Ten Tors Challenge, Awesome Athletics & Interform Update!

Welcome to the Third Year Blog!

And so we reach the final half term of the School year…

The ducklings have grown and fled the cloisters, essentially offering the Third Year Blog the opportunity for a glaringly obvious and potentially laboured simile linking the growth of these beasts and the growth of the Third Years over the course of the year. But no, the Third Year Blog is FAR too erudite and sophisticated to fall into that trap.

While the ducklings (or maybe ducks now? At what point does a duckling become a duck?) departed, more normal early summer UK temperatures returned, after the searing heat we experienced before half term.

Of course, that relentless heat afforded the pupils the exceptional privilege of not wearing a tie or a blazer. This then afforded the teachers the exceptional privilege of not having to tell pupils to put their blazers on or to tie their ties properly.

Of course, this doesn’t let anyone on either side off from the constant, never-ending ‘tuck your shirt in’ battle.

In fairness to the pupils, almost any movement beyond breathing heavily seems to be enough to dislodge the errant polyester.

In fairness to the teachers, there are very few things more likely to whisper ‘School code, School code’ in your ear than a squad of Third Years swaggering down the corridor with their shirts untucked. ‘Twas ever thus.

Even with the return to ties and blazers, Hampton is still abuzz with activity, with the Third Year in particular throwing themselves into the summer term with the sort of gusto usually reserved for southern fried chicken on a Friday.

Let’s get into it!

Heads of Year Message

Well done to all J14 rowers for their excellent efforts at the National Schools’ Regatta on Friday 23 May. We hope that everyone enjoyed the half term break thereafter.

Well done to everyone for completing Third Year exams the week before half term (and earlier this week for some). Pupils will have received most of their exam results this week and can inform parents themselves. Parents will receive official notification of their son’s exam grades at the end of term in the Summer Grade Card. Departments that set pupils for GCSE will use exam results (alongside other data throughout the year) to inform their decision making and will inform parents by letter before the end of term.

We hope that everyone makes the most of the remaining weeks of term. Please throw yourselves into the activities on offer and keep supporting one another with kindness right until the end of term. As always, do reach out to us or your Form Tutors if you are having any difficulties.

Laptop return and collection

Forms 3A-3E will return their existing laptops and collect their new laptops from the Atrium at lunchtime on Monday 16 June, followed by Forms 3F-3J on Tuesday 17 June. We will write to parents separately with further details, but we can confirm here that there is no additional charge for the replacement laptops. An important section from the letter to parents reads:

•  Pupils will receive their new laptop (with setup guide), charger, and stylus.
• The new laptop should be setup that evening and brought into School for use in lessons from the next day. No attempts should be made to configure the laptop at School.
• The IT department will offer drop-in sessions during morning break and lunch break in the Lecture Theatre on Wednesday 18 June.
• Please note that the laptop comes in a box with instructions, charging cables, etc. The box is unlikely to fit in a packed school bag and it is preferable to keep all elements together until the set up at home. For safety reasons, we advise all pupils to avoid carrying the new IT equipment so that it is visible on their journey home from School. As such, we strongly recommend that all pupils bring a separate bag to carry the new IT equipment home in. 

Prior to attending:

• Pupils must make sure that all documents in the Documents folder and on the Desktop are synchronised with OneDrive (the cloud icon in the Task Bar should be blue. If there is a red cross on it, this indicates a synchronisation issue). They should also ensure they have synced their Class Notebooks.
• If there is any uncertainty, please see the IT department prior to Monday 16 June.

Absences

If your child will be absent from School for any reason, please complete the absence reporting form, which can be found on My School Portal, on every morning of your child’s absence.  For absences other than illness e.g. if a pupil has a dental or medical appointment during School hours, notice of this should be given in advance. For planned absences, please contact Heads of Year requesting the absence with as much notice as possible.

We hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Best wishes

Mr T Rigby & Mr H Moore

Ten Tors Challenge

In the weekend before assessment week, instead of revising for exams, we travelled down to Devon to take part in the Ten Tors Challenge. This challenge is organised by the British Army and hundreds of teams of six 14 & 15 year olds navigate a 35 mile route around Dartmoor over two days. Our team of six trained over the last year, preparing ourselves physically and mentally for the challenge. The weather is very unpredictable on Dartmoor: it can be sunny or misty or snowy in May and we didn’t know what to expect.

On the morning of the challenge we set off at 7am, one of 400 teams, with large, 30kg rucksacks and our map, compass, tent and sleeping bags, but no mobile phones. We navigated and hiked across the rough and hilly terrain of Dartmoor and had to find our way to specific check points carrying all our equipment and supplies. We had to find 10 Tors (prominent rock formations at the tops of hills). On the first day we walked for 24 miles only stopping at each Tor for about 5 minutes. By 7.30pm, our cut off time, we reached the Willsworthy checkpoint and made camp. We were one of only two teams, in our group of sixteen teams, that reached the sixth Tor. By this point we were exhausted, with blisters on our feet, but had to put out tents up and then cook food on our portable stove. We watched a beautiful sunset and then tried to sleep. The first day had been one of the toughest things we have done, but brilliant. We went to sleep elated, but knowing we had more to do tomorrow.

In the morning we were up at 5am to pack up our tents, cook breakfast in good time to set off at 6am. It was raining. With sore feet we set off. This was even tougher with the weight in our legs and muscles from day 1 with conditions worsening by the hour. One of our team members fell into a river, but soaking wet he got up and continued. Another sank into a bog up to his knees and we had to pull him out.  Soon we were all drenched but just had to push on climbing hill and ridge, hoping each one was our last. It was the months of training and the bond between the six of us that drove us forward now, but we were close. The sight of the finish line and the crowds of people lifted our spirits, washing away the doubts immediately. At 12.56pm, holding the Polish flag of our scout group aloft, we crossed the finish line, still second in our group. We were ecstatic but physically and mentally drained. The challenge was immense, testing our endurance, navigation and survival skills. ‘We found the Tors and survived the moors.’ We thoroughly enjoyed it: an experience we will never forget.

By Roman P (3D) and Oskar P (3F)

Middlesex Schools’ Athletics

I went to the K2 Sports centre in Crawley with no experience of doing a pentathlon before, and along the two-hour drive towards the sports centre, I was pretty nervous concerning the events within the pentathlon that I had definitely not done enough training for, namely the hurdles, but also the long jump and shotput to a lesser extent. When I arrived, I was greeted by Mr Mills to compete in this pentathlon for Middlesex Schools amongst athletes from all over Middlesex, Sussex and Surrey. The first event was high jump, my preferred field event, making for a good start to the day. I won this event with a new personal best of 168 cm, as I edged out another competitor to win by just 3 cm. We then did shotput, an event where I had very little experience. However, with some last-minute technique tips, I got myself a decent score of 9 metres, placing myself third in this event.

Next up we had hurdles, a race where technique is extremely key to success, something which I did not possess. I did not do so well in this race, as I expected, coming roughly fifth and missing out on crucial points. After that we had long jump, another event where I had very little experience, placing again roughly in the middle at fifth, once again dropping crucial points. But 48 points behind first in third, I had my strongest race as the last event: the 800 metres. As we went to the start, I felt very nervous, as the whole competition could be decided by this one event. As I came out of the start, I had early competition, spurring me on and worrying me simultaneously. With an unusually fast 65 second first lap, I thought that I would be far ahead, however there were two people right on my tail, and I worried that I had gone too fast in the first lap. But as it was all tied up at the 600-metre mark, I somehow found the strength and pushed ahead to win and finish with a time of 2:13 seconds, a new personal best.

I ended up coming second overall, qualifying for the national tournament and ranking myself sixth in the country and first in Middlesex. It was a very good day out, and I was very glad that I had got some new personal bests and did quite well. My technique in quite a few events can definitely be improved, but it was certainly a good first pentathlon.

By Jojo O’S (3F)

Track and Field Cup Regional Final

Beyond JoJo’s outstanding effort, there are also some Third Years representing the School at the Track and Field Cup regional final next week. Good luck to Sebastian W (1500m and Discus), Eric R (Javelin and Relay), Luke M(Hurdles and Long Jump) and JoJo O’S (800m and High Jump). We look forward to reports of how it all went on for next week!

