Hampton Primary School News 2017

We are delighted to announce our pupils have achieved a 100% pass rate in our first year of the PSAC exams. Despite some concerns about the new PSAC framework, Hampton School pupils achieved outstanding individual grades. It was our boys who took the limelight this year. All of them achieved a TOTAL aggregate of 4 which is highest possible score! Our girls also performed amazingly well, earning the A1 grade in English, French and Science!

We would like to congratulate our year 6 pupils, their parents and our teachers for their hard work and dedication. It has truly paid off. We wish our year 6 pupils all the best and success on the next step of their academic journey.

Diwali is perhaps the most well-known of the Indian festivals and an official public holiday here in Mauritius. To celebrate, Hampton School held a Diwali themed week filled with fun and educational activities for our Pupils.

Diwali is a five-day celebration known for joy, splendor, and brightness. Known as the "festival of lights," many observe Diwali across the world with multiple countries considering it a national holiday.

During the week, Pupils from all departments made cards and lanterns. Additionally, as part of our Drama and Music curriculum, pupils in the Primary Department performed short dramatic sketches and dances for the rest of the school.

At Hampton, we believe it is important for our pupils to learn about cultures, faiths, and traditions that may be different from their own. Activities like those during the Diwali themed week promote and celebrate diversity amongst our pupils. They also encourage learning through entertaining and interactive experiences.

The Diwali celebration proved to be a success. It was an enjoyable week and we are confident that it created lasting memories for our pupils.

At Hampton, we believe our school family extends beyond the classroom, out into our communities. That's why we recently hosted a special event in celebration of Grandparents Day.

Pupils invited their grandparents to be honoured guests at our school. They were entertained by a songs and short sketches before being presented with a gift.

At Hampton School, we passionately believe it is important for our pupils to respect their grandparents not just as family members and elders but as founding members of our modern society as well. After all, it was their historical efforts that shaped much of what life is like here in Mauritius today. By passing down cultural traditions, they have helped to preserve their familial heritage and foster appreciation for other cultural lineages.

With smiles all around, we're proud our Grandparent's Day celebration was such a success. It was a day that created lasting memories for our pupils and their grandparents, and we thank each grandparent for sharing such a special time with our school.

This year, Hampton School pupils took part in International Literacy Day by dressing up as their favourite book characters. It was wonderful to see our pupils in our Pre-Primary and Primary Department so involved in this event.

As part of the day, they took turns to share with their classmates why they like their chosen character and why they enjoy the book or comic in which their character appears. Literacy is more than just the ability to read and write. It also includes the ability to express and understand ideas.

UNESCO declared September 8th to be International Literacy Day. It is a day when world organisations unite to shine a spotlight on global literacy needs, which goes hand in hand with UNESCO's mission: literacy for everyone everywhere.

Ganesh Chaturthi is a public holiday here in Mauritius. The rituals and beliefs that surround the festival are important for our pupils to aware of. To this end, we arranged a talk for our pupils. Our pupils asked our distinguished guest many questions about Ganesh Chaturthi. Through his expertise and enthusiasm he was able to give a lot of insight to our pupils.

It gives us immense satisfaction that we are able to broaden the horizons of our pupils with talks such as this one. At Hampton, we promise to continue our long standing tradition of enriching the lives of our pupils with experiences outside of the classroom.

At Hampton, we believe in presenting our pupils with every opportunity to learn how the world around them works and part of that includes understanding where our food comes from and how to prepare it. To build upon lessons taught in our cooking curriculum, our learners recently visited a popular local restaurant, Panarottis, to learn how to make their own pizzas.

The pizzeria visit was timed to coincide with a significant historical event: tradition has it that on 11 June 1889, the Neapolitan pizza maker, Raffaele Esposito, created the "Pizza Margherita" to honour the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy. His pizza creation was garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil to visually represent the flag of Italy.

During their visit, our pupils were taught how to knead and roll the dough, add their own special combinations of toppings, and how the pizza cooking process works. This was an informative and educational trip for our pupils that helped expand the children's understanding of cooking processes and culinary history. Pizza being a favourite food for many of our pupils, this particular field trip especially captured their attention and appetite.

For such a wonderfully hosted and tasty experience, the faculty and pupils of Hampton would like to extend our warmest thanks and appreciation to the staff of Panarottis for affording our pupils this learning experience.

Hampton Primary School was delighted to welcome a representative from the Pakistan Embassy and one of our Parents to speak with our pupils about Eid-Ul-Fitr and Ramadan.

Eid-Ul-Fitr is a public holiday in Mauritius and, therefore, it is important for our pupils to be aware of its significance. Our wonderful guests explained how members of the Muslim faith celebrate Eid with prayers at the mosques. As part of the celebration, food, cakes and gifts are exchanged with relatives and contributions are made to citizens who are less fortunate.

At Hampton Primary School believe that it is important to educate our pupils about world faiths. When possible, we bring outside professionals with real life experience to speak to our pupils about their subject of expertise. We strive to create well-rounded pupils with a vast understanding of the world around them. These aspects set Hampton at the forefront of primary education and differentiate us from other primary schools.

Our pupils enjoyed and appreciated our guest's presentation. We thank him for taking time out of their schedule to teach our pupils about Eid and Ramadan celebrations.

More studies are showing that a child's home life can have as much impact on their education as what goes on in the classroom. This is why, for Father's Day 2016, every pupil, from day care all the way through to the last year of primary, were given the time to celebrate their fathers in their own way. Pupils learned the valuable role a father has in the family unit and created cards, picture frames and wrote poems and stories for their dads.

Every child needs a time to appreciate and remember their parents for all the hard work and love they give, and we're sure the fathers of Hampton's pupils will cherish the results of their children's hard work.

Finally, we want to wish every father out there a Happy Father's Day from all of us at Hampton.

When it comes to educating our pupils, Hampton School makes a conscious effort to venture outside the classroom whenever possible to provide real world examples for our pupils. This term, Hampton pupils from the Quatre-Bornes and Curepipe campuses united for a field trip visit to the official residence of the President of Mauritius, the State House.

• 
• 

The State House, a 240-acre château, was open to the public for one week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Republic of Mauritius. It houses a garden where a multitude of flowers grow, as well as exotic and native trees. The château is usually open to the public only two days a year in March and October.

Our pupils had the opportunity to see exhibits and performances by local artists. In addition, they were able to explore the grounds which included visiting the animals and taking in views of the "End of the World" gorge.

Our pupils had a memorable time learning about the history of Mauritius while also enjoying the experience with their classmates.

Mother's Day is special occasion for all pupils as it is a great opportunity to show how deeply mothers are cared for and appreciated.

This is why, for Mothers Day, every pupil at Hampton School, from our Daycare centre, right up to our Primary School, were given the time to celebrate their Mothers by making cards and gifts for them. Pupils were also taught the significant role mothers play in our society and world.

We want to wish every Mother out there a Happy Mother's Day from all of us at Hampton.

Physical education is an important subject in the curriculum at Hampton School. As such, we hold an Annual Sports Day for our pupils. This year's event was a huge success, proving to be a fun and educational day for pupils at Hampton.

There are many reasons why physical education is important, especially at a young age. Physical education enhances physical fitness along with motor skill development. It also teaches pupils the importance of physical health at a young age while encouraging teamwork and healthy interactions with fellow pupils.

This year's Annual Sports Day proved to be both entertaining and challenging. The event included a variety of traditional and creative sporting challenges for our pupils. Hampton School is confident our Annual Sports Day created joyous and long-lasting memories for our pupils along with valuable knowledge they can carry with them into adulthood.

Hampton School sincerely thanks all of our parents, guests of honors, and sponsors for making our Annual Sports Day a memorable event for our pupils. We also extend a huge congratulation to Bentham House, the winner of this year's competition.

Our Class 6 pupils participated in the Quatre Bornes Inter-School Quiz Competition and took first prize!

We always place high faith in our pupils and were not surprised when they qualified for the finals but even we were elated with the manner in which they won. At half-time they were trailing in fourth place, however, their dedication in preparing for this competition carried them to victory. They are a credit to our school and extend our rich history of winning.

