experience for Second Years, and I thoroughly enjoyed the creative side of it.
By Yuvan M (2P)
Character Day was one of the best days of this half term. This year, I decided to dress up as Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings because I really enjoy the books. It worked out even better as one of my friends dressed up as a hobbit, which was a coincidence, but it meant we could match for the whole day. It was a lot of fun, especially seeing all the creative costumes. There were some really impressive ones, including someone dressed as the bush from The Hunger Games, and even another great Gandalf costume.
Overall, I think everyone really enjoyed Character Day because it allowed people to be creative and express their favourite characters. It was also fun to see the effort everyone put into their costumes.
At the end of the day, I was one of the few people who received a book prize — Much Ado About Numbers by Rob Eastaway — for having one of the best costumes, which made the day even more enjoyable.
By Filippos M (2H)
Last week, the Second Years had a dress up as a character day for English week. I went as no-face from Spirited away, my costume made from a bedsheet and cardboard. As soon as I entered our form room, I instantly saw a huge variety of colours and different costumes. At break-time, we took group photos. Across the day, I had lots of fun and saw many great costumes. I thought it was a great celebration of English and hope next year is just as exciting!
By Eddie L (2H)
Last Friday, it was Character Day. It all started about last Tuesday when the final preparations were being done to my costume. I went as the manga character Don Lorenzo, if you don’t know who that is I’ll give you a quick summary. Basically, he was a young child who was abandoned by his parents at a young age and forced to live on the streets. Forced to survive by stealing, he eventually became hopeless that he would survive like this, but he was rescued from a life of despair by Marc Snuffy, who took him in and fulfilled his request for golden teeth, weird request in my opinion, earning Lorenzo’s total loyalty.
Anyway, back to me, I was running late due to my wig being a bit dodgy to work with it was dyed black and purple and combed to one side, along with that I wore his club uniform, the club is called Uber (not the taxi service) and his number 2 on my back. I ended up being late for school… and missed the character day photo… Anyway, it was just a normal day apart from that.
By Frankie D (2G)
Take a look at some of the fantastic costumes. Can you name all the characters? You might even spot a teacher or two!
Revolting Rhymes
Wednesday’s drama performances by Second Years: the night itself was a series of great stories, one of which was a performance of Roald Dahl’s “Little Red Riding Hood.” The performance was a close adaptation of the “Revolting Rhyme” storyline, including the part where the Wolf ate the grandmother and the part where the Wolf tried to trick Red. The performance was a success; Red was not rescued but instead comes out with a gun and shoots the Wolf. Red then wears a coat made of Wolf’s fur. The performance was efficient and a good twist on the “damsel in distress” theme. The evening was exciting and one that should definitely be remembered.
By Daniel F (2H)
Taking part in a performance of Revolting Rhymes is a truly unforgettable experience. Based on Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl, the production gave us the chance to bring these twisted fairy tales to life. Not only that, but it also helped me a lot in building confidence, especially in the weirdest moments.
Performing in Goldilocks and the Three Bears, was without a doubt, one of the most fun if not the most fun part of the whole production. In this, I was Baby Bear which was amazingly well-suited for my naturally high-pitched voice. As well as this, being Baby Bear allowed me to portray emotion using facial features in a hilarious way which I’m for some reason very good at. One of the two weirdest moments was when I appeared to be over-reacting – when “some delinquent little trot” (aka Goldilocks), gobbled up the whole lot of MY porridge, AND destroyed MY chair, AND put dog poo on my bed! (Don’t worry, I got my revenge!). The other rather crazy moment was when I ate Goldilocks up, in the strangest manner – I guess Goldilocks deserved it – after all she did steal MY porridge, so I had to eat it somehow!
Another part of the performance that really stood out for me was how I developed my character throughout the rehearsals. Playing Baby Bear, as well as the Nice Girl, meant I had to think carefully about how to act in a way that was funny and believable. I worked on using my voice and body language and expressions to make the character more exaggerated and entertaining. This was especially important as the character of Baby Bear, because I had to act as a baby, whilst also showing some obedience towards Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear. Also, I had acted out stereotypical animalistic behaviour when I was eating Goldilocks which further emphasised how I don’t actually care how I ate that porridge, I will eat it because it is MINE!!
Overall, taking part in Goldilocks and the Three Bears was an incredible and memorable experience that helped me grow both as a performer and as a person. From doing this, I gained confidence and I learned how to use my naturally high voice effectively. It also boosted my confidence and gave me the capability of performing in front of a large crowd. The experience taught me teamwork skills and how to fully be committed to a role.
By Aadam N (2W)
Chamber Music Day
Hampton School hosted its inaugural Chamber Music Day, followed by a concert in the evening. 18 ensembles took part and the competition was judged by two external adjudicators. They were Nicole Wilson who is a freelance violinist in London and has taught at the Royal Academy of Music and Eton Collage while also being in leading sections in top London orchestras. The second adjudicator was Anna Hashimoto who is a freelance clarinettist and who often appears as a concerto violinist. Anna is a regular member of the Atea Wind Quintet and has played in a number of London orchestras who also teaches at the Birmingham Conservatoire. The ensembles included string, brass, woodwind and vocal groups. The Second Years who had participated in the event were: Rafferty O’C, Rahul P, Jerry D, Noah K, James C, Axel M-B and Rishi S. The overall winners of the competition was the String Quartet coached by Miss Van Ments which included senior musicians. It was an incredible event to be a part of, the level of music was akin to a professional concert, and I can’t wait to take part in it next year!
By Rishi S (2G)
Sports Galore
Hampton Paarlauf
On Wednesday we had our Hampton Paarlauf a cross country race hosted by Hampton which all different schools come and compete with. The format was quite different compared to a normal cross country. We were in teams of three and we would try to run as far as we could for 24 minutes. We could exchange the baton to our teammate after we had run a minimum of 400 metres. The course was approximately a mile but annoyingly on the day it consisted of a lot of wind throughout quite a bit of the course. My team contained myself Noah L (2G) and Ethan C (2G). Me and Ethan had never run the Paarlauf before but due to Noah running it last year we thought we could have a chance of getting in those medal positions for our category (which was for Third Years). It was going to be a good challenge especially running against the year above but we were all up for it. Our plan was for me to go first, Ethan second and Noah third each of us running approximately 550 metres which flags guiding us about how far we had run.
The start was quite crowded as everybody up to Sixth Formers were running at the same time. I knew it was going to be a very fast start due to most people only running a maximum of 600 metres at a time so I tried to get out as fast as I could. I think I found myself around halfway in the whole group (including everyone up to the Sixth Formers). Me being a middle-distance runner with a great sprint, our plan was for me to sprint out hard and for Noah and Ethan too hold positions especially as they were both running into the wind with a not-so-great surface. This was the complete opposite for me as I was able to get multiple overtakes due to the smooth surface and the wind being behind me. Towards the end both of my teammates were even able to get a few overtakes as we not only finished before our Third Year team and only around 10 metres from one of our Sixth Form teams. We were all extremely pleased with our performances and thought we would have a good chance at medals. And we were proved right as our Third Year team had come third in the category and we had come second in the Third Year category. We were able to run just above 7,000m in the 24 minutes (around four and a bit laps of the course).
It was a great performance from all of us and we were all very happy. Hopefully next year when we are Third Years, we can win the Third Year category!
By Kaarthikan M (2B)
Super Sevens
Last weekend, on Saturday, the U13A Rugby sevens team set out to St John’s Beaumont School to participate in their Sevens tournament. Once we arrived, we set up camp on a nice patch of grass and soaked up the pleasantly warm sun. It was a perfect day for rugby. As we were the first team to arrive, we had time to warm up and start training on the pitches. Before long, we were ready to go and the starting seven faced up against the home side. Early in the game, we secured a great try and soon used the upper hand we’d sustained to score even more tries in the first half. In the second half we kept our lead and ended up winning the game by many tries to none.
After a few games wait – we spent most of the time sussing out the opponents, we were ready for our next game against Ludgrove. The game started with stalemate and neither team could put a try past the other. However, we managed to pull through and score a great try before half time. By the end of the game, we had won 4-1 and managed to secure another win for the tournament. Next, we were up against Bishopsgate, who were a very strong side, but after an extremely physical game we pulled through and won 3-1. So far, our day was going great! However, our biggest challenge came up next, as we were up against Danes Hill, who had also won all their previous games. The first half was tiresome, and both teams fought for the win with all their might. Despite efforts on both sides, the first half ended in a draw. The second half was much the same, however we managed to score a brilliant try with one play to go. At that moment we thought we had the game, but a star player from Danes Hill managed to run and weave through our whole team just as the game ended. The game ended at 1-1 and both team’s heads hung low.
