house public speaking competition round 2!

Today was round 2 of the House Public Speaking competition, and pictured above are just some of the students who went into oratorical battle: Maryam 7U (Bradfield), Kobe 8U (Bradfield), Asfer 7R (Orme), Corey 7S (Bradfield) and Laurie 9S (Orme).

Organised by Head of English Mrs Derby, two teams pitched a Chair, a Speaker and a Questioner, starting with Team 1 Orme: Laurie, Asfer and Adam in these respective roles, who debated whether Science is a threat to Humankind.

Under the watchful eye of the audience and judges, Mrs Wall, Mrs Harness, Year 12 Libya, and Mrs Derby, the team truly impressed. 

As the judges shared in their feedback, all fulfilled their roles with aplomb; Laurie's contextualisation of the issues to be debated was intelligent and articulate. And Asfer's breadth of knowledge of all aspects of Science, technology and AI, and its potential impact good and bad on both the planet, humankind and the future was truly phenomenal; and his detailed delivery without notes was awe-inspiring.

All the judges also complemented Asfer on his smooth and effective style of delivery and presentation, and the fact that he demonstrated profound listening as well as speaking skills.

Questioner Adam drew praise for his extremely well-thought-out questioning, that really made the speaker stop to think and gather his thoughts.

Team 2 Bradfield: Corey, Kobe and Maryam

Team 2 debated whether cars are a positive or negative in city centres, whether they should be banned from entering the city, and the pros and cons of this, of which speaker Kobe argued strongly for the former.

Chair Corey impressed the judges with his powerful, confident introduction, and very effective summing up, with Mrs Wall commenting that it really felt like Corey was in charge, while Year 12 Libya singled him out for praise for his command.

Speaker Kobe was praised for his inclusion of many points, and his comprehensive and convincing exploration of the advantages of banning cars from cities. The judges were also impressed by Kobe's warm manner and his astute fielding of curveball questions, such as how public transport strikes would impact any plan to bar journeys into the city by car and therefore potentially damage the metropolitan tourism industry.

Questioner Maryam drew praise for her natural, comfortable mode of enquiry, and her intelligent and well-researched questions. 

Summing up, Mrs Derby spoke for us all when she congratulated both teams on their strong performances, and concluded that they had "rose to the occasion fantastically".

Really well done, we are proud of you all, and cannot wait for the next round!