• 
• 

Each winning student was rewarded with a participant's medal, a winner's shield, and prize money totaling Rs 500. Beyond their prizes, we are confident this will be a cherished memory they will all hold dear for years to come.

At Hampton, we always put our pupils forward for competitions. For us it's not about winning or losing. The goal at Hampton is to build a pupils' self confidence and to teach them the value of a gracious victory. We believe this is a lesson that will continue to serve them well throughout life.

• 
• 

The faculty of Hampton Primary School would like to extend our most gracious thanks to the municipality of Quatre-Bornes for organising this event and we would also like to congratulate all the pupils from competing schools for the efforts they put toward preparing and contending in the Inter-School Quiz. Their hard work was plainly evident in the challenge they put toward our pupils.

The Independence Day of Mauritius is observed on March 12th and International Women's Day is recognized a few days before on March 8th. Our school took the initiative to celebrate both days in a special school assembly and performance by our pupils.

The combined event at Hampton School recognized these important days while educating our pupils and entertaining the parents. Our pupils performed a variety of musical and drama skits to honor both Independence Day and International Women's Day. The event proved to be a success with everyone having a wonderful time. Judging by the audience's reaction and smiles, all parents and our guests of honour greatly enjoyed the performance.

We find it important to teach our pupils about the history of Mauritius, as well as for our pupils to learn and participate in worldwide events. Independence Day recognizes Mauritius gaining independence and adopting the new constitution in 1968. The people of Mauritius celebrate this day annually with a variety of events and festivities. Additionally, International Women's Day is observed globally each year to recognize the many achievements of women.

Thank you to our pupils for their participation and role in making this an excellent event for everyone. Hampton School would also like to thank our special guests for spending their time with our pupils. We look forward to next year's event and celebration!

At Hampton Primary School we pride ourselves on our ability to offer our pupils as many learning opportunities as possible about how the world works. In keeping with our ethos, we recently hosted a talk in observation of World Wildlife Day.

A representative from the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation presented the talk and provided real-world insight into the threats to wildlife in Mauritius and further, across the globe. By raising our pupil's awareness to the plight of the animals we share the planet with, we believe we set a precedence in their young minds for compassion and a mutual respect for other living beings.

• 
• 

After the talk, our pupils were given the task to create a presentation on wildlife preservation. We were blown away with their quality of work, teamwork and effort they put towards their own talk which they delivered to the entire school.

When our pupils learn to honour and respect animals at an early age, that sentiment stays with them throughout life and creates the ability for them to respect other humans as well. During their wildlife talk, our pupils learned that the entire planet is an interwoven mesh of different beings interacting with and depending upon one another.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation for allowing their representative to take time away from their very demanding conservation efforts to speak with our pupils.

This past week saw the pupils of the Hampton Primary School's Daycare, Pre-Primary, and Primary School all celebrating Pancake Day by mixing their own pancake ingredients and participating in a pancake race.

Pancake day falls on Shrove Tuesday – the day before Ash Wednesday. The word Shrove comes from 'shrive', meaning the absolution of sins by doing penance. This day gets its title from the Christian tradition being "shriven" before Lent.

At Hampton School, we believe that by allowing our pupils the opportunity to learn about religious practices different from their own, we are fostering an environment of understanding and respect amongst our student body. These values will serve our pupils well throughout life, and we are proud to be able to impart such important principles.

The widespread laughter and smiles of our pupils that day leave no doubt that they all had a wonderful time learning about and taking part in the celebration of Pancake Day.

At Hampton Primary School, we are committed to fostering a tolerant and inclusive environment within which our pupils can learn to embrace diversity rather than fear it. It is with that ethos in mind that we were delighted to welcome the American Embassy to speak with our pupils about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Although Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not a public holiday that we celebrate in Mauritius or even a day that is well-known outside the United States, we believe Dr. King's accomplishments are relevant in a world seemingly more divided today, than ever before.

Perhaps best known for his 1963 speech, "I Have a Dream," Dr. King served as a beacon of hope for repressed persons in the United States and across the globe. His shining example of non-violent civil disobedience achieved more advancement toward racial equality and the American Civil Rights movement than any effort prior to his servitude.

