Facing off in the annual ‘Speakeasy’ speech competition last night was a selection of Middle and Senior School speech finalists, all competing for the winning title in their division. Organised by Ms JoAnn Wordsworth and the English Department, the competition gave our most talented public speakers the chance to showcase their skills to family and friends.

As the students were encouraged to speak about something they are passionate about, the audience heard a range of engaging performances across topical and societal issues; the content and their messages showed a great deal of maturity. Judging then took place on their ideas, presentation skills, structure and engagement with the audience.

The College welcomed back Old Collegian, Alistair Kendrick as the external judge for the evening. Alistair was College Dux in 2010 and is more than comfortable in the public eye having gone on to become a contestant on University Challenge on television. Whilst he has faced challenging moments in front of the camera, he found selecting the winners incredibly difficult as the calibre was so high.

Selena Chen’s lyrical, spoken word poetry proved the winning formula in the Middle School section; the quality of language and her control was exceptional. Selena spoke about how we ‘are the universe,’ using an extended metaphor about celestial elements that would make a scientist or an English teacher happy!

The Senior School competition saw a range of performances from students in Years 11 – 13 compete on topics from ‘Secrets’ to ‘Following your Dreams. The eventual winner, Eleanor Buttle shared her insights into the importance of protecting our childhood innocence and not doing things just ‘Cos it’s cool’.

Well done to all the students who took part and our thanks to Alistair for giving his time to be there.

Middle School Winner: Selena Chen
Middle School Finalists: Ben Staite, Samuel Everitt, Esther Schubert, Ella Shirtcliffe and Hannah Williams

Senior School Winner: Eleanor Buttle
Senior School Finalists: Liam Braithwaite, Lili Taylor

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