PMQs, MUN Success & Locker League!

WELCOME TO THE THIRD YEAR BLOG!

Some weeks the Third Year Blog settles down on a Thursday evening and surveys the amount of content that has been successfully collected and realises that what is needed is an unnecessarily long introduction about something tangentially relevant to the current week and being a Third Year pupil at Hampton.

Maybe an attempt to draw an awkward comparison with a topical event in order to deliver a laboured moral message? Or it could be a desperate attempt to generate interest by finding out what ‘day’ it is (for instance, in the USA, today is ‘National Sausage Pizza Day’. The Third Year Blog is unclear as to whether the UK has a specific ‘National Sausage Pizza Day’, but can’t help but hope that we don’t). Or possibly an extended metaphor about various cheese types and their rinds, which is ultimately drawing attention to the requirement for the boys to tuck their shirts in?

Thankfully, this week the blog finds itself inundated with stories of Hamptonian achievements and excitement. No cheese metaphors required. Let’s get into it!

HEADS OF YEAR MESSAGE

Well done to everyone for completing another action-packed week at School. We’re conscious that energy levels can dip in the final week of a long half term, so please make time for rest and proper sleep (without digital distractions) over the weekend – this will give you the best chance to maintain your standards and enjoy the week ahead.

Form Charity Mufti Day

A reminder that Friday 18 October will be a mufti day at school with funds raised being donated to support our three Form Charity partners.

Interform Competition

We are looking forward to the latest instalment of the Interform Competition next week. Always fiercely contested, with pride on the line (or on the rope), the Interform Tug-of-War will be the talk of the 3G on Thursday lunchtime. Good luck to all Forms!

October Grade Cards

Parents will be able to access their son’s grade card from the end of the school day on Friday 18 October via the Parent Portal. The link to this will also be sent to parents via SchoolPost that evening. Boys should not worry unduly about their grade cards. Form Tutors will pick up on any academic concerns after the half term holiday, with the aim of offering support if required.

Absences

On a procedural note, if your son 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 your son’s absence.  For absences other than illness eg if a pupil has a dental or medical appointment during School hours, notice of this should be given in advance.

Boys – Please let us, your Form Tutors or the relevant subject teachers know if you have any difficulties. Have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes

Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore

A visit to Prime Minister’s Questions

On Wednesday, it was PMQs at the House of Commons, and I was lucky enough to go! It was an amazing experience, and it was so cool to be in the House of Commons, while also seeing Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. The Parliament ran for a long time, but the most exciting part, Prime Minister’s Questions, was from midday. The atmosphere was vibrant and formal but relaxed with MPs constantly chanting when they agree with a good point. But what about the actual debate? First of all, Rishi Sunak came in, about 5 minutes before the start, smiling and looking around. Later, Keir Starmer walked in with a binder and sat opposite Sunak. Starmer opened by marking a statement about the anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Israel. He confirmed that while he calls for the hostages to be sent back to Israel, he also wants an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

Sunak started off by asking Starmer about his new employment laws and regarding the firing of Sue Gray (Starmer’s ex-chief of staff). When he asked the Prime Minister when he started to ‘fire and re-hire’ there was lots of chanting from the opposition. Starmer fired back an equally worthy response, saying on 10/10/2024 he will release the greatest bill for workers’ rights in a generation. Many more of Sunak’s interesting questions were defended strongly by Starmer. He discussed rebuilding the country, getting the NHS back up on its feet and helping the lives of workers.

The Labour side suggested that they are simply cleaning up the mess made by the Conservatives who were in power for over a decade – while they’re (opposition/conservatives) arguing whether to scrap maternity pay. Some of these points were responded to by Sunak, saying that he doesn’t even think that ‘Lord Alli (member of House of Lords who campaigned for Starmer) is buying those accusations.’ Starmer also attacked the conservatives for making no cancer research progress from 2013-2021.

When Sunak stopped asking questions, other MPs had the chance. I noticed the debate got a lot less heated and a bit more respectful! A member of the Liberal Democrats asked why EU job opportunities for young people are now not available, to which Starmer responded that it was the fault of Brexit. Some other issues discussed were poverty, overseas territories not being looked after, protecting the veterans, road safety, suicide – and an important one for our school – the question of VAT relating to private schools and how it causes issues for teachers, parents and kids in private schools. The PM brought up the fact that state schools are in a deficit of teachers, who need to be funded. This topic was disputed in between by all parties.

Overall, the debate was great, all questions asked were very interesting and good points raised, but the responses (like most politicians – not really answered) were great too. Not only that, but the parliament was also stunning, the architecture was complex and there was lots of history. My favourite part was the Sunak-Starmer debate, though other MPs raised good points too. This is an experience worth going to, and I learnt new things about the art of debate, how to put a point scross respectfully, but persuasively and much more about politics.

Report by Vihaan K (3A) 

Rugby update

This was the U14B’s first game of the season and we were excited to see what we could do with our new team. Our opposition was Claremont Fan Court School. The game started off well with Hampton keeping possession and staying in their opponent’s half. This was finally rewarded with a dive over the try line by Zac giving us an early lead. We continued to apply pressure as Brian made an amazing line break to secure us our second try, 10-0 Hampton. Claremont countered and got a try just before half time, this was tight.

