Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
Welcome to our first blog of 2022! This week the boys have been reflecting on their first term, celebrating their successes and identifying areas for improvement and setting some targets for the weeks ahead. Also this week Mr Wilkinson introduced the boys to the Hampton Extended Learning Project (HELP) Level 1, which is a fantastic opportunity to explore an area of interest that lies outside of the normal curriculum. For those of you considering undertaking a project you can find all the information you need here.
Welcome back Hamptonians! I hope you have enjoyed your holidays and Christmas and you got very cool gifts and got to have a great time with your family. Hopefully you have also managed to get out of the country and go around the world to meet relatives. It has been a great year in School. Nothing could stop Hamptonians from learning! We did lessons online if isolating at home! And now, it is a new year and a new you! Now’s your chance to reflect on your achievements and set targets for this year! Happy New Year! By Lucas (2P)
Merits
Cassian Brandreth-Stroud – 10
Sooho Jin – 10
Anirudh Shindlagatta – 10
Anirudh Shindlagatta -20
Advait Bendale – 20
Akshat Nigam – 20
John Higginson – 20
Thomas Farzaliyev – 20
Aditya Kumar – 20
Juan-Leonardo Solari Hernandez – 30
Tanmay Bansal – 30
Alex Watson – 40
Ameya Mathur – 50 (Fantastic!)
Aarush Jain – 50 (Well done!)
CLUB NOTICES
A reminder of just some of the clubs and activities running this term – many of you may have set a target to try something new this year!
Model United Nations (MUN): Tuesdays at 12:35pm in the Lecture Theatre. Speak to Miss Field if you want to found out more.
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.
Lego Robotics Club: Starting again next week. Come along on Tuesdays at 12:35pm in IT1.
Politics and Current Affairs Club: Every Friday at 1:15pm in room 99. Any boys in First to Fourth Year are welcome to attend to discuss the big news stories of the week!
Climbing Club: Every Friday at 12:35pm.
Golf Nets: Golf practice nets are running on Thursday AND Friday lunchtimes. Both days are 12:35 – 1:15pm and any year group can attend either (or both) days. Meet Mr Worrall or Mrs May by the cycle racks at the start of lunch, no change of clothes or equipment necessary, and all levels including beginners are welcome.
Cryptic Crossword Club: Open to anyone interested in getting their heads around the cryptic crossword. All are welcome, even/especially complete newcomers. See you in Room 11a at 1.05pm on Mondays.
Schools’ Challenge Quiz: First and Second Year pupils tried out for the School Quiz Team this week. Those selected will be invited to join weekly practice sessions with a view to competing in the Schools’ Challenge Competition (similar in style to University Challenge) later this term.
ENGLISH
In English, 2J have started a new book: Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff. Journey’ s End is a play about World War One, in Saint Quentin. Our English teacher gave us an exciting activity to help us learn a bit more about the history behind World War One. The activity was called a “Marketplace” where we were placed into groups and each group had to research a specific element of the War. Then, we had to present our research to the other groups. Then, we had a short nine question quiz about World War One. After our quiz, we were all treated to a sweet as we had done well.
This was my favourite fact: Minnies was a nickname for a type of German bomb called the Minenwerfer. By Joshua (2J)
FOOTBALL
Hampton’s U13A team have come long way in the ESFA and ISFA campaigns, reaching the round of 16 in ESFA and the quarter final in ISFA. Hampton will feature in the quarter final round of ISFA on Monday 17 January against Alleyn’s School. Alleyn’s School is the only team the U13s have lost against this season so it will be an interesting and challenging match for the boys. If you would like to catch up on the U13A’s matches you will be able to find match reports on every cup game on the HSC website. By Omer (2F)
Take a look at HSC here to read more from Omer and Alex on the U13 team’s exploits in the ESFA Cup.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Well done to Marcus (2B) for his achievements in cross-country!
Last Sunday I took part in the Surrey Cross Country Championships which were held in Denbies Vineyard. The race was 2.75 km and it was a hilly, very muddy course. There were 80 people competing in my age category and out of these I managed to get second place. The person who came first was one of the fastest runners in the country so I am pleased with my result in the Cross Country! By Marcus (2B)
JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE
After 30 years of development, the most powerful telescope ever made is in space, 1.5 million kilometres away, hovering effortlessly as it captures the secrets of our early universe. Launched from a European spaceport in French Guiana on Christmas Day, it boasts a 7-meter mirror, collecting roughly six times the light of Hubble’s telescope, using infrared to see the deep past of our galaxy. Originally proposed to be launched in 2007, the project’s development began in 1996 with a 400-million-pound budget. However, due to project issues and with the design budget exploding, the Webb telescope was redesigned in 2005 with an added eight billion pounds being added to create the telescope. Making it the most expensive telescope ever launched. But, as with all things, it wasn’t all without error, when the sunshields snagged in 2018, and the launch was postponed even later as engineers figured out the problem. With the shield taking 80% of the systems to operate, it had 201 vulnerabilities that could have prevented the shield from unfurling properly. And, being at L2, 1.5 million km away from Earth, no error could be fixed by hand, it was up to the satellite to repair itself. Luckily, on 25 December 2021, the telescope launched and so far has less than a million kilometres to go. NASA completed the telescope’s remaining structural elements on 2January 2022 and the telescope is currently deploying the secondary mirrors and primary mirror wings. This process will be completed in a couple of weeks. At this point, the Webb telescope should reach its destination, a stable Lagrange point, entering a large orbit there about 1.5 million km from Earth. In six months time, we’ll get our first images. And we wish it a successful deployment and service, staring into the dark depths of space for decades… by Kanishk (2W)
FA CUP ROUND 3 ROUND-UP
By Alex and Omer (2F)
Last weekend was an exciting one, with 32 Round 3 FA Cup fixtures taking place. There were plenty of amazing goals, drama, upsets, and overall some great football on display. Manchester City kickstarted the round by beating Swindon in a convincing 4-1 win, with young prodigy Cole Palmer particularly catching the eye. However, there was some joy for Swindon as they managed to score against one of the best defences in world football, with Harry McKirdy scoring a late consolation goal for the league two side.
