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Hampton is a happy and vibrant independent day school for boys aged 11-18. For over 450 years, Hampton School has been helping talented young people to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.
We are a lively, friendly and caring community, where innovative teaching is underpinned by deep-rooted shared values and complemented by outstanding pastoral care. We aspire to enable our pupils not only to make sense of the world, but also to want to go out and improve it.
We are delighted that Hamptonians’ examination results and university entrance record are consistently among the best achieved anywhere. However, we are not all about hard work and day-to-day life at Hampton is great fun! We provide a remarkable range of co-curricular activities and a distinctively well-balanced education with many opportunities to shine.
Located in a highly desirable area of South West London, Hampton School is situated on a beautiful 28-acre green field site.
A generous investment programme ensures that pupils and staff benefit from first-class facilities across all areas of School life. These include a state-of-the-art 3G sportsground, a large Sports Hall and the Hammond Theatre, along with an excellent library and specialist facilities for Art, Music, Science, Technology, IT and Languages. We have recently opened a superb Sixth Form Study and Careers Centre. The Millennium Boat House, shared with our neighbouring girls’ school, Lady Eleanor Holles (LEH), enjoys a prime location on the nearby River Thames and provides the focal point for our renowned Boat Club.
Art at Hampton School is renowned for its quality and diversity. We are a vibrant department with teachers who offer a broad range of expertise: from 3D, Ceramics, Printmaking, Painting, Drawing to Photography and IT (Graphics).
Pupils studying Art at Hampton regularly produce exceptional work and are encouraged to enter local and national competitions. Artwork by Hampton boys is often recognised in the Fourth Plinth Schools Competition and the Never Such Innocence Art & Poetry Competitions that commemorate the First World War. There has been success with the Young Artist Show at the Royal Academy over recent years. Sixth Form artists have also been invited to publicly display their work, with recent pupils' work being featured in the Saatchi Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.
Facilities
Hampton offers superb, purpose-built Art facilities, including two spacious and well-lit main studios, a History of Art studio, a ceramics kiln, a darkroom and an IT room with 18 iMacs. The Department also offers a Sixth Form Studio and a beautiful gallery space for displaying students work. Print-making facilities include an etching press and three relief printing presses. The School has recently received a donation of a Victorian Type and Letterpress, which will enable pupils to explore typography.
Trips
Pupils studying Art at Hampton are offered the opportunity to go on a variety of educational visits to enhance their studies and thematic work is often based around these visits. Destinations include: The Roche Court sculpture park in Wiltshire, and of course we make full use of our proximity to London to visit a range of world-leading art galleries and museums.
Co-Curricular
Art Club
Art Club takes place every week on Tuesday lunchtimes in the Art Department. Group projects as well as individual pieces are carried out at this time, and there is an opportunity to experiment with traditional photography too.
Every year pupils are invited to display their examination work in our gallery space as they complete their coursework and end of course examinations. Other exhibitions include a showcase for younger pupils work at various times throughout the year.
Lego Architecture Club
No fiddly kits, no monotonous instructions, just creativity and improvisation! Lego Architecture Club is open to First and Second Year pupils and is a very popular club with Lower School Hamptonians.
We have a random mix of Lego pieces and use our imagination in working with different themes, enjoying the challenge and play without limitations. Projects include designing and testing bridges, imagining a future city, environmental design and learning from modern buildings.
Chemistry is a hugely popular subject at Hampton. Pupils study Chemistry as a separate science from the start of the First Year, with all boys taking GCSE Chemistry in Fifth Year and a significant proportion of boys electing to continue with Chemistry into the Sixth Form.
In 2021, 15 Hamptonians left to study Chemistry-related degrees at university including four pupils who chose to read Chemistry at Oxford University.
The Department consists of four laboratory technicians and twelve teachers, all of whom convey their passion for this wonderful subject through intellectually stimulating and engaging courses.
Our young chemists excel in many areas: in GCSE examinations almost 100% of pupils achieved a grade 9-7 in 2021, with 130 pupils scoring the top grade 9. The boys regularly receive Gold and Silver certificates in national competitions such as the Chemistry Olympiad and the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge
Chemistry Department Facilities
Hampton pupils enjoy the benefits of eleven fully equipped, specialist laboratories and a dedicated Sixth Form seminar room. Practical work is at the forefront of everything we do in the department and we aim to maximise the boys' practical experience.
Co-Curricular
Hampton's chemists take part in a number of national events and competitions and regularly excel in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge and the Chemistry Olympiad.
Chemistry Club is targeted at our Lower School pupils and offers them the chance to carry out many enjoyable experiments
The Classics Department at Hampton is busy, fun and thriving. The department consists of six teachers who all inspire and enthuse through their teaching of Latin, Greek and Ancient History.
All boys at Hampton study Latin in the first two years, with a good number continuing to GCSE and A Level with great success. Greek becomes an option in the Third Year while Ancient History is offered in the Fourth Year. Both of these can then be studied to GCSE and A Level. Extension lessons are available for all pupils considering studying a Classical subject at university and we are fortunate that our teachers offer an insight into many different disciplines of the subject such as history, literature, philosophy and drama.
A study of Classics, at whatever level, encompassing as it does history, language, literature, philosophy and archaeology (to name just a few of its hydra-like disciplines) helps to sharpen the rational faculties and broaden one's social, moral and cultural horizons.
Latin
In First to Third Year we introduce Latin with the Cambridge Latin Course. For those pupils who continue to study Latin at GCSE, we use the John Taylor's Latin to GCSE for language work, as well as studying prose and verse literature (for example Caesar, Tacitus and Virgil). In the Sixth Form we run both AS and A Level courses, again studying literature and language. At all levels, Hampton School use the OCR exam board.
Greek
In Third Year, Gratin (Greek combined with Latin) is offered as a subject. For those pupils who continue to study Gratin at GCSE, they will take their Latin GCSE at the end of the Fourth Year and their Ancient Greek exam in Fifth Year. As with Latin, both language and literature are studied at GCSE, AS and A Level. At all levels, Hampton School use the OCR exam board.
Ancient History
Ancient History is a GCSE option available to Fourth Year pupils. There are Greek and Roman modules, which focus on the following:
Period studies focus on the birth of the Roman Republic and the Persian Empire
Depth studies focus on the influence of characters such as Alexander the Great and Cleopatra
Pupils can choose to study A Level Ancient History whether or not they have taken the subject at GCSE. At all levels, Hampton School use the OCR exam board.
Trips
Trips to Classical sites (locally, nationally and abroad) offer our pupils an opportunity to connect with the subject in a much more ‘hands on' way. The Classics Department is committed to giving pupils an insight into the Classical world and regularly runs overseas trips to destinations such as Rome, Sorrento, Greece and Sicily. We also take residential trips closer to home to locations such as Hadrian's Wall.
Co-Curricular
The Department regularly takes trips to see Classical plays all over London. Visiting speakers provide stimulating talks on a variety of topics to our boys. The Mythological Society is open to our Second Year pupils and explores the myths of the Ancient World; how they have been told and re-told through generations of story telling and art
The Computing and Coding courses that are run at Hampton, tap into and nurture boys' natural fascination with computer technology.
Technology will continue to play an ever-increasing role in all our lives and the School views it as fundamental responsibility to give pupils the skills, knowledge and awareness that will enable them to safely navigate through, and embrace the technological developments that lie ahead.
Co-Curricular
The Department runs Coding Clubs for junior and senior boys in which pupils can build on their class project work. Designing and programming robots, building web pages and using Raspberry Pi computers students are encouraged to devise ever more ‘elegant' solutions to problem solving and to start to ‘think like a programmer.
The Performing Arts thrive at Hampton and the Drama Department provides boys with excellent opportunities to develop their interest in acting, directing and technical skills. Staffed by a range of inspirational and experienced teachers, we believe the study of drama promotes creative, analytical and communication skills as well as engendering a lifelong love of the Arts and the Stage.
Hampton's Drama Department is renowned for its standard of excellence and delivers numerous and varied co-curricular productions throughout the academic year. The standard of academic and co-curricular drama productions at Hampton is exceptional and pupils' talents are showcased in our professional performance venue, The Hammond Theatre. Co-curricular productions include a Senior School Musical with Lady Eleanor Holles, a Junior Musical with Waldegrave School, a Sixth Form directed play, a Lower School play and a Middle School play with Lady Eleanor Holles. The department has also taken a production to the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
All pupils studying public examinations are provided with a wide range of opportunities to visit the professional theatre enhancing knowledge of performance and design skills.
Co-Curricular
Junior Drama Club
Open to all boys in the First, Second and Third Year, this club meets during lunchtime, once a week. Pupils work on their improvisation and performance skills through a series of games and exercises.
Technical Theatre Club
Pupils meet on an ad hoc basis throughout the year and learn how to operate and programme the latest lighting and sound equipment in the Hammond Theatre and assist with set and prop design. Hamptonians participating in this club will be under continual guidance and supervision by the Theatre team and regularly provide backstage support for our Drama productions.
Trips
Each Hamptonian studying Drama will visit the theatre at least once during the year to watch and evaluate a live professional performance. Pupils are also encouraged to see the professional theatre productions that tour to our very own theatre and attend the National Theatre Live screenings at The Hammond Theatre.
Drama Productions
Senior School Musical
These extremely popular musicals are performed as a joint production with Lady Eleanor Holles every year. Pupils from Third Year and above are encouraged to take part and competition for principle roles is very strong. Previous musicals have included Guys and Dolls, West Side Story and Crazy for You.
Junior Musical
Taking place biennially, these musicals offer First to Fourth Year pupils the opportunity to take part in a large scale production, often joint with Waldegrave School. Previous musicals have included Tin Pan Ali, Oliver! and The Wizard of Oz.
Lower School Play
Boys from First to Third Year are invited to participate in this annual production, taking place in the summer term. Previous plays have included The Ramayana, Jason and the Argonauts and Rat's Tales.
Middle School Play
Previous productions include The Crucible and Brainstorm. This joint production with LEH is for Third and Fourth Year pupils, alternating venues each year with LEH.
Sixth Form Directed Play
There is the opportunity for Sixth Form dramatists to perform a play in the spring term. This tends to be a pupil-led production. Previous Sixth Form directed plays have included Punk Rock, And Then There Were None, A View from a Bridge and The Importance of Being Earnest.
Design and Engineering is a fascinating, rewarding and increasingly important subject in the modern world. The Design and Engineering Department at Hampton promotes innovation, resourcefulness and independent learning, encouraging each pupil to reach his full potential through individual design and make projects.
As well as the practical aspects of the subject, the study of Design and Engineering hones skills such as problem solving, lateral thinking, project planning, and time management, skills that prove invaluable in all walks of life, both in academia and beyond.
Hampton's Design and Engineering pupils produce exceptional work, and in recent years, several Hamptonians have won highly prestigious Arkwright Scholarships, designed to nuture future leaders in Engineering and Technical Design.
Facilities
Taught by five full time teaching staff with the assistance of two technicians, Hampton boasts superb Design and Engineering facilities in a suite of purpose built workshops and computer rooms.
Tech Club
Open to boys in the First to Third Year, this very popular club allows pupils to pursue their interest in Design and Engineering and hone their practical skills using our fully equipped workshops or CAD/CAM equipment. Recent projects have included solar powered lamps, pewter casting, e-textiles, and fidget cubes.
Model Aviation Club
The department also runs a Model Aviation Club, which offers boys from First to Third Year the opportunity to build and race quadcopter drones.
Shell Eco-Marathon
Hampton has put together a team from across the year groups to design and build a racing car for the “battery electric urban concept vehicle” category of the international Shell Eco-Marathon competition.
Economics is a dynamic and challenging area of study that is of great relevance to understanding the workings of the world around us. It is a popular subject at Hampton where it is taught solely in the Sixth Form.
The Hampton Economics Department is staffed by engaging and specialist teachers who promote lively debate, discussion and analysis ensuring pupils develop an appreciation of economic concepts and theories through a critical consideration of current ‘real world' economic issues.
Economics complements a wide range of subjects, and is useful in many commercial and professional careers. Topics include markets, prices, economic efficiency, market failure, firms, competition, economic growth, inflation, unemployment, the balance of trade, the EU, monetary union, financial markets and government policy.
The majority of our students go on to study economics and management degrees followed by jobs in finance and business.
Co-Curricular
Pupils take part in the Bank of England's Target 2.0 Competition in Central London. This is an opportunity to simulate interest rate making decisions and understand the process of policy making.
There are also opportunities to explore enterprise, including the hugely popular Young Enterprise scheme at Hampton.
Trips
The Department offer trips to factories and banks as well as attending lectures by eminent speakers at the London School of Economics. Previous visits have included the Coca Cola plant in Edmonton, North London and the dealing rooms at Merrill Lynch. We have also produced a current affairs magazine, “The Hampton Herald”, to which boys contribute articles.
Our vibrant and dynamic English Department aspires to engender a love for the written and spoken word and fundamentally believes in the power of literature to engage young minds. English is taught in a relaxed, friendly, open-classroom atmosphere based on the foundations of good discipline, high expectations and hard work.
The Department provides something for everyone. From etymology to exegesis, we offer the full range of linguistic and literary opportunities.
Co-Curricular
Book Club
Our three book clubs provide a chance for keen readers in First to Fourth Year to share their love of books. Each book club meets for lunch and a literary natter every week in the library. Pupils read a range of titles, authors and genres, share their experiences and recommend books to each other.
Both the Trinity Schools Book Award and the CILIP Carnegie Award are shadowed, with boys avidly reading and enthusiastically discussing the shortlisted novels. Joint literary balloon debates with Lady Eleanor Holles and Hampton High are also held, where opinions are readily shared!
Bookworms
Bookworms is aimed at children in Year 4 to Year 6. Every week we will suggest a great book to read and give you a ‘word of the week' to enhance your vocabulary.
The Writers' Room
The Writers' Room gives pupils the time, space and opportunity to develop their creative voice and story writing skills. Open to all year groups, pupils are invited to attend a range of fun and focused creative-writing courses run over lunchtime, and to become part of a community of writers within the School.
Young Reporters
The Young Reporters programme is run in collaboration with Newsquest Media Group in schools across London and the South East.
It enables teenagers to gain some industry experience, hone their writing skills and develop the discipline of meeting deadlines, while still at school.
Pupils who sign up to the annual scheme are expected to complete eight different journalism assignments (with a local angle) in a range of categories across the year. Their articles are published online and those who complete all of the assignments by the deadlines will be awarded Certificates of Recognition. Prizes are also awarded for the best writing within different categories.
Boys who join Young Reporters will have a chance to experience what it is like to be a journalist, and to have their articles, on the local issues that interest them, published for a real audience.
Trips
The English Department is committed to offering a broad spectrum of opportunities to enrich boys' experience of the written word. These include: theatre trips to London and Stratford Upon Avon, visits to writers' houses and museums, drama based workshops, seminars and lectures.
In particular, First Year pupils enjoy an annual trip to The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond which includes a performance and a drama workshop led by professional actors, and in the Second Year, boys enthusiastically participate in Book Character Day, dressing up as their favourite literary character to raise money for charity. Upper School pupils enjoy performances and National Theatre Live screenings related to the texts which they are studying for GCSE and A Level at theatres such as the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and The Globe in London.
The Geography Department is a ‘down to earth', lively and friendly environment – one in which teachers and pupils build a positive working environment.
There are seven full-time members of staff who are all committed in passing on their love and expertise in the subject. There has never been a more fascinating and important time to study Geography – the subject that addresses pressing global issues from climate change and migration to environmental change and social cohesion. The Earth is forecast a turbulent century ahead, full of upheavals and disruption, and Geography is about finding solutions and sustaining our species and the environment in the future.
Fieldwork and Trips
Fieldwork remains central to our teaching and is a vital element in the teaching of Geography, throughout Hampton School. This includes day trips to the South Downs and Kew Gardens for our younger geographers and a residential stay in Sicily for Third Year pupils. Our IGCSE cohort take a number of trips during their studies including a trip to Seaford, East Sussex in the Fourth Year and the London Docklands in the Fifth Year. Iceland is the destination for our biennial GCSE trip and our Sixth Form pupils spend five days in Slapton, Devon as part of their A Level course. Additionally, we have organised Sixth Form trips to destinations such as Uganda and Costa Rica.
Co-Curricular
Geographical Association
We run the Kingston-upon-Thames Geographical Association branch. Our lecture series runs from September to March, and includes talks from University lecturers, Journalists and Professional Geographers. All our A Level pupils attend and it is open to other schools in the local area.
Geography Club
Geography Club is targeted at our Lower School pupils interested in all things geographical. The club uses a hand-on approach to learn more about geography and the world we live in. Our team takes part in the annual Junior WorldWise Quiz in December which we host here at Hampton.
There has never been a more important time to study History – a subject that is not only academically challenging but crucial for an understanding of one another and of the world we live in. We are committed to passing on our love of the subject, in the courses we teach and through our extra-curricular activities.
Trips
The department strongly believes that nothing brings History alive more than visits to historical sites themselves, so field trips form a key part of our teaching. To help the First Years learn about the Middle Ages, we take them to Windsor Castle, where they learn about the lives of knights and how the caste developed to protect the kings and queens of England.
Second Years spend a day in Portsmouth in the wonderful Mary Rose museum. Our Third Year course on 20th Century warfare is complemented by a trip to Normandy, as well as listening to a talk by a Holocaust survivor. GCSE historians are given the chance to spend four days in Berlin, where visits to the Olympic Stadium, Sachsenhausen, Checkpoint Charlie and the Jewish Museum (amongst others) enhance the boys' understanding of their 20th century International Relations course.
The department also runs trips to Florence and Venice every other year, time-tabled around the Politics Department's biennial Washington visit. Where possible and appropriate, Sixth Form courses are also supplemented by day-trips to relevant museums and exhibitions.
Co-Curricular Clubs
The History, Archives, and Archaeology Club aims to offer pupils opportunities to engage in real historical research, interrogating primary sources from the School's own archive. So far, pupils have investigated what happened to the School and its pupils during World War 2, and what can be learned about the lives and character of our School founders.
Thanks to generous funding from the HSPA, pupils are also given the opportunity to participate in archaeological digs, examining the School grounds to understand the process of archaeological surveys and potentially unearthing evidence of our ancestors from both the near and distant past.
Hampton School is proud of its outstanding and vibrant Maths Department. The Department is renowned as one of the best in the country and we are proud that our young mathematicians perform extremely well in the prestigious UKMT Team Challenges, winning the senior competition twice in recent years. Individually, boys excel in competitions such as the British Maths Olympiad.
With a staff of 23 teachers who are all passionate about their subject, we can help ensure that every boy achieves to the best of his ability.
External Speakers and Trips
We have a number of external speakers who come to Hampton School to speak to the boys about Mathematics. Recent topics have ranged from Games of Nim, to how to move the moon, to the Mathematics of juggling. We run a trip for Second Years to explore the Mathematics on show in the Science Museum.
Co-Curricular
Junior Maths Club takes place every Friday and is aimed at our Second and Third Year pupils. Our young mathematicians tackle a wide range of problem solving activities and the club prepares boys to take part in the UKMT Junior Team Challenge. Practice sessions for the UKMT Senior Team Challenge are organised to fit in with the busy timetables of the Hamptonians in the team.
Online Maths Wizard Challenge
To accompany the annual Year 5 Maths Wizard competition, Hampton have launched an online Maths Wizard challenge which is aimed at primary school pupils in Year 4 to 6. New Maths puzzles are set each week with correct answers earning points and prizes and a place on the Maths Wizard leaderboard.
Hampton's Modern Languages Department is one of the best in the UK and offers pupils the opportunity to learn French, German, Spanish, Russian and Mandarin Chinese. We are a vibrant staff of 26 first-class linguists, including eight native speaker teachers, six native-speaker language assistants and a dedicated languages resources supervisor.
Modern languages skills are a prerequisite in today's professional job market and we promote language confidence and skills for real-world purposes as well as academic ones.
Lessons are held in the native language wherever possible and we have embraced technology to ensure that teaching is dynamic and engaging, and is suited to boys' learning methods. All our students have access to iPads to assist their learning and the wide range of Apps available profits written and spoken work.
From First Year to Sixth Form, boys are encouraged to practise their languages in context, and learn more about other countries, through an extensive programme of exchanges and visits.
At Hampton, boys start French, German or Spanish in the First Year and take this through to the end of the Fifth Form. In the Third Year boys opt for one or two more languages. Alongside their main language, approximately half of all Hamptonians retain a second modern language at I/GCSE, with a number of pupils opting to take three. We are proud to say that our results at GCSE and AS/A Level are outstanding.
Trips
The Modern Languages department is committed to giving our pupils a real insight into the culture and institutions of a foreign country. Pupils are offered a wonderful array of trips to select from that help them develop their language skills and learn about the people and culture of the countries they are studying.
Co-Curricular
The Department runs The European Society which takes full advantage of our proximity to London. Boys are often accompanied on trips to the theatre and cinema to see relevant plays and films.
The School is within reach of the Goethe Insitut, the Institut FranÇais, the Instituto Cervantes and the School of Eastern European Slavonic Studies, University of London. We take groups of Sixth Formers to these and other similar institutions. Groups of Sixth Fomers also have the opportunity to visit exhibitions of the works of various European artists.
We work jointly with Lady Eleanor Holles School to screen films and organise visiting speaker talks.
Language Clubs
Lunchtime clubs exist for junior pupils of French, German and Spanish. These are run by the Assistants with language games, quizzes and prizes.
Modern Languages week
To celebrate languages, the School runs a biennial Modern Languages week with an exciting programme of events including external speakers and workshops, quizzes, international cuisine and lunchtime activities.
Hampton School Music Department is committed to providing boys with a full range of opportunities at all levels. Practical music-making holds a unique place in the cultural heart of the School and excellence in performance comes from both the motivation and commitment of the Music Staff, and the skills and abilities of the pupils themselves.
The range of music covered at Hampton is extensive and gives extraordinary scope for raising pupils' awareness and appreciation of music from around the world, past and present.
Teaching
Music is taught in the ‘Garrick', a purpose built and recently refurbished music facility. It accommodates:
- The Music Hall, a large rehearsal and teaching space which is equipped with 13 iMacs and a Steinway grand piano
- The Keyboard Room with 26 Yamaha keyboards set up for individual use
- Two further rooms for teaching with 26 further iMacs
- 10 practice rooms for individual instrumental lessons, including a drum room and orchestral percussion suite
Music is compulsory in the First and Second Years. From the Third Year onwards pupils can opt for the subject and Music is a very popular option amongst boys at Hampton both at GCSE and A Level.
Co-curricular classes are offered in Music Theory and Aural in preparation for ABRSM exams.
Performance
Hampton School offers an outstanding range of opportunities for musical performance in a wide range of genres. Each term culminates in a showcase concert (with two at Christmas!) and there are other concerts throughout the year, including rock concerts, chamber music concerts and occasional concerts devoted to individual instrumental families (keyboard, strings, woodwind and brass). The School Choir sings a Christmas Carol Service at St Mary's Church, Hampton, and the Jazz and Swing Bands have annual external concerts in the summer at Garrick's Temple (by the Thames) and Jazz in the Park (with the Richmond Schools Jazz Band).
School concerts take place in The Hammond Theatre which is a performing facility to rival any School in the country. This remarkable building doubles as a theatre and concert hall and is equipped with acoustic panels that can change the sound from the clear, dry conditions required for the spoken word, to the warmer, reverberant atmosphere suited to music. The Hammond also has an orchestra pit, making it ideal for musical theatre.
Trips
The Department runs regular trips both in the UK and abroad.
- A triennial orchestral exchange with the Heinrich-Suso Gymnasium School from Konstanz, Germany
- A triennial choir tour to Europe. Recent tours have been to Barcelona, Paris and Venice
- Every year the Chamber Choir sings evensong at a major venue, most recently at St Paul's Cathedral, St Albans Cathedral, Winchester Cathedral and Keble College, Oxford
- Voices of Lions annually perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and participate in national festivals and competitions
- The Jazz and Swing Bands have also had opportunities to tour, with their most recent tour being to Malta
In addition to these trips, boys in all years have the opportunity to attend professional concerts relating to their musical curriculum at venues including the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.
Physics is a very popular subject at Hampton. Physics is taught by 13 subject specialists assisted by two full time technicians. We live in an increasingly scientific world and as a department we work together to ensure pupils develop a knowledge and understanding of Physics that helps inform their judgement on scientific matters affecting society, both nationally and globally.
Pupils study Physics as a separate science from the start of the First Year, with all boys taking GCSE Physics in Fifth Year and a significant proportion of boys electing to continue with Physics into the Sixth Form.
Practical work is an extremely important part of the course and pupils enjoy and benefit from this hands-on, practical approach which improves their skills with the equipment and helps them learn to draw valid conclusions from their own measurements.
Facilities
The Department consists of eight well equipped laboratories on the ground floor and a technicians' area. All labs have a data projector for use with a staff laptop. The department also has use of a dedicated data-logging laboratory, shared with Biology and Chemistry, for data-logging and IT-based work.
Co-Curricular
Trips
The Physics Department run a number of educational visits to enhance the boys' studies. These include trips to the Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium, the Department of Photonics at Southampton University and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Our Upper Sixth Physicists also look forward to their annual visit to Thorpe Park, where they carry out data-logging force and motion experiments whilst enjoying the rides.
Astronomy
The Department possesses several telescopes. These are used in the dark evenings of GMT either in school, or on long term loan to interested students easing the problems of returning to school for observing.
Dynamic, discursive, and directly relevant to pupils' lived experience, the Politics A Level course spans a broad range of topics in UK and US politics, as well as political philosophy.
By following the Edexcel A Level specification, pupils develop an understanding of the constitutions, legislatures, executives and judiciaries of the UK and the US. They appraise political parties, pressure groups and civil rights groups, and are introduced to the ideologies of liberalism, socialism, conservatism, and feminism.
Studying Politics provides pupils with the tools and understanding to look behind the headlines, to analyse contemporary events in the context of what has happened in the past, and to make up their own minds about controversial issues. Pupils will reflect and form judgements on diverse matters ranging from the root causes of political apathy to the effectiveness of civil rights legislation in the United States.
Although helping each Hamptonian to secure the very best grades is a priority for the Politics department, we are constantly seeking to stretch our pupils beyond the A Level curriculum. Each year, we visit the Houses of Parliament and attend a conference in Westminster where pupils can listen to, and ask questions of, some of the most high-profile contemporary political figures, from Nigel Farage to Jess Phillips. There is a biennial trip to Washington D.C., which has previously involved a visit to the BBC newsroom as well as tours of Congress, the Supreme Court, and various museums.
We frequently welcome distinguished speakers from across the political spectrum. We have previously hosted Cabinet ministers, political journalists, campaigners from pressure groups, and special advisers in addition to academic speakers.
Many of our pupils apply for Politics-related higher education courses in the UK and abroad. Through a structured extension programme, we actively support pupils aspiring for places at the more competitive universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, and we run an annual extended essay competition for our Lower Sixth pupils.
The Politics department is closely involved in Hampton's highly successful Model United Nations programme, while staff and Sixth Form pupils collaborate to run a weekly Lower School Current Affairs Society.
PSHE stands for Personal, Social and Health Education and lessons on these topics play a crucial role within the pastoral care offered to boys at Hampton. A variety of external speakers come into the School to deliver lectures and workshops on important issues, such as drug, alcohol and tobacco awareness, e-safety, sex and relationships, an awareness of mental health, stress and street safety.
The PSHE programme is reviewed and updated annually so that new issues can be addressed. The majority of sessions are delivered by the Form Tutor(s) and these lessons are often discussion-based.
Psychology is the study of human behaviour and mental processes and is offered to the Sixth Form as an A Level. The course offers a fascinating introduction to aspects of psychological theory, research and current practical applications. It provides an insight in to why we behave the way we do and uncovers fundamental human processes that act upon us on a daily basis. The subject matter is wonderfully diverse and the relevance to the Hamptonians is immediately recognisable.
The A Level Psychology course aims to encourage learners to engage with the world as Psychologists. Pupils will learn about how the mind and behaviour are governed by both intrinsic and extrinsic forces, and how to apply the rules of many psychological approaches to different situations.
It is a science with cutting edge research that has real world applications to issues in everyday life, ranging from things such as artificial intelligence to minority influence. It involves the study of theories, empirical evidence and practical applications which include treatments for Schizophrenia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Depression. Psychology is a fast-paced and ever-changing subject that promotes a curiosity to explain everyday behaviours and those that are more abnormal. It also gives many different roads into the job market.
Psychology develops academic skills such as researching a wide range of source materials, evaluating an argument with appropriate reference to a broad range of studies and committing ideas and arguments to paper in a relevant and cogent way.
Guest Speakers
The Department organises a number of guest speakers to talk to pupils. In the recent years, we have had Dr Ramesh Perera-Delcourt, Clinical Pyschologist, talking to the boys about Cognitivie Behavioural Therapy and its use in treating Depression. Madeline Campbell, Counselling Pyschologist, led a workshop where she discussed her work with patients and the relaxation techniques she uses. Dr Guy Sutton, Neurologist, ran a brain workshop where pupils attended lectures on OCD and Schizophrenia, as well as witnessing a live brain dissection.
Lower School Psychology Club
Psychology Club runs weekly and is open to Second Year Hamptonians and aims to promote enthusiasm for the subject in Lower School pupils. We discuss topics such as:
- Why do we dream?
- What is intelligence?
- Should smoking be banned worldwide?
- Do animals have feelings?
Hampton School has a strong and lively tradition of Religious Studies and Philosophy. It plays a crucial role in supporting the Hampton ethos and pupils find the academic courses we teach both broad-reaching and relevant to the society in which they live.
Pupils are encouraged to learn about, and from, a wide variety of religious and philosophical perspectives, and are able to develop a greater understanding of the beliefs of others, as well as a greater appreciation for the richness of various cultures and traditions. They will also have the opportunity to explore some of the big questions, by evaluating arguments and coming to understand their own beliefs more deeply.
With six subject specialists, Religious Studies and Philosophy is taught at all levels in the School; from the broad and stimulating exploration of religion and big questions in the Lower School to the detailed study of philosophy and theology in the Sixth Form. In the Sixth Form, we offer AS and A Level courses in Religious Studies.
The Department offers a course in ‘Life Issues' to all Fourth Year pupils which is taught alongside the School's Mindfulness and Wellbeing & Resilience programmes.
To enhance the boys' studies the Department organises a range of trips to different places of worship and to other places of interest. The School also offers many trips abroad, which allow boys opportunities to experience different religions and cultures first hand.
Facilities
We have a suite of dedicated classrooms and a ‘Quiet Room', which is situated away from the bustle of the corridors and classrooms and offers an opportunity for boys to reflect in their own time. The ‘Quiet Room' is also used by the various faith groups at the School.
Faith Groups
We are very pleased to support pupils of all religious faiths at Hampton School. A range of societies exists through which pupils can explore their own faith or learn more about the beliefs of others.
Philosophy Club
Philosophy Club is an opportunity to discuss ideas and explore concepts beyond the RS and Philosophy syllabus. “Philosophy” comes from Greek words meaning “love of wisdom.” Philosophy uses the tools of logic and reason to investigate the ways in which humans experience the world. It teaches critical thinking, close reading, clear writing, and logical analysis; it uses these to understand the language we use to describe the world, and our place within it.
Different areas of philosophy are distinguished by the questions they ask. Do our senses accurately describe reality? What makes wrong actions wrong? How should we live? These are philosophical questions, and philosophy teaches the ways in which we might begin to answer them. Philosophy Club is open to First and Second Year pupils and is a very popular club with Lower School Hamptonians.
Sport is a major part of both curricular and co-curricular life at Hampton and plays an essential role in the physical, emotional and social development of every boy in the School. We are justifiably proud of the facilities, support, expertise and talent provided by the Games and PE Department.
Boys in the First to Fourth Years have a double period of Games each week; the Fifth Year, Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth share a triple period each Wednesday afternoon.
Unlike at many other schools, Hampton pupils can choose their preferred sport and have a wide choice.
We compete in prestigious local, regional and national competitions as well as holding regular fixtures with schools from across the region. It is expected that boys treat themselves, their opponents and all officials with proper respect and courtesy and they are encouraged to play with a sense of adventure and freedom without self-indulgence. We do not encourage percentage-driven sport, but sport with a sense of fun in the right measure. By the same token we understand and respect that some boys will play sport for leisure or health reasons rather than competitively.
Activities
Hampton provides competitive team sport in the following major games throughout the School:
- Football
- Rugby
- Rowing
- Cricket
- Tennis
- Athletics
We also offer the following specialist sports that enjoy considerable success in the competitive arena.
- Golf
- Basketball
- Swimming
- Squash
- Cross-Country Running
- Table Tennis
- Volleyball
- Windsurfing
- Sailing
Staff
Each major sport has its own Master-In-Charge. The staffing of Games at Hampton is generous. Currently, we are able to offer an average staff/pupil ratio of 1:12. In addition to the PE Staff many of the academic staff are talented sports people and they offer additional teaching and support on the sports field. We are also fortunate to have regular visits from outside expert performers and specialist coaches.
Facilities
Hampton makes full use of its playing fields, gymnasium, all-weather sports pitch, sports hall, cricket nets and superb boat house to the benefit of the whole school community.
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