Welcome to the First Year Blog!
Dear First Years
If you’re reading this, then well done and a huge thank you for finding the energy to read the final First Year blog. Firstly, you need to give yourselves a massive round of applause for making it through your very first year of your Hampton journeys. Looking back at your year, I hope that you are proud of all of the effort you’ve put in, your achievements in all areas of Hampton life, and the friendships that you have made. You are no longer the same person as when we met last summer, you’ve grown and flourished into wonderful young people, and I know that you will make excellent Second Years from September. We will all miss you, so please do say hello to your old Form Tutors and teachers when you see them around the School!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the last few weeks of term, with plenty of trips, fun activities, and opportunities for celebration. Congratulations to Form 1W who were well-deserved winners of the Interform trophy and a big well done to everyone for their enthusiasm and efforts in all our interform events.
Looking ahead to next year, you all have an exciting opportunity for a fresh start with new teachers, Form Tutors, Mentors, co-curricular activities, and Sport options.
Finally, I’d like to show my gratitude and say a massive thank you to all of the pupils who have contributed to the blog this year. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your characteristically insightful, upbeat, and fascinating blog posts which you wrote with assiduity. I’d also like to extend my thanks to Mr Fuldner, who expertly led the blog until I took over! A special thank you to all of our regular contributors. All of your writing has allowed hundreds of people to experience the First Year through your eyes. A final thank you also goes to the readers and the Hampton Hunt participants!
That brings us to an end, First Year. You are not just regular First Years, you are truly Hamptonians now.
Mr Jimenez and the rest of the First Year Team
MY FINAL BLOG POST
It seems that this year has flew by within a week, I guess Albert Einstein said, “Time flies when you are having fun.” Therefore, I would like to write about a poem about Time.
Time
A clock,
A watch,
The mind,
Time.
Highlights,
Fun,
Time.
Time is the future,
Time is the past,
Time is the present,
Time.
The future,
A beautiful destiny,
A destiny full of adventure,
Full of wonders,
Time.
The past,
Memories,
Memories dissolved in time,
The present,
Friends,
Sciences,
Languages,
Maths,
English,
Humanities,
Time.
Something new,
Something to learn,
Time.
From the school trips to sitting in a Geography lesson I have enjoyed everything that Hampton has to offer. Overall, I believe it has benefited me a lot and I happy to say that it has shaped me as a Hamptonian I am today. Even though, I have written thirty–odd blogs, I could still write thirty more about the excellence of Hampton. I guess that is it for First Year.
Have a lovely summer and thank you for reading, I will be back in the next year.
By Ethan S-W (1L)
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
Today is the last day of school. YAY! The days in Hampton having passed by rapidly. I can remember at the start of the year how enthusiastic but anxious I was and a bit overwhelmed because of the size of Hampton. Moreover, I thought about my friends. I was the only one going to Hampton from my primary school, so I had to make new ones. And now, fast forwarding to the present, this is the last day of First Year.
I can remember at the beginning of the year the whole of first year went to Avon Tyrrell for a chance to make friends and have fun on the activities; then our Geography trip to the South Downs after that we went to Windsor Castle. And now later on in the year we been to the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple along with the trip to the Gurudwara. Ending the year off we went to Marwell Zoo for our Biology trip. That’s five trips in the entire year!
By Shaurya D (1L)
Cricket Champions
As I walked onto the minibus carrying the squad of the U12A cricket team, a mix of emotions rushed through me. After a great season this was the moment we were all waiting for. Eager to play we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us. Jumping off the minibus I breathed heavily for fresh air because of the unforgiving humidity that wafted inside. Shortly, after we were escorted to our changing rooms we were greeted by a Middlesex representative. After a quick warmup, Ruaan, the captain did the toss and the other team elected to bat. Our strategy, for bowling was to restrict runs and take wickets, starting with our seamers, Dushyant, Kailan, Theo, and I. After breaking through their first defence, Ruaan brought on the spinners to do some more damage. Josh, Magnus, Ruaan and Will all got quick wickets and QEB were all out for 97 runs.
As we prepared to bat, we were confident in the total that we had to chase. With a needed strike rate of only 3 an over, our openers Ruaan and Devan got off to a steady start. But after the fall of the first wicket, there was a collapse. Luckily, Josh came to the rescue, counter attacking their bowlers with beautiful shots. Although he stabilised the loss of wickets, they still occasionally fell. As I came in to bat, I thought back to when I was padding up my role was not to get lots of runs but to stabilise the innings and rotate the strike. Ball by ball I was defending it into the fielders. Dot after dot pressure began to engulf me so I took a deep breath and pulled myself together. Next ball my first run! My confidence started to build like a brick wall under construction. Hitting the balls into gaps I started to hit singles and doubles, slowly building up the run rate. Unknowingly, the overs were quickly ticking past, so I went to Dushyant, my batting partner and we decided to ramp up the run rate. With only three overs to go, I thought to myself this over was make or break…
As the bowler was running in, I looked at the gap between mid on and mid off and readied my bat to hit it straight. Pitching on the line of middle stump I hit the ball over the bowler’s head for four runs! After hitting the 4 I was very relieved and confident to get more runs. After rotating the strike to Dush he hit the ball for three runs and we won! As I gave a sigh of relief, I could hear the cheering from the team, I could not wait to join them but I was exhausted. Not letting that get in the way, I gave a big grin and ran over to them as we all cheered in success! After a quick chat and some photos, we all went to the changing rooms to celebrate, playing songs and letting our emotions loose.
By Ridhaan G (1F)
YOUNG SAMURAI BOOK REVIEW
Young Samurai is a book series suitable for people interested in history fiction, action and Japanese warriors. In Young Samurai the main character, 12-year-old Jack Fletcher, was attacked by ninjas, where his father was killed, and was left stranded on the coast of Japan near the town called Toba. He was then rescued by the legendary sword master Masamoto. There he trained in the sword school, Niten Ichi Ryū, under the guidance of Masamoto. Suddenly, civil war broke out in Japan and Christians were forced to leave and most were killed by the new Shogun. Jack was forced to fight and lost. Soon, Jack found himself on the dangerous journey to the port of Nagasaki to leave Japan to find his sister.
Young Samurai is suitable for all ages interested in the Japanese history and martial. It engages the reader in realistic scenes with reference to bits of history. It is full of facts, not just about Japanese warriors, but also the culture and arts. It is a book that I would recommend to people who likes history fiction.
By Ian L (1F)
LOWER SCHOOL EVENING
Congratulations to the First and Second Year pupils below who won a prize at the Lower School Evening! A huge well done, however, to the entirety of the lower School on a fantastic year! Take a look at the list of winners here.
Hampton Hunt
Each week I have set you a challenge where you need to find out a random fact, number or indeed anything else around the School – you haven’t be able to do this from home!
The final challenge: Where would you find this important door?
It’s in the Classics/ Biology corridor – Mrs Owen’s office, the Head of Second Year!
Well done to Ian L, Wilf W, Nirvaan B, Charlie F, Alex P, Francisco C I, Magnus F, Rishi K, Aman C, Aaron J, Joseph G, Colin Y, Justin K, Dante A, Sebastian M, William H, Harry M, Alexander A, Thomas Y, Sasha B, William M, Magnus O’L, Harry D, Ethan W, Harry R, Shaurya D, Sujay N, Ilakian D, Ethan S W, Bruno E, Akshaj G, Reuben N, Nalveyda A, Matthew T, Caesar C and Arjan C.
