WELCOME TO THE THIRD YEAR BLOG!
This week, I couldn’t be bothered to write the blog. The football’s on, the cricket’s on, it’s nearly the end of term. What’s the point? Fortunately, there’s an easy answer – AI. All you need to do is put in the right sort of information and it’ll churn out something that sounds convincing right?
Welcome to This Week’s Edition of the Hampton School Third Year Blog!
As the excitement of Euro 2024 grips the nation, our Third Year pupils have been creating their own thrilling moments here at Hampton School (while the Third Years we are aware of seem to have been enjoying themselves, ‘creating their own thrilling moments’ feels a touch hyperbolic). Just as England’s footballers strive for glory on the international stage, our students (pupils!) have been showing their passion (you will have decades to write about ‘passion’ on LinkedIn), teamwork, and dedication across various fields of endeavour (this is vague).
On the sports front, our young athletes have been channelling the spirit of the Euros in their recent cricket and athletics events (to offer just a question mark in response to this nonsense would feel harsh here, but the compulsion is strong). The energy and camaraderie they’ve displayed are reminiscent of the unity and determination seen in Gareth Southgate’s squad (the unity and determination to put 6 men behind the ball against a limited opponent?). Whether they’re hitting sixes or breaking personal records on the track, our students are proving (is it proven?) that the pursuit of excellence is about more than just the final score (avoid this sort of lazy cliché)—it’s about giving your all and supporting your teammates (and also avoid this sort of lazy cliché).
The arts have also been a focal point this week (this is actually entirely true – the Arts Award is a magnificent event – one we might well hear more about next week), with performances and creations that reflect the creativity and talent of our Third Year students (also true). The recent school play captivated audiences (it’s like the AI actually knows everything! Though the blog is troubled by ‘captivated’, stylistically), showcasing acting skills that could rival any dramatic performance (any??) seen in the fan zones across the country. Meanwhile, our art studios have been buzzing with activity, as students (pupils!) produce works that demonstrate their imaginative flair and technical skill (Being honest, this sounds like you have no idea what they have actually done. Which is fair, bearing in mind you don’t actually exist).
Academically, our Third Year pupils continue to excel (obvs), embodying the same dedication and strategic thinking that our footballers demonstrate on the pitch (this is a low bar, based on Thursday’s performance). The latest interschool quiz saw our team emerge victorious (now you’re just making things up), highlighting their intellectual curiosity and commitment to learning (you’re suggesting that the interschool quiz you’ve just made up is demonstrating intellectual curiosity and commitment to learning?). At Hampton School, we celebrate these achievements (the ones you’ve made up?) as part of a broader journey toward personal bests, rather than narrowly-defined targets (cutting and pasting from the School website is not what this blog aspires to, even if the messages contained on the website are ones we would agree with).
As you dive into this week’s blog (The Third Year Blog is ashamed to feel a sense of certainty that this exact cliché has been used in this exact spot within the blog in the past), take a moment to celebrate the remarkable achievements of our Third Year students. They embody the friendly, lively, and unpretentious ethos that makes Hampton School a unique and supportive community (fair). Just as the nation cheers for England (do we anymore? I mean, that was extremely underwhelming), we cheer for our students (pupils!) as they strive for success in all their endeavours (in fairness, the Third Year Blog is much more comfortable cheering for our pupils than for Trent Alexander Arnold standing next to John Stones, in order to receive the ball 25 yards out from our own goal while all the other England players essentially stand stationary and look at him.) Here’s to their ongoing achievements and the bright futures ahead of them (a message we can wholeheartedly get behind).
The Third Year blog is left with a quandary.
Is it worth taking the time to try to write something specific that tries to capture the nature of the Third Year experience and offer interesting ideas? Or could using AI to deliver something that sounds feasible, but that is essentially characterless, spiritless and inaccurate be the right approach?
Find out next week!
HEADS OF YEAR MESSAGE
Congratulations to all the Third Year pupils who have been nominated to receive an award at our Prizegiving event on Thursday evening. The list of prize winners can be found here. Their achievements are rightly recognised at this time of year and we look forward to applauding them on Thursday evening. However, we are always very aware that prize winners (although worthy) are only a small representation of the achievements of the Year Group as a whole. We cannot award prizes for every effort grade 1, note played in tune, line rehearsed, goal scored, tackle made, ergo test completed, wicket taken, mountain climbed, or homework handed in on time, but this should not detract from the recognition of each of those achievements. Well done to everyone for what you have achieved this year.
Laptops
A reminder to all pupils and parents that 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 that meet the threshold of concern will be picked up by the school’s network filters when the laptop is brought into school. Pupils should recognise the need to use the laptops for school work and school purposes only (including when away from school).
The laptops must be brought to school fully charged for the day ahead each morning and should be placed on “sleep” mode (via the Start Menu) when not in use to preserve battery during the day.
The Week Ahead
We strongly encourage Third Year pupils to take advantage of the range of opportunities in school over the final two weeks of term. A few highlights for next week include:
- Monday period 3: Imran Ahmad (OH) Talk
- Wednesday morning: Mike Haines OBE – RS Talk on Forgiveness
- Wednesday afternoon: Careers in Creative Industries Forum
- Thursday lunchtime: Third Year Interform Quiz
- Thursday 7pm: Third Year Prizegiving
- Friday morning: Hampton General Election Husting (attendance by application only)
Please throw yourselves into the activities on offer (including the lunchtime co-curricular programme) 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.
