WELCOME TO THE FIRST YEAR BLOG!
Bravo to all First Year Hamptonians for being such fabulous tour guides on Open Morning. You helped so many parents and boys and were utterly charming and helpful. I was on the desk by the LEH gate signing you all out and was impressed by the stamina of some of you who led tours lasting over two hours and were still smiling!
This week we have settled back into lessons and clubs and there are reviews here from our bloggers. Don’t miss the report on all the creatures which inhabit our School, the star being Harris, the School dog, who now has his own club on Wednesdays.
Do send me any news, including events out of School, or come to Blog Club on Tuesday lunchtime. Have a great weekend!
Music from a Scholar’s viewpoint
Rahul P (1B) tells us all about his first few weeks as a Hampton musician:
During my first few weeks at Hampton, as a music scholar, I have really enjoyed getting involved in all the music. I really enjoy the beauty and creativity of music, and I have been blown away by the immense amount of musical opportunities.
I have started getting involved in some of the choirs and I am in the School Choir and ROAR! I have loved getting into the school choir and I really like feeling the music in the beautiful harmonies in our Christmas carol songs and our exciting film music which we are going to perform later in the year. I play the violin, and I am also proud to be playing in the Symphony Orchestra after school on the Monday. I love the pieces we are currently playing as they are exciting, bold and impressive. Although, they are quite complicated and I find some of the passages in the pieces hard, I think the orchestra is a great way to get to know other musicians and play complicated pieces with other people. I have also started playing violin with Ms Van Ments and doing lessons with her which I have enjoyed greatly as well. To sum up I have loved music at Hampton, and I look forward to playing in lots of concerts and getting involved in many other musical activities.
Open Morning
It was fantastic to hear all the wonderful feedback from prospective families who came to last weekend’s Open Morning. Haohao L (1G) explains a little bit more about it:
Many would agree Open Mornings are the most exciting events for pupils and visitors. I would agree as well. It is so important as it introduces the school to visitors and enables them to have a tour of the whole school. The pupils did a great job covering the whole school even though they arrived only three weeks ago. The School was really busy, with people everywhere and in every department. There were about five different routes with every route going around Hampton eventually ending on the School fields where there was music and ice creams.
CO-CURRICULAR CLUBS
Co-curricular Clubs are now up and running, and First Year Hamptonians are spoilt for choice! Take a look at the full list of all clubs, societies and other co-curricular activities on offer in the link here.
With over 130 clubs and societies on offer, the biggest challenge will be deciding which ones to join! Keep an eye out for notices from your Form Tutor for any changes to this year’s clubs.
LESSONs OF THE WEEK
Exciting English
Max O (1H) has definitely enjoyed his first few weeks of English, find out more below:
English is definitely one of my favourite subjects – the past few lessons have been SO FUN! We started off by getting to know the novel ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne, a great book about a young boy’s thoughts and feelings throughout the Second World War. We then were introduced to the Reading Scheme, a programme which is aimed at exposing First, Second and Third Years to a wide range of books in different genres – Classic Adventure, Fantasy, Growing Up and War and Conflict. We are allowed to choose a book of our choice which fits into each of these categories, and after we’ve read it, we complete creative tasks which test our understanding of the book. Overall, English so far has been extremely enjoyable, and I am looking forward to the challenging tasks ahead!
Cool Chemistry
Alexander B (1J) gives us an insight into what goes on in Chemistry:
Chemistry is one of the best lessons at Hampton because we can watch the teacher do experiments, as well as doing them ourselves. So far, we have seen fire being lit up by two chemicals. Even if you don’t like chemistry, the teacher always has a way to find something fun for you. With each lesson the difficulty has been increasing even though it is still FUN! Now I am thinking about joining Chemistry Club which is at 12.35pm on Monday at F57. I hope that you will love the rest of CHEMISTRY!
Scholars’ Concert
The Music Department would like to invite you along to our first concert of the year, the Scholars’ Concert. This event will take place on Thursday 3 October in the Hammond Theatre at 7.00pm. Throughout the evening, our Music and Choral Scholars will take to the stage to perform a selection of solo works ranging from classical through to jazz.
Free tickets for this event can be reserved by following this link: School Tickets
New Pupils’ Concert
If you fancy treading the boards of the Hammond Theatre stage and performing in front of an audience, why don’t you sign up for the New Pupils’ Concert which takes place on Tuesday 19 November. You have until Friday 4 October to sign up for this wonderful concert, which is for any musicians who are new to the School.
This concert is open to musicians of all abilities and allows you to experience the impressive facilities in the Hammond Theatre, not least our excellent Steinway concert grand piano! Contact Mr Thomson in the Music Department if you have any questions.
Rugby round-up
Ralph L (1B) has enjoyed his first experience of playing sport at Hampton, let’s hear how he got on in the recent U12A rugby match against Grey Court School:
What impressed me was how well we sustained our team spirit all the way to the very last seconds of the match and won 5-3. It really set the tone and meant we went into our second match last Saturday with confidence. All of us had a great time and have the potential to win more games. It was so good to start off the season strong!
And from another rugby enthusiast Max D (1L):
It has been a joy being a Hamptonian for the past few weeks. There were incredibly fun lessons with awesome teachers! There was five-star food and a billion clubs to choose from! But nothing exited me more than when I was chosen to play my first rugby match with the school. It convinced me that even touch rugby can be fun. The whole thing was an amazing experience (and there were snacks which we really needed after the effort we put in!). We lost three games but won one; at least we didn’t lose all of them. In the end, it was super fun. At my previous school, they only had fixtures for football as there was no space for rugby. I am so grateful for the matches at Hampton, particularly since I haven’t played much rugby before. I hope I am picked for even more games in future.
Magnificent Creatures
James C (1H) is just one of the First Year Hamptonians who popped into Biology Club this week:
In Biology Club, I discovered that Hampton School not only has many pupils enjoying their school day but a variety of different species of animals living there. My first find was a snake that was about two metres long with an unusually small head. It was hiding in a huge log in a container. Everyone also got to meet another snake called Max crawling under bits of wood and rocks. In another tub, there were two Giant Snails that came all the way from Africa! A couple of frogs were snoozing in a pool of water but they were not the only ones taking a nap. A few stick insects and a hamster (called Harvey) were also trying to sleep. Brightly coloured fish were swimming and darting around in a tank next to the corridor.
As the bell rang for the end of the club, I walked into lunch but that was not the end. I saw Harris (the School dog) barking playfully at everyone who strolled past. Overall, I think that the Hampton School is a great place for both pupils and animals!
Maths Day
Some of our First Year mathematicians travelled to Hollyfield School this week for a day of number crunching, as they took part in the ISSP Maths Day competition. Ethan C (1P), Kiyan J (1P), Eden J (1P), Reyansh K (1L), Elan L (1F), George M H (1B) and Jia W X (1G) displayed some fantastic problem-solving skills. Well done boys!
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 Aarav S (1L) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week!
Aarav demonstrated great resilience and teamwork during our trip to Avon Tyrrell. He approached every challenge with positivity, was a wonderful support to his Form and kept a smile on his face for the entire two days!
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 you will get to know the School better in the process.
Last week’s challenge:
How many windows does the Avon Tyrrell house have? If you happened to bump into the sign or if you listened carefully on the night walk, you would know the correct answer is 365 – well done to Hayk F, Nicholas R, Yuchen L, Jonathan G, Aadam N, Henry M, Edward G, Toby S, Sebastian G, Arthur B, Emre K, Felix R, Edward J, Poyraz D, Harri C, Ishaan J, Lucas F, Rahul P, James C, Alexander C, Oliver J, Ryan A, Noah N-A, Yuvan M, Theo R, Nico L, Faaris M-C, Aryan T, Diego C-G, Luke B, Sebastian Y, Bertie E, Reyansh K, Isaac L, Aayushmaan C, Ashveer C, Max K, William J, Ralph L, David M, Arthur H, Max D, Agastya J, Kiyan J and Max O for getting it right and entering your answer in last week’s blog! Make sure you collect a merit from your Form Tutor next week!
If you did know the answer but didn’t enter it into the blog last week, make sure you do so this week as it won’t count otherwise!
This week’s challenge:
How many football and rugby pitches are there in total, excluding the 3G?
Enter your answer here:
