WELCOME TO THE SECOND YEAR BLOG!
Welcome to the first blog of the academic year! It’s been great to see you all back at School and I’m sure you have all loved catching up with each other, telling tales of your summer holidays and meeting all your new teachers. The Second Year team are excited to get to know you and wish you a successful and fulfilling year, which we look forward to celebrating in our weekly blog! It’s clear that we started this year how we mean to go on, with loads to report already, so let’s hear what you’ve been up to.
Tutor question of the week
Each week the pupils decide on a question to ask all the Second Year Form Tutors. This week…
What is your favourite form/type of potato?
- Chips – Mr Boyes, Miss Tiller, 2L, 2P, 2B, 2H, 2F
- Roast Potatoes – Miss Holt
- Mash – Mrs Owen, Miss Winstock
- Crisps – Mr Worrall, Mr Hood (who said, ‘Pringles, of course!’)
- Other (please specify) – Mr Harrison’s favourite is Hash Browns (solid choice!) There were a few honourable mentions from 2F such as jacket potato, hash browns and sautéed potatoes.
But this week’s winner by a landslide is… CHIPS!
Have you ever had a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask your form tutors?! If so, then please send your suggestions for next week’s Tutor Question Time to b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk.
Co-curricular fair
Let’s just say that I enjoyed the Co-curricular Fair a lot. Not only because of the substantial number of fun clubs you can join (which makes Hampton filled to the brim with opportunities) but also because of the memories exactly a year ago of me and my new friends overwhelmed by the variety of clubs. From Backgammon Club to Beekeeping Club and from Croquet Club to Diversity Club, we did not know which one to pick! With these memories flashing in my mind, I had fun picking my clubs which were Philosophy Club, the Rock Band and The Writers Room.
If you are a First Year who is reading this, here is some advice I would like to give to you: do as many clubs as possible, never hold back, and have fun! Welcome to Hampton!
Thank you for reading this and I hope you have a wonderful year.
By Ethan C (2L)
Great to see so many of you come along to last Friday’s Co-curricular Fair. Clubs are now up and running, and Second Year Hamptonians are spoilt for choice! Take a look at the full list of all clubs, societies and other co-curricular activities on offer in the booklet below:
CO-CURRICULAR GUIDE 2024-25
With over 110 clubs and societies on offer, the biggest challenge will be deciding which ones to join! Keep an eye out for notices from your Form Tutor for any changes to this year’s clubs.
John o’ Groats to Land’s End
Over the past ten days, my dad has cycled approximately 1000 miles from John o’ Groats to Land’s End on a tandem bike in a lab coat. Apart from the first two days he had a different person join him along this incredible journey including George B’s dad: Kenny, and George and Jasper T’s dad: Piers. Last Friday, my family made the trip down to Devon to watch him complete his final few days of the adventure. He is doing this amazing feat to raise money and awareness for DHDDS, an ultra-rare condition that affects my siblings. This extreme event raised nearly £70,000!
By Harry D (2W)
Summer adventures
It sounds like some of you were lucky enough to go on some really exciting trips this summer. This week, Ian L (2F) tells us about his trip to Taiwan and Shaurya D (2L) had a fantastic time in Italy!
Over the summer holidays I went to Italy and Switzerland for five days. The time had to come to go to Italy. We left for a two-hour car ride to the airport which went in a flash. Once we boarded the aeroplane, I got ready to take off. We were in the sky. The time flew by in the plane. When we landed in Milan, I felt the scorching heat on my skin. Me and my family roamed around Milan Central and the famous churches. As night approached, I drank my hot chocolate and went to sleep. The next morning, we left early to go to Lake Como which is a famous lake in Italy. As I wandered around the picturesque views of Lake Como. I was amazed by how many tourists had come. You could feel the hustling and bustling around Lake Como. Friday had arrived. Only two more days till we return to England. Anyway, today I went to Switzerland, and I travelled in a train with a panoramic glass for a better view. The journey was fantastic. We took a pit stop halfway through the journey. When I reached there, I was surrounded by turquoise-coloured rivers and little lakes. Time flew by very quickly. As we travelled back it was nearly midnight.
Today was the penultimate day of my holiday. We woke up early in the morning to travel to Venice. 5 hours later…We had finally arrived at Venice after lots of delays and traffic. We took lots of photos in Venice. We dropped our bags at our splendid hotel which was very clean. Most of the time there, we went to some islands by long ferry rides which was a great experience. On the last day of my holiday, we crammed in lots of things to do on the last day so we could experience everything. The best thing that I did was the gondola ride and the traditional ice-cream. Overall, this holiday was one of my favourite highlights of my life and I really want to go to Italy again.
