Welcome to the First Year Blog!
Five school sleeps to go. The countdown is very much heating up… and so is the weather. After what feels like months of rain, Hampton has turned into a mini heatwave hub, with First Years expertly navigating the great search for shade. From the cloisters to air‑conditioned safe havens like the Main Hall, and yes, even the ever‑popular retreat of my Chemistry lab, it has been a week of strategic cooling as much as anything else.
The highlight of the week was undoubtedly Friends and Family Day, where the boys became tour guides for the afternoon, proudly showing off Hampton to those who do not normally get to see it. There was plenty to admire, plenty to explain, and perhaps most importantly, plenty of well‑earned nibbles to enjoy in the blissfully cool Main Hall.
Elsewhere, brains have been switched firmly into gear, whether mastering MiniBridge strategies, dealing out trump cards like seasoned pros, or creating German board games that spielen their way into learning. It has also been Green Week, a fitting reminder, especially in this relentless and unusual heat, of the importance of looking after our environment. A big thank you to everyone who donated second‑hand books for Fair Start. A great example of doing something small that can make a big difference.
TOURS AND TREATS
On Monday, some First Years were lucky enough to welcome special guests to the annual Friends and Family Day. The event commenced with a First Year Panel in the Hammond Theatre at the start of Period 6, including panellists Shrey S (1L), Guy H (1H), Finlay C (1G), Raphael C (1J), and myself.
The panel involved answering some questions sent to everyone in the year, giving our personal opinion on each one and then revealing the majority answer for each question.
As we walked onto the stage, I picked out my cousin, Jack (who had come all the way from Dublin to be there), smiling at me as he sat among the other attendees.
Our host Mr Hill kicked off the Q&A, with questions including:
- What has been your favourite school lunch this year? Finlay, Guy, and Shrey all said the winner, the famous Chicken Katsu Curry. I opted for the Deli Bar (although the Katsu is still out-of-this-world good) as the fresh baguette sandwiches are amazing and easy to eat when you are trying to fit in two lunch time clubs! Raphael humorously said, ‘Personally, I have had packed lunches the entire year, but many of my friends say that Katsu Curry is the best,’ which was met with a laugh from the audience.
- What is your favourite part of the week? Friday was the winner amongst the year and the panel – double-sport to round out the week is always a win!
- What has been the highlight of the year? Finlay nominated playing rugby in the first two terms as his highlight, Shrey and I said our residential trip at Avon Tyrrell, Raphael said the ESFA finals, and Guy said the ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ production that he was recently involved in.
- What has been your favourite subject this year? Shrey, Raphael, and I all said Geography (acknowledging that we were all VERY lucky to be taught by our interviewer, Mr Hill!), and Finlay said German, although the overall winner was Art!
- What has been the biggest change for you from primary school? There was a variety of answers across the panel here, including the size of the School (with Guy giving a brilliant example of not being able to locate F71) and managing a timetable and books rather than having the simplicity of the same teacher and the same room for each subject.
I really enjoyed having the opportunity to go onstage at the Hammond, and it was a really fun experience.
Next, I found my cousin in the Hammond Foyer, and we went to the Main Hall for refreshments. I then gave him a tour of the School, and there was not a corridor we missed! We toured the playing fields, the Pavilion, the Climbing Wall, the Sports Hall, the Garrick, the Ergo Room (which I had never looked at properly before), the North Gym, the Lecture Theatre (where he found the acoustics particularly impressive), the Atrium, the 3G, the MUGA, the Tennis courts and all of the departments in between.
I cannot wait for more events like this in the future – Friends and Family Day was a major success, and I was grateful that my cousin could be there and experience this snapshot of Hampton life.
By Alex B (1L)
Take a look at some of the photos from the day here.
SUBJECT SPOTLIGHT
In my lessons, (despite the fact that all of them are great) there are two subjects that really stand out. The first is Maths. I have always loved and been good at Maths, probably because there is always a straight answer. All of the topics we have done this year, from the area of shapes to algebra to graphs, have been really fun. Our teacher, Mr Delamare, always makes the lessons more enjoyable and frequently lets us play a class Blooket or DFM live (Dr Frost Maths). Additionally, every Wednesday the top-scoring pupils get to go to extension, where you get to solve harder problems. These questions challenge your mind and are great fun.
