Welcome to the First Year Blog!
Welcome back First Years and congratulations on surviving the rainiest February in history (unofficially), with just one heroic ray of sunshine bravely making an appearance. Judging by your blog pieces, many of you made the most of half term, enjoying the exhibitions in London, rocking church stages, exploring Spanish carnivals, or skiing!
A huge well done to everyone who helped at the Offer Holder Events this week. You were friendly, confident and excellent ambassadors for the School. You are clearly setting the bar so high that even the Sorting Hat would approve!
As we head into the new half term, a reminder to start thinking about Project EXPLORE. Half term may be over, but there is still plenty of time to plan an adventure to a local site and create something brilliant from it.
Here’s to another exciting few weeks ahead – rain, sun or something in between!
MEET MR FULDNER
Ruben V (1F) interviewed one of our spectacular Heads of Year, Mr Fuldner! Let’s hear from their interview below:
Ruben: What are your hobbies?
Mr Fuldner: I like to watch football, and I love to travel. I like to play on a PS5 and really enjoy walks in nature.
Ruben: You have a CERN lanyard, how was visiting it? (Sixth Form Physicists enjoy an annual trip to CERN in Switzerland, which is the European Organisation for Nuclear Research).
Mr Fuldner: It was great fun and a really fascinating place to visit. You can go on a tour with CERN staff and there are plenty of interesting places in CERN that the Sixth Form Physicists can see and expand their knowledge.
Ruben: When you were young, what did you want to be?
Mr Fuldner: An astronaut and a researcher.
Ruben: Were you always good at Physics?
Mr Fuldner: Reasonably good but I still had to work hard in lessons. I chose it because I loved the practical side. Physics overall as a subject is creative and fun.
Ruben: What has changed at Hampton since you first joined?
Mr Fuldner: I think that we have some amazing new trips and the lunches are superb. Hampton is still as amazing as it was before.
Ruben: Cats or Dogs?
Mr Fuldner: Dogs by far! They are cute and cuddly, and you can take them out for long walks and they are easy to snuggle with.
Ruben: If you could make any club, what would it be?
Mr Fuldner: Astronomy Club at night however this is difficult due to the light pollution in London. But Physics is just amazing.
Ruben: Did you always want to become a Head of Year?
Mr Fuldner: When I started at Hampton, I wanted to become one as I really enjoy working with the younger pupils and helping them settle in during their first few weeks at Hampton. I was an Assistant Head of Year first and always enjoyed being a First Year Form Tutor. It is great fun and always exciting!
Ruben: You wear the same blue tie all the time?
Mr Fuldner: It’s just easy!
Ruben: What part of the School do you like most?
Mr Fuldner: I like the Cloisters as when the sun is out is always just nice. It is relaxing!
Ruben: If you had £1 billion, what would you do with it?
Mr Fuldner: I would spend the vast majority the money on charities and helping to solve climate change, and I would probably go on an amazing holiday!
Ruben: If you had a superpower, what would it be?
Mr Fuldner: Flying!
HAMPTON HOSPITALITY
Well, on Wednesday morning, I along with my fellow classmates were helping with the 10+ offer holders visiting Hampton! Firstly (after chilling out in the rare British sun) we went to meet the six of the (hopefully) soon-to-be new First Year Pupils before taking them to the canteen, where we all ate delicious Hampton-themed pancakes smothered in gooey sumptuous chocolate sauce. Then in a jolly mood we came to sit down at our table. Between us we all talked merrily about our hobbies, instruments and even the current ICC men’s T20 World Cup!! Afterwards we all went out to the foyer and sadly departed with our newly formed Year 5 friends. Then after a well needed break, I stormed upstairs for the remainder of period two.
Conclusion: overall I really enjoyed meeting some fantastic new faces and loved even more the happy memories made. I remembered when I was in Year 5; eagerly listening and eating tasty food. When I came home that bygone day, I felt that my First Year helpers of Hampton did an amazing job. Fingers crossed that I have lived up to the high bar set by the now Third Years!
By Ronak B (1F)
MR HILL’S PERFECT PERCH
On Tuesday, I had a fantastic Geography experiment to do with my friends. The aim was to find the nicest place that Mr Hill could move his bench so he could sit down and enjoy the weather. My class split into five groups of five and we all measured the wind speed using an anemometer and we measured the temperature by using a thermometer a metre above the ground. We also split the sky into eight boxes and tried to estimate how many boxes the cloud would fill. We went to the Pavillion, the Cloisters and the Car Park next to the Sports Hall. Then we returned to the classroom where we found the average of the results everyone handed in. All in all, I really enjoyed this experiment and I hope to do a lot more of this in the future.
By Edward G (1J)
MAGICAL MELODIES
After an enjoyable break, us Hamptonians are back and ready to go! This week I want to talk about the new tope we’re studying in music lessons. We are learning about film music and as part of our step assessment (an assessment where we play the keyboard and get graded) we are playing the Harry Potter theme song! At the start of our lesson our teacher (Mr Chakravarty) showed us a famous film with and without music – it was different! Without the underscore (music that accompanies the film), famous films like a clip from Jaws was less dramatic and expressed less emotion. We also watched a clip from “The Circus” that was a silent film acted by Charlie Chaplin. The movie had an orchestra that followed the beat of the action. I am working to playing step one, but it looks extremely hard!
By Julian H (1H)
WILDLIFE WONDERS
Over half term, my family and I ventured out into the heart of London, to see the museums. We went to the National History Museum like we do every year to see the ‘Wildlife Photography Exhibition’. There are many categories of photos and a winner from each one so there are many opportunities for success!
However, there are two overall winners of this competition. Some of these photos captured deep emotion, for example one of the winners was a beetle in focus watching carefully as a digger destroyed its home. This symbolizes how some creatures are too small to fight back against deforestation and save their homes.
My favourite was a photo that used a kaleidoscope effect of colours and spiders. This was my favourite photo as I really enjoyed the simplicity and colours of this photo. Amongst the photos there were some sad ones too. For example, the winner of the story award was about American rattlesnakes who are bred and slaughtered for their skin and meat. This photo made me feel empathy for the poor snakes who only knew a box of other snakes and nothing else. This is one of the main highlights of my year and I highly recommend that others go too!
By Ayaan S (1F)
THE SENAXES STEAL THE SHOW
Too young to drive, but too old to rock. On the last Thursday before half term, I was privileged enough to perform in a professional concert with my band (consisting of Lenny M singing, Ethan V playing the piano, me on the drumkit and Aydin D on the guitar). The concert, which goes by the name of ‘Bring Up the Music LOVE’, was hosted in St John the Baptist Church in Wimbledon. It was put together and hosted by Lenny’s mum. She is a professional violinist, and she has performed with Dave Arch and his orchestra as well as going on a world tour with Sting. We performed the same song for the third time (the previous performances being the Hampton Rock Concert and in the First and Second Year assembly), so we were fairly comfortable with our performance. The song was ‘Drive my Car’ by the Beatles, which is an old, upbeat classic.
After leaving school at 3.00pm (tragically missing some of Maths and all of Geography), Aydin’s mum picked us up. After picking up Lenny’s younger brother, Christo, from Hampton Prep, we went to the church. Once Aydin’s dad brought his guitar round, we had our rehearsal. I couldn’t believe how well we performed after a watching a video it at home (over a box of pizza).
After we arrived at the church, we wandered around, greeting friends and selling drinks (Lenny ate more snacks than he sold). Following that, we watched the performances, which were excellent. When it was our time to perform, we stood up on the stage and performed our song. I felt so, so elated and I was pumped with adrenaline and, oh boy, I was on cloud nine! Getting congratulations from the professionals that played felt really rewarding. All-in-all, it was an amazing experience and certainly an amazing evening.
By Guy H (1H)
On 12 February, The Senaxes (our band) were invited to play at a Valentine’s Evening of musical entertainment by Lenny M’s mum – who is a highly acclaimed violinist. She has been a great support to us musically and in boosting our confidence. Without her belief we most certainly would not have achieved our polished performance. A huge personal thank you from me! I would also like to thank Aydin’s mum who kindly hosted our rehearsal sessions at their home.