By Shaurya D (2L)
Sun Moon Lake is largest body of water in Taiwan. It is 748m above sea levels and has a depth of 27m. According to legend, the Thao tribe of the Taiwanese aboriginals discovered it when they were chasing a white deer. Sun Moon Lake is located in the Taiwan central mountain range and has a circumference of 33km (21 miles). The Thao tribe began settling around Sun moon lake, attracted by the abundance of fish and shrimp in the lake. Lalu Island, in the middle of the lake, separates the lake into a part shaped like a crescent moon and another part shaped like a round sun; thus, the name Sun Moon Lake. Sun Moon Lake’s terrain is part of a group of Puli Basins, which is considered one of the three major basins in Taiwan. These used to be lake basins but, due to the course of nature and some human factors, this famous lake was created. During the Japanese occupation, they built a hydroelectric dam which they used to generate electricity. Currently, it is acting a reservoir and a hydropower station.
Types of fish in the lake: Sharpbelly, Goldfish, Grass carp/Aruzay (also known as president fish is the favourite dish of the President Chiang, Kai-Shek), Silver carp, giant snakehead fish, red devil cichlid and lake shrimp.
By Ian L (2F)
366 Mile Challenge!
This year I’m trying to run 366 miles because it’s a leap year. As I have discovered this is quite a long way and is the equivalent of running from London to a place in Germany called West Geramy Gutersloh. Despite it being very tiring and a lot of hard work it has taken me on some very fun and very interesting runs. For example, in the summer I was in the Lake District in a place called Bassenthwaite and me and my dad were going on a run which we thought would be on clear pathways. But no. We ended up going on a three-mile trek through dense undergrowth and long grass. Another time I went out with a family friend in the Scottish countryside to see how far we could get in 18 minutes. After running only 1 and a half miles in that time we turned had to turn back because in that time we had run up over 100 metres of accent. But on a better run in France, I ran along the beach with no shoes on, in the sand. Although it was quite stony it was very beautiful and exciting. At the moment I’ve run about 210 miles this year and I’m looking forward to running the next 156.
By Reuben N (2W)
Back to School
From what I’ve heard, Ethan SW (2L) was a regular contributor to last year’s Blog. Let’s get an update from Ethan on what it feels like being back at Hampton:
I am back! After the long summer holidays, I was ready to go to school. It was just like any other ordinary morning on a school day; I have never woken up thinking I do not want to go to school! Therefore, it is safe to say that two months of holidays can get a bit boring…Getting back into the swing of things was pretty easy, except occasional hand aches after a lengthy period of writing. I guess for those who attended the Co-curricular Fair in the Hammond found it hard to pick from the variety of many clubs, I must say for myself that despite already spending a year as a Hamptonian even I get overwhelmed when I look at the co-curricular posters. In the end, personally, I have decided that five days a week is a bit too short to get the most out of what Hampton has to offer.
For me I would like to say that the summer was a chance to find new hobbies and discover new things without having to worry about schoolwork. As someone who likes to learn everything, it was hard focusing on one of the things that I was trying to learn over the summer break. It went from learning C++ to learning how to roller blade to learning cyber security (which I am still learning).
I realised that over the summer holidays I had many questions, like why is my script incorrect or what should my next project be? However, as I have settled back into school, I have many people to reach out to, like friends and teachers and I am incredibly happy to be back within the Hampton community. Obviously, it would be a sin to not thank Miss Tiller for hosting the Second Year Blog Club and I would be looking forward to writing most of the blogs in the future!
Summer Shoutouts
William M (2P) went on a tour to Germany this summer with the Ealing Percussion Academy. They played some fantastic music and it was a very successful tour. Well done, William!
Take a listen to their fantastic performance here.
We love to hear about what you have been getting up to outside of school and to celebrate your successes in the Second Year Blog! Please do send any information about any of your achievements through to Miss Tiller. B.Tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk
Quiz of the Week
Welcome to the Quiz of the Week! Every week, we’ll post five general knowledge questions. Take a look at this week’s questions, have a go yourself or challenge people at home and see if they know the answer.
Points for the Interform Competition will be awarded to the form with the most entries over the term. This week’s brain-busting questions have a summer theme.
Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here.