Welcome to the First Year Blog!
Blazers and ties were left at home as the Headmaster declared ‘shirt-sleeve order’ for boys from Wednesday as temperatures rose. It was lovely to see you from my classroom window, enjoying games of cricket, tennis and croquet. We also had the fun spectacle of the Upper Sixth being filmed on the field singing sonorously for their end-of-year video. Well done to all First Years for completing the Maths Challenge on Thursday afternoon in the Sports Hall.
In Music, First Year had drumming workshops on Wednesday (report below) and the Readathon ended on Thursday; it was good to hear how many books had been read over the holidays and to see the impressive amount of sponsorship money collected for our Form charities.
In PSHE, First Year learned about making a revision timetable and active revision techniques for their end-of-year assessments. For many of you, it is the first time you will have sat a week of exams and the First Year team are on hand to help and support you. A bonus is that we have TWO Interform sports events that week which will be a fabulous opportunity for you to let off steam.
Have a good weekend!
PROJECT EXPLORE
Project Explore is an exciting opportunity for all First Year pupils to get involved in and you only have one more weekend to get stuck in! You should visit a local site that you are interested in, tell your Form Tutors about your visit, and with some inspiration from your visit, get busy and produce your own project! There are no guidelines on what you can make: you could choose to write a poem, cook a meal, make a piece of art, record and edit a film, or any other creative piece you can come up with. The deadline for Project Explore is Tuesday 6 May. I know all Form Tutors are looking forward to hearing about your visits and projects, so make sure you tell them all about it!
Here’s a reminder from Mr Hill and Mr Fuldner about what’s involved:
Summer Sports
Tennis
It was Friday and time for sports. For my sport I had chosen tennis because I had watched some of it before. When we all got sorted into our groups, my group was chosen and we played pickleball in the sports hall and it was great fun, it was very similar to tennis except the racket had no holes and the ball was significantly heavier. I did some duos against another team, and I sensed I was really getting the hang of it. Overall, it was a great experience, and I would do it again.
By Edward W (1J)
Tennis Club
It is great to be back at school this summer term, and to also be playing a new sport! I chose to play tennis, and I have been going to Tennis Club. It is fun because you start by practising your shots and it varies between backhand, forehand and serves. Then you play fun games at the end, or occasionally a match. It can really help to increase your confidence, and I would really recommend coming along. It happens every 12.35pm on Tuesday lunchtime.
By Arthur H (1G)
Cricket Report
On 26 April, I was given the exciting opportunity to play for the U12A cricket team against Tiffin School. It was a sunny, dewy morning and the air was filled with anticipation for the cricket season ahead. We chose to bat first, and I opened the innings with Smyan M. We both scored a half-century and went on to post a mammoth total of 237 in 25 overs. Tiffin then went on to bat, and although they played well, they fell short by around 150 runs. We had some outstanding bowling performances from: Bertie E, Luke W and Rayaan A. We have a County Cup match on Friday 2 May and many more friendlies during the term ahead. Overall, this was an amazing experience to be part of, and I look forward to a promising cricket season ahead.
By Yuvan M (1P)
The Readathon
Over Easter, I have been taking part in the Readathon. This is when you ask people to sponsor you and then all you must do is read books! As a School, we sponsor three charities: Shooting Star Children’s Hospice as our local charity, The Alzheimer’s Society as our national charity and UNICEF as our international charity. One of the books I have read is The Magician’s Nephew in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S Lewis. It is exciting, and I won’t give too much away but it is about a boy named Diggory who gets transported to a magical land and comes across an evil witch. I am pleased that I have collected a reasonable amount money for charity!
By Arthur H (1G)
What a fantastic achievement by First Year Hamptonians – you’ve raised a phenomenal £2,300!
As well as the Readathon, First Years also held a second hand book collection which were donated to the charity Learn to Love to Read. Thanks for everyone’s support!
Drumming Workshops
On Wednesday, 1J did thall drumming in the Hammond Theatre. We learnt what the sticks to play the thall were, different types of thalls and how to play them. We also learnt different rhythms such as tilly-tilly-stop and 1-2-3-dagga used in the wedding and fisherman thalls. Eventually we were able to combine the rhythms to create a masterpiece!
It was particularly special to have a solo performance from our teacher on the wedding thall. The whole experience was great.
By Luca D (1J)
National Children’s Orchestra
During the Easter break, I went on an exciting trip to Shrewsbury School for the National Children’s Orchestra Spring Residential. After a long drive there, I was a bit nervous at first because I didn’t know anyone and it was my first time staying away from home for that long. But it turned out to be one of the best weeks ever! I saw some familiar faces from my London NCO Orchestra from last year and I made lots of new friends. There were just over a hundred 11–12-year-olds all playing their amazing orchestral instruments.
We all stayed at the boarding school, and it was only us on-site. It had huge grounds (110 acres in fact) and had some ‘wow’ historic buildings. I shared a dorm with another violinist; we were in the boys’ house and had a lounge with sofas, chess and a table tennis table. Our bats were confiscated for some reason! We got along really well and enjoyed breakfast together then a full timetable of music. It would be sectionals with your instrument tutor, twice a day and then two full rehearsals twice a day. The sectionals helped us get better at the harder parts. Our tutor gave us tips on how to improve. It ended up about 6.5 hours of music each day and 2 hours of recreation (swimming, football, disco etc). We also got to pick two treats from the tuck shop each day before dinner.
It was so amazing to play with the full orchestra: the sound was so powerful! Sometimes it would give you goosebumps. We played a range of pieces (13 in total) that we had practised before we arrived from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker to Grieg’s In the Hall of The Mountain King. Our conductor was American and such fun. She was also strict, as you have rules and etiquette for Orchestras such as not allowed to talk or just get up or fidget. We learned so much together and worked really hard. I played first violin and was lucky enough to sit at the first desk for the first half of the concert to our parents on the last day.
The concert on our final day was amazing. The concert hall was packed and the energy in the room was incredible. Everyone clapped loads and it felt amazing to be a part of something so wonderful. I am so pleased to be a part of it and we have another residential again in the summer. If anyone thinks this sounds fun, you should audition for next year.
By Raff O Z (1W)
Rugby Tour
Last weekend Harri C, Armaan R, Samuel T and Dylan T travelled to Frankfurt to play in an international rugby tournament for London Welsh RFC. Well done boys!
Cricket Tour
During the Easter Holidays, I went to La Manga in Spain for the World Junior League (a cricket tour). My family and I went few days early to see the wonderful town under the hot sun. Soon enough the tournament began and my family and I travelled to the hotel where the team was staying. On Day 1, we arrived at the ground excited for the two games that were scheduled for the day. Our team was London House and we playing the first game of the tournament against South England Giants. I opened the batting and would be facing first ball. I was extremely nervous facing the first ball as a constant thought kept racing through my mind ‘what if I get out first ball?’But all those nerves went away and when I had cut it for four runs. Unfortunately, I was out later that over, but rest of the team scored quick runs which got us over the line easily. After an amazing start, the tournament we were looking forward to the game against Melbourne Lions in which Kaarthikan M (1B) was in, but later in the day we were told that the game had been cancelled due to the light.
On Day 2, we had an action-packed day with three games to be played. The first game was against Melbourne Lions. Our captain lost the toss, and we were put into bowl. Melbourne got off to great start and put a good total on the board for us. But as a team we managed to chase it down and lock in our second victory. Our next game was against the Houston Mavericks, and it was my turn to rest so I watched them comfortably beat them. Our final opponent of the day was North England Warriors. I was captain for this game but once again we were asked to bowl first. We managed to restrict them to a relatively low score. But after great bowling by the Warriors, it came down to the final over. We managed to stay calm and composed and we marched over the line. This meant we were in the final! We would be facing Manchester Marvels in the final, but we were still yet to play them in the group stage.
The team was pumped up for the big day where we would be facing Manchester Marvels in the group stage and then the final. We won the group stage. It felt likes ages, but soon enough the big game had come: The WJL Final. The game was supposed to be a 20-over game but because of rain forecast (the rain never came) they changed it to 10 overs. After the quick change of format as a team we concluded that bowling would be best on this pitch. We won the toss and decided to bowl. Their main batsmen was opening so we knew what to do as we had discussed at dinner the night before: bowl short at him. And only in the first over did our plan work and he was caught at midwicket. We knew that if we got few more wickets that we would have the game in the bag. But that didn’t happen. They began building a strong partnership but just when all was going right for the Marvels, we got a key wicket that halted everything. By the end of the innings, the Marvels had set a big total, but we were ready to chase it down. But anything can happen in cricket.
It came down to the last over when one of my teammates got out and I came in. We needed 10 off 5. I knew I had to deliver so once I saw the ball pitch, I knew this was the right ball to hit so I swung my bat hard and after the ball had just about cleared the boundary rope, it took a split second for me to realise that I had just hit a six. The next ball we scrambled for 2 and the ball after that we took a quick single. This meant we were 1 run away from glory. My teammate then lobbed it over the infield for a single. We had done it! We had won the inaugural World Junior League. That night we stayed up all night (when I say we stayed up all night, what I really mean is that we stayed up until 3, but it will go down in the books as an all-nighter)!
By Smyan M (1L)
Bake Sale
It’s Form Charity Bake Sale time! Don’t forget to come to the Cloisters at break on Tuesday 6 May to sample some tasty treats baked by Second Year Hamptonians. The sale is a fantastic initiative to raise funds for our 2024-25 Form Charity partners: Shooting Star Hospice, Alzheimer’s Society, and UNICEF.
Marvellous Music
The start of a new term is the perfect time to get involved in one of the many musical ensembles that Hampton has to offer. All non-auditioned ensembles will be learning some new music this term, and we would love to have you involved! Take a look at some suggestions below:
- An orchestral instrumentalist (basically anything except piano, guitar, bass, piano & drums) up to Grade 5 – Concert Orchestra with Mr Ferrier (Wednesday 1.15pm – Music Hall) or Sinfonia with Miss van Ments and Miss Estall (Thursday 12.35pm – Music Hall)
- A junior singer – ROAR! with Miss Mattinson (Tuesday 1.15pm – Music Hall)
- A choral singer – School Choir with Mr Daly (Monday P3 – Music Hall)
- A rock musician – consider auditioning for the Rock Concert in June – auditions happening soon so keep an eye out for more information!
- A junior piano player – sign up for the Junior Keyboard Concert – again, keep an eye out for more information.
- A jazz musician – Junior Jazz with Mr Ferrier (Wednesday 12.35pm – Music Hall) or Swing Band with Mr Ferrier (Grade 4+, Wednesday 4.00-5.00pm – Music Hall)
Speak to anyone in the Music Department if you are interested in getting involved but unsure what is best for you!
Tutee of the Week
Every week, the First Year Tutor team nominate a boy 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 Max K (1W) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week.
Max has been commended by his tutors for always being kind and thoughtful – well done Max!
THE HAMPTON HUNT
The Hampton Hunt is back – now stuffed with too many Easter eggs!
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! Points for the interform competition will be awarded to the Form with the most correct entries over the course of the term! 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!
This week’s challenge:
How many different sports can you find on the benches in the Physics Quad?