The second is Religious Studies, or RS for short. In my primary school, I always found learning this a little dull and boring, however things changed at Hampton. We have the best teacher ever, Mr Hill (different to our Head of Year). He teaches in a way that everything feels simple and interesting. I enjoyed these lessons so much that I attend a club ran by him – Young Philosophers, where we look at different aspects of Philosophy including moral and logic. Today, the day this blog comes out, there was a grand finale, as it is the last time this year the club will be on. I recommend it for next year; feel free to come along! These subjects have definitely my time at Hampton even better, and I know I will definitely continue to love them.
By Aahil U (1G)
MINI GAME, MAX BRAINS
This Wednesday, I attended MiniBridge club, which I was attracted to when I saw a notice about it. MiniBridge is a variant of the widely popular card game Bridge, but takes a shorter amount of time to play and thus is better for beginners who simply want to try the game. I personally am not a Bridge expert, so it was nice to play a match against some friends and learn about strategies.
The teacher first began by outlining the basic rules and how to set up a game of Bridge. Once we knew the basics, we started the first match quickly to get some more gameplay and learn by playing. After getting to grips with Bridge, we moved on to some more advanced strategies and ways to get better at the game.
I particularly enjoyed this club and am excited to play again next year, as it will be on for the whole of the academic year this time around. In the meantime, time for me to practise my shuffles!
By Hiu Yeung K (1P)
Every day there are amazing clubs to offer and today I tried a new club that was on called MiniBridge. It is a complete strategy game and it doesn’t matter if you have good cards or not, you can still lose. The rules are simple, everyone sits in a table and the people facing each other are a team. First the cards are shuffled, and everyone gets at total of 13 cards. Everyone counts their point cards (Ace is four, King is three, Queen is two, Jack is one), and the team with the most points wins the right to play for the card. The player with the highest points on that team gets to see their partner’s cards face-up on the table and chooses the best suit to be the “trump,” or winning suit. Also, your partner now a is a ‘dummy’ meaning you get to choose which card that they play. To win the round, that player must lead their team to win at least seven out of the 13 card battles to win, by playing the highest card. However, the card has to be the same suit that the other player plays or else if it is not in the suit, then you will instantly lose the round. You win the round by either using the highest trump card or getting the highest of the suit. The order of rarity is: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, followed by the number cards in decreasing order.
By Yifan C (1L)
SPIEL AND SKILLS
Over the past week in German, my form has been making interesting yet educational board games. By yourself, or in groups of two, we made creative games that consist of German grammar questions that challenge you, such as infinitives or word orders. My classmates were very creative – they made a wide variety of games, with examples being Monopoly, Ludo or computer coded games and even some ideas that were made up by themselves! I believe that this will boost our German ability as well as our creativity. This Friday we will be playing these games in our lesson and I hope my game does well compared to the others.
By Sheldon C (1G)
TUTEE OF THE WEEK
Every week, the First Year Tutor team nominate a Hamptonian 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 Divam K (1J) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week.
Divam is always a positive presence in the form and never fails to treat others with kindness and respect. Well done Divam!
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 Mr Jimenez (v.jimenez@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! 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 LION 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 species of tree can be found in the Cloisters? The answer is a Mulberry Tree! Big shout out to Andreas C, Simon B, Ruben V, Hiu Yeung K, Aaahil U, Danny T, Chris H, Jacon B, Alex D, Evaan P, Owen S-W, Barney D, Arjun A, Lucas D C, Alex B, Gilby R, Edin H, Mikaeel K, Arthur S. Thomas D, Arav B, Koye O, Arthur B P, Aryun R, Sam P, Aditya S, John L, Julian H, Cyrus T, Ethan V, Seung-Hoo K, Mahad H and Aiden G.
This week’s challenge is something the boys have been craving all week:
Ice cream is a combination of air, fat globules, liquid syrup, and what else?
HINT: You can find the answer somewhere in Chemistry!
