Public Speaking Gala Finals Evening Report

What an absolute privilege it was to be a member of a most appreciative audience at the annual Years 3-6 Public Speaking Finals Evening held at the School on Monday 1st November.

A wide variety of topics proved to be both highly entertaining and educational, with topics as diverse as Cudgewa and Switzerland.

The students gave us insight into the trials and tribulations of having brothers, and made us think about why we associate pink with girls and blue with boys. We explored life at the top and who scaled Everest first; were invited to think about our power, obsessions and frustrations; delved into the topical theme of obesity; explored the serious side of being a P.O.W; and our hearts were touched with thoughts of Christmas, whilst we pondered our obsession with shopping.

All students from Years 3 to 6 were involved in the process of preparing and ultimately delivering, a speech to their respective year levels. From these class presentations students were selected to progress through to the second round, before the finalists were nominated to compete at our Finals evening.

The Year 3 and 4 students were required to speak for 2 minutes on a topic of their choice, whilst the Year 5 and 6 students had to create a speech of 5 minutes duration.

The finalists were:

YEAR 3

• Theodore Myers - I have a dream
• Aine Harrison - School
• Evangeline Mullins - Brothers
• Ellen Ring - Running

YEAR 4

• Jeremy Kingsell - The day I learnt my lesson
• Ella Pitteri - Switzerland
• Lily McDonald - Christmas
• Joseph Myers - Homework

YEAR 5

• Phoebe McIntosh - Why girls like pink and boys like blue
• Victoria Spinks - The power of words
• Abbie Little - Larger than Life
• Alexandra Croft - Twitching
• Jacqueline Coughlan - Shopping

YEAR 6

• Chloe Patterson - P.O.W.
• Liam Harrison - Australia's "Big" obsession
• Cameron Reid - Cudgewa
• Miranda Lynch - Useless facts
• James Dunn - My biggest frustrations
• William Mullins - First to the Top
• Nicola Morgiewicz - My brother

FIRST PLACE

Congratulations to Aine Harrison (Year 3), Joseph Myers (Year 4), Jacqueline Coughlan (Year 5) and Liam Harrison (Year 6) for being awarded first place in their respective sections.  Our Year 5 finalist, Jacqueline Coughlan, will now go on to represent Scots at the Apex Public Speaking Finals being held in Albury at a date yet to be advised.