The Comedy of Errors, Football Fixtures & Weird Food!

WELCOME TO THE SECOND YEAR BLOG!

It’s been a week full of theatre, and as a Drama teacher, I’ve loved it! The Hampton Junior Theatre Company have been working on a performance of The Comedy of Errors during Drama Club on a Thursday lunch time and the two performances this week were funny, dramatic and confusing…! A huge well done to everyone involved. Our Second Years were also lucky enough to attend a French play over at LEH this week, which sounds brilliant, and I hear some of our Hampton pupils even graced the stage.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed towards the Blog – there’s such a range of interesting articles and interviews; I really enjoy reading them every week! If you want to see an article of your own featured here, please email b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk or come along to Blog Club on a Wednesday in F68 from 1.15.

Merit Milestones

Another bumper week for merits! Well done to the following Second Years:

TUTOR QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Each week the pupils decide on a question to ask all the Second Year Form Tutors. This week…

What’s the weirdest food combination you secretly enjoy?

• Chips and milkshake/ice cream – Miss Eamens, 2H, 2W, Miss Holt, Miss Tiller, 2L, Miss Mattinson
• Pineapple on pizza – Mrs Owen
• Ketchup on pasta – Miss Winstock
• Avocado and chocolate – Mr Worrall
• Other (please specify) – Ms Wallace ‘marmite and peanut butter on toast’

Have you ever had a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask your form tutors?! If so, then please send your suggestions for next week’s Tutor Question Time to b.tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk.

French Play at LEH

On Thursday, 2F, 2B and 2H attended a play in French by Onatti Productions. ‘Prendre sa Revanche’ (Taking Revenge) was delivered in French and was about two antique dealers who try to fool customers by passing off fake artifacts as real, but this time they are made to be the fools! This entertaining, farcical play involved plenty of audience participation, with Hampton pupils taking part as a French detective and wealthy Parisian Mme Burger – bravo!

The Comedy of Errors 

In Drama Club this year we have been preparing a performance of a play called The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. We have been putting our hearts into this for weeks up till now. The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare’s early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. This is a play full of love, confusion, comedy, tragedy, and action. Please make a shout out to all the staff and Miss Jones who directed this with the help of Hampton Pupils. 

By Uzair V (2L)

Lights, Camera, Action! This week, I participated in the Drama Club production, The Comedy of Errors. The plot was confusing, but that was the point. It was great performing in the Hammond Theatre with my friends. My family came to watch, and they said they loved it! Overall, I had so much fun and the drama staff as well as the tech team were brilliant. I’m looking forward to more plays in the future.

By Nicholas S (2P)

Take a look at some of the photos here.

Football fixtures!

On Saturday last week, the U13 B, C and D faced off against Berkhamsted School where we had an amazing morning playing football. Unfortunately, the C team and D team had to be split to make a new team as our E team were unable to attend this fixture. As I was part of the D team, I was split to play against their E team. At the start of kick off, I passed to our midfield where I made a run for the goal, when a brilliant pass was made, through their defence. After I got the ball, I dribbled towards the goal keeper, when the goal keeper rushed out to intercept me. I managed to get the ball past the goal keeper by getting it to the left side of the goal keeper and shooting it diagonally to the right. After the goal, we led by 1-0. After the goal, Berkhamsted tried to launch a new wave of attack, but our defenders held strong and intercepted their attack.

Afterwards, our side launched a counter-attack where Artem passed a brilliant ball. Unfortunately, their goalkeeper rushed out to intercept before I could shoot. After a few minutes, I got another great ball from the midfield but when I dribbled towards the goal, the goal keeper rushed out and slammed into me. As our sizes were hugely different, I lost the ball, losing yet another great chance to score. The second goal came from the midfield (I think it was Harry) with a great shot which their goal keeper was unable to save. After half-time, Berkhamsted started staging more ferocious attacks, desperate for a goal. There defence was becoming more physical and regularly pushing back to the halfway line. A foul was committed to our defence. After a chaos in front of our goal, the ball ended up in the back of our net. After staging counter-attacks, Yousuf H managed get the ball into the back of the net. We then got more chances but each time, we were ferociously fended off.

Before the final whistle sounded, I got yet another chance. This time, I was against two defenders. Before I knew it, they had me sandwiched, with one of them at either side. They ferociously used their bodies to slam into me, forcing me to slow and lose the ball. After the final whistle, we won. The final score was 3-1. Unfortunately, the other half of the D team lost 4-3. What a great relaxing weekend it was.

P.S. Artem gave a great pep talk at half-time!

By Ian L (2F)

Subject of the Week

This week’s Subject of the Week is Design and Engineering as my half of the class are having a great time making their metal miniatures, I am creating a cricket player doing a sweep shot. Every week is fun, and I always look forward to continuing my project. So far, I have brazed my arms, head and my prop (a bat) together. I have also bent the legs and arms, after brazing to make it easier to figure out my pose. Now, our teacher will paint our models and add holes to points where we have marked in order to fit all the parts together.

By Naivedya A (2L)

No Limits Week

Next week is No Limits Week, which is all about moving out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself with something new! Lower School Hamptonians are encouraged to go to at least three new clubs or societies over the course of the week. From History Society to Basketball, from Board Games to Biology Club, this is your chance to discover a new passion and have a go at doing something a little bit different! Miss Holt tells us all about it:

Book Review: Of Mice and Men

Take a look at the fantastic book below from Shaurya D (2L):

In this book the main characters are George, Lennie, Crooks, Slim, Curley and his wife. The thing that I loved about this book is the bond between George and Lennie which is central to the story. Their friendship provides comfort in a world where many people are isolated and alone. They are also overly ambitious about the idea of the “American Dream”. This is explored through George and Lennie’s dream of owning land, but Steinbeck (the author) shows how hard it is for people like them to achieve their goals. Although these two characters are always lively and never experience loneliness, many of the other characters in the book experience deep loneliness, such as Crooks, the isolated black stable buck and Curley’s wife, who is the only woman on the ranch. The novel also highlights how people who are poor, disabled, or from minority groups are treated unfairly during the time.

In the story Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck creates a short but powerful novel set during the Great Depression in California, USA. The story follows when George and Lennie travel together in search of work. George is small, smart, and protective of his friend Lennie, who is large and physically strong but has a mental disability. Despite their differences, the two share a dream of someday owning their own piece of land. The novel explores themes of friendship, dreams, loneliness, and the harsh realities of life for the poor during the Depression.

As they work on a ranch, they meet other characters who also have their own hopes and struggles. The dream of owning a farm becomes a source of hope for the characters, but things ultimately take a tragic turn. The novel asks important questions about the nature of friendship, the pursuit of happiness, and the cruelty of fate.

Guy Fawkes

Remember, remember, the 5th of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent
To blow up the King and the Parliament
Three score barrels of powder below
Poor old England to overthrow
By God’s providence he was catch’ d
With a dark lantern and burning match
Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring
Holler boys, holler boys
God save the King!

On the 5 November 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes along with some fellow Catholic conspirators attempted to blow up the parliament and assassinate James I of England. Guy Fawkes and the other Catholics involved in this plot felt that the government was treating Catholics unfairly and they wanted to rebel against what they thought was unfair treatment. Guy Fawkes’ plan, known as the Gunpowder Plot, failed because of an anonymous tip to Lord Monteagle, a member of parliament. The anonymous letter explained that the monarchy and the parliament were in grave danger. The letter led to the discovery of the plot and the execution of the conspirators. However, to this day, we are still uncertain of who wrote the letter, but the most likely candidate is Francis Tresham, Monteagle’s brother-in-law. 

This is the reason why many of us were lucky enough to see fireworks and even some bonfires in the evening of Guy Fawkes Day. Many people across the U.K. celebrate this tragic event annually, as a commemoration of the failure of the Gunpowder Plot.

By Riyaan G (2B)

Interview with Mike Wooldridge

Ethan SW (2L) had the opportunity to interview Mike Wooldridge over half term. As the interview itself was very detailed, we’ll be including a couple of questions and answers a week!

Mike Wooldridge is the author of multiple books, such as “An Introduction to MulitAgent Systems” and “Artificial Intelligence: Everything you need to know about the coming AI. A Ladybird Expert Book,” and has dedicated his career to understanding and advancing the field of AI.. As an author of several influential books, he is able to combine the aspects of AI with real-life scenarios, providing concise and effective explanations. As our world evolves and our uses of AI expands, learning about things like MultiAgent systems and the psychology and sociology of AI is essential to understanding the world around us, and therefore, I believe how can it get any better than to understand these things from one of the greatest pioneers of AI, Mike Wooldridge:

What were you like when you were a 12 year old? What were your favourite subjects at High School?

As a 12-year-old, I was very bookish. Every weekend I would take my pocket money to the local bookshop and buy a science fiction book. I realise that’s a bit of a cliché for computer scientists! When I was about 14 years old, I met with some friends who told me that a local shop was selling computers. I didn’t believe them. Computers at the time seemed like hugely expensive things – it was impossible to me that one of our local shops would be selling them. We went and had a look, and sure enough, there was a computer – a TRS-80. It was unbelievably crude by today’s standards, but the shop assistants in the shop let us play on it and I learned to program in a few weeks. At that point, I became hooked on computing.

What inspired you to take Computer Science, AI and Technology as a subject?

With my ZX 80 at home, I was the first generation of people to have a home computer. If you’re a teenager at the time that was what you wanted for Christmas (although they were very expensive by today’s standards). I loved the fact that you could use your computer and write any program that you wanted to that was very liberating. It was something completely new. I knew immediately that that’s what I wanted to study at university, and that’s what I did. When I was at university, I discovered artificial intelligence. What attracted me to this was that there was so much empty territory. There were so many areas of AI that were completely unexplored. You could be the only person working on some big idea. That was really attractive. I also love the fact the AI appeals to so many different areas: philosophy, psychology, economics – what it really means to be human. That was just so intriguing and it still is.

SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS!

We love to hear about what you have been getting up to outside of school and to celebrate your successes in the Second Year Blog! Please do send any information about any of your achievements through to Miss Tiller. B.Tiller@hamptonschool.org.uk

WHO’S THAT BABY?!

Last week’s baby was… Mr Lee, one of 2F’s form tutor!!!!

Who do you think it could be this week? Don’t forget, I make all the photos black and white to make it that much trickier!

QUIZ OF THE WEEK

Welcome to the Quiz of the Week! Every week, we’ll post five general knowledge questions. Take a look at this week’s questions, have a go yourself or challenge people at home and see if they know the answer.

Points for the Interform Competition will be awarded to the form with the most entries over the term.

This week’s questions have a distinctly autumnal theme. Why don’t you have a go and enter your answers here. 

Here are the answers to last week’s quiz:

1. What is the rarest metal in the world? Rhodium
2. What is Diwali the festival of? Light
3. Which city is the richest in the world? New York City
4. How many legs does a millipede have? 1000
5. What does the SAS military service stand for? Special Air Service

Well done to Sujay N and Ruaan V who answered everything correctly.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

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