Chelsea picked up a welcome 5-1 victory against Chesterfield despite the London side’s shaky run of form in the premier league. Timo Werner opened the scoring early on and Chelsea firmly held their grip on the game, with Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Andreas Christensen and Hakim Ziyech also scoring. However, Chesterfield, who currently play in non-league, brought some cheer to their loyal supporters as they netted a late goal.
Tottenham suffered a brief scare when they went 1-0 down to League One side Morecambe in their third-round tie, and failed to equalise until the 74th minute due to missing a few golden chances. However, Harry Winks curled home a late free kick to equalise and late goals from Lucas Moura and Harry Kane assured that they would march through.
Manchester United played Aston Villa last weekend, with it being Ralf Rangnick’s first game in the FA Cup, and facing another strong Premier League side. Although Man U progressed through to the next round their style of play seemed quite dull and boring. However the result is what matters and it will be a welcome win for Ralf Rangnick after a tough start in the Premier Leugue. The game ended in a 1-0 victory for the Red Devils after some great link up play from both of United’s holding midfielders, with Fred whipping in a dangerous cross into Scott McTominay who nodded the ball home.Liverpool welcomed famed giant-killers Shrewsbury Town to Anfield with a depleted squad, having been affected heavily by a combination of injuries, COVID and international duty.
Shrewsbury gained a shock lead after 27 minutes; however, it was not for long as teenager Kaide Gordon made history with a well-taken equaliser. On the stroke of half time, Liverpool received a penalty which defensive midfielder Fabinho converted emphatically. After the break, the reds started to take control and their domination was rewarded when substitute Roberto Firminio scored a cheeky back heel and Fabinho grabbed his second of the match late on.
Arsenal were the only team in the Big Six to be knocked out in Round 3 of the FA Cup, as they were toppled by championship side Nottingham Forest. It was a poor performance from the Gunners, as although they were on top for the majority of the game, they failed to create any meaningful chances and when they did they struggled to convert them. Lewis Grabban grabbed a late and slightly undeserved winner for Nottingham Forest, turning home a dangerous cross and sending the Forest faithful into hysterics.
However, the biggest shock of the weekend was caused by Cambridge, who travelled to St James’ Park to play Premier League side Newcastle. The Magpies peppered the Cambridge goal in the first half, and it was only thanks to goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov’s heroics in net that they found themselves level at half time, with Jacob Murphy crashing his shot the bar and Allan Saint Maximin plus several other Newcastle forwards testing Mitov several times.
However, they dug deep and were rewarded when Joe Ironside bundled home a scrappy goal to give them the lead. They continued to fight hard, and thanks to Mitov, who made a brilliant save to deny Joelinton in the dying embers of the game, Cambridge came away from the game with a 1-0 over premier league opposition and a place in the FA Cup Fourth Round
Other meaningful games included Barnsley beating Barrow 5-4 in a dramatic affair, Reading being knocked out by sixth tier Kidderminster Harriers 2-1 and non-league Boreham Wood vanquishing league one side AFC Wimbledon 2-0.
WEEKLY QUESTIONS
Welcome to the Weekly Questions! Every week, we’ll post 10 general knowledge questions, and, if you have a go, you can be awarded a merit if you send your answers to Miss Kugele (r.kugele@hamptonschool.org.uk)! This week’s questions have been set by Aditya and Joshua (2B)
- Which prime minister took over after Tony Blair?
- What was the percentage of the people who voted to leave the EU in 2016 in the referendum?
- Who was the leader of the Liberal Democrats during the December 2019 election?
- Who is the prime minister of Australia now?
- Which year did Tony Blair become prime minister?
- How many people demanded for the removal of Tony Blair’s knighthood?
- Who was the Prime Minister during the Falkland Islands war?
- Which US state banned ‘drive through’ voting?
- Which PM has been mayor of London recently?
- Which person was denied entry to Melbourne to play the Australian Open being released?
Here are the answers to the questions set before Christmas:
- Where does the word ‘Advent’ come from? The Latin ‘Adventus’ meaning ‘Arrival’
- What is the philosophy or religion that rejects the fundamental aspects of human existence? Nihilism
- What is the third book of the Old Testament? Leviticus
- What is the current Islamic Year during 2021? 1442 by the Hijri Calendar
- What is the full name of the person who came up with the character of Candide? François-Marie Arouet
- When was the Golden Temple in Amritsar completed? 1577
- What was Descartes’ famous quote about Cartesian Doubt? ‘I think, therefore I am’
- Which Hindu Gods make up the Trimurti? Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
- What is the order of colours and themes of Advent candles on a typical advent wreath? Purple, Purple, Pink, Purple, White, and Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, Purity
- What are the four pillars of philosophy? Theoretical, Practical, Logic, and History
