Interform Volleyball, Clay Workshop & Try New Clubs!

Welcome to the Third Year Blog!

We find ourselves at the penultimate Third Year Blog of 2024! What a day!

Of course, that is not the only reason that this is a day of significance. It is also St Nicholas’ Day. St Nicholas is believed to have been part of the inspiration behind Father Christmas. He was a 4^th century Greek bishop from Myra, which is now in modern-day Turkey. One story of St Nicholas was that he met a poor man who was on the brink of selling his own daughters into slavery as he couldn’t afford to keep them. That night, he anonymously threw three bags of gold down the chimney, which happened to land in the girls’ stockings, which were drying by the fire. I think you can see the link to the rosy cheeked, plump, chimney focused legend we are all familiar with. St Nicholas was also credited with resurrecting three youths who had been murdered and pickled in a barrel by an innkeeper, though this story doesn’t seem to have become part of the imagery of Father Christmas, which is probably for the best.

But it is not only St Nicholas’ Day and the day of the penultimate Third Year Blog of the year. As you all know, it is also National Microwave Oven day. According to its website, ‘the celebration focuses on the microwave’s versatility and efficiency. People appreciate how it can cook a variety of foods quickly and evenly’. It is almost enough to make one wonder why it is Christmas Day that gets all the plaudits when National Microwave Oven day is sitting meekly and mildly just a couple of weeks before it. It is certainly something to reflect on and the Third Year Blog would implore all of you to take some time to appreciate and possibly thank your Microwave Oven for all it has done for you at some point today.

It is also National Gazpacho day. Gazpacho is a chilled (cold, not relaxed) tomato soup from Spain. One can’t help but think that a soup that needs a day to draw attention to it, needs to have a long hard look at itself.

You’ll notice that the purpose of all of these days is generally to ask us to think about and remember an otherwise forgotten part of our lives. In some instances, it feels more valid and important than in others (though the Third Year Blog is 100% serious about the importance of making sure your Microwave feels ‘seen’ today). It also prompts the Third Year Blog to think about the people in our School who don’t necessarily get the acknowledgement they deserve and could feasibly deserve a day dedicated to them…

We are talking about all the staff at the School who REALLY make things work – not the teachers (well, I mean, they ARE pretty important), but the people working in the kitchen, the cleaners, our wonderful receptionists, Mrs Espley, the maintenance team, the Keepers, the Groundstaff, the IT Department … the list goes on. The reality is that without them, we would not all find ourselves with the wonderfully kept and looked after facilities that we all do. We wouldn’t all be eating the wonderful food we are. The School simply would not be able to run in the way that it does without all their hard work and their excellence – they are outstanding at what they do.

So, as a Third Year group, let’s make next week a week where we all take the time to thank the staff who really make the School tick. Take it upon yourself to say thank you and let them know that you understand how important what they do is and that you are thankful for what they do for you.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can just forget about National Pastry Day on Monday next week, or National Poinsettia day on Thursday…

Anyway, enough of this – what went on in the world of the Third Year this week? So many things….

HEADS OF YEAR MESSAGE

Interform Competition

Well done to all the boys who took part and made the Interform Volleyball competition a vibrant and enjoyable occasion on Thursday lunchtime. Read on for an update on how this impacted the Interform standings. There is still one more Interform event before the end of term with the Quiz taking place at lunchtime on Wednesday 11 December in the Lecture Theatre. We hope that the boys will get involved and enjoy putting their general knowledge to the test.

Festive Events

There is plenty to look forward to between now and the end of term, including the School Carol Service which is being held on Tuesday 10 December at 7.45pm in St Mary’s Church in Hampton, and the Christmas lunch on Thursday 12 December. Whilst we are looking forward to many opportunities for festive merriment over the coming days, we hope that the boys will recognise the need to maintain their usual levels of good behaviour and mutual respect for teachers and peers throughout.

Grade Cards

Parents will have access to their son’s end of term grade card from 4.30pm on Friday 13 December via the parent portal. Any follow-ups will be conducted by Form Tutors from the start of next term.

