Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
Where are the ducklings, boys? WHERE. ARE. THE. DUCKLIIIINGSSSSSS?????
No, genuinely. Where are they?
Because there is still no sign. Not a peep. Not a wobble. Not even a suspicious ripple of the very small pond that looks like it might be a duckling if you squint and believe in yourself.
What we do have is a small squad of adult ducks doing very serious laps of the Cloisters as if they’ve been hired as security. One minute they’re sitting calmly, the next they’re standing around looking like they’re in the middle of a secret meeting. Occasionally one of them stares directly at the Third Year Blog in a way that suggests the ducks know we’re watching. Which is unsettling, because the Third Year Blog is famously subtle.
It is, in short, a crisis.
And of course this makes it very difficult to concentrate on anything else.
Hopefully, the same cannot be said for our Third Years, who are about to embark on exam week. This can feel like a slightly quieter moment for the Blog as revision takes centre stage (quite right too)… but there’s still plenty below to tuck into, including the usual Connection Corner and Two Truths and a Lie.
Have a read — and if anyone sees anything duckling-shaped, please report immediately. Preferably in triplicate. With diagrams.
Heads of Year Message
Assessments
Third Year assessments will take place next week. Third Year pupils should continue with their preparations for exams over this weekend. We ask that they prepare as best they can and concentrate during the assessments to ensure that they aim for personal best. We will ask no more of anyone than that. There is no failure, only learning, if mistakes occur. Please allow time for some rest and recovery over this weekend and each evening next week – stick to the recommended average of 90 minutes revision per day. Getting used to dealing with the rhythm of assessments week is an important skill to acquire on the journey through school.
Any attempt to violate exam conditions will be followed up by the Heads of Year. We expect all Hamptonians to exhibit academic integrity throughout their time at school, but this is especially important during assessments week. We would far rather pupils made honest mistakes than seek to gain an unfair advantage.
We ask pupils to pay particular attention to the mobile phone policy during assessments week. In particular, it is essential that phones are switched off, put into lockers and locked with a padlock for the duration of the school day. We really do not want phones going off in lockers during assessments next week – any help from parents in reminding your son’s about this (and ensuring they have a functioning padlock if they bring a phone to school) is grateful appreciated.
Interform Athletics
Interform Athletics will take place on Thursday 21 May in the afternoon. All Third Year pupils should attend school in their Hampton PE or Sports kit that day.
National Schools’ Regatta
J14 rowers competing at the National Schools’ Regatta on Friday 22 May will not be issued with a new individual exam timetable, but will be expected to complete the missed assessments on Monday 1 June (after half term). Best wishes for a strong performance to all those who are competing at the National Schools’ Regatta!
Absences
If your child will be absent from School for any reason, please complete the absence reporting form, which can be found on My School Portal, on every morning of absence. For absences other than illness (e.g. if a pupil has a medical appointment during School hours) notice of this should be given in advance wherever possible. For planned absences, please contact the Heads of Year requesting the absence with as much notice as possible.
Boys – keep up the good work over this weekend and into next week. Stick to your revision schedules. Continue to be thoughtful and kind to the people around you. As always, let us, your Form Tutors or the relevant subject teachers know if you are having any difficulties.
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore
On the Water
Rowing for Hampton is one of the best choices I have made while being at Hampton.
It is very fun and you get to go out to the Boat House almost every session in the summer. We do training on Tuesday lunches, Wednesday after school, Thursday games sessions and a gym session on Friday after school from 4 till 6. When the conditions are bad, we go on the ergos or in the gym. It is great fun and, of course, even if you don’t think you are cut out for the full physicality of rowing, then you can cox and still be an essential part of the team.
By Finn T (3G)
Third Year Interform Charity Quiz
On Thursday at lunchtime, the joint Hampton and LEH Form Charity Quiz was conducted. Everyone sat in groups based on their form (3A,B,C etc.). After paying the donations, we started the quiz. It consisted of three rounds: General Knowledge, Sport and Music/Films/Pop Culture.
The questions were engaging, and the atmosphere incredibly noisy. After the three challenging rounds, the scores were tallied up, and results were given. While we had a great time, we were not placed in the top three!
Overall, it was a fun experience, a great way to spend a Thursday afternoon!
By Uzair S-C (3G)
ISSP English Day
Last Wednesday, five Hamptonians had the lovely opportunity to attend the ISSP English day, which was hosted at Tolworth Girls’ School. There were a variety of different schools participating that certainly contained very skilled writers.
Before writing, we had a brief conference with Alice McIlroy, who talked about her speculative fiction book called The Glass Woman, and later we created our own work. Speculative fiction is basically a super-genre, or a story revolving around a “What if?” question.
In order to explain our novels to the rest of the cohort, we constructed a 30-second elevator pitch (a short explanation to “sell” your story in the space of an elevator ride). I learnt a lot from the experience, especially how to construct an elevator pitch when taking inspiration from images and what speculative fiction actually was.
Here’s an extract of the work I did on the day:
The rhythmic clanging of metal on stone echoed monotonously throughout the cave, as water gently dripped off stalactites strewn along the ceiling. It was nothing, or maybe something, similar to the rhythmic drumming of fingers on keyboards in Canary Wharf.
But it felt the same.
The same song barely crackled out of the speaker, the words stuck in its chest from exhaustion and overuse:
‘Our world, our home’
‘Wherever we roam,’
‘We are all the same, the new and the old.’
The simple, yet catchy 4 beats a bar melody infect their minds: it seemed less like a song and more like a program, fed into the obedient minds of robots.
By Ethan S-W (3H)
Two Truths and a Lie
Last week, Mrs Clarke offered musically themed lying. Of course, just because you give your dishonesty a ‘theme’ doesn’t make you any less dishonest, but that is a discussion for another day. What did she claim?
- 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.
This week, we welcome Mr Hurst into the padded, restricted comfort of the two truths and a lie room. Here are the three things he wants us to believe.
- Mr Hurst once hit a six at the Ageas Bowl, home of Hampshire and Southern brave
- Mr Hurst once scored a goal against Hampton School
- Mr Hurst was once a mascot for Manchester United
Which is the lie? Find out next week!
Connection Corner
Well done to the everyone who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. Well done to everyone who correctly guessed that the answers were all British Monarchs (bonus merit if you spotted that they were the most recent British monarchs in chronological order). Big shout out to Charlie F, Asher C, Rishi V, Leon S, Toby B, Reuben N and Sujay N.
Another tricky one this week, see if you can spot the connection:
In case you’re still perplexed, here are the answers to the last conundrum:
Who holds the World Record for the Triple Jump for men? Jonathan Edwards
Which English singer-songwriter had success with Shotgun? George Ezra
Which famous British actress starred opposite her future husband in the film Cleopatra? Elizabeth Taylor
Which Victorian author wrote Hard Times? Charles Dickens
Connection: The four most recent British monarchs Edward VIII, George VI, Elizabeth II and Charles III
