Design Ventura, Buddy Meet-up & Fingers on Buzzers!

WELCOME TO THE THIRD YEAR BLOG!

Everyone is settled back into the saddle and we find ourselves careening through another Hampton half term. The pace of life at Hampton tends to be relentlessly fast, which is generally a positive. The one area in which this doesn’t tend to be true is in the way that the pupils move around the School. There is a tendency to either be running, which isn’t allowed, or walking inconceeeiiiiivabbbllly slooooowwwwlly. It is quite remarkable watching young Hampton athletes (who you have seen sprinting around the 3G just minutes before) shuffling down the corridors.

Of course, there are a couple of facts that are worth bearing in mind when considering this:

• The highest speed a Hamptonian attains on a weekday will be between 12.33 (if they’re lucky) and 12.37 (if they’re not), when they are doing everything they can to get to the front of the lunch queue for some of that sweet, sweet southern fried chicken. You cannot truly understand the meaning of the phrase ‘dog eat dog’ until you have seen a group of Third Year pupils who believe they have an opportunity to get to the lunch hall before another group of Third Year pupils.
• The percentage of time a given pupil has their shirt untucked during the day is inversely proportional to the speed with which they move between lessons. The Physics department will be able to provide the precise calculations, but this is a proven fact.

Regardless of the speed at which you move around the School, we are all now just four weeks away from the Christmas break, which seems slightly ridiculous. There is a bittersweet quality to this in that we are very close to a wonderful time of the year, but with quite a lot to get through in terms of work before we all reach it. It will be a busy time, but one that should be enjoyed. Of course, it is when time is pressured and things are busy that tempers can fray and behaviour can slip a little. It’s worth noting that the English school calendar is focused around the Christian days of celebration, but we have just passed the celebration of Diwali. While there are many different ways in which Diwali is celebrated, it can be described as representing light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. This feels like the perfect way to attempt to approach the remainder of the term (and, indeed, any term). It is certainly going to be the light guiding the Third Year Blog in the coming weeks and it feels like a strong collective aim for the year group!

But, what do you come to the Third Year Blog for? Spiritual nourishment and guidance? Nooooo! Football team reports? Yeeeeeeesssss! A report on the Design Ventura project being run by the Design and Engineering department? Yesssss!! News about Third Year pupils beating another school in a quiz challenge?? Let’s goooooooo!!!! Connection Corner? Yeeeeesssss!!! Form Tutors lying? Yeeessssss!!!! Spiritual nourishm… Nooooo!!!

Ok, ok, ok. Here’s some of what the Third Years have been getting up to this week.

HEADS OF YEAR MESSAGE

GCSE Options & HELP Projects

Further to Mr Wilkinson’s presentation in Third Year Assembly on Thursday, we hope that many Third Year pupils will seriously consider undertaking a HELP Level 2 project this year. All pupils will be sent an email with a link to the sign-up information on SharePoint next week. A reminder that there is an expectation that Academic Scholars should undertake a HELP project in the Third Year. Dr Hendry gave an introductory presentation to all Third Year pupils on Thursday about GCSE Options – she has requested that all GCSE Options forms are submitted by Thursday 9 January. Please look out for Dr Hendry’s letter, which will be sent to parents within the next two weeks along with the GCSE Options booklet.

Merits

We enjoyed handing out several Head of Year Merit certificates during our Year Group Assembly on Thursday. There have been a few Silver (30) and Gold (40) Merit certificates achieved already this term, and we are starting to see a steady stream of Lion Merit certificate awards. We encourage all Third Year pupils to keep up the good work and good deeds to earn these Academic and Lion Merits, and then come to sign them off and collect an edible reward during Friday morning break at the Third Year office.

No Limits Week

We are excited about No Limits Week. We encourage all Third Year pupils to take a full and active part in the co-curricular activities on offer starting Monday 18 November, recognising that many clubs will make an extra effort to put on activities that are suitable for newcomers on a “have a go” basis. Every pupil will need to get sign off having attended three co-curricular clubs/activities in their yellow books. Our recommendation is that everyone should aim to try at least one club/activity that they have never done before. You can review some of the options that will be available here.

Maths Setting Tests

Please can parents direct any queries regarding Third Year Maths setting to Mrs Watson-Evans (M.Watson-Evans@hamptonschool.org.uk) in the Maths department.

Absences

If your son 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 son’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.

Boys – Please remember to let us, your Form Tutors or the relevant subject teachers know if you are having any difficulties. We hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes

Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore

Design Ventura Club

Design Ventura is a design and enterprise challenge aimed at pupils from Third to Fifth Year, Luke F (3D) tells us about:

In the Design Ventura Project Club we participate in a challenge, in groups of 4 to 6, to market, design and create a device or object that we will then present to a Council of people and which will be judged. If a particular group’s design wins, its idea will be manufactured and put into the Design Museum shop in London. The project unlocks our teambuilding, creative and innovative potentials and is great fun!  

Buddy meeting

This year we are introducing a new scheme where the new joiners in the Third Year are paired up with mentors in the year above who had also joined the School in the Third Year. The idea is to allow the older Hamptonians to help the younger ones find their way in the School and to share their experiences. It is also a great way of fostering more connections across year groups. Of course, this year’s Third Year mentees will also then get a chance to act as mentors next year!

The scheme was launched on Friday breaktime and we look forward to seeing how it develops.

Football Reports

14A Football

Last Saturday, Hampton U14A team faced Eton for a second time, after losing the first game 2-1. Before the match, we had high hopes of generating a brilliant comeback. We were more prepared this time, knowing their strengths. The game began.

Within the first ten minutes, we had already scored, a goal from a corner scored by Dean B that put us into the lead. It stayed this way until half-time. Shortly after, we conceded to a good Eton goal. It ended as a draw and we were not feeling too pleased after the match because we deserved more from the game. We look forward to playing Charterhouse on Saturday.

By Dean B (3B)

U14B Football

Last Thursday the U14B team played in the second round of the ESFA Cup competition against St Paul’s Academy. We kicked off the game and put them under lots of pressure at the start. We managed to get an early lead with a curler into the bottom left of the goal from Freddie R-S. The opposition made a quick response and scored an equaliser before halftime. The first half ended 1-1.

The second half started quietly, with few chances. Then their left back gave a dodgy pass in front of goal, with their keeper out of position. Stan H was able to capitalise. 2-1. After the goal we sat back and invited pressure. They passed around the edge of the box but struggled to get in. On one of their attacks, we won the ball and played out to the right where Tom H was waiting. He carried it from about the halfway line, beat a defender and slotted it in at the back post. 3-1.

With about 10 minutes to go the opponents were putting lots of pressure on us and managed to draw a penalty which was scored. 3-2.

The end was very nervy with the opposition pressing high, with nothing more to lose. In the last minute of the game, they won a corner which all their players including their goalkeeper ran up for. It bounced around in the box until Elijah T managed to clear it away. The ref blew his whistle, and the game ended 3-2. We were through to round 3!

By Stan H (3D)

Quiz Challenge

On Monday, Fred O, Dennis H and I took part in our first quiz match of the year! It was very exciting, and it was the first match of the main cup which we take part in – the Schools’ Challenge Quiz competition. We played against Brentwood School. At the start, we were all confident but a little nervous due to this being the first match, and no-one knew what to expect. The quiz got under way and the first two starter questions were very difficult, with neither team answering them at all…

However, after that, we started to build up some points, with all four of our team members answering starter questions and contributing to bonus questions, the fourth addition to the team being a Fourth Year, Hamoodi. An example of a starter question is “What is the name of the Swiss chocolatier famous for its Golden Bear?” The answer, of course, is Lindt. An example of a bonus question (one of three questions you get when you answer the starter question correctly) is “What is dendrology the study of?” The answer to that one is trees, as the root of the word is δενδρον, pronounced ‘dendron’, meaning tree in Greek.

In the end, we won the match by a huge 470 points to 90! We are all very much looking forward for what is to come in the competition.

By Joe B (3B)

No Limits week

Next week is No Limits Week, which is all about moving out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself with something new! Lower School Hamptonians are encouraged to go to at least three new clubs or societies over the course of the week. From History Society to Basketball, from Board Games to Biology Club, this is your chance to discover a new passion and have a go at doing something a little bit different! Miss Holt tells us all about it:

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

Last week, Mr Wong debased himself with a lie. Here were his claims:

• Mr Wong picked his preferred first name after a fantasy fiction character
• Mr Wong is a deeply experienced handball coach
• Mr Wong’s favourite sport is tennis

So which was the lie?

Well, if Hampton were to start a handball team (it feels like we should to be honest), Mr Wong would be the prime candidate to run that team having been a qualified handball coach for a decade. Mr Wong did pick his preferred first name after a fantasy fiction character – this was a moment when he was in secondary school and a teacher asked him to choose a first name. His choice was the main character in the Dark Elf Trilogy – if you are a member of D & D club, you may be able to work out what it is…). What this means is that tennis is not Mr Wong’s favourite sport. They say first impressions last and Mr Wong’s first impression of playing tennis was in his first year of university when he managed to hit himself in the face with his racket. Let’s just say that Mr Wong has never played tennis since.

This week, Mrs White is our selected moral disgrace. Which of these offerings is the lie?

• Mrs White spent her childhood in Germany
• Mrs White’s favourite sport is figure skating
• While Mrs White LOVES ‘borshch’ (the traditional Russian beetroot soup), she has no idea how to cook it

CONNECTION CORNER

A big shout out to everyone who had a go at the last Connection Corner and well done those of you who answered all the questions correctly. The correct connection wasthat they’re all related to a deck of playing cards! Merits go to Matthew L, Konrad G, Navid S, David W, Alex G, Luca F, Brian K, Shishir V, Oscar S, Benjamin J, Nathan W, Siddhant S, James G, Manilo C, Liam C, Vayun J, Oliver Y, James G, Arha D, Danya P & Mrs Pickford Scienti!

Another tricky one this week, have a go over the weekend and see if you can spot the connection:

In case you’re still perplexed, here are last week’s answers:

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!