The second half saw a great restart by Claremont as a Hampton fumble led to a Claremont converted try, the visiting team led for the first time. Not to be downcast, Hampton rose to the occasion and Brian’s pace and strength secured his second try and our third, we were back in it. Brian was on a roll, a great assist led to him claiming his hat-trick but Claremont weren’t finished yet and they came back with a quick touch and go to bring the score back, with Hampton only leading by 3 points, at 20-17. Claremont were applying pressure but a great set move from Hampton on the counter-attack led to Sewon scoring his first try for Hampton. This sealed the deal and the match ended with a resounding Hampton win 27-17. A great start to a promising season for the U14Bs.

Report by Joe L (3B)

MUN Success

On Saturday morning we left school at 7am for a day of riveting debate. We had at least 15 star debaters from Hampton as well as many others from LEH. We kick started the day by lobbying our resolutions trying to find as many supporters as possible to help us share our ideas; with 52 esteemed delegates in each committee, you had to not just be able to convince people but convince them quickly.

Once all the lobbying had finished, we started off our day of debating in our committees; with many passionate speeches and many violations of the Human Rights Act, we managed to pass three of our four proposed resolutions. For the last two hours of the day we all got together as a collective and listened to a speech by a former UN member and had a mass debate on some of the best topics from each of our committees.

Hamptonians won many awards across the year groups at Reigate including: Xavier F, Leander K-B and myself. Overall, it was a brilliant day of debating and another fantastic achievement for Hampton MUN.

Report by Digby J (3B)

Chemistry project club

This Monday, I spent my lunch break at the Chemistry Project Club, where you can work towards a Crest Award—a great way to earn UCAS points while exploring Chemistry beyond the classroom. I’m currently working on a food calorimetry project to earn my Bronze Crest Award, and it’s been such a fun, hands-on way to understand the science behind calories in food.

The club offers a wide range of projects to choose from, so if you’re a budding chemist or want to learn more in a creative, interactive way, this is the perfect opportunity to expand your skills!

Report by David B (3D)

The Locker League

The locker competition had been the talk of the class for weeks. With 24 pupils competing, the rules were straightforward: the first person to unlock their locker in each round would move on to the next stage. As the rounds progressed, the number of participants quickly dwindled, leaving only the fastest and most focused Hamptonians to battle it out. Each round became more intense as the tension mounted.

After a few rounds, the final was here and all eyes stared down the last two competitors, Inwoo and Nathaniel. These two had proven themselves to be the quickest and most accurate throughout the earlier rounds. Both stood in front of their locks ready to win. They began, both with a good start, pressure staring them down. Sweat pouring down their face. As they both spun the dials with speed and accuracy, Nathaniel had a try to open the lock, but it didn’t work! Then Inwoo knew it was his chance to shine! 
He finally unlocked the locker and won the competition, winning an edible prize.

Report by Jai K (3G) 

Basketball Update

Last week the U14 basketball team played their first game of the season against Christ’s School, who are one of the best teams in the country. We knew that this was going to a be a tough game since almost all their players play for the Richmond Knights, with five of them playing in the National League. Right from the tip off, one of the Christ’s players scored a layup which got their players hyped up. After this, we immediately responded by scoring a three on the other end.

From that point on it was end-to-end stuff but as soon as their player subbed in from their deep bench, they took over the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a lead for the rest of the game and the final score was 58-22. It was a great experience to play against talented players and a good team even though we lost the game.

Report by Joshua L (3C)

Rowing Update

The first four weeks of rowing has been exhilarating; here is what has happened so far!

The first two weeks were very hot and we went out on the river a lot, but now due to our ‘not so great’ British weather, we have been in the gym and ergo room improving technique. We have been working hard to get stronger, so that when we do go out on the river, no squad will be able to catch up to us and we will defend our national J14 titles once again!

Report/bold words from Ekam R (3E)

TALK!

Great to see so many of you at the first Talk! of the academic year. Hot on the heels of Lord Patten, we hear from distinguished foreign correspondent Nick Bryant, one of the most knowledgeable and respected commentators on the US.

With only weeks to go before the US Election, Nick joins us live from Sydney, Australia to chat about all things politics. There’s no need to book a ticket, just come along to the Hammond Theatre next Tuesday 15 October at 1pm.

Find out more here.

Food Bank Collection

Next Friday is our first collection for Feltham Food Bank. They are particularly in need of instant coffee, sugar, vegetable noodles, tinned meat, fruit squash and basmati rice. Please bring your donations to the front of School from 8.15am. Thank you!

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

Last week, Mr Moore, one of our magnificent Heads of Year demeaned himself with dishonesty. He suggested these things were true:

• Mr Moore went to Bath University
• Mr Moore is a fan of ABBA
• Mr Moore supports Fulham Football Club

Well, if you were to ask members of the common room if Mr Moore was an ABBA fan, most would know the answer having heard him marking Biology papers in the staff room while quietly humming the chorus from ‘Dancing Queen’ to himself. As you will all know, Mr Moore is primarily a Rugby coach, which may explain why he made the unfortunate choice of becoming a Fulham supporter. What this all means is that Mr Moore did not go to Bath University – he actually went to Exeter.

This week we have Mrs Reilly here to lie for your entertainment. Here are her offerings:

• Mrs Reilly has swum the English channel
• Mrs Reilly loves a good cream tea
• Mrs Reilly was once caught in an earthquake in Japan

Which is the lie?

CONNECTION CORNER

A big shout out to all the Third Year Hamptonians who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. Well done to everyone who guessed the correct connection was Sweets! Merits go to Neev G, Vayun J, Huw C, Oscar S, James G, David W, Arha D, Siddhant S, Dean B, Nathan W, Joe B, Gordan L, Manilo C, Daniel S, Seb D and Liam C.

Another tricky one this week, have a go over the weekend and see if you can spot the connection: