Welcome to the First Year Blog!
The First Year’s Charity Quiz with LEH was a highlight of the week along with the Mentor lunches in the Dining Hall. Meanwhile, it has been a fabulous week to be outside in the sunshine playing sport. As I sit at my desk writing this week’s blog, I can see footballs flying past my window at a great height kicked by exuberant Hamptonians playing on the field.
We had an inspiring talk from Mr Cross, History teacher and Olympic Gold medallist, and his stories are related in the report below. Also, huge congratulations are due to Arjun D (1W) for winning the Hampton Innovators’ Award.
Do please come along to Blog Club next Tuesday at 12.40 in F67 (sweets and Lion Merits on offer) with your ideas and your laptop.
Champion rower
On Thursday, our very own history teacher and champion rower, Mr Cross, gave us an extremely fascinating Talk! about his rowing successes, the challenges he faced, and how he overcame them. He told us that all he wanted to receive was an Olympic medal, which he completed by gaining a Bronze medal in the Moscow 1980 Olympics. In the years between the Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics, he faced many challenges, falling behind in his rowing prowess, being put in a Great Britain rowing group that he did not want to be part of. Despite all of this, he won a very tight race with that group against a very strong American rowing side.
Then he explained how the problems that he faced in life were some of the things that helped him to progress so well. His love of his family and his faith were the cornerstones of his life. It was a fantastic Talk! and it will remain in my mind for a lifetime.
By Ryan A (1H)
Charity quiz
On Tuesday 4 March, eleven teams from across the First Year in Hampton and LEH took part in a Form Charity Quiz. Four pupils from Hampton and four pupils from LEH were both nominated to form a team. Each team donated £6 to support the charities that were nominated for the year by both Schools.
It was fast-paced with four rounds in the whole quiz. The first round was made up of ten questions which tested each team’s general knowledge. The second round was about the different charities that had been nominated by Hampton and LEH for the year. The third round was about the different events that had taken place this year at Hampton and LEH. The fourth round was by far the hardest and silliest but still great fun. In this round, you would have to decide whether the name was a cheese or a service station. The whole quiz was great fun that tested co-operation and quick thinking.
By Thomas D-L (1B)
Results from the Form Charity committee:
Joint 3rd place (21 points):
1B and 1G (The champions)
Joint 2nd place (22 points):
1L (The Goats) and 1J (3M)
First place (23 points): 1H (Fire Extinguishers).
It was a fiercely fought victory for the Fire Extinguishers in 1H – huge congratulations. The winning team will be receiving their prize by the end of the week, and first to third places will receive a certificate for Form rooms as well as Lion Merits for all who took part
Hampton Innovators
A good crowd came to the Hampton Innovators final last week. We were blown away by all the ideas and high standards of presentation and blue-sky thinking! The event was impressive and the competition fierce!
But there can only be one winner. After counting the judges’ and public votes, the results are in….
And the winner is Arjun D (1W) and his TreeTag Challenge. Congratulations!
Let’s hear all about it from Arjun:
I am very excited to be the winner of the competition. My idea is the TreeTag Challenge, to help with climate change. The concept is that you plant a tree and then tag a friend or another person to plant one more tree. I have made stickers that people can use to tag. My hope is that eventually everyone will be tagged, and we will have more trees. I hope to execute this idea at Hampton after Easter so all Hamptonians can join me to make the world greener.
Football Update
On Friday, the Hampton U12H team played the Halliford U12D team in a football match at home. The game was won 6-0 by Hampton with 2 goals from me and one of them was me running the entire pitch – a moment I won’t forget! It was a great match with me meeting some of my teammates and friends from my cricket club as well. I enjoyed the game and thought there was some great sportsmanship!
By Arhaan K (1J )
Club of the Week
From the incredible choice of clubs that you can enjoy at Hampton, I love going to Art Club! Art Club is a great place to come to every Monday at lunch, especially if you like art! From sketching to modelling there is such a vast number of things to make at Art Club. In my opinion, one of the best parts is that you can draw, make and paint anything you would like. All you need to do is come to F60 and then get started. I would really recommend coming to Art Club because of how fun it is and the amazing creations that you can make!