The venue, St John’s Baptist Church (Wimbledon) was full of ticket holders expecting an evening of high calibre musicians to celebrate the theme of love on Valentine’s Day. We were the youngest band there but having already performed in The Hammond – our nerves were steady and we received a rapturous applause for our piece. Watch for The Senaxes and our next performance!
By Ethan V (1F)
Take a look at their fantastic performance:
HALF TERM HIGHLIGHTS
Half term always feels like a rest right in the middle of the term – a chance to recharge and have a break from our busy schedules. Last week’s break was especially refreshing. I spent some time on the River Thames near where I live, which was relaxing, but a little chilly. I spent some afternoons wandering through the aisles of a local bookshop, exploring some new genres. What seemed like minutes often turned out much longer, proving that time flies when you’re having fun.
The highlight of the break, though, was building a LEGO version of a Formula One car. It was enjoyable to see the car take shape with every step, slowly forming the distinctive vehicle. Altogether, this half term was a reminder that joy can be found in the simple things.
By Hiu Yeung K (1P)
SPANISH FESTIVAL FUN
Carnival is a worldwide celebration leading to Ash Wednesday. It has Christian origins as it is a celebration before Lent. It is the chance for celebration and overindulgence before entering the austerity of Lent. Carnival is celebrated by eating typical foods and dressing up. I experienced it for the first time this year, as luckily, it coincided with half term. I went to A Coruña, which is where my grandparents live in Spain. There, I have a friend who dressed as the Tin Man, so I dressed up Oz and my mum dressed up as the Wicked Witch. Some people even dressed up their dogs! People of all ages get involved in A Coruña and I had lots of fun seeing all the funny and creative costumes, lots of families dress up based on themes, and I was surprised to see many grandparents with great costumes. There was parade on Saturday and also a big street party on Tuesday. It is also tradition to eat lots of sardines during the festival but in the last day we “bury” sardines as we get tired of them, as they actually celebrate a farewell event. We also eat ‘orejas’ (translates to ear and is basically fried dough with sugar on top) and ‘filloas’ (crepes but with made with bone broth instead of milk, it sounds very weird but they taste really good!).
By Miguel B (1B)
SLOPE SUCCESS!
Last week, I went skiing for the first time in Andorra for four days. I used to be very worried of avalanches and would continuously look at the weather forecast. However, it turned out to be just fine, with fresh snow and a nice sun shining in the distance. It was scary at first, but a great experience in the end. As it was my first time, it was quite exhilarating stepping on the skis, and it buoyed me up with adrenaline. We went with another family of friends, and it was quite fun to see how we all got along with it.
We started off in a small area with mainly flat land to learn the basics of skiing- how to stop, speed up and put our skis on and off. As we gradually started improving, we moved onto more fun and bigger circuits, which were really fun.
Near the end, we moved onto some steep slopes, which were very enjoyable, although they were quite scary. They were greatly tiring although extremely amusing. The view from the top of the mountain was beautiful and was very proud of myself to be able to accomplish such an achievement in four days. One of the reasons I was so successful was, however, that our teacher, who was very patient, helped us learn and discover the wonders of skiing step by step. Overall, skiing has been a great experience for me and I look forward to it next year.
By Andreas C (1B)
Over the half term, my family and I were lucky enough to ski in the breathtaking French Alps or, more specifically, Les Arcs. I have been skiing before, but all the snow I had ever seen beforehand would not come close to the amount of snowfall we had in the week we were there. In total, over 3m of snow fell during the week! Over the trip, we went on many runs: high ones, low ones, steep ones and flat ones. However, it was, literally and metaphorically, a very up and down trip. Our favourite run of the trip was a green/blue run named ‘Marmottes’ after a squirrel-like animal often seen in the Alps. On our first day, we had lots of fun on Marmottes, getting ourselves back into the rhythm of skiing.
The second day though, we had a bit of a blip. We weren’t allowed on the slopes due to a blizzard! Apparently, they were conducting precautionary avalanche-inducing explosions to reduce avalanche risk! We still made it a good day with tobogganing, igloo building, snowball fights and lots of snowy fun!
Day three brought the best wipeout I had all trip (there were a few!). We noticed that a run named Arcabulle had just re-opened following completion of the controlled avalanches – with no queue to go on! However, it was a red run all the way down. I was very nervous (although I tried not to show it!) but I jumped on the chairlift because there was a nice restaurant at the top and I was starving! After a delicious lunch, my family finally convinced me to go on the red. I made it through the run almost perfectly first time! I only had one wipeout but, because we were some of the first ones to ski down the run and the snow was very thick, it was the most satisfying wipeout of the trip. It was like falling into marshmallows! Over the trip, I really improved as a skier. I was proud of my progress and was able to ski Arcabulle flawlessly by the end of the trip! I think that I would like to properly take up skiing now that I have had chance to properly try this amazing sport.
On the way home, after cheers and tears, we arrived at the Channel Tunnel Terminal in Calais after staying in Champagne for a night on the way. In the terminal, I had a happy surprise as I saw a familiar face: Reuben, one of my mentors! He is always very easy to talk to, so I went over and said hi. He was very friendly and asked me many questions about my trip. He told me that he snowboarded rather than skied and that he stayed the other side of the Alps (still in France, though). Overall, my skiing trip to France was very fun and I recommend Arc 1950 to anyone who is looking for a great time and a lot of snow!
On another note, on Wednesday, the football first team played their ESFA semi-final against Maidstone Grammar School. It was a very close game, and it had to go to extra time! It was end-to-end and both teams were beginning to fatigue until Hampton went on the attack. We were pushing their defence and looking for a late winner. Suddenly, on a break run, three or four Hampton players managed to break free of their midfield deadlock and ran down the 3G. Then a shot of ours was saved by their keeper, only to be rebounded to Ollie, the captain of the team and our mentor, who struck it powerfully into the back of the net. The whole team and everybody watching went wild. What amazing play from Hampton! Now, Hampton are into the ESFA final, which will take place at the Stoke City Stadium, and the whole school will be behind them in the match!
By Alex B (1L)
HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS
Hampton School have put a lot of effort into the History department, making lessons fun and interesting, and providing all pupils with fascinating topics to learn about. This week, I would like to talk about my favourite topic in History, and why I find it interesting. Right now, we are looking into the Ancient Islamic period, where we learn about Islam’s tradition, social hierarchy, and capital cities that were crucial for Islam’s economy to thrive and grow. We also learn about the trading points of fabrics, food and currency between different countries and the inconvenience as many had to travel to places far away to earn money.
Overall, I enjoy history at Hampton and hope we continue to get more captivating topics like this.
By Owen S-W (1L)
POKÉ‑CELEBRATION
Today, is one of the post important days in Pokémon history: it is Pokémon’s 30th anniversary. To celebrate this amazing event, I went to the Natural History Museum for the Pokémon pop-up event over half term. It was based on a book called Pokécology, and the artwork leading up to the shop was beautiful and gave many amazing facts. The shop reflected this theme too, with exclusive merchandise including pins, plushies and poster. If you made a purchase, you would receive a special promotional card – Pikachu at the museum. There are also some photos of me at the museum.
Everyone can celebrate too; from playing ‘Pokémon Go’, to looking at your old or current collections, to even going to McDonalds and getting a happy meal to get the new promotional cards which will come soon. Maybe you have memories of playing the games, watching the series, or collecting the cards. Or maybe you do not. The most important thing is to celebrate the remarkable history of Pokémon.
By Aahil U (1G)
Lower School Art Exhibition
You are cordially invited to the Lower School Art Exhibition Open Event on Tuesday 3 March from 4.00pm-5.30pm in the Art Department Gallery.
First, Second and Third Years have been working hard in Art to produce some stunning work which is now on display in the Hampton School Art Gallery. They have explored a diverse range of subjects including the Natural World, Still Life, Public Art, Identity, World Art and Narrative Art.
We would be delighted if you could join us to see their creative work, and please do bring family and friends.
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 Mr Jimenez (v.jimenez@hamptonschool.org.uk).
TUTEE OF THE WEEK
Every week, the First Year Tutor team nominate a Hamptonian 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 V (1F) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week!
Ethan is always a kind friend, welcoming, and makes the most out of all the Hampton opportunities. He is so consistently super! Well done Ethan!
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! 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!
The Hampton Hunt is back! This week’s challenge:
What is the missing word/name on this building sign?
Have a great weekend!
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