Welcome to the First Year Blog
CO-CURRICULAR CLUBS WELL UNDER WAY…
After a busy week of excitement with Avon Tyrrell and the Team Building morning, this week was a much needed, much quieter week. Our First Years are in the full swing of their first half term at Hampton, getting to grips with the many School buildings and getting stuck in to all of the co-curricular activities offered at lunchtime. This includes, meeting Max the snake and Shelly the Madagascan Hissing Cockroach in Miss Mimnagh’s Biology club, trying new sporting activities such as badminton and basketball, working on their digital musical masterpieces and it was great to hear that so many of you have attended Choir and auditioned for the Chamber Choir.
We challenge you to push yourself outside of your comfort zone and try something new!
MEET OUR MEDIA REPS
Budding journalists in the First Year have been busy writing from the front lines about Hampton life this week, say hello to our Science Rep… Kanishk M (1W)!
THE FLAME AND THE FIRE
Our First Years have been doing their Bunsen burner safety certificates in recent weeks. Kanishk M reports on the history of the Bunsen Burner:
The Bunsen burner, one of the most renowned pieces of equipment the laboratories have to offer. A simple design consisting of a base, a barrel, a collar and a tube, this versatile tool does it all from evaporation to glass blowing and it has survived over 150 years of use. Invented in 1855 by Robert Wilhem Bunsen and his trusty lab assistant (whose name has been lost to time) its main goal was to produce a reliable heating source unlike most of the burners that came from over 100 years before. This he produced by putting a collar around the barrel hole, this makes three distinct flames dependent on how much oxygen enters the methane fire, sooty flames for lighting splints, blue flames for heating, and roaring flames, which we haven’t used. We used it to boil solutions of water, he used it to find the spectra of atoms, from which he discovered ceasium (1860) and rubidium (1861) from German spa water. Yet, as we all know, as much as we may not like it, the flame is always doused, put back in the trays, dormant until the next class’s arrival. In much the same way, he left no patents, and at the age of 80, he died on the 16 August 1899. And his humble soul, left in the form of his discoveries, has and will always have been a gift, a gift with no owner, but with a legacy of its own, hidden in the trays, dormant, waiting to be used once more.
TUTOR PROFILE
The best way to learn is through asking questions.
Aadi K tells us more about this week’s tutor: Today I interviewed Mr Hill who is Head of First Year and a brilliant geography teacher.
Geography is destiny.
Abraham Verghese
What inspired you to be a teacher?
I really like helping people, I really enjoy geography and love helping others learn about the world.
What’s your teaching style/ philosophy?
Mr Hill teaches my Form and I think his style is happy, jolly and engaging.
What makes a good day at school?
If I have smiled and helped a person learn something new.
If you could pass on any wisdom to your pupils what would you share?
The most important thing for me to see is all of our current First Years showing kindness for the next seven years. If you show that you will achieve amazing things.
What’s a school sport or activity that you enjoy watching?
Any of our activities. All are fun. The things I like most are the music concerts because the standard is so high. As a rowing coach, when cycling on my bike I love to see my crew on the start line racing against five other crews hoping they’ll win.
How do you show your school spirit?
I try and put all into everything I do. I show kindness and help as much as I can.
What is your ‘go to’ song for the journey to school?
I love podcasts. I love learning about different people and parts of the world. That’s why I’m so fond of geography.
If you won the lottery and decided to give up teaching, what would you do?
I don’t think I would give up teaching. I really enjoy it. However, I do still enjoy my holidays!
Last but not least, what do you prefer a cake or a pie and why?
Pie all the way. Personally, you can’t beat apple pie and custard. Sponge is a bit disappointing.
CRACKING CO-CURRICULAR
Lucas TS Reports:
At Hampton School, co-curricular activities are being introduced to all the First Years. They are all incredible and really fun, they are also a great way to make new friends. I have done a few activities already and they are great. These are the activities: Rugby, Golf, German and Board Game club.
If only you could do them all but unfortunately some are at the same time so it can be really annoying!!! For me, I really wanted to do Biology club but it’s at the same time as rugby so I couldn’t do it. 🙁 The activities are great and fun and it’s is a great thing to do to occupy your time over lunch!
PH-ANTASTIC PHYSICS
Charlie (1F) reports on the experiment they performed this week:
We attached a boss to our clamp stand and then we slotted a metre rule to our boss. We also attached a spring (to the boss). We added slotted weights to our spring and measured the length of the spring. We kept on adding weights until we had reached 1 kilogram. We did this to find the extension of the spring.
Take a look at some of the photos:
BRILLIANT BIOLOGY
Biology Club has been a favourite amongst our First Years. Ameya M (1J) Reports:
Biology Club is definitely my favourite club. On our first week we did meet the animals where we got to see and touch some of the animals. There were many different types of animals such as: Max the corn snake, hissing cockroaches and the Indian stick insects. My favourite was the hissing cockroaches which when you lightly stroked their exoskeleton they hissed to scare away their predators. I also really liked the stick insects which looked like they were dancing! Overall, it was very fun and I am definitely going to come next week and I am looking forward to coming in the next weeks and doing more exciting things.
SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS!
We love to hear about what you have been getting up to outside of school. Please do send any information about any of your achievements through to Mrs Halford.
A huge congratulations to Anirudh S (1B) who has recently passed his ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory online assessment with a Distinction! A fantastic achievement Anirudh, well done!
TUTEE OF THE WEEK
Each week Mrs Peattie and Mr Hill select a Tutee of the Week from the nominations sent in by the First Year Form Tutors. This person is selected for their all-round contribution to Hampton life and for displaying a great attitude. Congratulations to this week’s winner of the award: Balti B (1W) for his kindness to others and very sensible approach to life at Hampton.
PSHE
Akshat (1J) tells us more about what First Years have been discussing in PSHE:
In PSHE, we have been learning about online safety and also different types of families. Some examples of families are nuclear families, extended families and same sex marriages. We have also done fun tests such as a small quiz on Kahoot. Also in online safety, we learned about protecting our digital footprint by not posting anything that you might regret in the future. For instance, if you want a job, the employer will most likely search your digital history by simply searching your name on the internet.
WALK TO SCHOOL MONTH
October is officially the International Walk to School Month. With climate change a growing issue why not try to make a difference and walk a little more of the way this month before the clocks go back!
Avon Tyrrell Adventure
Take a look at the video below and the link here to get a flavour of some of the things our First Years got up to at Avon Tyrrell:
It looked like they all had lots of fun!
FIRST YEAR 5 QUESTIONS
A few questions for you to have a go at yourself or challenge people at home if they know the answer. Merits are awarded for everyone who has a go! Just click on the link below and enter your answers and points for the Inter-Form Competition will be awarded to the form with the most entries every week.
- How many spice options are there at Nandos?
- If you completed the Three Peaks challenge, which three UK mountains would you have climbed?
- How many notes are there in a musical scale?
- What in the animal kingdom is a doe?
- What number is a baker’s dozen?
Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.
Remember to write your name in the form so you can be credited with merits! Merits will be added to our remote merit log and if you have space add a merit in the back of your diaries!
1J are holding the title this week with a terrific 12 entries! Well done to the following boys (make sure to add your merits in the back of your homework diaries):
1B: William L, James B, Boris D, Advait B, Alessio C, Jack Y
1F: Jasper E, Elio W, Johnny R, Henry P, Pranavan P, Charlie H, Patrick M
1H: Isa, Alessandro C, Prabodha A, Arun S
1J: Yuvraj S, Maxwell G, Caspar S, Ameya M, Ben B, Joshua R, Daniel T, Nathaniel C, Dylan M, Freddie T, Aarush J, Joshua G
1L: Gregory M, Jaipaal G, Matthew J, Agalyan S, Aadi K
1P: Raif D, Arie B, Jack H
1W: Faris S, Luca K, Oliver A, Leander KB
And here are the answers to last week’s 5 questions:
- What does the Latin word Tempus mean in English? Time
- How many chukkers are there in a polo match? Six
- Who won Sports Personality of the Year in 2019? Ben Stokes
- Which European city hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics? Berlin
- Name the first actor to play Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films? Richard Harris
WEEKLY REMINDERS
It’s the First Year Pastoral Forum next week, remember to log on well in advance of your appointment so you don’t miss your designated slot!