• 
• 

We believe our learners can benefit greatly by learning about Dr. King's philosophies and achievements. By understanding how Dr. King implemented his message of tolerance and empathy toward even those that can be considered enemies, our pupils learned valuable lessons that will help them to become more open-minded and well-rounded citizens.

The pupils and staff of Hampton Primary School would like to extend our warmest appreciation to Dr. Melanie Zimmerman and the United States Embassy for spending time with us.

Our pupils spent the second week of February learning about the history of radios and celebrating World Radio Day.

Radios have played an integral role throughout the history of mankind and that is why World Radio Day is a day worth celebrating.

At Hampton School make every effort to give our pupils the opportunities to learn about the world around them in the most hands-on way possible. As part of the process, we were able to organize a tour of the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation's (MBC) headquarters for them. They were given the privilege of touring the radio department and visited the BEST FM studio to learn how radio broadcasting works. To our delight, they even got to interact with the host on live radio! We are certain that this is a memory that our pupils will hold dear for quite a while and may even serve to inspire their young minds to pursue careers in radio broadcast one day.

• 
• 

Our deepest gratitude and thanks go out to the MBC for extending every courtesy and allowing for such a rich learning experience for our pupils.

Happy World Radio Day from the faculty and pupils at Hampton Primary School.

It was with great festivity that the pupils and faculty at Hampton Primary School celebrated Valentine's Day this week by attending school in red and white clothing. Each year on February 14, we afford our pupils the opportunity to spend time working on various arts and crafts projects in celebration of the occasion. Our pupils created several very inventive and inspired pieces of art.

Although we place a high emphasis on academia, we know that all work and no fun makes for a dull learning environment. We do our best to foster an environment that promotes an enthusiasm for learning within our pupils.

At Hampton Primary, we are proud of the stimulating learning environment we provide for our pupils. We know that keeping young minds engaged is the best way to inspire a lifetime of learning and we work tirelessly to provide as many activities as possible to expose our learners to everything the world has to offer.

We would like to wish a very heartfelt Happy Valentine's Day to all the parents and friends of Hampton Primary School.

Each year Mauritius celebrates the Abolition of Slavery which takes place on February 1, 1835. At Hampton Primary School, we feel it is a social and moral imperative that our pupils understand that the topic of slavery is complex and distressing but the story of the human spirit to overcome oppression is uplifting.

For this reason, our pupils attended exhibit where they learned about the history of slavery in Mauritius. The exhibit provided an exceptional learning opportunity which was well received. We are committed to our pupils and believe that learning outside of a traditional classroom setting provides a valuable benefit to them.

• 
• 

The Chinese New Year is one of the most anticipated events for the pupils of Hampton School. It has been a feature of our school calendar for many years so our pupils in Pre-Primary and Primary are very aware of its origins and associated customs.

Throughout the week we prepared a number of Year of the Rooster themed exercises to develop our pupils resourcefulness and creativity. These ranged from making Rooster masks and puppets to learning how to write Chinese characters. A lot of time and energy went into the planning of these activities because at Hampton School, we believe it is vital for our pupils to have an understanding about different cultures and ways of thinking.

• 
• 

To round off our Chinese New Year week, the entire school was treated to an authentic dragon dance performance which was hugely entertaining and loud!

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Chinese New Year.

Our primary school pupils recently attended a workshop on Peace and Moral Values delivered by students from the University of Mauritius.

The workshop was lively and engaging and included innovative ideas of how a person can tell the difference between right and wrong, and how to deal with the wrong. The University students utilized a holistic approach in delivering their message and it was very well received by our pupils.

Seeing young adults teach some of life's most valuable lessons was not only endearing but serves as an example to our pupils that they don't have to wait to be "adults" to be outstanding members of society. They can begin to implement their newfound knowledge today – and many have done just that!

The subject matter covered is not easy material for young children to comprehend but the students who delivered the workshop engaged our pupils which made their learning fun and memorable. For that, we are grateful. We would like to thank them for inviting us and congratulate their efforts.