Welcome to the First Year Blog!
It has been another energetic week for our First Years who seem determined to prove that the spring term is anything but sleepy. From cooking up excitement ahead of next week’s Homework Holiday and Cooking Week, to puzzling their way through cryptic clues, the boys have certainly kept things lively. Dog Club continues to be a firm favourite too as Harris enjoys more fetch, fuss and fame than most household pets could ever dream of.
Although our rugby side faced a tough loss against a strong Whitgift team last weekend they demonstrated impressive resilience and finished the match with determination and pride.
Creativity has been flowing as well. Budding songwriters and poets are sharpening their pencils for the Interform Competition while others have been weaving stories in the Junior Writers’ Room producing work filled with imagination and flair. Some pupils have even been braving the Headmaster’s Study for the happiest of reasons and walking out with well earned certificates and very big smiles.
Among all this activity, we also take a moment to commemorate Tuesday’s poignant assembly, when the School marked Holocaust Memorial Day. This week has been an important time for quiet reflection. Our First Years spent the week thinking about the significance of remembrance and the responsibility that we all have to ensure that history isn’t repeated.
HOMEWORK HOLIDAY AND COOKING WEEK
Next week the First Years can swap pencils for pans as we enjoy our Homework Holiday and dive into Cooking Week. It is the perfect chance to whisk up family favourites, slice into something new, and serve up your very best kitchen creations. Mrs Whitwam will soon be putting together a First Year Cookbook, so remember to capture your culinary masterpieces in photos. Ready, steady, cook!
INTERFORM POETRY AND SONGWRITING COMPETITION
First Year Poetry and Songwriting Interform – deadline is 9.00am Wednesday 11 February.
Theme – ‘Your time at Hampton’
Calling all songwriters and poets! Win points for your Form by writing a poem or song about your first months as a Hamptonian.
Entries are limited to one per pupil and should be a minimum of 10 lines long and it is strictly forbidden to use AI to compose the poem; it must be your original work.
All entries will be judged by a panel from the English Office on Thursday 12 February, with results being announced on February 13th and published in the First Year Blog.
Please get writing and submit your poem or song to v.whitwam@hamptonschool.org.uk before 9.00am on Wednesday 11 February.
HEADMASTER’S HANDSHAKES
Today was such a massive day because I finally got to go and see the Headmaster to get my 50 merit certificate! I’ve been counting my merits in the merit book for ages, and every time I got one, I felt like I was getting closer to the meeting Mr Knibbs. It’s actually quite a lot of work to get this many because you have to be consistent every single day.
Walking down the long corridor to the Headmaster’s Study felt totally different than just walking to a normal lesson like Latin with Mr Barber, which I love. My heart was thumping a little bit because even though I wasn’t in trouble, it’s still pretty intimidating standing outside the door of Mr Knibbs’ office. When I finally went in there were loads of Hampton related stuff on the table and the sofas were so comfy. The Headmaster was really nice and asked me all about how I’m finding First Year so far and which subjects I like the most. I told him that I’m really enjoying Latin because the teacher is so funny and we get to do Blookets.
He looked at my certificate which had the same date as my birthday! It’s cool because when you’re in primary school things feel smaller, but getting a proper certificate from the Headmaster in secondary school feels like a much bigger deal. We even shook hands. I’ve put the certificate in my bag, but I’m definitely going to show my parents as soon as I get home because they know how much I wanted to reach this milestone. Now that I’ve got the 50, I’m already looking at the 100 merits certificate (triple gold), which is going to be way harder, but I think I can do it if I keep focused!
By Ruben V (1F)
This week, I have got two things to talk about on blog: the fun Maths challenge, and my meeting with the Headmaster, Mr Knibbs. First, since I was unwell for the Maths quiz, I did mine on Monday. It was the Hampton Maths challenge, and if you do well you progress to the next stage. Eventually you get to the Olympiad, which will be even more fun. The test was hard and I did not finish all the questions, but I think I did well. Some classes have got their results but mine hasn’t. I can’t wait to know if I got through!
The second highlight was meeting the Headmaster to claim my 50 and 60 merit certificates. I was meant to do this last Wednesday, but as I previously mentioned I was unwell, so it got moved to this week. I went in with three other boys, and Mr Knibbs was so nice. He had a nice conversation with us about where we got the merits and the biggest merit givers and then he shook our hands, and our certificates were given. It was an honour!
By Aahil U (1G)
Just before the morning registration on Tuesday, I was happily playing football. The bell rang and we rushed to the form room. The register was called and then came the notices. Our Form Tutor read them out and the very last one was special. Following my 50 academic merits, I was to meet the Headmaster, Mr Knibbs, during lunch! I wasn’t the only one in my form though, Ahrin K was with me as well. Our lesson flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go. We also met with some other First Years and, together, we stepped forth into the Headmaster’s Study. We were warmly greeted by Mr Knibbs and had a wonderful talk with him. He handed our certificates signed by him and said goodbye to us. It was a wonderful time and as we left my classmate and I then agreed to play chess in the library for the remainder of the lunch break! (He did win!)
