Welcome to the Second Year Bulletin!
First full week back at School and the Second Year have settled back into the fast-paced life of Hampton. Important first decisions to be made are which clubs and activities to get involved in. With a dizzying array on offer it is often hard to choose, so a new event this year, the Co-curriculur Fair helped to make the decisions easier! Held on Friday 6 September in the Main Hall, boys in the Lower School were able to tour the stalls of a wide range of clubs.
Oscar (2J) tells us a little more:
The Hampton Co-curricular Fair was a good idea as it offered lots of new clubs for new Hamptonians. These clubs ranged from Basketball to Bee Keeping, from Mandarin to Maths and Drone club to Drama club. This is a special event and should definitely be done next year!
Boys are encouraged to go along and try out three clubs or activities alongside their sport. Please let me know what you get up to and I can include this in future bulletins!
Over the summer
There have been a number of fantastic achievements over the summer holidays!
Well done to Vaibhav (2W) who successfully passed his Grade 2 Trinity Keyboard examination.
Adam (2B) has received an Arts Richmond Swan Award nomination for Best Boy Performer aged 14 and under. Well done Adam! The nomination is for his role as Edmund in the Christmas production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Dramacube Productions. You can read an interview with Adam at:
Interview with swan award nominee adam gaunt
The winner will be announced at an award ceremony on Sunday 15 September. Best of luck Adam!
Charlie (2J) climbed Ben Nevis in very testing weather conditions, raising an incredible amount of money for charity. An amazing achievement Charlie and thank you for sending in such an inspiring report.
For weeks beforehand hand we had been planning the climb, and finally the moment of truth had come – yet it was pouring down. We looked out of the hostel window and to our great disbelief the heavens had opened on the one day that mattered. Despite this, we ran outside with our coats over our head and jumped in the car. We stocked up at the local M&S (in which we filled our rucksacks with sweet things), drove to the base, and began our climb.
By the first half an hour I was more tired than I had been in months, but as I got on, the fatigue seemed to lighten! The more we talked and played quiz games, the less the rain and the steep stone steps seemed to hurt. After around two hours we had reached a flat part – which triggered a sigh of relief from the whole party. Without realising it, we entered a cloud, which was the death of my jogging trainers due to the moisture. We trekked constantly up and up and up, until finally we reached an area that resembled a graveyard, with grey pebbles either side. The fog allowed us to see only three metres in front of us which may have caused a problem if we didn’t stick to the path. Just as I was wondering if there were any animals or creatures up there, a crow popped up into view just next to me, which fascinated me because the area wouldn’t pose much of a lifestyle!
The exhausted looking people flooding down past us told us, to my glee, that the summit was around 30 mins away. However, after another hour of constant walking, the summit was not in sight.
It was now freezing and I had almost given up hope until I spotted a little stone shack in the distance. The summit! I would have celebrated if my body wasn’t aching like crazy! We sat down and ate our food amongst the chatter of the many satisfied tourists, to which I might add I had sushi (being the Thames Ditton boy I am!), and relaxed for the few moments that we had.
On our descent the weather was quite awful, until the clouds shifted and beautiful sunlight met our eyes. This motivation spurred us on until the finish line was in sight! When we reached the finish, I immediately ripped off my trainers and socks and let my suffocating feet breathe (to my brothers’ disgust). It had taken us 6 hours 43 minutes and so far, we have raised £7,500 for two great charities in memory of my wonderful mum.
Sport
It was back in action on the fields at the weekend with the start of a new season. Toby (2J) reports on the U13A and B Rugby vs John Fisher:
On Saturday 7 September, Hampton U13A and B played John Fisher in a tough and physical contest. In the As, the two wingers, Maddox (2H) and Tom (2L), scored some great tries, whilst the forwards also did a lot of work by making some crucial tackles and scoring the odd try. Saturday saw both teams win with the As winning 50-30 and the Bs 30-5.
Savan (2J) reports on the U13A and B Football vs Rokeby:
It was a good start to the season for the U13 football teams with both the A team and B team starting the season with convincing victories. The A team fought hard winning 2-0 against a very good Rokeby side with goals from Nico (2B) and Rudy (2W) and two assists for Savan. With both ISFA and ESFA coming up it’s always good to start off with a clean sheet. The B team played well putting 18 goals past their opponents in an 18-1 win with goals all over the pitch, the top scorer however was Gabriel (2W) with five goals. There’s a lot more to look forwards to for the Bs this season and hopefully plenty more goals.
Well done boys and good luck for the rest of the season!
Jokes
Only one joke this week, courtesy of Sam (2J)
That one definitely got a laugh out of me Sam!
Parents, if your son has any news that should be mentioned in a future bulletin, please do encourage them to email me at r.kugele@hamptonschool.org.uk and I shall be delighted to include it.
Merits are given for all contributions that make it into the bulletin.