Welcome to the Third Year Blog!

This week, we have a truncated Third Year blog.

As you all know, this week is exam week. We encourage the boys to keep doing all the activities they normally do while the exams are going on, so to then add writing blog articles to that would seem like a step too far! Of course, there’s still plenty going on. You’re just not going to hear about much of it.

There is news of some remarkable musicianship from one of our Third Years. We also have the results from the Interform Athletics on Thursday, along with some highlights from the day. One of the best parts of the Interform Athletics from a teacher’s standpoint is seeing talents that you didn’t know your pupils had. The excitement of seeing a boy that you didn’t think had an athletic bone in his body pounding down the 100m track as fast as a cheetah is wonderful (for clarity, this is an ironic use of the most overused simile in KS3, intended only to amuse/irritate any English teachers who happen to be reading). It’s a great afternoon and the results are below.

The really big news this week is that the blog has managed to attract a big name for Two Truths and a Lie, with Mr Rigby gracing us with his presence and revealing some truths about himself, as well as putting his name to a lie. Strict disciplinarian that he is, the blog needed to dissuade him from giving himself a 30-minute conduct detention for that lie. To find out more about one of your illustrious Heads of Year, have a look below.

Beyond all this, we are now knocking on the door of half term and the final half term of the year. It is a wonderful time of the School year and a great time to try new clubs. The key is to keep your energy high, your attitude positive and your focus acute. If you manage that you can enjoy a lovely last month before the summer holidays. Enjoy the half term and enjoy the rest of the blog!

HEads of Year Message

Good luck to the J14 rowers who are competing at the National Schools Regatta today. We know you have put in a lot of training and we wish all three crews the very best for a strong performance.

Well done to everyone for completing the Third Year Exams this week. For those who missed exams due to absence or illness, please come to school on Monday 5 June prepared to sit those papers.  A reminder that we will only ever ask pupils to aim for personal best. There is no failure, only learning if mistakes occur. With that in mind, the exam reflection task we will ask Third Years to undertake in PSHE during the week after half term is particularly important.

Pupils will receive their exam results in the week after half term and can inform parents themselves. Parents will receive official notification of their son’s exam grades at the end of term in the Summer Grade Card. Departments that set pupils for GCSE will use exam results (alongside other data throughout the year) to inform their decision making and will inform parents by letter before the end of term.

HPV vaccinations – advanced notice

The School Nurses will write to all Third Year parents about upcoming HPV vaccinations which will take place in school on the morning of Wednesday 7 June.

Late coach

The late coach from LEH will not be operating during the week after half term (June 5-9).

Anyone intending to use this additional service will need to make alternative arrangements to get home.

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.

Boys – well done for all your efforts this week. Enjoy your well-deserved week off.

We hope you all have a wonderful half term break!

Best wishes

Mr T Rigby & Miss M Bedford

Music Success

Fantastic to hear about the recent success of one of our Third Year pupils Harry N (3B). Harry took his Grade 8 piano exam recently, and scored a phenomenal 145 out of 150, which is a very high distinction. Harry also took part in the Reigate and Redhill Music Festival in the Piano Junior Recital Class for 13 – 15 year olds, and won his class. Keep it up Harry!

Interform Athletics

The race for the Interform Cup is hotting up and the Interform Athletics is another event contributing towards it.

All the boys performed phenomenally well, and the overall results for the event are below:

1 – 3D – 178 points

2 – 3A – 158 points

3 – 3C – 136 points

4 – 3E – 125 points

5 – 3G – 119 points

6 – 3H – 117 points

7 – 3F – 115 points

8 – 3B – 111 points

9 – 3J – 106 points

Take a look at some of the highlights:

Pinocchio

Coming up after half term…

The world’s most beloved puppet comes to life in this humorous and heartfelt adaptation of the Carlo Collodi classic. Geppetto, a lonely toymaker, longs to have a child to call his own. But he soon gets more than he bargained for when Pinocchio – a marionette carved from an enchanted log – springs to life before his eyes! Filled with memorable characters and magical adventures, Once Upon A Pine reminds audiences of the importance of love, friendship and honesty. And that’s no lie.

Tickets for this year’s Lower School Summer Show will be available after half term. Keep your eyes peeled!

Two truths and a lie

Last week, we had Mrs Clarke’s musically focused ‘facts’.

  • Mrs Clarke’s mother is the famous singer Petula Clark (she removed the ‘e’ from her surname for her stage name)
  • Mrs Clarke once sat next to 90s pop icon (!!) Peter Andre on a flight to Japan
  • The first album Mrs Clarke bought was Jason Donovan’s ‘Ten Good Reasons’

(Editor’s note: for those unaware of Jason Donovan’s work, I can point you towards this albums biggest hit single ‘Especially for You’, a collaboration with Kylie Minogue, which stained the charts for what seemed like months at the time).

Well, as it turns out, Mrs Clarke did get the chance to spend a long haul flight sitting next to Peter Andre. It is unclear as to whether she viewed this as a positive or not. What is undoubted is her love for Jason Donovan’s hit packed ‘Ten Good Reasons’, the first album she ever bought. All this means is that it isn’t true that Mrs Clarke’s mother is Petula Clark.

As mentioned earlier, this week’s contributor is a big name in Third Year circles – Mr Rigby.

  • Mr Rigby represented Durham University at Ultimate Frisbee
  • Mr Rigby sets the thermostat in the Third Year Head of Year Office so that it is one degree centigrade cooler than the temperature in the rest of the school
  • Mr Rigby once featured in a BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel ‘Persuasion’. His role was to fall out of a tree and ‘have his brow mopped’

These all seem unlikely, but only one is a lie… which one?

CONNECTION CORNER

Well done to the everyone who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. We were after something quite specific last week, merits go to all those who correctly guessed that the answers were all English football team suffixes. Big shout out to Leander K-B, Oliver A, Joshua R, Stanley A, Max F, Albert S, Pranavan P, Matthew J, Ben B, Johnny R, Avraj M and Ollie W.

Another tricky one to have a go at over the half term break:

In case, you’re still perplexed here are the answers from the last week’s conundrum:

What is the name of the daughter in the Adams family? Wednesday

What is the name of the fictional pub in Coronation Street? Rovers Return

Where does legend say that Robin Hood and his band of men lived? Sherwood Forest

There are four major airlines in the USA – American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Southwest Airlines. What is the name of the fourth? United Airlines

Connection: English football team suffixes – Sheffield Wednesday, Blackburn Rovers, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United (among others)

Have a great half term break!

 

Back to All Blogs