The

New

slet

ter f

or

Ham

pton

Sch

ool

SPR

ING

TE

RM

2017

IN THIS ISSUE• Air Cadets

• Budding Architects

• Character Day

• ISSP Music Day

• Linguistic Success

• New Head of Football

• Sports

• Tin Pan Ali

• University Offers

www.hamptonschool.org.uk

Sensationnel!

Hampton’s Linguists ExcelRohan Bhatia and Caspar Paton displayed exceptional linguistic skills as they debated for over four hours at the Central London French Debating Competition. After defeating a team from City of London School, the Sixth Formers faced St Paul’s School in the final. The orators had to present arguments on the unseen motion ‘L’important n’est pas de gagner, mais de participer’.

Rohan and Caspar impressed the competition organisers with their eloquent and convincing performance. They won the debate, securing themselves a place in the national finals which will take place at the French Institute in London.

David Coutisson, Language Attaché at the French Embassy, warmly praised the two boys:

“I was delighted with the standard of French displayed by the competitors. Congratulations to Rohan and Caspar! I look forward to welcoming them at the French Institute for the national finals.”

Upper Sixth boys are celebrating after receiving offers from some of the world’s leading universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Imperial College, Princeton, Cornell and Chicago.

Successful University Offers

The Headmaster, Kevin Knibbs, is delighted with the boys’ success: “The global competition for Oxbridge places seems to have been fiercer than everthis year, making the achievement of winning places particularly impressive for theseHamptonians. We also congratulate the rest of the Year Group, which has received a record number of offers from Russell Group or equivalent universities in the UK and US.”

Two School Captains were among the 19 Hamptonians who received Oxbridge offers: current Captain, Chris Searle, hopes to go up to Worcester College, Oxford to study Geography, while his immediate predecessor, Tom Nunan, will study Human, Social and Political Sciences at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Jack Lawson (OH) has been awarded the highest mark in the country in the Cambridge Pre-U Physics examination.

Physics Phenomenon

Jack, who is reading Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, achieved a D1 in the 2016 Physics examination, as well as A* grades in Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry A Levels.

Head of Physics, Dr Mark Yates, congratulated Jack on his success:

“This outstanding achievement is a testament to Jack’s hard work and determination to succeed in a challenging qualification that requires both mathematical skills and a deep understanding of the underlying physics.”

Schools from across the country participated in the 2017 Future Problem Solving (FPS) Competition, which took place at Hampton School.

Future Problem Solving Competition

FPS is an international initiative designed to encourage young people to consider global issues and to stimulate critical and creative thinking skills. More than 130 pupils, ranging in age from 11 to 18, assembled in the Main Hall to tackle a series of issues on the theme of ‘identity theft’. Hampton teams performed very well in the competition, winning the junior, middle and senior categories.

A group of 19 Hampton boys took part in the 2017 LEH Model United Nations Conference.

Model United Nations

The Hampton delegates represented Saudi Arabia, the USA, Iran, Cuba, South Africa and Nigeria. They debated on a number of contemporary issues including youth radicalisation, the rights of prisoners and how to combat nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. Alfie Watkins, Henry de Oliveira, Egor Kaygorodov and Fabio Rossi received ‘Highly Commended’ awards in recognition of their oratorical skills. The South African emissaries were also presented with ‘Highly Commended’ certificates for their overall contribution to the conference.

Linguists from the Spanish and Mandarin Departments have been commended for their language skills.

Modern Languages

Fifth Year Alfie Brazier delivered an assured performance in the final of the British Council’s Mandarin Speaking Competition, while Sixth Formers, Aarun Samra, Rohan Bhatia, Will Hayes and Sam Millward debated with great skill in the Central London Spanish Debating Competition. Aarun and Rohan narrowly missed out on winning the competition but they have been invited on a language course in Spain in recognition of their achievement.

London architect Philip Wells worked with Second Year artists on a project designing and producing shelters.

Budding Architects

The initiative was part of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ drive to introduce more young people to architecture. Over a five-week period, the boys produced a range of innovative shelters including a garden suntrap, a paintball hide and a stargazing shelter.

Philip Wells praised the Second Years for their imaginative designs:

“The boys did exceptionally well and I am glad that they enjoyed the process. Children are diverse thinkers and their creativity is not as restricted to the preconceptions we have as adults. It was great fun to work with the class and be part of the ‘light bulb’ moments as they created their shelters.”

Photos: Paul Cochrane

The Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable was a special guest on Hampton Radio’s politics podcast.

Nine Old Hamptonians returned to Hampton to talk to the Lower Sixth about their experiences and career paths since leaving school.

Vince Cable on Hampton Radio

Alumni Careers Talk

The former MP for Twickenham and Secretary ofState for Business was invited to reflect on hispolitical career and a range of national and localissues. Sixth Former Fabio Rossi led the interview, with Alfie Watkins, Henry de Oliveira and Oliver Pulfrey Baker contributing questions. Jacob Kerr operated the sound desk.

The former pupils all left the School within the past 15 years and have pursued a range of professions, from law and medicine to the military and charity work. The alumni extolled the values of travelling and of having a global perspective within their careers. They also encouraged today’s Hamptonians to maintain a sense of social responsibility after they leave school.

RAF Air Cadets took to the skies this term.

Flying Aces Fifth Years James Reilly and Peter Woo co-piloted planes over the Vale of the White Horse near RAF Benson. Meanwhile, Upper Sixth Former Alex Witt was selected by the RAF to attend a trainee pilot scheme in recognition of his exceptional record as a cadet. At the end of his training Alex flew solo, which he says was a truly memorable experience:

“It was unnerving going up and I was concentrating so hard that I couldn’t take everything in. Then, when I touched down, the euphoria (and the relief) kicked in!”

The production cast was made up of Hamptonians and girls from Waldegrave School. Tin Pan Ali is a twist on the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Set in Chicago during the Prohibition, the musical’s hero is a street sweeper and the thieves are a bunch of incompetent gangsters.

The 41 actors were ably supported by the backstage crew and accompanied by Hampton musicians, whose rendition of the sophisticated music score added to the pizzazz and drama of the whole performance.

All were congratulated by Jeremy James Taylor, the guest director: “This was a big challenge, resulting in some very good individual performances. Everyone had a great time and much enjoyed the fruits of all their hard work.”

Tin Pan Ali Jeremy James Taylor, OBE, founder of The National Youth Music Theatre, was the director of this year’s Junior Musical Tin Pan Ali.

Phot

os: B

igIm

ageP

hoto

grap

hy

ISSP Music Day As part of Hampton’s Independent/State Schools Partnership (ISSP) scheme, over 200 young musicians gathered for a day of music-making. Pupils from Waldegrave School, Tolworth Girls’ School, Hampton High, Orleans Park School and Teddington School spent the day rehearsing at Hampton and LEH before performing an evening concert for family and friends, which included a full orchestra performance of John Williams’ Duel of the Fates from Star Wars.

Pyrotechnics, lasers and dry ice all added to the atmosphere at the 2017 Hampton Rock Concert.

Rock Concert

Musicians from each year group took to the stage and performed a range of songs from artists including The Arctic Monkeys, Green Day, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Ed Sheeran. There were also DJ sets and an electronic dance music performance. Mr Daniel Roland, who organised the event, thanked all the musicians: “The evening was a sell-out success with everyone giving 100%. It is a pleasure to see the rock scene at Hampton growing!”

Photos: Isaiah Coco-Bassey

Second Years dressed as their favourite literary characters to mark 2017 World Book Day and to raise money for Form Charity.

Character Day

The costumes were as impressive as ever, with characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf rubbing shoulders with perennial favourites, including Wally from Where’s Wally? and Shmuel from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Ben Francis won the prize for best costume, after spending the day as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Over £900 was raised for Form Charity.

BEST COSTUME

2017

Third Year pupil Angus Whitworth has been appointed Head Chorister at the Hampton Court Chapel Royal Choir.

Choristers

Angus, who has been a member of the choir for three years, now acts as a mentor to the younger choristers and leads the singing during their performances.

Meanwhile, former Head Chorister, Nick Stoner, has been working with the Chapel Royal to help create an alumni network. As part of his Duke of Edinburgh’s Award project, Nick set up a Facebook group and organised the first Chapel Royal reunion, which was attended by 16 former choristers. The old boys joined the current choir to sing I Was Glad by Hubert Parry and enjoy a celebration tea party.

Junior boys enjoyed an action-packed paintballing day in Surrey.

Young campaigners from the Genocide80Twenty group were invited by the Mayor of London to the 2017 Holocaust Memorial Ceremony.

Paintballing Genocide Awareness

The boys were split into two teams, the Whites and the Yellows, to play a total of 11 games. After some ferocious encounters, the persistence and determination of the Yellow team won the day.

Paul Wilkinson, Fergus McWilliams and Chris Gilmour travelled to City Hall to represent the campaign group, which has gained national recognition for its work in raising awareness of recent genocides among young people. During the ceremony, Hampton School was publicly thanked for its work in Holocaust Education and the Hampton boys received warm praise for their genocide awareness work.

The Senior Tennis Team has reached the national finals of the British Schools Team Tennis Competition at Bolton Arena.

Hampton’s golfers will play in the national finals of the Independent Schools Golf Association Tournament.

Tennis

Golf

The boys won a hard-fought victory in the regional finals against The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School. Gustav Durlind, James Hughes, Ben Court and Oliver Ross competed in both singles and doubles matches, winning the encounter 8-4.

The three-man golf team of Theo Granström-Livesey, Harry Bathurst and Andrew Condron demonstrated skill and composure in a tough regional final against King’s College School, Wimbledon.

The final will be held at the Royal St George’s Golf Club, one of the venues for The Open Championship.

Over 500 crews from around the country enjoyed a successful day’s racing at the annual Hampton Head.

Hampton Head

Despite tough conditions, Hampton crews recorded some impressive results. The 1st VIII finished an admirable joint second alongside Radley College, and the 2nd VIII won their category convincingly. Vice-Captain of Boats Tom Worthington and his partner Tom Cross finished second in the J18 pairs competition. The J16s came first and second in the coxless fours event.

Director of Rowing, Colin Greenaway, commended the young rowers: “It was an excellent day of racing and the crews handled themselves very well in challenging river conditions. Congratulations to the Hampton oarsmen who have laid down some good markers for the regatta season ahead.”

Golf

The senior cricketers headed to Sri Lanka for their recent cricket tour.

Sri Lanka Cricket Tour

The squad used the opportunity to develop their skills against different styles of bowling and there were many strong individual and group performances.

In their free time, the group visited the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and enjoyed white water rafting on the Kelani River.

Gymnastics star Finlay Gray won two major international championships in a week.

Double Champions

Third Year Finlay and his gymnastics partner, Frazer Windows, won Gold at both the British Tournament and the Maia International Acro Cup in Portugal. Against fierce competition from Portugal, Belgium and other British men’s pairs, the boys kept their composure and produced three excellent routines, which earned them their highest scores to date. Finlay now hopes to represent Great Britain at the European Acrobatics championships in Poland in October.

Photo: Poleydee Pics

www.hamptonschool.org.uk

New Head of FootballHampton is delighted to welcome David Burke as the School’s new Head of Football.

Former Head of Operations at Brighton and Hove Albion FC, David has also worked at Fulham, Southampton and Derby County football clubs, gaining a wealth of experience in the world of professional football and talent development. He is looking forward to developing the football programme at Hampton and takes over from Carlos Mills, who has been appointed Director of Sport at Hampton.

SPR

ING

TE

RM

2017

It has been an exciting rugby season for all Hampton sides.

Hampton footballers have enjoyed an impressive run, reaching the closing stages in national and regional competitions.

Rugby

Football

The 1st XV entered the NatWest Champions Trophy for the first time. There were also strong performances in the Middlesex RFU Cup Competitions with five sides reaching finals and the U16 team bringing home the trophy. The run of success has continued into the start of the Sevens season. The 1st VII retained the Hampton School Founders’ Day trophy for the second year in a row, and both the U18 and U15 teams won their respective Middlesex Sevens Tournaments.

The 1st XI was among the last eight out of 423 teams to reach the quarter-finals of the English Schools Football Association Cup, losing on penalties to Millfield School. Our senior players and the U15s also reached the semi-finals of the 2017 Independent Schools Football Association Cup.