Interform Update

As one might expect, ‘Assessment Week’ is predominantly filled with exams. However, there is a bright spot – the Interform Athletics afternoon (though, of course, every Hamptonian also loves the opportunity that an exam affords to demonstrate the fruits of their labour!)

Below, you will find a video that captures the exuberance of the day. Of course, it also counts towards the prestigious Williams Cup, so we also have the results…

Interform Athletics Results

1^st  – 3C – 196 points – 9pts

2^nd – 3B – 174 points – 8pts

3^rd – 3F – 166 points – 7pts

4^th – 3D – 154 points – 6pts

5^th –  3G – 149 points – 5pts

6^th – 3E – 106 points – 4pts

7^th – 3A – 105 points – 3pts

8^th – 3J – 95 points – 2pts

9^th – 3H – 72 points – 1pt

So, where does this leave the overall standings?

1^st – 3B – 78pts

2^nd – 3D – 75pts

3^rd  – 3A – 64pts

4^th – 3F – 62pts

5^th – 3E – 54pts

6^th – 3J – 49pts

7^th – 3C – 47pts

8^th – 3G – 36pts

9^th – 3H – 34pts

It is tight at the top! It is also tight at the bottom! All to play for in the remaining events!

Summer Show

When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on his estate, with a look of terror still etched on his face, and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body, the great detective Sherlock Holmes is summoned from Baker Street, with Dr Watson in tow, to unravel the mysteries surrounding his death, and investigate the ancient curse of the Hound of the Baskervilles…

There’s still plenty of time to get your tickets for the dazzling Summer Show The Hound of the Baskervilles. Book by clicking the link here. Performances are on the 17 and 18 June and start at 7.00pm. There are over 40 pupils from the First, Second and Third Year involved, so why not come along and support them in Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic.

Two truths and a lie

Before half term, our final liar was Mrs Rigby.

• Mrs Rigby used to be a professional ballet dancer
• Mrs Rigby went to the same university as Mr Bradley and Mr Baker. They went to different universities
• Mrs Rigby once performed the Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue song ‘Kids’ on stage at Hampton

So, which was the lie? Well, while this presumably happened before Mrs Rigby married Mr Rigby, she DID perform the Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue song ‘Kids’ on stage at the School. The Third Year Blog is not entirely sure of the nature of the event, but can confirm that it was not during assembly. Confusing though it is, Mrs Rigby did attend the same University as Mr Baker and Mr Bradley, despite them not attending the same University. Mrs Rigby went to Birmingham University, as did Mr Bradley. She also later went to Royal Holloway, University of London, as did Mr Baker. What this means is that the lie is that Mrs Rigby used to be a professional ballet dancer, though the Third Year Blog suspects that this is more to do with poor work on the part of the professional ballet scene in terms of talent spotting than anything to do with Mrs Rigby not being of the requisite standard.

This week’s liar is also from the English department – Mr Bradley. Could it be that the department’s willingness to embrace the inherent subjectivity of their subject, also allows them to embrace a willingness to bend the truth? One would hope not, for the sake of the moral core of the School. Regardless, Mr Bradley has been asked and he, as always, has delivered.

These are his claims:

• Mr Bradley got to the final auditions to be a member of Take That
• Mr Bradley once took part in a month-long sausage eating competition
• Mr Bradley is an excellent drummer

Can any of these things be true?

Connection Corner

Well done to the everyone who had a go at the last Connection Corner before half term. Merits go to all those who correctly guessed that the answers were all Flowers. Big shout out to Alex G, Joshua A, Liam C, Vayun J, Huw C, Oliver Y, Oscar S, Dennis H, James G, Luke F, Hari L, Esa S, Alex G, Luis M Y, David W, Sion K, Joe B, Gordon L and Shishir V.

Another tricky one this week, see if you can spot the connection:

In case you’re still perplexed, here are the answers to the last conundrum:

What is the name of the character played by Kate Winslet in Titanic? Rose

Digitalis is a drug used to treat heart disease and is commonly derived from what? Foxglove

What is the coloured tissue at the front of the eye that contains the pupil called? The iris

Connection: Types of flowers (Daffodil, Rose, Foxglove and Iris)