Welcome to the First Year Blog!
First Years have had a fabulous week culminating in ice lollies on the field followed by an Interform Tug of War competition on Friday. We hosted pupils from LEH for a morning of activities (I was on the juggling balls station) and half the year went on a fascinating RS trip to the Neasden Mandir and the Gurdwara in Southall. We have some lively sporting reports this week from basketball, croquet and a victorious golfer.
‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ was a hit (see report from our very own backstage technician). Meanwhile musicians are very busy rehearsing for the end of term concerts and assemblies. Some of them will be performing for Friends and Family Day which is a lovely opportunity for First Years to show grandparents and other people who are important to them around the School.
Next week we have the Junior Quiz Team final and the U12 Cricket final – good luck to both teams. We are rooting for you!
Hound of the Baskervilles
As the audience files into the Hammond Theatre, ready to watch the summer show, do you ever think about what happens behind the scenes? Well, the Tech team are busy backstage, and I was part of it! I was a Prop and Set Master, who oversees giving props to the actors at the right time, in the right place. It involves lots of organisation and is a lot of fun!
It was my second show this year (before I’d done sound) and it was interesting to see the stage from a completely new angle! So, before Front of House opens (and the audience comes in), we must make sure that we have all props and don’t have any that are missing or broken! We then must place certain props (mostly in the Right Wing) that are needed for the first few scenes of the play. After this, it is mostly just keeping track of where we are in the script, giving props out to actors who come to collect them, and sweep the wings to pick up any un-needed props that are just going to get lost.
After the interval (where we prepare the props for the first few scenes), it is pretty much the same kind of things. Organisation, running between wings to get/place props, handing out props to actors.
Being on the tech team is great, because it means that you meet lots of new people and gain experience working in production environments! It is amazing to see the stage from a completely new angle.
If you are interested in joining Theatre Tech, you can join next year by emailing Mr Thompson or completing the signup sheet at the Clubs Fair at the start of next term.
By Max O (1H) from the Tech Team
RS Trip
On Wednesday 1B, 1J, 1G, and 1H had the pleasure of going to the Mandir and the Gurdwara. At the Mandir, we enjoyed looking at the marble and teak architecture and the structure of the temple. Amazingly, it only took three years to build such a delicately carved building. My personal favourite was the Gurdwara, where we had a vegetarian curry lunch, because the food was very good and I also found learning about all the gurus very interesting. Overall, the trip was one of my personal favourites of the year and I learnt a lot of interesting facts about the different religions.
By Xavier B (1J)
Maths Olympiad
This week was the final round of the Hampton Maths Competition. All First and Second Years take part in round one (the Challenge), with around 30 from each year group qualifying for round two (the Invitational). Both the first two rounds were ‘answer-only’; but for the nine First Years and seven Second Years who have made it to the final round (the Olympiad), full solutions that justify their answers will be required. At this point, some of the problems are very difficult, and would stump much older pupils!
By Mr Griller
Golf
On Tuesday 17 June, the Richmond Schools’ Tournament was held at David Lloyd Golf Club. The course was in a dry condition making the scoring conditions difficult because the ball bounced unpredictably. I was playing singles against two other people and my match took about 90 minutes. It was a close game and luckily, I managed to scratch out a -1 under par score (34 shots) to win the tournament by 1 point.
A big thanks to all the schools for participating otherwise this event wouldn’t be possible. Also, another big thank you for Mr Worrall and Mrs May for helping organising this event across two golf clubs.
By Harry W (1H)
Croquet Club
This Tuesday Alex B and I went to Croquet Club. We were told the rules and were thrilled to get going. We played against Felix H and Edward J and had an awesome time. We were in the lead at the start until Edward started playing amazingly and put them in the lead and, eventually, they won (in fact, they destroyed us). Croquet Club is very relaxing and fun, and I would definitely go again, and I highly recommend it to others.
By Edward W and Alex B
Basketball Club
Every week on Tuesday first half of lunch Basketball Club is on and I love to go. This week, we warmed up with a 1-on-1 game rotating with three people trying to score a hoop. After the warm-up we got into teams to play a game of 5v5 for about 20 minutes which was really exciting. Our team scored some good shots and layups but sadly the other team beat us in a very close score. I recommend this really fun club if you like to play or even start out playing basketball.
By Sol W (1J)
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 Philip V (1F) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week.
Philip has made an excellent contribution in PSHE and continues to make great efforts in everything he does – well done Philip!
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: which zoo are we off to with the Biology Department in June.
It is, of course, Marwell Zoo in Winchester…and we can’t wait to go!
Well done to Kyle O, Kaarthikan M, Ashveer C, Yuvan M, Kiyan J, Akshaj A, Smyan M, Max O, Noah L, Ethan C, Rishi S, Theo R, Vivaan K, Moksha K, Harri C, Seb G, Oliver J, Isaac L, Ishaan J, Kamran C, Rahim K, Raff OC-Z, Arthur H, Max K, William J, Henry M, Reyansh K, Diego C-G, Arhaan K, Ansh R, Ashutosh S, Aarav S, Ethan C, Edward R, Leyan L, Ashutosh S, Juan AVdG and Emre K..
This week’s challenge:
How many medals have Hampton Chemists won in the past six years of the Chemistry Olympiad and Cambridge Chemistry Challenge?
Look in the department you’d expect to find the answer!
Enter your answers here:
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