Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
We are, as you all know, about to be faced with about a month’s worth of FOOTBALL. The World Cup is here, as is everything that comes with it. This is, of course, something to be celebrated. The Third Year Blog enjoys football as much as the next text-based-representative-of-a-school-year-group.
But, there is a ubiquity to football which can occasionally become a little overbearing. So, while the start of the World Cup and the uncomfortably Anglocentric question of whether it (and, indeed, football itself) will be coming ‘home’ or not is exciting, it is hard not to feel that we could at least try to focus on other things as well, at least for the first 50 matches or so (there are 104 of them in this new, larger World Cup).
Which leads the Third Year Blog to ask you to consider Cricket.
Cricket is undoubtedly a polarising activity and the Third Year Blog would not pretend to have either the persuasive power or the reach to make anyone feel any differently about it, but, having offered that magnanimous nonsense, the reality is that cricket is awesome and if you disagree, then respectfully, you are wrong, and you have never experienced the sheer emotional and physical beauty of someone making no attempt to score at all in the sport of their choice for several hours and yet still finding themselves feted as a hero because they got a draw. A draw.
As you may be able to tell, the Third Year Blog tends to lose its cool (not THAT sort of cool, the Third Year Blog has never had that) when faced with the idea that cricket might not be a sensational use of five days. Fortunately for the Third Year Blog, there are also pupils in the School who feel the same way.
This week, amongst other things, we have a report from the U14A team (National Champions of last year!) – read on below to see how it went. It’s not ALL cricket, but for this week, the Third Year Blog is going to pretend that it is, at least in this bit.
Heads of Year Message
Third Year pupils will be allowed to use the multi-gym at lunchtimes (except for Thursdays) from Monday next week. There are many other co-curricular opportunities ongoing (see the daily notices email for details) and we encourage everyone to make the most of these over the remaining weeks of term. Please throw yourselves into the activities on offer and keep supporting one another with kindness right until the end of term. As always, do reach out to us or your Form Tutors if you are having any difficulties.
PSHE
We have asked all Third Year pupils to reflect on their assessment preparations, processes and performance during their Form Period this week. Everyone was asked to note down things that they feel went well, lessons learned about revision planning and exam technique, and any areas to focus on for improvement in Fourth Year.
On Monday next week, we are delighted to be giving up our regular PSHE period 3 for inclusion in the Cross-Curricular Day. Throughout periods 1-5 all Third Year pupils will benefit from a carousel of specially formulated lessons, on the theme of Identity, delivered in History, Geography, RS, Modern Languages and Equity Diversity & Inclusion.
On Monday 22 June, we are very grateful that Mrs Nicholson will deliver a talk to the whole Year Group on Water Safety. As the weather improves, many teenagers in the local area are tempted to try open water swimming – sometimes with (highly publicised) tragic consequences. We are keen to mitigate these risks by talking to the boys in School about water safety precautions, but we would also encourage parents to pick this conversation up at home as we approach the warmer summer weather. The boys need to be aware of the very real risks involved in open water swimming – especially the impact of cold-water shock and strong (often unseen) underwater currents. Our main advice to the boys will be to avoid unsupervised open water swimming.
Arrangements for return of current laptop and collection of new laptops for all Third Year pupils
- Current laptop, charging cable and stylus pen to be returned to IT staff on Monday 15 June (Forms 3A-E) and Tuesday 16 June (Forms 3F-J) over the lunch break. This will take place in the Atrium.
- Please note, that in the event of any items being lost or damaged (particularly if this is not the first time that damage has occurred), the cost of repair or replacement will be charged accordingly.
- If you are unable to collect the laptop during the dates and times listed above, you may collect it from the IT Office (Room F27) later.
- Pupils will receive their new laptop (with setup guide), charger, and stylus at the same time.
- The new laptop should be setup that evening and brought into School for use in lessons from the next day. No attempts should be made to configure the laptop at School.
- The IT department will offer drop-in sessions during the lunch break in the Lecture Theatre on Thursday 18 June.