We knew that the tournament was going to go to ‘tries scored’ in order to find the winner, and so in our next game against St John’s North, we aimed to put as many past them as possible. And we did just that! We managed to cook up a 10-1 win over them and remained confident at our chances of winning. At this point, our fate was out of our hands, and all that was left to do now was cheer on Ludgrove as they defended hard against Danes Hill. After all the games were played, the headmaster announced the scores to the group. The anticipation grew as he read out the tries scored by both teams. Unbelievably, the score was 24 to Hampton and 23 to Danes Hill. We had won by one try! After this ecstatic news, we received a trophy and had some well-deserved match teas. Overall, the day was a huge success, and a great way to spend your Saturday afternoon on a lovely day.
By Edward R (2F)
Football Finale
Last Saturday, the Hampton Bs faced off in a tense match against the Reading Bs in which we were able to come away with a clinical 4-0 win. The game was a tense back and forth. In the first part of the game Hampton managed to hit the post, crossbar and were stopped by an epic, controversial goal line save, but nevertheless we prevailed scoring a scrappy but well deserved first goal. In the second half we scored an, in my biased opinion, the best goal of the term in which me and Vivvan danced around their defence with some beautiful tiki-taka link up play before getting the ball on the edge of the box and lashing it with my left foot. after the game we went to the dining hall for a wonderful sausage/bacon burger to finish up the season
By Will Y (2G)
Eid
My blog report this week is on Eid. Eid-ul-Fitr is a religious celebration for Muslims as it is the successful completion of Ramadan, a month of fasting from sunrise to sunset. It serves as a day of gratitude for Allah who gives us the strength to keep these fasts.
What did I do on Eid?
On Eid, we first go for the Eid Namaz (prayer) which is any time from 6:30 am -10:30 am so it is accessible for all people going to work or those who have any other morning chores. I went to the 10:30am slot as I woke up late taking full advantage of no school that day! Sleeping in for long was one of the best memories of Eid day. I was woken up to the hurry of the family getting ready for the Eid Namaz. I wore a black Shalwar qameez (the traditional clothing) and a black coat. The namaz was packed – everywhere you go the whole place is filled up like sardines in a can. After searching far and close, we found a spot. The Imam (scholar) in the Mosque firstly explained stories of the prophets before starting the Namaz(prayer). In the mosque it felt like a sauna as no windows were open and everybody was, as I already said, tightly packed. After the Namaz me and my family were contemplating if we should stay there for Jumu’ah (the Friday prayer) or go home and get ready for the next party and go in the middle with my cousins. In the end we chose to go home as there was still a two hour wait. When I got home with my brother, we were greeted at the door by the sweetest smile of my mum who hugged us tight and said “Eid Mubarak”. We then ate breakfast and opened our Eid presents. I got the long-awaited mobile phone. Jumu’ah was basically the same as Eid namaz, packed and boiling. At my cousin’s house we played basketball outside while we waited for the delicious food his mom makes. Suddenly, delicious aromas slithered slyly out of the kitchen into my nose. Food was ready. Everybody swiftly but enjoyably ate the scrumptious food. Finally, it was time for my parent’s favourite time tea and chatting with the other parents. My parents called me and my brother inside, from playing outside, sweating and worn out we came inside. I thought we were in trouble, but it was actually Eidhi AKA. Money! This was the best Eid ever…
By Daniyal A (2L)
Club of the week: Climbing Club!
This week I went to Climbing Club where me and my friends had a competition to see who could climb the wall fastest. It was a very easy wall to climb, and it was very close but, in the end, it was climbed in under one second and I was able to do it in about two seconds. It was very fun and afterwards I tried to do one of the challenge walls and I did the blue challenge on one of the walls which was very fun. I would highly recommend climbing club if you are looking for a club to do on Monday, Wednesday or Friday, it is very fun and easy for people who are new to climbing as well.
By Zachary H (2W)
Guess the Film – Emoji Challenge!
Each week I will ask a different member of the Second Year Tutor team to tell me their favourite film – in emoji form! Your job is to guess the film and the teacher…!
Last week:
🏃🍫🍤🚌
The answer was: Forrest Gump and the film is Mr Hill’s favourite!
We’ll start again after the half term!
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 questions come to us from Reyansh K (2L). Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here:
Here are the answers to last week’s quiz:
- What was New York originally called? New Amsterdam
- When was Hong Kong released as a British colony? 1997
- What substance is heated to create glass? Sand
- In what year did India become the most populated country? 2023
- How many countries have Christianity as their official religion? 13
Well done to the following Second Year Hamptonians who answered everything correctly – Poyraz D, Frankie D, Arthur H, Harri C, Jesse G, Rafferty O’C, Ediz Y, Reyansh K and Ansh R.
If you’re keen to write some general knowledge questions for the Blog, please email b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk.
