Oar-Inspiring! Rowers raise over £68,000 for charity Rowers from the Hampton and Lady Eleanor Holles Schools’ Boat Clubs rowed an 80-mile stretch of the River Thames to raise money for local hospice charity, Shooting Star Chase.
THE NE WSLETTER FOR HA MPTON SCHOOL
Over 120 pupils, staff and parents braved driving rain and strong winds as they rowed from Radley near Oxford to the Millennium Boathouse in Hampton, with an overnight stop at the Leander Club in Henley. Sponsored by family and friends, the rowers raised over £68,000 for the charity, which helps support babies and children with life-limiting conditions.
AUTUMN TERM 2018
Inside this issue: • • • • • • • • •
Avon Tyrrell Chemistry Success Chess Champion Crazy for You Hampton Remembers Music Concerts Public Examination Results Sports News Trips
Georgina Brookes, from Shooting Star Chase, expressed the charity’s gratitude to all: “The rowers should feel very proud of their accomplishment. Raising an amazing £68,000 will make a significant difference to our charity. Thank you!”
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Record GCSE & IGCSE Results For the third year running, Hampton boys achieved record-breaking results at I/GCSE, with 75% of all grades at A* or the new 9 to 8 grading. In total, 94% of marks were at A*, A or the equivalent. A remarkable 67 boys achieved a clean sweep of top grades in their exams. The Headmaster, Kevin Knibbs, warmly congratulated the boys: “Our Fifth Year boys deserve the highest praise for achieving these record-breaking results. It is all the more impressive that they have been so successful in the context of reformed GCSE courses in many subjects and the much-publicised challenges associated with the rigorous new 9-1 grading system. Achieving 55% grade 9s is a phenomenal outcome in the new examinations.”
Superb A Level Results Hamptonians celebrated another impressive set of A Level and Pre-U results with 31% of all grades at A* compared with the national average of 8%. 90% of grades were at A*, A, B or the equivalent, confirming Hampton’s place among the country’s highest achieving schools academically. Fourteen Hamptonians achieved a clean sweep of four A* grades and a further 16 boys each secured three A* grades. 90% of leavers have now taken up places at UK Russell Group or US Universities.
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In their Element
Young Reporters
Hampton Chemists saw a record medal haul in the 2018 Chemistry Challenge competition, achieving 14 Gold, 15 Silver and two Copper Awards.
Budding Hampton journalists enjoyed success in the 2018 Young Reporter Awards, with two boys winning their overall category. The young writers were challenged to hone their journalism skills, producing eight articles on a range of topics.
Oli Bridge became the third Hampton Chemist in recent years to receive a Roentgenium Award, which is only awarded to the top 1% of candidates. This year, over 7,900 pupils from across the UK took part in the prestigious competition, which challenges pupils’ Chemistry knowledge significantly beyond the syllabus.
Five Hamptonians received awards, with Sixth Former Toby Tolson winning the ‘Best Event’ coverage category and Henry Sheen, the ‘Best Interview’ category.
U18 British Chess Champion Sixth Former Koby Kalavannan has enjoyed a phenomenal few months on the British chess circuit, winning the U18 British Chess Championship and being awarded his FIDE Master title, the first of three stages to becoming a chess Grandmaster.
Koby, who secured 10 A* grades in his I/GCSE exams this summer, was thrilled with his success: “I’m delighted that my hard work has paid off. My ultimate dream is to become a Grandmaster and hopefully this has set me on my way.”
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Third Year Team Building Day Third years teamed up with their new classmates to complete a range of fun activities and learn that the key to successful teamwork is cooperation, problemsolving and communication. Miss Victoria Smith, Joint Head of Third Year, congratulated the Year Group on a successful day: “The event encourages boys to develop long-term friendships with their classmates, as well as getting to know their Sixth Form Mentors and Form Tutors.”
Avon Tyrrell The First Year adventure trip to the New Forest was a huge success. An action-packed, fun-filled couple of days included a high ropes course, archery, a night walk and orienteering. The trip culminated with a raft-building challenge on the lake at Avon Tyrrell, with some rafts staying afloat longer than others!
Head of First Year, Mr Tom Hill, was full of praise for the new First Years: “It was great for the boys to make new friends and listen and learn from each other, lessons that will stand them in good stead throughout their time at Hampton.”
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Genocide Awareness Day Pupils from schools across London attended Hampton School’s 2018 Genocide Awareness Day to hear survivors from the Holocaust and recent genocides share their emotional testimonies. The schoolchildren used what they had learnt to create a range of artwork, poetry, newspaper articles and short animated films, representing the horrors of genocide.