By Pesandu W (1W)
PLOTLINES IN PROGRESS
Time flies – we have already stepped into the third week of the spring term!
It is always enjoyable for me to attend the Junior Writers’ Room during lunchtime every Thursday. During the last two weeks, I have been working on my third story since participating in the Junior Writers’ Room. This time, my story will be entered into Time to Write 2026, which is a creative writing competition organized by the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB) and the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS).
The theme for Time to Write 2026 is “thread”. This single word provides broad possible themes and room for imagination and creativity. Whilst I am not able to share the whole story in the weekly blog, it is wonderful to write up a creative work that exercises imagination, refine writing skills and conveys a meaningful message – to encourage a new perspective of the use of technology in our daily life.
By Hiu Yeung K (1P)
REAL RUGBY RESILIENCE
Last week, on Saturday, the U12A Rugby team played a ferocious Whitgift U12A side. It was an incredible game to begin with each team being equally matched. But we were slipping, we were losing the ball in the ruck too many times. Then Whitgift prevailed scoring two tries in the first half. 10 minutes left and we were 25-0 down. Was there nothing we could do? Wrong, with one last tiresome effort we came back, biting at Whitgift’s heels. We moved the ball with speed where Lucas B (1B) sped across the pitch scoring three tries. Finally, the full-time whistle went. The final score was 25-15. I personally thought if we played like we did in the final 10 minutes, we would have won. But you cannot win them all. Hopefully, we will have our revenge next time!
By Edward G (1J)
CRACKING THE CRYPTICS
This week, I went for the first time to Cryptic Crossword club. It was very fun and really challenges your mind. A cryptic crossword is a crossword with clues that most of the time have nothing to do with the actual output. You must use different words as indicators to lead you to the final word. For example, the clue ‘Bully chases off wimp, to begin with’ gives the word ‘Cow’. I’ll explain.
The first way to get the answer from a clue is that sometimes clues begin or end with a definition or synonym of the answer. This is alongside other clues though, as mentioned below, so it is more to check your final answer than to get the answer.
The second way to find an answer in a cryptic crossword is ‘ANAGRAM’. This can be found when an indicating word is found, meaning there is an anagram within the clue. An example of this is the clue, ‘Senator arranged crime’. This clue gives the word ‘treason’. This is because the word ‘arranged’ indicates this is an anagram, as it is to do with mixing or jumbling up a word; and an anagram of the word ‘senator’ is ‘treason’; and going back to the first trick mentioned, treason is a crime and the last word is ‘crime’.
The third trick to finding the answer to a clue is to look for ‘HIDDEN WORDS’, where the answer is hidden in the clue’s words. An example of this is the clue, ‘Debriefs, including cheese’, giving the answer ‘brie’. The indicator word in this clue is ‘including’, which indicates that there is a hidden word within ‘debrief’, which there is – ‘brie’! Again, the first trick I mentioned also helps us with this clue because brie is a type of cheese.
The fourth way to get an answer is ‘ACROSTIC’. For those of you who have heard of an acrostic poem, it will come as no surprise to you what this trick is. An example of this trick is the first clue I gave you – ‘Bully chases off wimp, to begin with’. The indicator phrase is ‘to begin with’, which indicates that there is an acrostic in the clue somewhere. As ‘chases off wimp’ is the phrase prior to the indicator, that is the acrostic – COW!
The fifth and final way to deduce an answer from a clue is ‘ALTERNATE LETTERS’. An example of this trick is ‘Toiletry, every so often, is rank’. The indicating phrase in this clue is ‘every so often’. This means that we take the word prior to the indicating phrase (‘toiletry’) take every second letter from it to get the answer – ‘tier’! This again links back to my first trick, ‘rank’ being a synonym of ‘tier’.
If you want to solve cryptic crosswords, come to room G49, in the atrium, at 12.35pm on Wednesday! I really enjoyed cryptic crossword club and I hope you do too!
By Alex B (1L)
FETCH, FUN AND FOUR LEGS
Before I even joined this School, one of the many factors that drew me in was Dog Club. Now here I am, more than a year later, writing my experiences about Dog Club so far…
Every Monday in the first half of lunch, me and a couple of my friends meet at Dr Hendry’s office, ready to have a fun time. It all starts when I walk in! Harris (the School dog) will greet me with a sniff and bark a few times while I sign in. Then after a few minutes of waiting for the others, my friends and I will walk to the pitches that is free. While we are walking there, I sometimes get some advice from Second Years or I might talk to Dr Hendry about animals and Harris. When we arrive, we would normally throw a few tennis balls or a rugby ball and play with Harris. After he spends his energy on running around, we get to train him with treats.
This club is fun and relaxing, and it can give you some experiences that only Hamptonians can get! You could sign up on Socs and get more information on Dog Club. This is a club I genuinely recommend if you want to have something to look forward to on a Monday!
By Julian H (1H)
POETRY IN PROBLEM‑SOLVING
Avirat P (1H) has written a poem about Maths, his favourite subject!
In Maths, there are the foundation four,
Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division galore
They are all friends with each other
But have a rivalry that will never end
Said Subtraction to Addition
“With you I have a dissatisfaction
Why do you add to something?
There is a risk of overflow, which can be tremendously stunning!”
Addition replied to the foul speech
“Subtraction, why do you decrease?
Your always making people feel sad
Subtraction decreases to a pitiful amount which is bad!”
Multiplication steps in the row
And says, “Stop it, my ears are hurting, and it is sounding so sour!
Let us sort this for now please
And after this, do me a favour and let me slumber in peace!”
Division comes to save the day!
“I’ll solve this in no time!” he says
Let us shake hands for truce
And be friends with no more abuse!”
This poem is about not only the foundation four ways of solving equations in Maths but can also show that you need to work as a team otherwise everything will fall apart – like addition and subtraction here. We as Hamptonians aim to work together as one and unify our year group. I hope you have a good weekend and don’t forget – teamwork is a dreamwork!
By Avirat P (1H)
TROUBLESHOOTING TRIUMPH
Everyday there are exhilarating clubs and every Monday I go to Lego Robotics. Whilst we were there, we got to build our own robots in groups which we got to code later. To code it, you use blocks which all have its own functions like moving forward and turning and interestingly, sound effects!
But we first had to pass some major challenges in the way before getting to the fun with the Lego robots and actually getting to them. We had an error with the application, so we had to use the web version. We then had to change again to another application, since the online version could not upload the program on the robot since because it was made for a different version. This meant we finally went back to the other application that we had installed in our first session, EV3Classroom, and everything worked properly again!
By Yifan C (1L)
KEYS, CONCERTS AND INSPIRATION
Last Sunday, I went to my piano teacher’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall. She played “Piano Sonata in B-flat major” by Schubert and “Réminiscences de Don Juan” by Liszt. I loved it. The pieces she chose were incredibly challenging. The sonata was the last one that Schubert composed. It explores themes of longing and joyful resilience. Her second piece, the one by Liszt, is about Don Juan, a fictional libertine. It focuses on themes of defiance and terrifying doom.
I’ve been learning the piano for seven years now and have been taught by this teacher for over three years. My teacher is very busy. She has many pupils and performs in various concerts. Every two weeks, I would go to London for my lesson. I’ve really enjoyed playing the piano. Right now, she is helping me with my Grade 8 piano exam. I hope one day, with lots of hard work, I can play the piano like her.
By Mingyuan D (1P)
Talk! Jon Varney CEO Brentford FC
We’re delighted to welcome one of the most successful business leaders in the premier league for our next lunchtime Talk! which will take place at 1pm on Tuesday 10 February and is open just to Hamptonians!
Jon Varney has served as Chief Executive of Brentford Football Club since March 2019, guiding the Bees through a period of extraordinary transformation – achieving a historic return to top‑flight football after a 74‑year absence. Mr Varney grew up in the local area, attending Teddington School and Richmond upon Thames College before building a career on the commercial side of sport. Jon’s strategic mindset has been central to Brentford’s reputation as one of the most forward‑thinking, data‑driven clubs in world football. The club’s innovative model – combining meticulous analytics with smart scouting – has helped identify undervalued talent and maximise player development.
Brentford’s rise this season has been one of the Premier League’s most compelling stories. Widely tipped for a relegation battle after the summer departure of key players – including Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – and the loss of long‑serving manager Thomas Frank – the Bees have instead surged to the top half of table under newly promoted head coach Keith Andrews – outperforming clubs with far greater resources.
We look forward to welcoming Jon to speak about the business side of the beautiful game, what Brentford’s pioneering model means for young people aspiring to football‑related careers, and how statistics, technology and data‑driven decision-making will shape the future of the sport.
Come along to the Hammond Theatre at 1pm on Tuesday 10 February.
Special Shout outs!
We love to hear about what you have been getting up to outside of school and to celebrate your successes in the First Year Blog! Please do send any information about any of your achievements through to Mr Jimenez (v.jimenez@hamptonschool.org.uk).
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 Arjun N (1J) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week!
Arjun is always quick thinking, responsible and helpful when one of his classmates needs support. He is also an all-round super member of the 1J. Well done Arjun!
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 who knows – you might get to know the School better in the process!
Last week’s challenge: Which country was this school trip photo taken in? You could find the city on the wall of the geography corridor, it was Iceland!
A big shout out to the First Years who correctly found the answer to last week’s Hampton Hunt. Well done to David C, Arthur C, Shrey S, Arthur B P, Edin H, Noah P, Barney D, Alex W, Hiu Yeung K, George U, Sam G, Guy H, Jake C, Arthur S, Miguel B, Jack M, Mahir O, Alex B, Nicholas M and Avirat P.
In which department can you find this piece of stained glass?
Don’t forget to enter your answer before next week!
