Welcome to the ThiRd Year Blog!
Yes, yes, I know that there’s still two weeks to go, but… Merry Christmas everyone! The Third Year boys have been full of the festive cheer all week, counting down the days until the end of term, and we’re nearly there!
Christmas lunch is always a favourite of both the boys and staff, with everyone enjoying the usual tremendous feast of turkey with all the trimmings, and this is something to look forward to on Tuesday! In order to burn off any extra calories in preparation, the Third Year boys got stuck into two (yes, two!) Interform events this week! Read on for more information and an up-to-date table!
In other news this week, the Cross-Curricular day on Monday was a huge success, as Miss Brown reports below, and the Diversity and Inclusion club completed their PSHE sessions with the Third Year boys on banter and use of language – some of our Third Year Mentors were involved in this, so thanks for all your hard work, everyone!
Enjoy the last few days, and have a great Christmas– see you in 2022!
Heads of Year Message
Well done to the U14A Football team for their ESFA Cup fifth round victory at St Clere’s School.
We’re also delighted that so many boys took part in and enjoyed the Interform Volleyball tournament on Thursday and the Interform Spelling Bee on Friday. Read on for more details and the results, but our thanks go to Mr Sims, Mr Moore and the Third Year Mentors for organising and running these events.
There is still plenty to look forward to between now and the end of term, including Christmas lunch on Tuesday 14 December and the Carol Service at St Mary’s Church in Hampton that evening. Whilst we are looking forward to enjoying the opportunities for festive merriment over the coming days, we hope that the boys will recognise the need to maintain their usual levels of good behaviour and mutual respect for teachers and peers throughout, whilst upholding our responsibilities to one another.
Covid testing
Please continue with the programme of self-administered asymptomatic LFD testing at regular intervals (twice a week) at home right until the end of term. A reminder that boys must not attend the School site if:
- they have symptoms of Covid-19 (a raised temperature; a new persistent cough; a change in sense of taste or smell)
- they have received a positive Covid-19 test result
Boys must take a PCR test if they have any of the symptoms of Covid-19, and receive a negative result before they can return to School.
Boys – Please let us, your Form Tutors or the relevant subject teachers know if you have any difficulties between now and the end of term. Have a lovely weekend and a good final week.
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Miss V Smith
InterForm Events!
A double header of Interform events took place on Thursday and Friday this week, with Volleyball up first and then a Spelling Bee on Friday! With 3C emerging victorious in the Volleyball, and 3B coming out winners in the Spelling Bee, there is a whole new complexion on the current standings going into Christmas!
Who will emerge as the main contenders as we go through the spring and summer terms? It’s all to play for!
| Form | Teambuilding | Penalty Shoot-out | Dodgeball | Chess | Volleyball | Spelling Bee | Total | Position |
| 3A | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 34 | 3 |
| 3B | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 42 | 1 |
| 3C | 5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 34 | 3 |
| 3D | 6 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 32 | 5 |
| 3E | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 8 |
| 3F | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 9 |
| 3G | 1 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 7 |
| 3H | 9 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 29 | 6 |
| 3J | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 39 | 2 |
Some action from the Interform Volleyball:
And from this lunchtime’s Spelling Bee competition:
Be more eco-friendly this Christmas
Our resident environmentalist, Trivikram P, has produced this informative and thought-provoking video on Christmas wrapping paper that should help everyone do their bit for the environment this winter!
Top effort, Triv!
Cross-Curricular Day
On Monday, the Third Year enjoyed a day off timetable to explore “Flags and Identity” with the Geography, RS/Philosophy and History departments. The aim of the morning was to engage with these concepts and to think about how knowledge from different subjects complements each other, especially across the humanities.
After a short introduction led by Miss Brown and Ben and Jai from the Upper Sixth in the Hammond, which introduced them to the tricky concepts of ‘identity’ ‘collective identity’ and the purpose and use of flags, the boys completed three sessions on rotation, each led by a different departments
In RS/Philosophy the boys spent time thinking further about what makes up our ‘identities’, before looking at Pride flags. They were tasked with making a poster about one flag; looking at who it represents, and the meaning of the colours and symbols and thinking about influential figures who identify with them. Once they had finished, they enjoyed learning about the other pride flags by looking at the posters created by other members of the form group.