End of Term

The last day of term is Friday 13 December, which will be a mufti day in aid of our Form Charity partners. Also in aid of Form Charity, we would like to remind all Forms that any donations via the Solace shoebox appeal must be delivered to the Staff Common room by Wednesday 11 December. Term will end at midday on Friday 13 December. The school coach service home will run at 12.15 on that day.

Boys – Please remember to let us, your Form Tutors or the relevant subject teachers know if you are having any difficulties.

Enjoy the weekend and keep going until the end of term before a well-deserved holiday.

Best wishes

Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore

Middlesex Festival

Last week, the Hampton U14 Rugby team took part in the Middlesex tournament, arriving in the morning to perfect conditions and a blue sky. In the morning group stages, we comfortably won our first match against Vyners, with the score being 22-0. Without exaggeration, we had all of the possession, and it was a great start to the day.

However, we knew it was only going to get harder from there on in. Our second game, against Christ’s School, was much tighter, and we only won by five points. The last match of the group stage was a 0-0 draw against Richmond. We topped our group and made it to the Cup final. The next round saw us play Halliford to whom we lost 5-0. After this, morale was low, yet we managed to come back in the next match against Grey Court, with that match ending with a final score of 1-1. We continued to our final match, which ended in a 0-0 draw against London Oratory School.

Overall, we came third out of 16 teams and we saw a great performance throughout the squad.

By Ben J (3H)

Russian Clay Workshop

Third Year Russianists had a busy Wednesday afternoon studying traditional Russian Art and used the colourful designs as inspiration to create their own clay models. See how they got on in the photos below:

The Interform Cup

The Third Year Interform trophy, The Williams Cup, is the elite trophy in the School (though some suggest that the winning form tends to be more excited by the accompanying sweets than by the trophy itself, though the Third Year Blog finds this hard to believe).

The end of a term is always a time when there are points to be won and the end of this term is no different. Thursday saw the annual Third Year Interform Volleyball competition. This is always keenly contested, as the photos below show. It is also very noisily contested. According to Mr Hooper’s watch’s calculations, last year’s event peaked at a volume level of 109 decibels in the Sports Hall, which is the same level as an ambulance’s siren, or a power saw – this year certainly felt no different to the ears of the Third Year blog.

But who won?

The results are as follows:

1st – 3D – 9pts

2nd – 3F – 8pts

3rd – 3A – 7pts

4th – 3H – 6pts

5th – 3C – 5pts

6th – 3B – 4pts

7th – 3G – 3pts

8th – 3J – 2pts

9th – 3E – 1pt

Next week sees the Third Year Interform Quiz, with more points available to claim. Next week’s blog will have the results from this, along with an updated overall table – who will go into Christmas at the top of the table??

Clubs Galore

Max J (3G) has taken it upon himself to make some recommendations for clubs to try either before the end of term, or in the New Year…

Attention all Pupils!

Three best clubs to try before the end of term:

Model United Nations – if you want to have a fun friendly debate against your fellow peers about existing world issues and problems, or if you just want to debate, come along to MUN where you can argue your point across and try to win over the other delegates.

Basketball – if you are already a keen sports person or just want to try something new, come along to basketball club, where you play matches almost every week. If you take basketball very seriously, or want to have some fun playing a new sport, come along.

Future to Finance – A very new club in which you can learn about finance and how people make money. Ever wondered how people make their money or what all those fancy financial terms mean? At Future to Finance, you explore the interesting world of money and economics in an exciting way.

Third Years Helpers

One of the great things that some Third Year pupils do which doesn’t necessarily get mentioned enough, is help out with the School’s entrance exam days. Third Years give their own time at the weekend up to come in and help, in particular offering a reassuring and supportive presence to the pupils who are taking the exams.

The Third Year Blog spoke to Ekam R (3E), who was one of those pupils who came in to help to see how he found the experience…

Third Year Blog: So, how did you find the experience overall?

Ekam R: I really enjoyed it and felt like I was able to make a difference. It was very rewarding for the prospective Hamptonians and me, I think.

