Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
The Third Years heard a very insightful and interesting talk on the sun and our solar system from Mr Gordon during Monday’s assembly. This was followed by the Headmaster congratulating the Spanish, French and German debating team successes last week and the results from the recent MUN conference at LEH. On Thursday during PSHE the Third Years completed the LUCID hand writing test and continued with their careers presentations.
Here are some other notices and highlights from the week:
Third Year Special Mentions
Well done to Freddie B, Finlay H and Rex B who ran in the Middlesex Borough Schools Cross Country Championships last Thursday. They secured a place to run there after all coming in the top six in the Richmond Borough Schools Cross Country Championships in Richmond Park last term.
Finlay had a strong second place finish in the combined Second and Third Year race, with Freddie finishing just behind in fourth in a very competitive race, and as a result have been selected to represent the county, at the Schools Athletic Association of Middlesex (SAAM) at the National final in March.
Good luck to Tomás E who has been invited to perform with the Wandsworth Music Academy saxophone quartet at the Music for Youth Islington Regional Festival, this Friday!
A big thank you to Will C, Aaron M and Harry M for their efforts at Fourth Year Parents Evening.
Well done from Mr Woods to:
Felix VDG
Finlay H
Tom W
Vishal S
For speaking so well with a visitor on Thursday.
Well done to all those Third Years who competed in the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge on Thursday!
Special mention to Davlat S for his presentation on black holes to 3J. Form Tutor Mrs Reilly congratulated Davlat on his presentation:
It was almost 10 minutes long and really interesting and factually accurate – a real achievement of self motivation, and a fine example of a curious Hamptonian sharing his love of the subject.
No Limits Week
Next week is No Limits Week and all Third Year pupils will be encouraged to try a new club. Have a look at the Co-Curricular calendar over the weekend, what do you fancy trying in the last week of this half term? Maybe pop along to Psychology Club and discover how fascinating the human brain is. Pick up a new sport and have a go at Badminton, Table Tennis or Rock Climbing. Feeling a bit more creative, try your hand at Architecture or Drama Club. The sky’s the limit!
We hope that pupils will aim to try at least three new clubs over the course of No Limits Week. There will also be a number of standalone events which will be publicised over the course of the week. All boys will be given cards on Monday morning and they should get these signed by the member of staff who is running the new club that they attend.
We hope the boys will make the most of this opportunity!
Creative Writing Awards
Are there any budding authors out there? It’s time for the annual Creative Writing 2020 competition! To enter, write a story opening of no more than 750 words and submit a printed version to the English Office by 9am on Thursday 27 February.
You could win a place on a Creative Writing Masterclass with published writer Sara Grant. Book vouchers are up for grabs too, and the winners will have their writing published in this summer’s edition of Lion Print, Hampton’s Creative Arts magazine. All information can be found on the Firefly section for the Creative Writing Awards (links below):
All information can be found on the Firefly section for the Creative Writing Awards (links below):
creative writing awards brief 2020
Have a listen to Second Year Isaac’s winning entry from last year’s competition:
[vimeo-grid]
If you have any questions, please speak to your English teacher.
Talk! John O’Malley – Thursday 13 February, 12.45pm
John O’Malley from the charity Orangutan Appeal UK will present Their Lives in your Hands, discussing the work of the charity in South East Asia and how critical the situation is regarding the Bornean orangutan and how we can help protect this endangered species. The Talk! is on Thursday 13 February at 12.45pm in the Hammond Theatre.
Orangutan Appeal UK is a charity dedicated to protecting the remaining wild populations of orangutans across Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo. Once found throughout much of Southeast Asia, the red ape now only survives in small populations in increasingly fragmented patches of forest on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Since the 1970s, the plight of the orangutan has become severe with a 50% decline in population leading to the International Union for Conservation of Nature declaring the orangutan critically endangered, one step away from being extinct in the wild.
More information about the charity can be found by visiting Orangutan Appeal UK.
Come along and find out more about the plight of this remarkable animal.
THE WIZARD OF OZ!
It’s nearly time to follow the yellow brick road! The Wizard of Oz, a joint production with Waldegrave School, will be performed at the Hammond Theatre next week! There are three evening performances beginning at 7.30pm on 11, 12 and 13 February.
There are over 60 boys involved in the show! The cast is from the First to Fourth Year pupils and the band and crew are from a range of years.
Tickets are still available via the following link:
www.tinyurl.com/thewizardofoz2020
Junior Philosophy Club
Junior Philosophy Club is on Thursdays at 1pm in room 23.
Next week, on Thursday 13 February, the group will ponder the moral conundrum:
There’s a runaway train heading for 5 people trapped on the tracks. You can pull a lever which diverts the train. Good times. However, there is someone trapped on the tracks of the diversion! What do you do…? Would you pull the lever?
Model United Nations at LEH
On Friday 31 January, the annual Model United Conference began at LEH. In the evening, several boys took the short walk to LEH, where we got into our committees straight away. We lobbied for a while, trying to persuade people to sign our resolutions; then we had an opening keynote speech from an actual member from the United Nations and opening speeches from all the delegations.
The next morning, we started the official day of debating in committees. I was representing China and topics included digital privacy rights, the prevention of FGM and workers rights in the textile and fashion industry. Throughout the day, I really enjoyed some of the debates, which turned out to be quite heated between certain countries! We ended up creating resolutions encouraging the abolition of FGM, improved labour rights and increased digital privacy. Towards the end of the day, we did a clause-by-clause resolution about the legalising gun use worldwide! The debating was exciting and everyone was looking on for the final day of debating.