By Theo R (1H)
Marvellous Music
In half term, I enjoyed an extraordinary experience by spending a weekend with the NCO (National Children’s Orchestra) hosted at Goldsmith’s University. Each day, we worked together for eight hours doing various musical activities. When I arrived, I was excited. I was playing the harp in NCO and there were only three other harpists in that ensemble. We started off the day by playing in sectionals which means we only played together as harps. Each sectional practised in different rooms, and the aim was to come together at the end of the weekend for an orchestral public performance.
On the first day, at the beginning of sectionals, we asked questions about each other and how we all became interested in music. This was a great way to get to know each other and become more settled into the group. The overall group comprised of 100 musicians from London, including strings, brass, woodwind, and percussion. After our welcome chat, we began with warmups on the harp and then played the pieces that we were going to perform. The entire performance consisted of seven pieces. They were called Also Sprach Zarathustra, Holst the Planets: Mars, Sailing By, Bang, Spiritual: Deep River, Under the Sea and some body percussion pieces! We had a great time practising these and cleaned up any unsure parts of the music.
After the sectionals, we all had our packed lunches in the canteen. This was a time to get to know each other outside of our sectional groups and to enjoy some food! Most of us went outside after lunch to run around and play and get fresh air. The morning flew past and it was finally time for what I was most looking forward to in the first day. Everyone came together in the main hall and we gathered all our instruments. We practised our pieces together as a whole symphony orchestra. We rehearsed the songs and it was simply rewarding hearing everyone play together.
For the second day, we started off again with sectionals and finished off perfecting the pieces that we did not have time for the day before. I was feeling great and filled with excited anticipation for the big performance later that day. The sectionals flew by and so did lunch. As we all gathered in the main hall once again, we started off with our body percussion pieces and then musical pieces. It was magical hearing everyone play in harmony and how much we had improved in such a short time. I could not have had any more fun in this practice and now it was time for the massive performance, for which we had all been preparing, to a public audience.
As all the parents and audience members walked in, I was feeling nervous but mostly filled with excitement. I gave it my best with all the other harp players and musicians, and overall it was a beautiful, amazing performance. My favourite pieces out of the body percussion and pieces were: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Holst the Planets: Mars and Under the Sea. Piece after piece brought more excitement and drama to the audience, ending with the climactic and famous, Under the Sea. I can’t wait to go back in June and play again.
To watch and enjoy the performance which NCO have shared, click the link here.
By Rishi S (1G)
TUTEE OF THE WEEK
Every week, the First Year Tutor team nominate a boy who they have been particularly impressed with and Mr Hill and Mr Fuldner present him with a certificate and a tasty treat to eat!
Congratulations to Ethan C (1G) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week.
Ethan always has an enthusiastic approach to all aspects of Hampton life – well done Ethan!
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 Mrs Whitwam (v.whitwam@hamptonschool.org.uk).
THE HAMPTON HUNT
Each week I will set you a challenge where you need to find out a random fact, number or indeed anything else around the School – you won’t be able to do this from home! Points for the interform competition will be awarded to the Form with the most correct entries over the course of the term! You have until the end of Wednesday to complete the challenge; you will find out in next week’s blog if you’re correct, and you will be given a merit by your Form Tutor the following Monday. And who knows – you might get to know the School better in the process!
Last week’s challenge: on which house number at Lebanon Park did the children rescued by the Kindertransport live?
You could find the answer in the mural on the first floor of the History department – number 52. Have a read of this one if you haven’t already, it’s a fascinating read.
Well done to the following First Years for getting the correct answer: Jonathan G, Smyan M, Daniel S, Ethan C, Hayk F, Rayan A, Felix R, Diego C-G, Kiyan J, Ojas P, Reyansh K, Nicolas A-G, Nico L, Edward G, Ryan A, Joshin F, Max K, Rahim K, Rafferty OZ, Faaris M-C, Ashutosh S, Harri C, Aayushmaan C, Arthur H, Arun B, Jesse G and Isaac L. Make sure you collect a merit from your Form Tutor next week!
If you did know the answer but didn’t enter it into the blog last week, make sure you do so this week as it won’t count otherwise!
This week’s challenge:
The coefficient of restitution is important in cricket; which symbol is used for this coefficient?
You’ll find the answer on a mural about cricket, and it’s nowhere near the Sports department!
HAVE A GREAT weekend!
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