Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
Another busy Hampton week for the Third Years was highlighted by last Thursday’s ‘No Limits Lessons Day’. Of course, this is a slight misnomer as there are some limits. In truth, a more accurate name would be ‘Comparatively Few Limits Lessons Day’, but this doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. So, No Limits Lessons Day it is. Rumours that Mr Knibbs had asked Eurodance ‘legends’ 2 Unlimited to produce a revised version of the School Song to celebrate the day were (sadly) unfounded.
No Limits Lessons Day involves teachers being encouraged to try to find different ways to bring their subjects (and pupils) to life. From a teaching perspective it can sometimes feel like a day that pushes you into a less comfortable place and you don’t necessarily look forward to it, but when the reality of the day is here and you are walking around the School seeing what’s going on, hearing the laughter from the classrooms and feeling the energy around the place, it all feels incredibly worthwhile.
Of course, there are the stories of teachers who choose to banish ‘limits’ by setting assessments which you are permitted to complete in coloured pen, or the danger of finding yourself being asked to participate in eight different debates during lessons throughout the day, but the vast majority of stories you hear make you marvel at the creativity of the staff here and what they are able to come up with, from poetry escape rooms, drawing biologically accurate brains on to the white swimming caps that your friends are wearing, to learning about the social history of the 1920s by dancing the Charleston, to navigating passport control entirely in Spanish.
It is a wonderful day to walk the corridors and get a real sense of the sheer vibrancy that a whole School of Hamptonians can generate – it is enough to put a spring in the step of even the most battle-hardened teaching veteran. What a day!
Of course, this week, all the limits have been put firmly back in place and no one has been doing anything interesting at all… Or have they? Let’s find out!
Heads of Year Message
Well done to everyone for completing an action packed half term at School. We certainly feel that Third Year pupils are living up to the aims we set them at the start of this year:
- Aim for personal best
- Be kind to everyone
- Get involved
- Speak up if you need assistance
Boys – you have done yourselves proud this half term in the way you have thrown yourselves wholeheartedly into the challenges and opportunities available. Enjoy the holiday and keep up the good work and good behaviour next half term.
Interform Competition
Well done to all those who took part in the Third Year Interform Padlock Challenge on Thursday lunchtime. Thank you to Miss Alexander for running the event. Read on for the results and the impact on the Interform Competition standings after three events.
October Grade Cards
Parents will be able to access their son’s grade card from the end of the school day today (Friday 16 October) via the online Parent Portal. The link to this will also be sent to parents via SchoolPost this evening. Pupils should not worry unduly about their grade cards. We will only ever ask them to aim for “personal best”. Form Tutors will pick up on any academic concerns after the half term holiday, with the aim of offering support if required.
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.
We hope that everyone enjoys a well-deserved break over the half term holiday.
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore
Pitch Battles
On Thursday, the rugby U14As played against St Richards Reynolds in the first round of the School Sports Magazine National Cup. They were a very big and physical side, so we knew we would have to fight hard to beat them.
After a very intense first couple of minutes, we took the lead through a well-worked play that found its way to the wing and Kaarthikan M managed to run it in to score. The conversion was then scored by Fred GvP. 7-0 to Hampton.
We then found ourselves stuck on our own try line defending. Finally, after many huge tackles, we managed to get the ball out and attacked down their half. A few phases later and after some runs by Cyrus K, Jack D bundled it over the tryline. The conversion was scored by Fred GvP. The rest of the first half was an even contest, and finally, the whistle blew signalling the end of the first half. 14-0 to Hampton.
In the second half, we found ourselves defending for most of it, making good tackles and keeping them at bay. With five minutes to go, they got a scrum five metres out, leading to their flanker scoring. Conversion scored. 14-7 to Hampton. Out of the blue, after a lineout to the opponents, Dylan T intercepted their misplaced pass, running it in under the posts. The conversion was then scored by Fred GvP. 21-7 to Hampton. Then, to finish the game off, Hampton scored again with a great run by Luke B and a try scored in the corner by Logan T. Final score: 26-7 to Hampton.
With that win, we now move on the next round of the cup after half term. We have now got another cup game to prepare for, as we look to continue our runs in both competitions as far as possible.
Honours Even
Last Saturday, the U14C team heard the difficult news that we would not be facing the Forest School’s C team, but instead their B team. Forest have been known in the past to be a difficult team to play against, especially their A team, so when we heard the news, we knew we were up for a difficult match. We arrived at the game with a mixed view about how the game would turn out, and soon it was kick off.
They pressed very hard against us at the start, and as a centre-back there was lots of pressure early on. But we did not concede, and soon we found our flow and put in many attacks. We had a few attempts at goal, but unfortunately we did not score. At half-time the score remained 0-0, and we came into the second half with an attacking mind-set.
However, despite our final strong efforts, the full-time whistle sounded and the game ended 0-0. We were proud of our result and happy we put in a good game against a strong B team squad.
By Zach H (3C)
Rhyming Runs
Now that the dust has settled on what was a thrilling cricket season, we move into a long winter of football, rugby and indoor training.
It was an excellent season for Hampton cricket, with our U13As winning the National Cup and going unbeaten throughout the season, winning 11 out of our 11 games. In our National Cup run, we beat Bishop’s Stortford, Gosfield and then we were triumphant against Epsom at home. In the semi-final, we beat Sir Thomas Rich’s school in Gloucester, and then won against Manchester Grammar in the final at Oakham, by a big margin.
Here is a poem about the cricket season:
It has been a great cricket season,
And there are many reasons,
To look forward to next,
As written in this text,
Contests between bat and ball,
Much entertainment for all
Amazing catches in the field,
Sometimes those are surreal,
Now it’s time for indoor training
When, outside, its cold and raining
But it’s been a great summer,
With lots more to come
By Yuvan M (3F)
Locks unlocked!
Thursday saw the first ever Lock Breaking interform event for the Third Year. Fear not, we have not been training the pupils to steal things. The competition involves pairs of pupils from each form in a relay trying to unlock their own school padlock from the fence on the 3G as quickly as possible.
It was a very closely contested event (for the most part) and will certainly be part of the Interform schedule for years to come.
Here are the results…
1st – 3F: 15.50 secs – 9pts
2nd – 3G: 17.86 secs – 8pts
3rd – 3E: 18.36 secs – 7pts
4th – 3B: 20.27 secs – 6pts
5th – 3C: 20.28 secs – 5pts
6th – 3A: 22.03 secs – 4pts
7th – 3J: 23.26 secs – 3pts
8th – 3D: 25.66 secs – 2pts
9th – 3H: 60 secs (approx.) – 1pt
Well played (almost) everyone. And where does this leave the overall standings for the mighty Williams Cup??
Well, we have a new leader, but it is tight at the top (and at the bottom, to be fair).
1st – 3G – 19pts
2nd – 3A & 3E – 18pts
4th – 3B & 3J – 17pts
6th – 3F – 16pts
7th – 3D – 12pts
8th – 3C & 3H – 10pts
SO much still to play for through the year – everything could be looking very different by the end of the year!
Newt News!
These are my juvenile smooth newts, otherwise known as smooth newt efts (Lissotriton vulgaris). They are one of three UK native species and arguably the cutest ones, yet they are quite hard to find throughout the urbanised areas in the UK, especially as they are entirely nocturnal, requiring a keen eye to spot them in the wild!
There are roughly 9-10 newts, varying in size, colour, and even patterns. However, at such an early stage, it is quite hard to differentiate the genders, yet as they grow up, males develop a prominent and colourful crest as well as an enlarged cloaca (which is where they excrete from and use for reproduction). Females on the other hand, develop far rounder cloacas and their colour fades away and gains a far more muted tone.
They are ridiculously cute and small, which makes feeding time far more enjoyable, as they generally all have very bad coordination and they frequently smack each other with their short and stubby tongues. Well, that’s all and I hope you enjoyed reading about one of our native amphibians.
By Juan AVdS (3F)
International football!
Last Tuesday I went to Wembley and saw England defeat Czechia 3-0. It was a sensational night that was made better with a 3-0 win for England.
Before kick-off the atmosphere was electric with thousands of singing supporters. On the pitch England dominated from the start forcing the opener when a great cross from Harry Kane led to an own goal from Vladimir Coufal in the 27th minute. After that it was the Harry Kane show, with the skipper marking his record equalling 125th England cap in a terrific fashion by slotting home a neat finish, after an amazing first time cross from Morgan Rogers to set Harry up on a plate. He then doubled his tally with a great header at the far post from a Lewis Hall corner which capped off a flawless 3-0 victory in the nation’s league for England.
What a night!
By Rahim K (3B)
Two Truths and a Lie
Last week, Mrs White, Third Year Tutor and Head of Russian, lied for the benefit of the Third Year Blog. She made these claims – which one is the lie?
- Mrs White spent her childhood in Germany
- Mrs White’s favourite sport is figure skating
- While Mrs White LOVES ‘borshch’ (the traditional Russian beetroot soup), she has no idea how to cook it
Well, Mrs White does indeed love ‘borshch’, but is unable to cook it for herself. She does love Figure Skating, preferring it even over Football, which the Third Year Blog understands is likely to prompt incredulity throughout the year group. What this means is that Mrs White did not spend her childhood in Germany.
As you know, your teachers are paragons of virtue and honour, meaning that it can be very hard to get them to lie for you. This means we will have a brief pause in the lying until after half term when, freshly rejuvenated, your teachers will be willing to lie once again.
Connection Corner
A big shout out to everyone who had a go at the last Connection Corner and well done those of you who answered all the questions correctly. The correct connection was Cakes! Merits go to Seb G, Dylan S, Frankie D, Ethan C, Ojas P, Harri C, Smyan M, William J, Ruben S, Archie H, Ediz Y, Armaan R, Ansh R, Rayan A, Ishaan J, Oliver J and George P L.
In case you’re still perplexed, here are last week’s answers:
The area of southwest Germany that is known for dense, evergreen forests is known as what? Black Forest
On what Portuguese island was Cristiano Ronaldo born? Madeira
Stinking bishop is a type of what? Cheese
What figure is often found at the top of a Christmas tree? Angel
Connection answer: Types of cake
