Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
And here we are! Easter!
Of course, the Easter break brings with it many questions…
Who or what is the Easter bunny?
Where do teachers go when School is shut?
How much chocolate is it physically possible to eat in a day?
Will the Hampton ducklings arrive while we are all away?
Can you have too much sleep?
If my teacher told me about the homework, but hasn’t put it on Teams, do I still have to do it? (yes)
Who will return to School with the most ill-judged haircut?
Are daffodils overrated?
At what point do you put your ‘big coat’ away properly?
All valid questions, but not necessarily ones that you will find answers to.
And you may not want to trouble your mind with these things, particularly when it has been such a busy term. This week’s blog only emphasises this, with music, Interform competitions, Rowing, Football and a magnificent Model United Nations conference. So, sit back, enjoy the blog and slip into the Easter break.
Recharge your batteries and we all look forward to seeing everyone back in the summer term!
Heads of Year Message
Well done to all of the U14 footballers, rugby 7s squad, and J14 rowers who were in competitive action this week. Our sports teams met with victory and defeat in equal measure, but they should all reflect on the Headmaster’s address in assembly on Thursday, in which he reminded us all that the measures of success go far beyond the scoreline in sport, and in life.
Thank you all for supporting the mufti day today raising funds for Form Charity and to all those who contributed to the food bank collection this morning.
We wish safe travels to all Third Year pupils heading off on trips over the Easter holidays. These include the History Battlefields trip to France and Belgium, the J14 Rowing camp to Hazewinkel, the Classics trip to Hadrian’s Wall and the Adventure Society trip to Snowdonia. We look forward to seeing the photos and reading the reports, and we trust that all the boys will acquit themselves with distinction in all their endeavours.
Spring Term Reports will be available for parents to view via My School Portal from 4.00pm today (Friday 28 March). Form Tutors will conduct Report reviews with their tutees at the start of the summer term.
Summer Exams – Whilst attention will inevitably start to focus on exams week (May 19-23; the week before half term) from the start of the summer term, we do not expect pupils to be revising throughout the Easter holidays. Boys should take the opportunity to consolidate notes and catch-up on any missed work from the spring term. Otherwise, we strongly advocate the need for time to relax and recover from a busy term over the holidays. Form Tutors will provide guidance and support towards planning a revision schedule, and executing effective revision, during Study Skills PSHE lessons early next term. Subject teachers will include revision advice and activities during lessons next term. There will also be a two-week “homework holiday” ahead of exams, during which all boys should aim to complete their revision and exam preparations.
Boys – well done for all your efforts and achievements during this busy term. We hope that you all have a happy, relaxing and restful Easter holiday. We look forward to seeing you refreshed and ready to go again on Wednesday 23 April for the start of the summer term.
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore
Rowing
On Wednesday 26 March, three octos set out for the second race of the season: the Junior Sculling Head, better known as the Scullery.
We arrived at 1:45pm. We then went over to where our boats had been placed by the J15s, who had used them before us, and relaxed, stretched and warmed up for nearly two hours. After a nervous wait, we went out in our boats and warmed up on the water, ready to queue up to race. Our A boat left a bit late, however, and so ended up skipping this entire queue, going straight down to the start line.
Then we were off! We set out on our first straight of the lake, and we were rowing at quite a high rate! We were taking around thirty-five strokes-per-minute down the whole course. Things happen on the water though, and one member of the crew unluckily caught a couple of crabs (his blade became stuck in the water) in the early stages of the race, which slowed us down a bit. However, he sprung back, and we all encouraged him to keep going.
We finished the first 1.8km length of the lake in a respectable time of 6 minutes and 48 seconds. Our second piece went much better, with no crabs caught and a remarkably low average 500m split, and a remarkably high average number of strokes-per-minute: thirty-five once again. This time, we emerged with the best J14 single length time of the day, at 6 minutes and 27 seconds. These two combined gave the boat a total time of 13 minutes and 15 seconds. Unfortunately, we lost out to a very strong Radley College side, who beat us overall by 7 seconds, placing us 2nd in our J14 category.