- Please note that the laptop comes in a box with instructions, charging cables, etc. The box is unlikely to fit in a packed school bag and it is preferable to keep all elements together until the set up at home. For safety reasons, we advise all pupils to avoid carrying the new IT equipment so that it is visible on their journey home from School. As such, we strongly recommend that all pupils bring a separate bag to carry the new IT equipment home in.
Prior to attending
- Pupils must make sure that all documents in the Documents folder and on the Desktop are synchronised with OneDrive (the cloud icon in the Task Bar should be blue. If there is a red cross on it, this indicates a synchronisation issue). They should also ensure they have synced their Class Notebooks.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: There is software loaded onto the school laptops that enables safeguarding monitoring to take place at all times. Any online searches, social media interactions, or other digital activities undertaken on the school laptop that meet the threshold of concern will be picked up by the school’s network filters when the laptop is brought back into school. Pupils should recognise the need to use the laptops for school work and school purposes only (including when away from school). Pupils may face a sanction if they fail to adhere to the IT Acceptable Usage Policy.
Should you have any questions or concerns about the school IT provision, please contact helpdesk@hamptonschool.org.uk.
Absences
If your child will be absent from School for any reason, please complete the absence reporting form, which can be found on My School Portal, on every morning of your child’s absence. For absences other than illness e.g. if a pupil has a dental or medical appointment during School hours, notice of this should be given in advance. For planned absences, please contact Heads of Year requesting the absence with as much notice as possible.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend!
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore
Cup Success
As we travelled up for our well anticipated U14 cup match game against Mill Hill, everyone was slightly nervous. When we arrived, they were having a full net session warming up and we only had 20 minutes before play.
Despite us losing the toss and bowling first, we put on a decent bowling display with slips of bad fielding but still managed to keep them to 130 runs with very good bowling from Kailan S and Oscar C at the end.
We then went out to bat with Devan S and Rey J opening. We started off strongly, despite losing a relatively early wicket, but Rey J kept ticking over the scoreboard and, in the 19th over, he scored the final runs for an impressive 90 not out.
We are looking forward to the next game on Monday (against Merchant Taylors’ School) and, if we win, hopefully a final on Tuesday.
By Magnus O’L (3G)
Arsenal Champions Parade
When I went to the Arsenal parade a few weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of Arsenal fans were there – there were so many of them it was hard to see! We turned North London into a sea of red for the mighty Arsenal’s historic parade, with the whole crowd singing songs celebrating our first Premier League title in 22 years.
Despite our heart breaking loss a day earlier in the Champions League Final, the atmosphere from the crowd and the players was nothing but joy. The smoke from the red flares that we all threw was very cool (although they stank!), while the loud roar of chants echoed through the streets of Islington.
The supporters showed passion, with people of all ages who had patiently waited like me and my father for this amazing moment. As the open-top buses carrying Mikel Arteta and the squad passed by, I got the opportunity to see the beautiful trophy for the first time.
It was an amazing experience!
By Finn T (3G)
Anyone for Tennis?
On Wednesday, I went to Eton College to play in the Eton Junior Pairs. This is a time-based tennis tournament where each pair plays for 25 minutes, and the team with the most games advances.
We absolutely crushed our opening match, advancing through the round of 16 after defeating our opponents 11-4. We then played against a very strong Eton side, where we unfortunately lost by a really narrow margin with a score of 7-8. However, my partner and I did manage to beat them in a very close game at 5-4. Despite that heartbreaking and quite frustrating result, we did not back down and completely dominated our last two matches of the day, winning overall 18-9.
Overall, we placed 7th out of the entire competition. I really want to applaud my teammates because I think we played the best tennis we ever have. We had a very good chemistry between each other; we made very intelligent decisions in terms of reading each other’s movements; we barely clashed during the matches, and we didn’t give up after the frustrating loss against Eton.
It was a great day of tennis with very good weather and incredible court conditions. I am proud of what we achieved as 4-man team (it was me as well as Zidan A (Fourth Year), Filippos M (Second Year) and Orlando G (First Year).
By Duncan C (3A)
Star Club Regatta
Last Saturday, me and 27 others went to the Great River Ouse in Bedford to race at the Star Club Regatta.
This race is done with two boats racing side by side, over a 1.2km course through the town. It is a knockout competition, with you needing to win your race to avoid getting knocked out.
Originally, my Quad (four rowers sculling + cox) was to be the earliest race, requiring us to leave the boathouse, along with the boats in the early hours of that morning; however, our opposition pulled out.
Unfortunately, all of our other boats got knocked out first round, but the one which I was in made it to the final and won in the end, winning all our races ‘easily’ (as per the results), with us taking home a ‘Star Club Regatta’ mug.
By Matthew T (3G)
Lion Print
The Lion Print is a brilliant publication that collects the creative writing of Hamptonians, combines it with the art of Hamptonians and pulls it together into a beautiful book. It’s a highlight of the year and a real showcase for the creativity of the boys at the School.
The deadline for this year’s book is next Friday 19th June.
All you need to do is send your creative writing (or your art) to Mrs Pickford Scienti (R.PickfordScienti@hamptonschool.org.uk). Make sure you put ‘Lion Print Submission’ as the title of your email! If you are sending art, please ensure that the image is clear and of a high enough resolution to reproduce effectively.
- It could be anything you have created (as long as you haven’t used AI!).
- It could be a poem.
- It could be a story.
- It could be a description.
- It can be any piece of art that you’ve created.
- It could be a particularly strong piece of work for your Reading Scheme.
- It could be something you have written that has won a competition.
All in all, it’s a great opportunity to showcase what you are capable of, so get submitting! It is, of course, worth saying that just submitting something isn’t a guarantee of being published – there is a process of selection! But, if you want the opportunity for your work to appear, now is the time to either send it through, or to create something that could be submitted.
What a task for the weekend!
Two truths and a lie
Mr Schurch lied to us last week.
These were his claims:
- Mr Schurch competed in Japan at a World Karate Championships; winning a silver medal
- When teaching in Kenya, Mr Schurch once protected a group of pupils from a lion
- Mr Schurch crashed into a wall while cycling down the steepest hill in Britain
So, what was true here?
It turns out that Mr Schurch did win a silver medal in a World Karate Championships. This is remarkable news, though he did soften the claim by saying that it was in a fairly niche form of Karate. Either way, the Third Year Blog would strongly suggest you ensure that any homework Mr Schurch ever asks you to complete is done promptly and well. Less impressively, Mr Schurch did crash into a wall while cycling down the steepest hill in Britain. What this means is that Mr Schurch did not once protect a group of pupils from a Lion in Kenya. It is unclear as to whether the entire scenario was fictional, or if he chose not to protect these pupils who were then savaged by a Lion. Either way, this is thankfully not a scenario that Mr Schurch finds himself in very often in leafy South West London.
This week, we have Mr Hall of the Classics Department lying through his teeth.
Mr Hall plays Grade 8 saxophone, with a focus on heavy, technical jazz.
Mr Hall never wears the same pair of socks twice.
Mr Hall once ate horse on the Tajikistan and Afghanistan border.
Which is the lie? All will be revealed next week!
Connection Corner
Well done to the everyone who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. Merits go to all those who correctly guessed that the answers were all Patron Saints of the UK. Big shout out to Alex d V, Maximilian P, George W, Rishi V, Toby B, Asger C, Reuben N, Charlie F, Theo P, Liangxu Z and Mehrad M.
Why not have a go at this week’s fiendish Connection Corner:
In case, you’re still perplexed here are the answers from the last week’s conundrum:
- Who is second in line to the throne? Prince George
- Which actor played Spiderman before Tom Holland? Andrew Garfield
- Which author wrote Gangsta Granny? David Walliams
- Which French international football player previously managed Crystal Palace? Patrick Viera
Connection – they’re all patron saints of the UK
Have a great weekend!
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