Absences
For medical absences, please notify your son’s Form Tutors via email (cc’ing absence@hamptonschool.org.uk) on the morning of each day of absence by 8:45am, or complete the absence form via the parent portal. For planned absences and appointments, please contact Heads of Year requesting the absence with as much notice as possible.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend in the sunshine!
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Mrs M Bedford
Richmond Schools’ Golf competition
We set off around 11am in our golf clothes with our clubs ready and waiting to play. We arrived at Fulwell Golf course with plenty of time to warm up as we all had different tee times. My tee time was at 1:10pm. After warming up and watching a few others tee off, the start time had rolled around and I approached the first tee after having the rules explained. With many watching, I managed to tee off down the fairway and my round was underway. I started off behind in my group after the first two of nine holes. Then, on the third hole I managed to hit to the green in one shot which let me have a two putt to secure par.
This was an important hole for me as it managed to keep me in the competition and not too far behind the others. I continued to play in this similar style to end up second in my group as we approached the 9th hole. The 9th was a short par three but, unfortunately, I scored four which kept me in second for my group. Then we entered the clubhouse and gave in our scorecards and had some snacks and refreshments awaiting the results. We found our results and for our age group the person who was first in my group had won the entire competition of that age group.
However, Hampton did get their share of silverware as Fourth Year Joe managed to win his competition. We finished at around 5pm and everyone went home with their heads held high after a successful day at the Richmond Schools’ Golf Competition.
By Josh G (3H)
Cricket Update
On an unusually chilly Thursday afternoon, the U14A team made the long trek to Harrow to compete in the County Cup semi-final. As expected, we were excited for our next cup fixture after being very dominant in the previous three rounds. However, coming to the ground we knew that this was going to be our toughest game yet and we needed to play exceptionally well if we wanted to progress.
After winning the toss, Harrow decided to bowl first. An encouraging start was quickly suppressed by an accurate spinner who left us two down very quickly. However, quick running and clean hitting from Aarav D and Xavier K dragged us back into the game with a 65 run partnership. But, from a position of strength, we lost regular wickets and scored 124 when we could have had a chance at 140-150. Nonetheless, we were filled with hope and confidence that we could defend this sub-par total with our above-par bowling attack. Sure enough, our opening bowlers (Isaac M and Xavier K) restricted the scoring rate of their openers with a combined economy of 4.3.
However, no wicket fell in this period and soon their batters were in a rhythm. Without the pressure of run rate, they scored freely from then on and cruised over the finish line with eight wickets to spare. Immediately, we were disappointed. Partly at our low total and then inability to take wickets but also at the fact that we knew that, on our day, we could have beaten them.
All in all, we didn’t bowl badly if you consider we only gave away three extras compared to their 19 but we weren’t quite at 100% and, unfortunately, that can often be the difference when you play top teams. With our game against KCS abandoned halfway, we will be refreshed and ready to try and turn this around against RGS on Saturday and hopefully end our season strongly.
Report by Sanjit B (3E)
A NEW LEGEND – CONTINUED
This week’s instalment of Lucas’ epic is called Skyfall. Well worth your time, if only to find out who, or what, ‘Gigabone’ is.
Click the link here to read more…
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIe
Last week we had Head of Fifth Year (and next year’s Head of Fourth Year) Mr Malston offering up a dirty lie in amongst some noble truths:
- Mr Malston once survived a 7.1 Richter Scale earthquake
- Mr Malston went up the Twin Towers on Sep 10 2001
- Mr Malston won the Drama Shield at his school, winning the award ahead of a now Best Actor Oscar winner
Which was the lie?
Mr Malston did once survive a 7.1 Richter scale earthquake – it was in New Zealand. He also won the drama shield at School over a future Oscar winner, beating Eddie Redmayne. This also explains how Mr Malston was able to then go on to play Sherriff Hopper in ‘Stranger Things’.
What he didn’t do was go up the Twin Towers on Sep 10 2001, though his future wife did.
This week, we have Miss Bellingan gracing us with her virtual and dishonest presence.
She offers us these tidbits:
- Miss Bellingan is allergic to cranberries
- Due to an old family superstition, Miss Bellingan refuses to wear the colour purple on Wednesdays
- Miss Bellingan has a deep fear of sea sponges
Are these not all lies? No! Only one is an untruth. Tune in next week to find out which on it is.
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 types of shorts. Big shout out to Olly P, Luke F, Rahul B. Harry W, Will D and Darshan S.
And drum roll please, it’s our final Connection Corner of the year!
In case you’re still perplexed, here are the answers from the last week’s conundrum:
Mark Cavendish competes in which sporting discipline? Cycling
What is the name of the mythical area in the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have mysteriously disappeared? Bermuda Triangle
What term is used for the goods carried on a ship, aircraft, or other large vehicle? Cargo
Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Frazier and George Foreman are all famous what? Boxers
Connection: Types of shorts (Cycling Shorts, Bermuda Shorts, Cargo Shorts, Boxer Shorts, Football Shorts)
