Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
Welcome back! We hope everyone enjoyed a restful Christmas break filled with many mince pies and much chocolate – although we must say that Christmas feels a long time ago now, what with the vigour with which the Third Years have been getting stuck back into Hampton life! Back onto the sports pitches, back in the music rehearsal rooms and back involved in the huge variety of different activities on offer! This week’s blog shines a spotlight on one such club, as well as some outstanding achievements from members of the Third Year, sports write-ups, an update from the Heads of Year…and a special quiz, with merits up for grabs! So, you’d better keep reading…
Heads of Year Report
It has been lovely to see the boys back in school over the last week and a half. Along with Form Tutors, we have been meeting with boys to discuss and review their autumn term reports – delivering well-deserved congratulations and setting targets for the term ahead. There is a palpable sense of energy amongst the Year Group in the New Year, and we encourage the boys to maintain this sense of purpose and enthusiasm in their endeavours at school throughout this term.
Well done to the U14A Football team for their county cup third round victory at Rutlish School. Good luck in the next round at Whitgift!
We hope that those parents who were able to attend the talk on Relationships and Sex Education by Esther Hardy on Tuesday evening found it as engaging and helpful as we did, joining the many parents who watched the event online.
Thank you to everyone for having the necessary conversations at home to decide GCSE option choices and submit the relevant online form this week. Please continue to contact us, your son’s Form Tutor and Mr McBay (Director of Studies) if you have any ongoing questions or concerns regarding GCSE options.
Covid testing & precautions
For the time being, face coverings must be worn by all pupils (unless exempt) whilst they are in the school buildings or on school coaches.
Please continue with the programme of self-administered asymptomatic LFD testing at regular intervals (twice a week) at home. A reminder that boys must not attend the School site if:
- they have symptoms of Covid-19 (a raised temperature; a new persistent cough; a change in sense of taste or smell)
- they have received a positive Covid-19 test result
All boys should have received their latest box of LFD test kits from their form tutor this week. If this has not made it home, please request test kits by emailing testing@hamptonschool.org.uk.
If your son tests positive, please complete the relevant Firefly form linked here.
Absences
For medical absences, please notify your son’s Form Tutors via email (cc’ing absence@hamptonschool.org.uk) on the morning of each day of absence by 8:45am.
For planned absences and appointments, please contact Heads of Year requesting the absence with as much notice as possible.
Boys – Please let us, your Form Tutors or the relevant subject teachers know if you have any difficulties. We hope you enjoy the term ahead. Have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Miss V Smith
Sports Roundup
Hampton School U14A Rugby vs Tiffin School
The match started with Hampton being the favourites to win, the game was end-to-end in an exhilarating battle for the first try. Finally it was broken with Tiffin scoring the first try with a powerful charge through the middle of the pitch. Although scoring they had missed the conversion meaning that there was still hope for a comeback with 15 minutes remaining. Straight afterwards Hampton equalised with a charging run into the right corner making the game square again. In the final 5 minutes of the game there was a break down the wing leading to a winning try. The conversion sadly didn’t get us points but we still won in a 10-5 victory.
Hampton School U14A Rugby vs Brighton College
This was the anticipated match with the teams having 50/50 odds of winning, after we came back from a rest whilst the two other teams played we were feeling confident. The match began with a blazing start. Brighton made a break through the middle to make the first try under the posts with the conversion. Then in a turn of events Hampton equalised with 15 minutes to go making the score 7 all. However the comeback came to a halt after they had quickly scored straight after the confidence booster. With the conversion the score was 14-7 to Brighton. It was a stalemate until the last play when Hampton made a surging run down the wing scoring a try in the last play. It was all down to the conversion from a very difficult spot. Tobi Quigley stepped up on the last kick of the game and it went through the posts making it a draw for Hampton 14-14.
Hampton School U14A Football vs Rutlish School
On Thursday afternoon the U14A team drove down to Rutlish School in Wimbledon ready to play the third round of the county cup. It was a beautiful sunny day, the perfect conditions to play.
We started of the game very slowly conceiving two goals within the first ten minutes. As we began to gain momentum, Sam M sprinnted down the line to cross the balls into Quinn S who slipped into the bottom corner. Very soon after, Ollie S pinged the ball in from a corner into the box where Louis B bent over and headed the ball into the goal. It was 2-2, Hampton were level. With adrenaline pumping and another corner lined up by Ollie who whipped it in with Quinn quick to get to it and volley it in. At the break we regrouped 3-2 with a new mentality raring to go for the next half. While dominating possession, we had many chances in the final third but lacked precision with many chances going wide. Halfway through the second half Sam made another brilliant run beating the Rutlish right back with his shot being saved, Alex A swept up the deflection with a goal to give us a 4-2 lead. Arjun B picked up a ball from Danny M down the line and beat the first defender with a Ronaldo chop, crossed it into Sam who finished it to end the game with a strong 5-2 win. On to the fourth round against Whitgift away.
Team Lunch Review:
BLT 8/10
Chicken and Bacon 7/10
Mini cheddars 5/10
Banana 6.7/10
Hampton Rowing
The rowers have been enjoying the stunning weather on the river this week. With no wind and bright sunshine, it has been superb training conditions.
The skills are improving really well; we are now able to row whole crew with good control as you can see in the video below.
We are busy preparing for our first big race, the Eton Invitational Head on Saturday 22 January which will be on the Olympic rowing lake at Dorney.
Games Afternoon
The whole year have been getting back into their Games afternoon – highlights shown below. Can you spot yourself??
The Writers’ Room
The Writers’ Room opened its doors again on Wednesday 12 January. Come along to Room 53 in the English Department at 12.45pm. All welcome, any questions, please contact Mrs McLusky in the English department.
Life Savers
This week the Third Years have begun their journey towards becoming life savers, with the initial forms having started their First Aid sessions in PSHE. The sessions are being run by our own resident First Aid Trainer, the School Nurse Mrs Searle, and between now and the end of the year each form will receive sufficient training to gain their FAA Level 2 Award in Student First Aid. The first session contained acronyms galore, with LIONEL, DR ABC and CPR all introduced to the boys.
Arts Award
Congratulations to all those Third Years who have been selected to take part in this year’s Arts Award. Over the coming months, the boys will be working on a plethora of different projects, including fashion design, building an escape room board game, as well as making a documentary film about a haunted theatre…spooky!
Get yourself on the wall!
For any Third Years who haven’t already submitted their environmental pledge for inclusion on the Hampton Environmental Wall, there is still time! Simply follow the instructions below, and get pledging!
- Pledge video explanation here
- A photo of you holding a pledge, this can be on a computer or piece of paper. If you just write your pledge you will sadly not be part of the wall
- The writing should be visible – please check the writing before you submit
- The photo should be portrait
- Submit your photo here
Club of the Week
This week’s club of the week is Cryptic Crossword Club. Nathan N (3J) gives us an insight into what it’s all about:
In cryptic crossword club, we try to solve a different crossword each week. However, you are given cryptic clues, which are quite discrete. Instead of reading the clue like a normal sentence, you have to break the sentence into different parts, and think literally about the words/phrases. Some words trigger anagrams, they might get abbreviated, or more. The answer usually has a similar meaning to the first or last word(s). It is usually quite challenging but fun! The club takes place at Mondays 1.05pm in Room 11a.
So if you’re interested in solving challenging word puzzles, then COME ALONG! Or should I say: “Invitation to disrupted Monaco leg (4,5)”
What a star!
Just before the Christmas holiday Zaidan A (3G) received his Star Rank in the Boyscouts of America, Troop 401 (London). Zaidan was a member of the Cubscouts & Boyscouts of America in his former hometown of Dubai, UAE from the age of six, when he first set his sights on achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Star is the third highest rank in Boyscouts!
Music to our ears
Jeff L (3J) recently auditioned for the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain and was successfully promoted from Blue Choir to the prestigious Senior Choir within the NCCGB. Congratulations Jeff!
Bouncing back
After recovering from a broken wrist during last term, Dante P (3J) has been selected for the UK basketball training camp – an elite group of players from which the UK team is selected. Keep on bouncing Dante!
Interform Competition
This term’s interform competition events haven’t kicked off yet, but you can bet they’ll be as hotly contested as ever when they do! But what’s that? You’re after a video summary of last term’s events? Well, Trivikram (3B) can provide…
Connection Corner
Have a go at answering the following quiz questions! Once you’ve got your answers, see if you can spot a connection that links them…
Oops! We could not locate your form.
Go on, have a go for your chance to win a merit!