In Geography, the boys thought about what it means to be British in 2021. They started with a kahoot to dispel migration stereotypes and then learnt about the Windrush generation and the Windrush scandal; looking at some of the historical newspaper reports and considering the lives of these migrants. They then finished by creating a poster on either a famous figure, or a family member to explore their migration story and how this affected how they felt about their national identity.
It was competition galore in History, where the boys started off by looking at the meaning of flags and symbols, looking at Ethiopia’s Flag and pan-African colours and Middle Eastern nation creation and pan-arab nationalism. They had to work out whether some flags were fictional, controversial or extinct and considered why flags may have been controversial. The quizzes and competitions were a much-loved feature of the History session!
Finally, everybody was mixed up into different classes containing boys from various forms to discuss what they learnt throughout the day.
The boys commented that they learnt a lot about how different subjects link and how much they had enjoyed the day:
Most subjects have a link and it is good as it can allow knowledge form other lessons to help students in a subject. For example, the humanities all fit together perfectly when similar topics are taught.
I think the topics were enjoyable and interactive, as they really got you thinking about yourself and the world around you.
I think that identity is an interesting topic because of how difficult it is to define and the many factors that it includes.
I think it is important to make people aware of various flags especially LGBTQ+ ones because it helps people understand more about them
STEM Fair
Joint LEH/Hampton STEM Fair 2022
Aim: To work on a sustained project over 4-6 weeks next half term. It can be on any area in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics. (Or any field that overlaps). And you will present your work to others.
You will form groups of three and choose a project. If you are stuck for ideas, try using the website: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/topic-selection-wizard/background-info where you can get some inspiration.
The project might be brand new, something you have been working on before, or even something you are doing in class. You may be working on the project independently, or you may be supported by a teacher.
On Monday 21 February (week after half term), you will present your work, which will include an artefact and a poster. Judges will ask you questions about your project and prizes will be awarded to the best projects.
To register your interest, fill in the preliminary proposal form on Firefly (all pupils were set this as a Firefly task), ideally by the Tuesday 14 December. It doesn’t matter if this form is incomplete, we just need to know you are interested, and if you have chosen a project yet.
Formal project proposals should be submitted by Monday 10 January.
Any questions, see Mr Wilson in the Physics Office.
U14A Football
A report on the U14A ESFA Cup fixture, by Ollie S.
The U14As began their ESFA round 5 match at 1:30pm on Thursday against St Clere’s, Essex. From the kick-off, Hampton were on top with most of the possession and playing some lovely football. Despite this, our only major chance in front of goal was from Ricky F, when he was first denied by the post, then by the crossbar. The boys went into the half-time break completely dominant yet annoyed that it remained 0-0. Roughly ten minutes into the second half, Quinn S, assisted by Ollie S, slotted the ball into the near post from just in front of the 16-yard box, a massive relief! Hampton continued to play nice football and this was rewarded once again when Quinn’s cross reached Daniel M at the back post which was calmly finished by the winger. The team then secured the win with a valiant run down the left wing from Sam M who then found Daniel for a repeat of the second goal. It was a confident win from the U14As and we are now through to Round 6 (out of 10).
Well done boys!
J14 Rowing Christmas Pudding Races
The J14 rowers have their first competitive race this weekend – it’s the annual Xmas pudding races with LEH! Points (and edible prizes) will no-doubt be dished out, not just for rowing prowess, but also fancy dress and miscellany such as carol singing whilst rowing! What fun!
Question of the Week
Very well done indeed to everyone that worked out that ‘my true love’ gave me 364 gifts in total in the Christmas song, 12 Days of Christmas! You did, in fact, have to go through the whole song and count up every single gift, every time it was mentioned! Or did you…? A staggering 43 of you entered but only 11 of you got the correct number! Big shout out to Zaid A, Ruben B-R, Eddie H, Max C, Viren L, Oscar L, Ed M, Pedro C M, Leo L, Matthew G and Thomas W-M.
