Interhouse Public Speaking Competition

By Natalie Marquet-Georgiou

Annual Interhouse Public Speaking Competition

There was a definite buzz in the senior school this Wednesday as the English Department hosted the annual Interhouse Public Speaking Competition.  The whole school gathered in the theatre to listen to 16 incredible speeches on thought provoking and, in several instances, personal topics.    At Kingsley, we believe wholeheartedly in the importance of nurturing oracy and independent thought.  As I said on the day, I am immensely proud of the passion, confidence and oratorial skill demonstrated by our talented speakers. 

Great Participation Across the Houses 

The competition is divided into four categories, covering all year groups, and each House entered a team of four speakers: a junior, an intermediate, a senior and a student for whom English is a second language.  Diana Percy, with over 20 years’ experience of teaching English and English as an Additional Language, was very well placed to judge the competition.  Every competitor was heavily praised for the content and structure of their speech; points were also awarded for delivery and rapport with the audience.

The Winners  

A trophy for first place was awarded after each round but every speaker was praised for their bravery in stepping onto that stage and speaking so passionately about topics that mattered to them.  In the end, Croyde were the overall winners, taking the prestigious House Cup, but all the houses had cup-winning speakers across the categories.  Leo Sherborne, for Putsborough, took first place in the Junior category with his dramatic and detailed speech on ‘The Sinking of the Lusitania’; Kesi’s relevant and emotive speech about ‘The Role of Fashion in Victim Blaming’ secured a win for Saunton in the Intermediate category; for the Seniors, both Grace with her thought-provoking ‘The Humanities are Dying and it’s our Fault’, and Fiona, with her powerful speech on ‘The Architect of Questions’, received the first-place trophy for, respectively, Putsborough and Croyde (both spoke with passion and knowledge; it was too difficult to choose between them); finally, another draw in the International category, for two incredible speakers for whom English is a second language, Gustav with his well-researched speech on ‘The Physics of Fear’, and Miguel with his motivational speech on ‘Resilience’ shared the cup in the International category. 

The cheers of support and enthusiasm echoed around the room as the whole senior school celebrated their achievement. I can’t wait for next year’s competition!