TYB: That’s great to hear. How do you think your presence made a difference?

ER: I gave everyone motivational pep talks before they sat their exams and I checked up on the candidates whenever I could, to see how they were getting on. I felt like it made their day a little easier and more enjoyable.

TYB: Great work! Having been involved for the day, what did you feel afterwards?

ER: The future looks bright for our school!

A big well done and thank you to all of the Third Years who have helped out with these days, but particular thanks to Ekam for letting us know about the experience.

PSHE Talk

On 28 November, an organisation called It Happens came in to talk about smoking, vaping and how they can affect people of our generation and the effects of addiction to our bodies. They highlighted the importance of being able to say no if a friend or someone close offers you a cigarette or a vape. They also implied that since vapes have not been around for as long as cigarettes, we do not yet know the long-term effects that it may have on the body.

They also offered the shocking fact that some vapes may have the equivalent Nicotine quantities of 20 cigarettes. Many of the people that buy vapes don’t realise this, because they don’t look at the Nicotine content. Statistically, 11% of young adults have vaped and 25% have smoked.  It is important to remember that this is not the majority and people should feel no need to have to do these things to fit in.

By James C & Freddie A (3G)

SHOEBOX Appeal

The 2024 Shoebox Appeal is now live! This Christmas, Form Charity is organising a Shoebox Appeal in aid of Solace Women’s Aid. Solace is a leading specialist charity in the UK supporting women and children experiencing domestic abuse. The lifesaving support that Solace provides to over 20,000 women, children and young people each year is so important.

Each form is being asked to donate three shoeboxes filled with items including stationery, toys, vital hygiene products, games and so much more. What are you waiting for, let’s get filling those shoeboxes!

Innovation Competition

What will Hampton School look like in 100 years?

Do you have an innovative idea that could contribute to a more sustainable future?

Think vertical food gardens on the walls, rain-catching toilets, or maybe even a School-wide composting system that turns cafeteria scraps into energy! The sky is the limit and we would like to see out-of box, creative solutions that might be able to tackle some of the environmental issues that we all face in the future.

• Mission Objective Propose a sustainable solution for a greener future!
• Solo or Team Up? go this mission alone or work with others (maximum 4).
• All year groups are welcome to take part

Please ensure that you submit your ideas by 13 January 2025 through the link here.

There is an awesome prize on offer – beyond the eternal glory of victory!

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

Last week, Mrs Reilly gave us a themed two truths and a lie. She asked us to guess what she had NOT won in a competition. Was this a roundabout way of boasting about the things she HAD won in competitions? Possibly.

The options were:

• A weekend break in Bath with £250 spending money
• A Fortnum and Mason cheese hamper
• A luxury spa day in Richmond

Well, it turns out that Mrs Reilly has been fortunate enough to win a weekend break in Bath with £250 spending money (no doubt all spent on Physics text books). She has also won a luxury spa day in Richmond, which means that what she has not won is a Fortnum and Mason cheese hamper. Though the fact that that is what she came up with as the lie could suggest that what she really wanted to have previously won was that cheese hamper. Who knows!

This week, we have more themed dishonesty. On this occasion, it is Mrs Pickford Scienti debasing herself for your entertainment. And, as an English teacher, her theme is book genres…

• Mrs Pickford Scienti loves Sci-Fi
• Mrs Pickford Scienti loves Romance
• Mrs Pickford Scienti loves True Crime

Which is the lie? Find out next week!

CONNECTION CORNER

Well done to everyone who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. It was a tricky one and stumped many of you. Merits go to all those who correctly guessed that adding a prefix of San made all the answers into a place name. Big shout out to Alex G, Manilo C, Oscar S, Matthew L, Huw C, James G, Dean B, Daniel S, Neil T, Liam C, Gordon L, Joe B, Manav K V, Leonard H, Fred O and Kieran V.

We have a special guest in this week’s Connection Corner, Neil T (3J) is trying to fox you all with his four questions. Can you guess the connection?

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

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