Our B boat performed outstandingly, winning the B boat competition and coming 6th overall, beating many A boats including St Paul’s in the process! Our C boat also rowed excellently, coming 26th overall out 41 boats. This race was the end of most of the head races, and everyone is very exciting for the regatta season to come.
By Joe B (3B)
Model United Nations
This weekend, around 15 of us from Hampton travelled to Haileybury, outside of London, to participate in the world’s biggest Model United Nations conference. There were 900 delegates representing 100 delegations, debating throughout the weekend. We arrived on Friday afternoon, and attended the grand opening ceremony which showcased the size of the event. When we all went into our committees to debate, lobbying started, in which delegates try to get other delegates to sign their resolutions to resolve certain issues.
In each committee there were 50-80 people that we debated with or against. I had a lot of fun representing Cuba as it was a lot different from representing a country allied with the west. I learnt a lot from the conference about international affairs and issues but also improved my debating skills in the high-quality debate that took place. The debate was captivating, though there were some funny moments including when I was forced to sing ‘Call me maybe’ with four other delegates at the end.
The conference was run excellently, and Mrs Field and Miss Bellingan did an excellent job in preparing us for Haileybury and taking care of us: we even got to see Captain America. The food there was probably the best part, apart from the awards ceremony, which went excellently for Hampton as we won a delegation award and many of us got individual awards, including me and Digby (who won ‘Outstanding delegate’) from the Third Year. On the way back, in ‘Haileybury tradition’, Sweet Caroline was blasted through the minibus speakers on the two hour drive back. Overall, the weekend was exceptional and we had an amazing time at the conference!
By Vihaan K (3A)
Football Update
U14A Team
We got to Hampton at 8:45am in the morning for our match against St Paul’s School. They were out on the pitch warming up earlier than us, so we knew they were very much up for the game. We kicked off and got off to a very strong start, as we were all over them from the whistle. Around 10 minutess into the game, the ball came to Macsen B on the bounce and he volleyed it past the keeper. We were ahead. Then, 5 minutes later, Macsen found himself in an advanced position and crossed the ball into the box, with it hitting one of the opposition players’ hands. We had won a penalty and after some brief discussion, Dean F took the penalty and scored. The game was pretty evenly matched for the rest of the first half.
For the first 10 minutes of the second half, not much happened, but around 15 minutes in, Charlie L played a ball through, splitting their defence and their keeper mistimed when he was going to come out. Thomas H touched it past him and just like that, we were 3-0 up. Expecting to have the win secured, we started to play quite safely, creating a few chances. However, with 15 mins to go, our keeper made a slight mistake and it landed at their striker’s feet, who scored quite a lucky goal. That gave them a lot of momentum, so we knew it would be difficult to hold onto this win for the rest of the game.
With around 10 minutes to go, their striker made a great finish, which made it 3-2. For the last 5 minutes, we struggled to hold on, jumping in front of very shot, but in the end, the game finished 3-2. A great win!
By Macsen B (3F)
U14D Team
On Saturday 15 March the U14D had an intense home match against St Paul’s Schoo. The match started at 9:30 in the morning and, when the whistle blew, Alex C-S got on the ball and nearly scored in the first 3 seconds. After that unfortunate miss, we kept working until Yevin S found himself running full pace onto the goal before passing to Daniel S who scored – we were 1-0 up! Then we attacked again with Alex C-S scoring, giving us a 2-0 lead. After this, the opposition woke up and scored, leaving it at 2-1 to us. It felt close!
Half time came and changes were made on both sides. St Paul’s started the second half well awake (unlike us!), and they scored a goal quite early on. Both teams kept fighting for a goal, with each side making changes again. We had to defend or score. The game was end to end, with Casper G blocking a shot from the opposition striker and attempting to launch a counter attack. We all kept fighting for the remaining 10 minutes, but we couldn’t break through.
The game finished 2-2 and was a very intense, but very enjoyable experience.
By Casper G b(3G)
Marvellous Music
I am fortunate enough to be in a few of the many musical groups that go on at Hampton (there are 31 groups!) I am in the Symphony Orchestra at Hampton, and it is amazing to have such great Orchestras like that at a school. From time to time, I also help out with some of the other Orchestras, such as Concert Orchestra, for less experienced musicians, and Sinfonia. I also attend Chamber Orchestra, which is a string Orchestra, but one that plays a very difficult repertoire, and very well!
Anyone from any year can join these orchestras and do feel free to join! Its lots of fun, and the music we play in all these groups are always very enjoyable. My personal favourite part is playing at the concerts at the end of the year! It’s always wonderful to demonstrate the results of all your hard work to a full audience in the Hammond Theatre.
By Pierce B (3G)
Interform Badminton and Table Tennis
Mr Hooper hosted what I understand to have been a titanic Interform Badminton and Table Tennis tournament last week. That is all well and good, but what were the results? What Mr Hooper sent through suggested a deeply complex tournament, so rather than give all of the individual elements, we have an order for each of table tennis and badminton based on the combined performance of the various competitors.
Badminton:
1st – 3D : 9pts
2nd – 3B : 8pts
3rd – 3F : 7pts
Joint 4th – 3A and 3E : 6pts
6th – 3J : 4pts
7th – 3G : 3pts
Did not compete: 3C, 3H : 0pts
Table Tennis:
1st – 3E : 9pts
2nd – 3B : 8pts
3rd – 3D : 7pts
4th – 3J : 6pts
5th – 3A : 5pts
6th – 3G : 4pts
7th – 3F : 3pts
Did not compete: 3C, 3H : 0pts
So where does this all leave the battle for the Williams Cup?
The overall standings are now as follows:
1st – 3B : 70pts
2nd – 3D : 69pts
3rd – 3A : 61pts
4th – 3F : 55pts
5th – 3E : 50pts
6th – 3J : 47pts
7th – 3C : 38pts
8th – 3H : 33pts
9th – 3G : 31pts
It is still incredibly tight at the top, with plenty more events to come after the Easter holiday!
Two truths and a lie
Last week we had Mr Perry, the U14A Rowing coach pulling the wool over our eyes. These were his claims:
- Mr Perry won the National Schools’ Regatta
- Mr Perry climbed Macchu Picchu in a Huddersfield Town shirt
- Mr Perry coached a crew to a Bronze medal at the coastal rowing world championships
Which was the lie?
If there is one thing that the Third Year Blog knows about Mr Perry, it is that he LOVES Huddersfield. So it only stands to reason that he climbed Macchu Picchu in a Huddersfield Town shirt. Was it the first Huddersfield Town shirt ever to reach Macchu Picchu? Yes. Yes, it was. Mr Perry did also coach a crew to a Bronze medal in the coastal rowing championships, which begs the question of whether Hampton should investigate installing wave machines for regattas they are involved in, as surely this would give them an advantage. What this means is that Mr Perry did not win the National Schools’ Regatta – as it turns out, he didn’t start rowing until he went to University. So, even if you haven’t started rowing yet, there is still hope!
There is no liar available this week, as all the teachers the Third Year Blog contacted claimed to have given up lying for lent. Of course, that may well have been a lie in itself. Or is it that the Third Year blog is lying and, in fact, did not ask any teachers at all? Or is it true, which then suggests that all of these teachers are casually lying all the rest of the year. Who knows? It is all rather disorientating.
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 counties of Ireland. Big shout out to Alex G, Liam C, Leonard H, Matthew L, Oscar S, Kit B, Gordon L, Alp O, James G, Daniel S, Henry S. Joe B, Oliver Y, Dennis H, Josh B, Ishaan M, Sebastian W and David W.
In case you’re still perplexed, here are the answers from the last week’s conundrum:
What is the name of the poem where the first, second and fifth lines have the same rhyme and rhythm? Limerick
What is the name of the impermeable buoyant material that is most commonly used to stopper bottles of wine? Cork
Which sports presenter will host Wimbledon on the BBC this summer? Clare Balding
What is the name of the chain of local bakers’ shops that can be found in Hampton, Hampton Hill, Teddington and Twickenham? The Cavan Bakery
Connection: All counties of Ireland (County Limerick, County Cork, Country Clare, County Cavan)
Connection Corner is having a well-deserved rest over the holidays – lots of Easter eggs to get through!
