Welcome to the Second Year Blog!
After a half term filled with fireworks, fun fairs and far-flung adventures, the Second Years have returned to School, leaving the corridors buzzing with stories that range from the spectacular to the slightly surreal. Whether they were dodging bumper cars, lighting Diwali lamps or braving the British drizzle in Halloween costumes, our pupils have swapped sweets for schoolbooks and are settling back into the rhythm of Hampton life with typical enthusiasm.
However you spent your break, we hope everyone enjoyed a well-earned rest over half term and are feeling refreshed for the weeks ahead. With plenty of exciting lessons, co-curricular opportunities and sporting fixtures still to come, we’re looking forward to seeing what the second half of term has in store!
Merit Milestones
A bumper week for merits, well done to the following Second Year Hamptonians:
Luca Dhaliwal – 10
Agastya Jain – 10
Henry Raggett – 10
Deniz Guner – 10
Jerry Du – 10
James Moody – 10
Zachariah Akhtar – 10
Ibrahim Jalil – 10
Emre Kozan – 10
Kyle Osborne – 10
Daniel Sharipov – 10
Sebastian Camerer Cuss – 10
Thomas Dunbar-Lee – 10
Benjamin Allen – 10
Jack Whyte – 10
Rayaan Awan – 10
Rayaan Awan – 20
Ollie Richardson – 20
Monty Smith – 20
Reyansh Krishnan – 20
Edward Robison – 20
Luca Dhaliwal – 20
Jonathan Greenfield – 20
Max King – 20
Timothy Mountain – 20
Kiyan Joshi – 20
Isaac Li – 20
Timothy Mountain – 30
Kaarthikan Mayouran – 30
Ojas Prabhu – 30
Yuvan Meda – 30
Joshan Kalsi – 30
Ryan Arami – 50 (he’s off to see Mr Knibbs!)
Tutor Question Time!
Each week we like to poll the Second Year tutors on a different hot topic. This week’s question comes from Miss Winstock (2H)!
Would you rather:
- Have school five days a week, 9.00am – 4.00pm (i.e. what we normally do)
- Have school four days a week, but 8.15am – 5.00pm?(the same total number of hours, but with longer days) – 2H, 2L, Mrs Owen, Miss Holt, Miss Winstock, Mr Hill
Have you ever had a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask your Form Tutors?! If so, then please send your suggestions for a future Tutor Question Time to e.holt@hamptonschool.org.uk.
Les Misérables
I watched Les Mis, the Senior School Musical, on the Wednesday before half term, and it was brilliant, with the singing perfect pitch and the acting on another level. It showed me the struggles of war and revolution, but also the struggles of love and fatherhood. I thought it was one of the best shows at Hampton, with amazing casting for the roles.
By Sebastian D (2F)
Diwali Delights and Halloween Highlights
During the half term break, I had a wonderful time experiencing lots of extraordinary moments, including Diwali, a fun fair, and trick-or-treating with my friends, all of which brightened up my half term a lot! Firstly, I celebrated Diwali. My parents and I had a lovely time as we lit lamps and candles, which we placed all around the house. When we turned the lights off, the inside of our house looked beautiful, as our house (and our faces) were illuminated by the golden glow of the light.
Next, my mum made some delicious and appetising food, which was demolished within seconds by my dad. Then, my cousins came over to celebrate with us. We had a wonderful time with our cousins, as my cousin and I played together (we had a pillow fight) and screamed our heads off, while our parents and cousins chatted. After that, we performed a sacred Hindu prayer, which is commonly said by Hindus to a god. We then went outside to a place where we could light fireworks. We murmured in delight as the bright lights lit up the sky in shades of red, green, orange and many more.
Secondly, I went to a fun fair with my friends. We had an amazing time, and I brought some money along so that we could go on some of the rides. We went on the bumper cars, laser tag and a fast ride. The bumper cars were extremely fun, as I crashed into my friends most of the time and skilfully dodged other people who were trying to bump into me, using my amazing driving skills. The laser tag was fun, as we kept teaming up against one of my friends, who got so frustrated that he gave up. Next, we went on a fast ride called Extremo. This was a ride with a conveyor belt used for spinning people around, and there were members of staff who had to spin the seat we were sitting in. There was white gas coming out of the machine which clouded our vision. My friends were dizzy afterwards, so we went to see the final highlight: the fireworks. These fireworks might have been for Diwali, or they could have just been for fun. Again, it was amazing, as our faces were illuminated by the lights.
Finally, I went trick-or-treating with my friends from Hampton. We had an extremely good time. I went to their house, and we immediately left. My friend was supposed to be Voldemort from Harry Potter, but instead he looked like a possessed skeleton! We went to a lot of houses around his neighbourhood. Several people had put up some amazing decorations. Personally, I really liked two of the houses we visited. One of those houses had impressive decorations in front, and there were people dressed up inside. Once they opened the door, the man standing in the doorway stared at us in a weird way. Then another person came and screamed his head off! He was probably supposed to be a werewolf! We got quite a lot of sweets by the end. Then we went home because it started raining. At his house, we had pizza, played a few games and ate some of our sweets. I could not resist eating them! Overall, I had an eventful and exciting half term holiday!
By Moksha K (2B)
Haunted Happenings in Historic York
For a few days during the half term break, my family and I drove up to York in northern England. Not New York, not Old York, just York. It is a small city with a population of just over 200,000 and is supposedly the most haunted city in Europe. We went on a ghost tour one night (which is apparently a must-do if you go there), and we were told stories about ghosts, got jump-scared, and there was even a bit of comedy involved. All in all, it was a great and spooky experience.
By Hayk F (2B)
Trick or Treat!
Last Friday was Halloween, and whether you went trick or treating or stayed home watching a scary movie, I’m sure you all had a great time. Personally, I went trick or treating and had a great time! I collected loads of sweets and saw some great decorations. I had to throw on a knife costume last minute (because Morrisons was all sold out!) and my friends went as Dracula and a phantom. One house we visited had two boxes outside: one filled with sweets, and one filled with cauliflower! Anyway, that’s what we did, but let me know what you guys got up to! Happy Halloween!
By Tom G (2H)
Dazzling Dubai
As soon as I got off the plane and arrived in Dubai, I already felt a burst of heat attacking me. Despite it being night and the sun having set hours before, I had landed in an oven and was being cooked alive. The next day, we had planned to go to the Museum of the Future, which sounds remarkable but sadly did not live up to its name. The best part was the outside, which looked like an iridescent ring.
We had the next day packed with even more adventures, like going to Kite Beach for a night swim. This is something that, if you tried to do in London, you would catch pneumonia, even in the summer! We arrived at the perfect time to see the picturesque sunset. As the floating furnace waved goodbye, we were already long gone, swimming in the mild waters.
Finally, the next day we had a break from the packed schedule, so we all just relaxed by the poolside, taking a break from everything. However, later in the evening we had plans to see family, and I was thrilled, mainly for the home-cooked food that was already making my mouth water. When we arrived, a fragrance of delectable foods could be smelt from outside the door, and a platter that could feed a country was on my plate. I guess this is what I needed for my half term break.
By Ayoub R (2B)
Chilling out in Canada
I am sure that we all enjoyed our half term, with many of us doing fun things, but I am going to tell you about mine. I went to Canada and stayed near a lake, which completely froze over. We went ice skating and skiing, which were my favourite things to do there. I did many things, but those two I did the most and enjoyed the most. Others included tennis, hikes and bike rides.
I stayed there for two weeks and have been going since I was a baby. Many of these things were entertaining, but my family and I also went to a hot spring to relax. Overall, it was incredibly fun being able to eat and sleep as much as I wanted. I am sure you all feel the same, but now its time to adjust back to School life!
By Jonah M (2L)
Tropical Travels
During the holiday, I was bursting with excitement to go to Malaysia. When we arrived at the airport, I realised it was a 13-hour flight! It was worth it. When we arrived, I stepped outside the airport and was already sweating because of the humid and warm weather. The next day, we went shopping in a large shopping mall. Sadly, I didn’t buy anything. Each day, we would visit a different mall. This was exciting because we could eat so much food in Malaysia!
My favourite day, we went to a waterpark called Splash Mania! It had a huge pirate boat that looked over the roads and the whole park, it was astonishing! All the slides were connected to this pirate ship. This was the highlight of the holiday. Sadly, we had to leave. It was an even longer flight – 13 and a half hours! But to keep me company, I went on my iPad and played Minecraft for eight hours!
By Alexander B (2J)
Quirky Quests and Quick Thinking
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a board game that my friends and I have recently been playing. It’s a role playing game about an adventure where you get to make your own original character and play as them. You roll funky dice, like a 20-sided one, to determine whether you can do things or not. One player acts as the DM (Dungeon Master), who controls the game and decides what happens to your group.
You can play D&D for fun or annoy your Dungeon Master by finding weird loopholes in their rules! Whichever way you play, I would highly recommend it!
By Jia Wen X (2G)
Rugby Rumble: England vs Australia
On 25 October, I went to the first game of the series: England vs Australia, the Ashes. It took place at Wembley Stadium, northwest London, which is also the England national team’s football stadium. The first try was scored by Australia’s player Walsh in the 22nd minute. After this, it went to half time with Australia in the lead. Just five minutes into the second half, Australia scored another try, this time from Crichton. The kick was converted by Cleary, which added more points to their tally.
Twenty minutes later, Crichton scored another try, further expanding Australia’s lead over England. To get his second try of the game, Walsh scored yet another try in the 72nd minute, which completely destroyed England’s hopes of a comeback. However, four minutes later, England did get one try from Clark, but it was merely a consolation. After 80 minutes of Rugby, the game ended 26–6 to Australia, with England getting utterly battered. Though England lost, I still enjoyed it and the atmosphere around the stadium was really nice.
By Ali E (2J)
Fast Feet and Friday Fun
As most of us have suggested many clubs in the blog and have tried them out, most of the time we enjoyed them. I have another suggestion that you might not expect: Running Club.
Running Club takes place on Mondays and Fridays, during the first half of lunch, and ends at 1.10pm, so you will have plenty of time to eat lunch, which is necessary for the afternoon. Even though it does require you to put in maximum effort and can leave you exhausted afterwards, it is great exercise and will benefit you significantly, especially if you aspire to reach a HAFA score that you never thought you could achieve. In conclusion, Running Club can make you much fitter and maybe even become one of the people you never thought you could become!
By Arjun J (2P)
QUIZ OF THE WEEK
Welcome to the Quiz of the Week! Every week, we’ll post five general knowledge questions. Take a look at this week’s questions, have a go yourself or challenge people at home and see if they know the answer.
Points for the Interform Competition will be awarded to the form with the most entries over the term.
This week’s fiendish questions come to us from Ethan C (2P). Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers below:
Here are the answers to last week’s quiz:
- What software company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington? Microsoft
- What is a group of crows called? A murder
- What is the national flower of Japan? Cherry Blossom or Sakura
- What does petrichor mean? The pleasant smell of rain
- Which bird flies backwards? Hummingbird
Well done to the following Second Year Hamptonians who answered everything correctly – Arthur H, Ediz Y, Hayk F, Reyansh K, Ryan A, Tom C, Peter R-R, George H and Ibrahim J.
If you’re keen to write some general knowledge questions for the Blog, please email e.holt@hamptonschool.org.uk.