The last day of the conference was spent all in GA (General Assembly), with topics to do with legalising abortion worldwide and the International Criminal Court. It was interesting to see everybody come together to represent their nation as a team, which meant there were many high-quality speeches, amendments and resolutions. After lunch, the crisis debate was released, which involved a scenario where the coronavirus had rapidly become a global pandemic. A creative and fast-moving debate ensued, as countries hastily formed alliances to try and protect their citizens.
Finally, ending the conference, was the closing ceremony. Hampton were delighted to receive both the highly commended delegation (Germany) and the outstanding delegation awards (China). Thomas B and I were very pleased to be awarded the much sought Outstanding Delegate awards for our committee. Many thanks goes to Miss Field, Mr Agulian and Mr Clarke for their invaluable help and support throughout the intense weekend!
Vishal S (3G)
Third Year Inter-Form Spelling Bee – Friday 14 February
Can you spell Entrepreneurship, Quintessential, Extemporaneous and Antidisestablishmentarianism?
It’s time for the next Wills’ Cup event! The Third Year Spelling Bee!
All Spelling Bee team members will be able to record this as one of their activities on their No Limits cards.
U14 Sport
Football
The Hampton U14As were unlucky to draw 2-2 at Wilson’s School, despite a great brace from Jamie W. Josh H reports on the match:
The game began with slightly scrappy and uncontrolled play, in part down to a slow start but also based on the sloped, uneven pitch. This continued into large parts of the game as neither team was fully able to create attacking chances through the usual, composed passing fashion that Hampton do so often. However, half an hour into the first half, a Wilson’s player ran into the box, before being tackled strongly by Zac C and then going down controversially. Unfortunately for the away side, a penalty was given and a minute later, the striker sent the keeper the wrong way and finished the spot kick into the corner. However, minutes later Hampton replied with a promising, in swinging corner, brilliantly and powerfully converted by Jamie W into the top right corner from the second ball.
In the second half, with the slope, wind and sun in our favour Hampton made a very strong start. Jamie once again scored, displaying his full range of attributes, dribbling past a few players and sending the keeper the wrong way, shooting across goal this time. In spite of this, the tides turned again as in the next five minutes, a long ball turned into a good pass to put the Wilson’s striker through on goal. He drew a defender, passed the ball to a supporting player who swiped a foot scruffily and ended up rolling the ball into the bottom corner of the goal, passed the flailing leg of a Hampton defender.
Subsequently, the U14As got a few more chances including a saved free kick and a desperate clearance off the line. With five minutes remaining, Wilson’s countered and once again drew a questionable penalty out of the defender. With a chance to win the game, the striker who had scored before stepped up again and shot the same way only this time, inches wide of the post. The game ended as a tight draw, but it could have ultimately gone the way of Hampton on another day.
Ed J reports on the U14C team’s emphatic victory against Gordon’s School:
It was early on Saturday and we were all ready to go, especially as we wanted to maintain our winning streak. When the opposition arrived it was revealed that they only had 9 players so we lent them 3 of ours so that we could play a game of 11-a-side. Everyone went into the game with a positive mindset and within the first couple of minutes Rohan C scored from a cross, giving us the lead. After 10 minutes we had a corner which Rohan scored from. Just before half time Monty R scored with a header for us to go 3-0 ahead. At the start of the second half we were attacking hard as everyone wanted a goal and within the first few minutes Hal L scored a 1-on-1 and quickly after Maneesh P took a shot with Dan C following up for the rebound. We were now 5-0 up. Everyone was pushing up the field which resulted in Hal scoring after another 1-on-1 with the keeper and then a tap-in to put us seven ahead, with Hal completing his hat-trick. Before the end we had another corner which Ben R scored from a scramble in the box. Just before the final whistle I won a penalty and scored making the final score Hampton 9 – Gordon’s 0. A special mention to everyone who played for the opposition for a half, Man of The Match goes to Hal for scoring his first hat-trick for the side.
The Hampton U14As narrowly missed out to Carshalton Sports College in a close 2-1 affair in the Surrey Cup competition, unfortunately losing by a goal in another cup game, Josh H tells us more:
The game began with a direct translation of the effective team talk to the quality of football with some great build up play. This was capped off by a great dribble from Hayden C, a good shot from Zain S and a quick follow up from Chibby N to power the ball home from inside the six yard box passed the flailing hands of the Carshalton keeper.
Consequently, the game evened out a bit with the inevitable battles that had been pre-empted starting to unleash. As a result, a free kick was won by the opposition who whipped a ball in and several moments later were running away in celebration having equalised through a tap-in off a loose ball. A similar playing ethic continued for the remainder of the first half as more chances came about but none were converted.
The opening spells of the second half mirrored those of the first as the usual composed play that Hampton teams aim to emulate was displayed to a far greater extent once again.
Despite this however, a Carshalton midfielder played a ball straight through the defensive line to put his teammate in on goal, who then, at full stretch touched the ball around the keeper and firmly finished the ball, from an impressive angle and distance, into the open net. Hampton did have more chances after this, some of which were created in a calm fashion, but unfortunately none of the opportunities went their way, leaving yet another scrambling finish, filled with play in only one half and nobody back for the home side. The dying minutes didn’t provide any changes to the score sheet but a decent performance was not replicated in the result, sending Hampton out of the Surrey Cup.