Welcome to the First Year Blog!
A week without homework and with lots of cooking – what a treat for pupils, families, and the First Year team too! We’re eagerly awaiting all of the delicious snacks that our young budding chefs are bringing in on Monday. The First Year Tea Party is always one of the highlights of the year. It’s such a great opportunity to share some homemade food with your friends, share your family recipes, share your culture, and ultimately feel a part of the Hampton community in the First Year. Well done to everyone for baking and cooking so many delicious treats and meals this week and remember to send photos and recipes to Mr Jimenez for this year’s edition of the First Year Cookbook – the link to the form is here!
Finally, best of luck for all of our First Years who are involved in all of the Bugsy Malone rehearsals and performances this week. This is a once-in-a-Hampton-career show that you absolutely cannot miss!
RISOTTO AND ROAST POTATOES
This week was all about cooking for the family. As there has been no homework, it has been a great opportunity to spend some time with your family and make some delicious meals. I made risotto on Monday with rice, stock (it can be normal, vegetarian or vegan) and onions, and things like cheese. You just keep adding stock and mixing it in for half an hour. I made potatoes on a different day by parboiling them and putting them in the oven. Overall, it is really nice to be given the time to do this because people aren’t always able to take time on the weekends to do it and you get to eat it!
By Max D (1L)
ROCK CONCERT
Last Friday night, I had the incredible opportunity to perform as a drummer at a live Rock Concert. At just 12 years old, I was the youngest musician there along with the others performing with me, but that only made the experience even more exciting. As I stepped onto the stage, the bright lights and the cheering crowd created an electrifying atmosphere. The stage was set up heavily ornamented with many LED lights and speakers for many other instruments accompanying me. Despite my initial nerves and how flawlessly the older musicians played, the moment I struck the first beat, I felt completely in my element. The energy of the audience and the support of my fellow musicians pushed me to perform at my very best.
Throughout the performance, I could see people clapping along and engaging with the music. It was an exhilarating experience to be part of something so dynamic and powerful. There was smoke lingering in the air as the theatre was filled to the brim with music. We delivered two outstanding songs which was invigorating to hear and watch. Following that we were invited by the back to the stage to execute another song where everybody participated in for the chorus. At first there was a nerve-racking feeling however after I performed, I had the urge to go back out there and show my skills. After the show, many attendees approached me with words of encouragement, expressing their surprise and admiration for my drumming skills at such a young age.
This experience was more than just a performance—it was a personal milestone. It reinforced my passion for music and gave me the confidence to pursue more opportunities in the future. Performing live taught me the importance of preparation, resilience, and believing in myself, no matter the circumstances. Although there were other experienced plays by the older ensembles, we all felt proud to be a part of this Rock Concert.
I look forward to many more performances ahead, and this concert will always remain a defining moment in my journey as a musician.
By Armaan K (1P)
DRAMA CLUB
So, if you didn’t know already, Drama Club takes place on Thursday lunchtime at 1.10pm until the end of lunch. Every half term or term, we tend to stick to a certain topic, for example, last term, we performed a pantomime after working on the lines and acting. This half term we are doing the topic ‘Murder Mystery’. We were all invited to a dinner party, but the host was unfortunately killed. Our job is to find the murderer, but the murderer is among us! Do you know the show ‘Traitors’ on BBC? If you haven’t, go and watch it, it is a good series. It’s just like that. One traitor was selected last Thursday and it’s our job as the faithful to find the person responsible for the host’s tragic death. All of us were interviewed about the death and it is our job to find the murderer together. Who is the traitor? We are still yet to find out…
By Zachariah A (1W)
HAMPTON CRICKET
Every Friday, all hopeful Hampton cricketers rush to the Sports Hall after our fifth period of the day. We usually do quite a range of things, whether it’s improving our bowling accuracy, or learning to play more skilled shots, which is always fun. It is a very energetic session as we almost instantly get into something as soon as we get there as well as the rapid nature of everything we do. They also have all the sessions planned out, which is helpful, meaning we don’t have to drag our heavy bags to every session if they are not needed. Personally, I like the bowling accuracy training, especially when we do something fun like we did last week where the keeper had to do five press-ups if the wickets were hit by the bowler while they were keeping. Overall, the cricket sessions at Hampton are really fun and if there is anyone aspiring to play cricket in the summer, you should come along!
By Toby S (1P)
Warhammer Club
Well, to start off with, I think for almost every Hamptonian, 2025 has gotten off to a cracking start. I think it would be good to highlight an unofficial club. This club is Warhammer Club . It’s a fantastic creative club, where you can build, paint and play countless miniatures from the Warhammer universe. Maybe you want to wage war in the 41st millennium with an army of augmented warriors, or conquer the mortal realms with an army of the undead! However you want to wage war, Warhammer’s got it. An inspiring club for all year groups to attend with lots of fun included. It is at 12.35pm on a Thursday in F61. Any questions, please do ask the Art department.
By Logan K (1L)
Find out more in the video below:
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 Rahul P (1B) on being named this week’s Tutee of the Week.
Rahul is always a smiley, friendly and polite presence in the form – well done Rahul!
SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS!
This week saw Noah L (1G) run alongside two other Hampton athletes as part of a strong Richmond team in the Middlesex Cross Country Championships. Noah finished in a fantastic fifth place over a muddy and windswept course at Harrow School – well done Noah!
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).
Bugsy Malone
Less than a week to go to this year’s Junior Musical Bugsy Malone and tickets are selling like hot cakes!
Tickets can be booked here. Don’t miss out!
Food Bank Collection
Please support our Feltham Food Bank on Friday 14 February. They are particularly in need of instant coffee, sugar, vegetable noodles, tinned meat, fruit squash, dried lentils, chickpeas and kidney beans. Please bring your donations to the front of School from 8.15am. Thank you!
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: whose shoulders did Isaac Newton stand on to see further than others?
The answer is on one of the walls in the Physics department: he stood on the shoulders of giants! A big shout out to Tom C, Nico A-G, Jack W, Yuvan M, Kiyan J, Smyan M, Oliver J, Hayk F, Ashveer C, Yakub A, Reyansh K, Lucas O’C, Felix R, Edward G, Lucas F, Diego C-G, Kamran C, Timothy M, Rafferty O-C-Z, Sebastian G, Aayushmaan C, Isaac L, William J, Max K, Ryan A, Harry T, Ishaan J, Rahim K, Ansh R, Max O, Toby S and Aryan T who correctly found the answer to last week’s Hampton Hunt. Make sure you collect a merit from your Form Tutor next week!
This week’s challenge:
how many languages are written in blue on the language cloud in their corridor?
Enter your answers here:
