Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
I hope everyone had a fantastic half-term break and managed to enjoy some well-earned rest before returning to school. It has been wonderful to see the Second Years back with such energy and enthusiasm, ready for another busy and exciting term.
There has already been plenty happening around the school, from matches and lunchtime clubs to rehearsals for upcoming performances and concerts. As always, many of our pupils have also been busy pursuing their interests outside of school, whether that has been spending time with family and friends, developing new skills, celebrating special occasions or taking part in some fascinating clubs and activities.
In this week’s blog, we hear from several Second-Year pupils who have shared their experiences from recent weeks. From solving Rubik’s cubes at Speed Cubing Club and debating global issues in Model United Nations, to exploring the school’s archives in Project 27 and enjoying memorable family moments over the holidays, their contributions showcase the wide range of opportunities available both in and out of school.
Happy reading!
Merit Milestones
A bumper week for merits – big shout out to the following Second Year Hamptonians:
Aditya S -10
Avyan A – 10
James A – 10
Mahir O – 10
Theo C – 10
Jay P – 10
Cullan D – 10
Kayan A – 10
Arthur S – 10
Ethan V – 10
Guy H – 20
Kerem D – 20
Joshua L – 20
Henry N – 20
Kevin W – 20
Julian H – 20
Owen M – 20
Aiden G – 20
Felix LK – 20
Ted D – 20
Lucas DC – 20
Owen SW – 20
Jacob B – 20
Arda T – 20
Nicholas M – 30
Andriy K – 30
Owen M – 30
Danny T – 30
Ryan P – 30
Jack D – 30
Jack D – 40
Edin H – 40
Cubing challenge
Trying something new can often lead to unexpected passions. For George S (2J), Speedcubing Club has provided the opportunity to learn new skills, solve increasingly challenging puzzles and enjoy some friendly competition with friends.
Recently, I have been going to Speedcubing Club. When I first went, I was just looking for something new to try, I didn’t have any experience of solving Rubik’s cubes. The club teaches you step by step on how to solve and after a couple weeks, I learnt how to solve a 3×3 along with many other interesting puzzles including a Pyraminx, a 2×2 and a Skewb, it is extremely satisfying to learn a puzzle and get faster. Each week is usually based on a specific puzzle, but you can solve whatever you want which is something I love about the club. Lots of my friends have now gotten into it as well, and it’s fun to race against them!
If you are interested, the club is in F67 at 1:10pm on a Wednesday. All equipment is supplied by the club and of course, no experience is needed.
By George S (2J)
Unearthing Hampton’s History
From historic magazines to fascinating artefacts, Project 27 offers pupils a unique opportunity to explore the School’s past. Ronak B (2F) explains why this exciting archival project has captured his imagination
Hello readers! In this blog I will be writing about the legendary Project 27! This is a club about the enriching history of the school in 100 objects! Led by Miss Munday and Mrs Willcox, this project completely focuses on digging objects up from the archives and incorporating and researching them. After that, it is then added to the catalogue template! As a group we hope to finish this before the end of summer 2027 hence the name ‘Project 27.’ On Wednesday I uncovered Old Lion magazines! These ranged from a one of a kind 1908 copy to an enormously hefty 2020-2025 one! We are currently on 10 objects. Not bad for one half term! These include a pure silk library calendar, a Chinese chess set, stuffed crocodiles and even a German bayonet! Alongside me, the current members of the club are Ruben V, Philip V, Rory H, Lawrence L, Ediz Y and Sai G. Sometimes we find out new objects or add to old ones and in addition we scan and upload objects to an online platform.
The archivist also helps us problem solve and uncover the truth about objects. I remember that we found an El Alamein booklet signed by Winston Churchill himself…Wow. Plaudits go to Mrs Willcox for helping us and making the Club a great place to be. It is extremely informative and engaging. I highly recommend it, we meet in the Library or F44 on Wednesdays during second lunch.
Prepare to be blown away!
By Ronak B (2F)
Debating Global Issues
Lunchtime clubs offer a fantastic way to broaden horizons and develop new skills. Akshat P (2P) reflects on his experience of Model United Nations and how debating from different perspectives has helped him think about worldwide issues
Recently, I’ve been attending Model United Nations (MUN) Club to learn more about politics and debating. Usually, we choose a global topic and debate it from the perspective of different countries around the world. We cover a new topic every few weeks, and recently we wrapped up a debate on ‘AI and its powers.’ During the discussion, I argued that, while AI is a powerful tool capable of saving lives, it can also be immensely destructive if it falls into the wrong hands! Although it can be confusing at times, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it, and I recommend joining to expand your views about the world.
By Akshat P (2P)
Half Term Adventures
The half term break gave many pupils the chance to relax, spend time with family and make lasting memories with friends. Cyrus T (2G) shares some of his highlights, from a successful evening of trick-or-treating to welcoming his father back from Hong Kong.
To begin with, I went trick-or-treating with my friends! We met up near Richmond, and a while later, we were off! One of my friends, Aahil, led the way, with “Da Map” as he says. Through passageways and streets filled with decorations, we gained sweets from loads of amazingly decorated doors. An interesting thing along our journey was that when we knocked on some doors, they seemingly just… opened. At first, we thought it was them trying to scare us, but surprisingly they forgot to lock the door! However, many houses had already run out of sweets with most having a sign saying: ‘sorry, out of sweets.’ Luckily for us, one house had their special ‘Invisible chocolates’. We all dug through them; they were the best!
Our half term breaks may be a way of getting some rest, playing games or even staying up until 11pm! But half term always brings someone in my family back… my father! He lives in Hong Kong but comes back every time I have a holiday break or half term. I always look forward to seeing him, he is amazing. He brings back many traditional treats from Hong Kong which I really enjoy eating, especially when I live here in the UK. It is sad when it is time to leave him, but I always remember that he will be back next time I have a break from school!
This truly has been a great experience writing for the blog, I hope this inspires many others to write their first too!
By Cyrus T (2G)
A Halloween Birthday to Remember
Halloween is always an exciting occasion, but for Arthur C (2W) it is made even more special by sharing the day with his birthday. From football and brunch to trampolining and trick-or-treating, he enjoyed a packed and memorable celebration.
Last Saturday was the spookiest day of the year, Halloween. Halloween is celebrated all over the world where people dress up in funny, cool and spooky costumes and everyone goes round to people’s houses saying trick-or-treat and having fun, getting sweets. I am lucky enough to have my birthday on Halloween, so every year I make great plans with a fun action-packed day. I never sleep on my birthday, I started with an early morning waking up at 2 am (my mum was not happy), and after waiting in bed I decided to go downstairs. Later, I then had an intense football match against local rivals, and I scored a goal and we ended up winning 1-0. Then straight after, my parents took me out to have brunch, I had eggs benedict and it was delicious! Then with not much time to relax, I had some of my friends come over to my house and we went to ‘Jump-In’ trampoline park in Esher, we had a great time and I loved it. Then to finish off our day, my friends and I had pizza at my house and went trick-or-treating and watched a movie, with lots of sweets. Overall, I had a great time and had one of my best birthdays ever.
By Arthur C (2W)
Reuniting with Family in Spain
School holidays often provide the perfect opportunity to travel and reconnect with loved ones. Arman H (2G) writes about his recent trip to Spain, where he enjoyed family time, delicious food and some memorable experiences in and around Madrid.
Over the holidays, I went to Spain to see my family. They live in a small town near Madrid, called “Alcala de Henares.” We went quite late through the holidays, from the 28 October to 1 November, just in time before school restarted.
The journey started…well…not to plan… Basically, our bus (65) to the metro station got badly delayed that it terminated early somewhere in Brentford! However, we still made it to the airport on time. I like planes a lot, so I was a bit disappointed to hear that our aircraft got changed from an Airbus A330-200 (a rare, long-haul style aircraft, with screens!) to an Airbus A320neo (a common, domestic-short, medium-haul type aircraft, with no screens), however it was fine as it was only a two-hour flight. We landed at 10:45pm Spain time and got to Alcala at around 11:20pm.
The next day, me, my two cousins, and their friends from Bordeaux, France, all went together to the neighbouring town to have some “all you can eat” sushi. If you took too much food and still had some left on your plate at the end, then you had to pay extra for it! The next day, all of us including my cousins’ friends went into Madrid via train to have croquettes and a bunch of other Tapas-like style foods such as Iberian meat (Jamón Ibérico) in a local restaurant for dinner (I don’t speak Spanish, so my cousins ordered for me). The ham and cheese and seafood mix croquette was my favourite!
The penultimate day, it was Halloween, although I didn’t go trick or treating. Instead, my aunt and I went to a cool no-roof mall called “Oasiz.” I have been there twice already with my cousins, and this was my third time. If you are ever in the area or Madrid, I highly recommend going! The last time I went, we went to the arcade, I had frozen yoghurt, and Popeyes for dinner. This time I went to the cinema, and the popcorn size was massive! Probably three times the size of a large popcorn bucket in Westfield’s cinema! I watched Shaun the Sheep: Halloween edition. The movie was great overall, with lots of unimaginable twists and turns! Finally, we went back to our house, and we had to wake up early because our flight was at 10am. After two hours of flying, we landed back in London. It was a great holiday overall; I hadn’t seen my family in around 7 months, so it was nice to reunite!
By Arman H (2G)
Did You Know? The History of Fireworks
With Bonfire Night taking place this week, Arthur BP (2L) explores the fascinating history of fireworks, from their origins in ancient China to the colourful displays that light up the sky today.
Fireworks were made around 2,000 years ago, probably accidentally by chemists trying to find the potion of eternal life. People noticed that when you threw bamboo on a fire, the air would expand and go BANG. A few hundred years later, because of the boom of trading between Asia and Europe, the silk roads, they were brought to Arabia and when crusaders and merchants such as Marco Polo came back from the Middle East and Asia. The use of gunpowder became widespread as a form of scaring the enemy before battle. The first recording of this was in the 100 years’ war at the Battle of Crécy, in France. But it did not take long until royal families started using them for parties. Because gunpowder was an exotic material it was very pricy, almost as expensive as silk. Finally in the Renaissance (1300-1600), some Italian scientists decided to experiment by adding coloured metal salts, which changed the boring orange-fire sparks to greens, blues and reds, which we all use today.
By Arthur BP (2L)
Question of the Week
It seems that 2F travelled far and wide over half term! Here’s their question of the week:
What was the most unusual, exciting or surprising place you visited over half term?
Whether it was climbing mountains in Wales, exploring the markets of Marrakech, relaxing on the beaches of Mauritius, visiting family in Croydon, or marching in a parade through Disneyland Paris, we loved hearing about your adventures!
Perhaps the biggest question is whether anyone can beat these destinations during the Christmas holidays!
SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS!
We love to hear about what you have been getting up to outside of school and to celebrate your successes in the First Year Blog! Please do send any information about any of your achievements through to Miss Cookson (m.cookson@
Quiz of the week
Welcome to the Quiz of the Week! Think you know your Bonfire Night facts? Test your knowledge with this week’s fiery quiz! Have a go yourself, challenge your friends and family, and see who can score full marks.
Remember, all five correct answers will be awarded a merit, so make sure you take part!
Here are the answers to last week’s Halloween-themed quiz:
- On what date is Halloween celebrated each year? 31 October
- What vegetable was traditionally carved into lanterns before pumpkins became popular? Turnips
- What is the name of the magical school attended by Harry Potter? Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
- In which country did the festival that inspired modern Halloween, known as Samhain, originate? Ireland
- What is the fear of Halloween called? Samhainophobia
Well done to the following Second Year Hamptonians who answered everything correctly – Hiu Yeung K, Evaan P, Owen S-W, Seung-Hoo K, Jacob B, Aditya S, Barney D, Mahad H, Storm R, Mahir O, Jack M, Alex B, Yuvi U, Morgan K and Pesandu W.
