LIONS PRIMARY PUBLIC SPEAKING
The Lions Club Primary Public Speaking Competition was held on Friday 9 September in conneXions at the Junior School. Introduced in 2021, the competition again attracted thirty-three students from Years 3 – 6. Over the past three weeks, these students have been preparing speeches and practising their delivery ready for this day. With support from Senior School students and staff, they produced some amazing pieces of writing, topped off by equally impressive presentations. The topics they were required to present were:
Year 3-4: A place other than in your home state, that you would like to visit. Tell us why you would like to visit this place, how you would get there, and what you would like to see and do when you get there.
Year 5-6: Introduce a famous person who lived in the 19th Century, e.g., Charlie Chaplin, Florence Nightingale, Helen Keller, Alexander Bell, Louis Pasteur. You have been asked to introduce this famous person at a special event. Tell us a little about this person, what they did and how they became famous.
Students in Years 3 and 4 were required to write and deliver a three-minute speech; students in Years 5 and 6, a four-minute speech. The Year 3/4 speakers inspired us to visit a range of places including Hawaii, New York, Paris, Ukraine, Pakistan, and Japan. The Year 5/6 speakers introduced us to a number of famous people ranging from Beatrix Potter, Jane Austen, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Queen Victoria, and Emmeline Pankhurst. The speeches were of a high standard, and the audience was both educated and entertained.
Our Learner Attributes were definitely on display throughout the process – our students were agile, compassionate, courageous, and highly effective at communicating their thoughts to their peers and a panel of judges. I would like to thank Mr Phil Crowden and Collegian Mr Jack Oates Pryor (’21) for their adjudication, as well as many senior students for their assistance and support on the day and in the lead up to the competition.
While congratulations go to all students who were simply willing to challenge themselves and make the most of the opportunity presented to them, the judges did award some individuals for their efforts.
Year 3/4
Equal Winners – Sebastian Noonan (Year 4) and Bharati Sundaram (Year 4)
Runners Up – Rupert Rogers (Year 4) and Ryan Dhanaraj (Year 4)
Honourable Mentions – Shylee Kurukulasuriya (Year 4), Lucy Kershaw (Year 3), Gwyneth McLoughlin (Year 4), Alesha Mahmud (Year 4), Amelia Turner (Year 4), Victoria Allen (Year 4), and Lottie Moore (Year 4)
Year 5/6
Winner – Audrey Green (Year 5)
Runner Up – Anika Agarwal (Year 6)
Honourable Mentions – Peggy Handbury (Year 5), Dot Heath (Year 5), Chloe Hassell (Year 5) and Shiv Kataria (Year 6)
We are all looking forward to seeing the students continue with their public speaking endeavours into the future and hope to see more students also taking up the challenge in 2023.
Rachel Buck
Cocurricular Coordinator