ISSP Science Day Hampton’s annual Independent/State Schools’ Partnership Science Day saw pupils from four schools participating in a range of exciting and interactive experiments. Budding scientists investigated energy changes in chemical reactions, explored upthrust in hot air balloons and created foaming towers as they examined how temperature and pH affect enzymes.
No Limits Week
Form Charity The School’s first fund-raising event of the year was the Third Year dodgeball inter-form competition, which saw the Banana and Pyjama teams battling it out on the 3G pitch. During 2018-19, the School community will be fundraising for four charities: REACT, which supports terminally ill children; Dementia UK; the Motor Neurone Disease Association; and ActionAid, an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty.
Our inaugural ‘No Limits Week’ challenged Lower School pupils to try out as many of the School’s co-curricular clubs as possible. Young Hamptonians could choose from over 40 clubs and activities including Volleyball, Film Club, Badminton, Bridge and Drone Club. They also enjoyed the fiercely contested indoor rowing competition and a demonstration of the eruption of Mount St Helens in Geography Club.
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Crazy for You Running for four nights and delighting packed audiences in The Hammond Theatre, this year’s Hampton and LEH Senior School Musical, Crazy for You, was a sparkling sensation. Matt Mundy (U6) shone in the lead role of Bobby Child, achieving perfect comic timing, as he travelled from New York to Deadrock, Nevada to rescue the decrepit Gaiety Theatre. Matt was ably supported by Fred Spence (U6), as theatre impresario Bela Zangler, and Shahin Rezvani (U6), as the villainous Lank. The cast of all-singing, all-dancing Hampton cowboys impressed with an impeccable sense of rhythm and timing. This spectacular production involved over 50 actors and 25 backstage crew. Our musicians also played an integral part with their superb rendition of Gershwin’s music.
Barcelona Choir Tour Over 60 of our School choristers travelled to Barcelona during the summer to perform at an impressive range of venues across the city. The School Choir and Chamber Choir were invited to perform at the spectacular Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi. Our male voice choir, Voices of Lions, along with the Chamber Choir, also sang at Barcelona and Girona Cathedrals. Their repertoire included Fauré’s Requiem.
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New Boys’ Concert
The Ramayana
The annual New Boys’ Concert featured 36 First and Third Year pupils who treated parents and staff to an evening of entertainment. Music ranged from Vivaldi to Guns N’ Roses and Bizet to Ed Sheeran. Director of Music, Mr Iain Donald, praised the junior musicians: “The musical future of the School is in secure hands with such a wealth of talented youngsters.”
The Lower School production saw a cast of Hamptonians and girls from LEH bring the colourful story of The Ramayana to life. This collaborative project involved the Hampton Drama, English, Art, Music and RS Departments and told the ancient tale of Rama and Sita, enthralling audiences each night.
Royal Albert Hall Hampton’s Brass Band wowed a packed audience of 5,000 young children at the Royal Albert Hall after being selected to perform at the Music for Youth Primary Proms. The Brass Band’s appearance followed their success at the National Festival of Music for Youth at Birmingham Symphony Hall. The programme started with solos from Sixth Former Nicholas Dibb-Fuller (Trumpet) and Fourth Year Henry Ward (French Horn).
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Mexico Trip Mexico was the destination for this year’s Spanish trip, offering pupils from Third Year to Sixth Form the opportunity to explore the art, history and culture of this vibrant country. The group visited La Casa Azul to admire the works of artist Frida Kahlo, the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá in the Yucatán peninsula and the vast archaeological complex of Teotihuacán.
Namibia Sixth Form pupils from Hampton and LEH enjoyed a three-week action-packed expedition to Namibia. Pupils taught in local primary schools as well as assisting at the AfriCat North Lion Project where they helped build mobile kraals for the local farming community to house their cattle. Adrenalin-fuelled activities such as sandboarding and whitewater rafting, as well as a safari in the Etosha National Park, ensured unforgettable memories for all our intrepid travellers.
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Sicily Geography Trip
Berlin
Third Years headed to Sicily during the half term break to study many of the island’s geographical features.
Second Year and Sixth Form linguists enjoyed a whistle-stop tour of Berlin over half term. Junior Germanists visited the Bundestag and Holocaust Memorial. They also enjoyed trips to Berlin Zoo and the Blue Man Group show.
These included the coastal landforms of the Aeolian Islands, Lipari and Vulcano, where the boys took in awe-inspiring views as well as the acrid smell of sulphur, which engulfs the local area. The group also explored Europe’s largest active volcano Mount Etna and made the most of the geothermal vents to warm chilly hands.
Sixth Formers learned about the rich history of the capital on visits to the Berlin Wall Memorial and the former Stasi prison. The trip culminated with an opportunity to watch a Bundesliga football match at the Olympiastadion.
Nice
Football Trip to Porto
On a trip to Nice, Hampton Francophiles learned about the Southern French city’s culture and language.
The U15 football squad secured a well-deserved victory under the floodlights against Sporting Lisbon Academy.
Pupils spent mornings at a local language school improving their oral and written French skills. In the afternoons, Hamptonians explored the local area with visits including the Matisse Museum, the opulent city-state of Monaco, and the world famous Formula One race circuit.
The team also benefited from a player-profiling exercise, designed to help each boy develop an understanding of himself as an individual and as part of the wider team. The visit ended with sightseeing in the beautiful riverside quarter of Ribeira and a tour of the Porto FC Stadium.
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Rugby
An exciting start to the season for the 1st XV saw a thrilling win against Dulwich College in the Champions’ Trophy, alongside victory in the Plate competition at St Joseph’s College Rugby Festival. Facing a strong Eltham College side in the Plate final, tries from Rugby Captain Louis Lynagh and School Captain James Thompson ensured victory. James also played a crucial part in a memorable Champions’ Trophy encounter against local London rivals Dulwich, with his last-minute try ending the game 25-21. Louis Lynagh earned his fourth cap for England during the summer, after being called up for the U18 England tour to South Africa.
Cross Country Cross Country Hampton athletes won the Richmond Schools’ Cross Country Tournament for the third successive year. Pavit Kullar finished well ahead of the rest of the field, Pavit Kullar finished ahead the Declan Connolly also winning Gold in thewell Sixth Formofrace. rest of thefirst field, Gold inFourth the and Fifth Year event. finished in winning the combined Sixth FormYear, raceRex andBooth, Declancame Connolly Second third in the U14 race. Nine also finished firstnow in the of our athletes gocombined forward to represent Richmond in the Fourth and Fifth Year event. Second Middlesex Championships in the Spring Term. Year, Rex Booth, came third in the U14 race. Eight of our athletes now go forward to represent Richmond in the Middlesex Championships in the Spring Term.
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Pentathlon Success
Table Tennis Our U16 and U13 teams repeated their success of 2017 in reaching the English Schools’ Table Tennis Association London South Finals.
Second Year athlete, Hayden Christian, has broken Borough and County records in the U13 Pentathlon, which includes Long Jump, Hurdles, Shot Put, High Jump and 800m. Despite being relatively new to the sport, Hayden’s recent successes have ranked him second in the country for the combined event.
Our U13 players retained the Plate trophy in a tightly fought contest against Oasis Academy.
Football Round-Up An 11-day summer tour to Boston and Orlando gave our senior players a strong start to the season with seven matches against USA Academy sides. Buoyed by five tour wins, the 1st XI’s run of form has continued, with the team currently in the latter stages of both the Independent Schools’ Football Association and English Schools’ Football Association tournaments. Hampton footballers across the Year Groups continue to perform well, with all teams progressing beyond the third round of the ESFA Cup. Our U15As are also in the quarter-final of their ISFA cup. Four Senior Hampton footballers have been selected to play for their respective ISFA squads. George Maxwell and Shaun-Chris Joash will play for the ISFA U18s. Fellow 1st XI footballers Louis Instrall and Sami Omaar will play for the ISFA U17 and U16 teams, respectively.
Hampton Remembers The School marked the centenary of the end of the First World War with a special assembly. Trumpeter Nicholas Dibb-Fuller played the Last Post in front of the School’s First World War Memorial, which lists the names of 78 Hamptonians killed during the Great War. One of the names on the memorial is that of former Captain of the Football and Cricket teams and a promising Engineering student, Felix George Remington, who served as a Second Lieutenant in the British forces.
Felix was sadly reported missing in May 1917 and posthumously awarded the British War and Victory Medals. The Combined Cadet Force also honoured those who fought and died for their country, joining the 2018 Lord Mayor’s Parade and the Remembrance Service at the Hampton Memorial.
Felix George Re
mington (Centre
Back Row)
Centenary Artwork Three Hampton artists have received recognition for their artwork marking the centenary of the First World War. Fifth Year pupil Cameron Hair and alumnus Amirzan Jeyakumar were invited to Buckingham Palace to take part in the finale of the Never Such Innocence project, an initiative set up to engage young people in the centenary of the First World War through art, poetry and song competitions.
NEWS FROM HAMPTON
After winning the Never Such Innocence award in the 11-14 age group category for his artwork Peace, Fourth Year George Sanders attended a reception at the British Embassy in Berlin where he was presented with a Certificate of Commendation and a copy of the Never Such Innocence Anthology by the British Ambassador.
AUTUMN TERM 2018