Welcome to the First Year Blog!
The emphasis this week in Assembly was about the importance of ‘pupil voice’ and I was a little concerned that First Years would interpret this the wrong way and get rather raucous but, fortunately, energy was channelled into School Council. I was impressed by the good ideas at our First Year meeting and remain optimistic that their proposal to rotate Mufti day so it does not always fall on a Friday (when First Year are in games kit) will be heard. Another proposal put forward to Thursday’s whole School Council was for First Year to have time on the MUGA and to set up a new Fencing Club – all great ideas.
There was a buzz of excitement around Thursday’s ISFA cup semi-final for the U15 As and from Monday morning there were teachers wearing the black and yellow football scarf in solidarity with the team. The buses, loaded with Fourth Years, left at lunchtime and First Years waited with bated breath for the result. Alas, it wasn’t to be Hampton’s day and despite a late comeback, the U15A team narrowly lost to Aldenham School 3-2. Our young Lions played with great heart and should be very proud.
This week’s Blog includes a lively football match report and news from the Stem Fair which was hosted by LEH on Tuesday.
Have a great weekend!
Stem Fair
After working for over two months, the pressure building, it was finally time! My groups others got to show our Stem Fair exhibit which was an automatic pill dispenser. Taking place on No Limits Lessons Day, it was a great, fun event to show off what we had been working on over the past weeks.
For my team, it was an automatic pill dispenser for the elderly, but just walking two metres across the LEH hall, I could see two model flying planes and some impressive metalwork. The event started at 12pm, with Hampton Prep and LEH Junior pupils coming to have a look at the huge variety of different projects. I even recognised some teachers from Hampton Prep! The atmosphere of the event was great – the hall was buzzing with excitement and interest from everyone involved. After an hour and a half of “marketing” in a sense, we packed up and headed back to Hampton for an afternoon of lessons. There were only three First Year projects at the Stem Fair this year, so I really would encourage people to think of an idea, take a chance, and have fun next year!
By Max O (1H)
Club of the Week
Pride Society is a very friendly club where you play board games, video games and make friends. When I walked through the door for the first time, I felt so welcome, and I was with my friend, and we discussed about friendships and other things! A few weeks ago, we played a Super Smash Bros tournament (I lost in the first round because I have never played it before, and Mr Fuldner lost to Mr Haynes. It was SO FUNNY!) they and we played a board game called Something Fishy. It is so fun making friends at Pride Society and you don’t even have to be LGBTQIA+ to join! It is run by several of my favourite teachers Mr Blachford, Mr Haynes and sometimes Miss Nagli who is a part of the counselling team. I would advise you to join and it would not be in the way of any training because it is on Monday and Thursday from 12.35pm to 1.30pm but you can always leave early.
By Freeman W (1L)
Brentford vs Aston Villa
Warning: I am a supporter of Brentford so this report may be a bit biased!
The match took place at the GTech (the Brentford stadium) on Saturday and it was a very tough and close game; the final score was 1-0 to Aston Villa.
The players were very energetic near the beginning and Brentford got close to scoring; they managed to get in the box; however, they lost possession of the ball whenever they got too close; Aston Villa were very good at defending. Luckily, they did not get too close to Brentford’s goal near the beginning. Wissa and Mbuemo (Brentford’s wingers) played well and had many great passes which almost got us a goal; however, their strategy of passing had failed. Near half time, the game had stopped because some of the players could then break their fast. I had never seen this happen before in a football game.
After half time, Aston Villa scored and their fans were screaming. Soon after the kick-off, they scored another goal, now you may be wondering, how could they have scored two goals if the final score was 1-0, this was because, thankfully, it was offside. As the game progressed, the players got more and more tired and there wasn’t much action.
By Benjamin A (1J)
No Limits Lessons Day!
In our No Limits English lesson on Tuesday, we looked at how we are affected by smells and how to use this in our descriptive writing. In the poem, My Ghost by Cyrus Larcombe-Moore, there are several references to smells such as cinnamon and burnt toast and we looked at how they really change the way we think how the writer views the ghost. We then went around the room and smelt some jars with different things in them such as peppermint and lavender and had to guess what they were and what memory does the smell trigger, as smell is a huge part of memory. After we smelt them, we were told the real answers. One of them was mouldy cheese!
By Ashveer C (1H)
Talk!
Hot on the heels of a fascinating talk with Gold medal Olympian and Hampton History teacher Mr Cross, we welcome Lauren Crawley-Moore. Lauren leads the London Stock Exchange’s Primary Markets activity in London and the South of the UK, covering both the Exchange’s growth market, AIM (the Alternative Investment Market) and the Main Market. Lauren will offer a unique introduction to the London Stock Exchange, a critical institution in global finance.
There’s no need for Hamptonians to book, just come along to the Hammond Theatre on Thursday 18 March at 1pm. Find out more here.
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 Rory H (1B) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week.
Rory is really helpful to his classmates and always works hard – well done Rory!
SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS!
We love to hear about what you have been getting up to outside of school and to celebrate your successes in the First Year Blog! Please do send any information about any of your achievements through to Mrs Whitwam (v.whitwam@hamptonschool.org.uk).
THE HAMPTON HUNT
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!
Last week’s challenge: the coefficient of restitution is important in cricket; which symbol is used for this coefficient?
The correct answer could be found in the Maths department – it’s the letter e!
Well done to the following First Years for getting the correct answer: Hayk F, Ashveer C, Daniel S, Sebastian G, Frankie D, Raff O’C-Z, Felix R, Smyan M, Max K, Kiyan J, Armaan K, Henry M, Aryan T and Kamran C. Make sure you collect a merit from your Form Tutor next week!
If you did know the answer but didn’t enter it into the blog last week, make sure you do so this week as it won’t count otherwise!
This week’s challenge:
Our U15A footballers made it all the way to the isfa national final this week, in which team’s stadium was the final played?
