Girls’ School 2020 Speech Finals

Nineteen of the Girls’ School best speakers in Years 4 to 8 stepped up to present their speeches in the finals of the Speech Competition today – all speaking with great clarity and confidence.

When the girls returned to school from the most recent lockdown, they got straight into speech writing and practising their speaking skills. Every student in Years 4-8 delivered their speech to their class, before the teachers selected winners to go into the finals.

With the continuing Alert Level 2 restrictions around the size of gatherings, the whole school, staff and parents were unable to gather to watch the girls deliver their speeches live, instead, they were sent a video. Despite the lack of audience, the finalists still had the adjudicators to please and had each other for support. The girls could also elect to bring one other student to sit in and.

Being in Level 2, also meant the adjudicators were ‘inhouse,’ with Deputy Principal, Mrs Jill Wahlstrom and Junior School Dean, Ms Melinda Clifford taking on the role.

Every year, each year group is assigned a different topic on which to base their speech, to ensure variety across the age groups. This year, the Year 4 students spoke about a skill or activity, the Year 5 students shared an opinion on a personal experience or event, the Year 6 students gave advice for future generations and the Year 7 and 8 students were tasked with delivering a persuasive speech.

It was no easy task for the judges and in the end, Mrs Wahlstrom and Ms Clifford chose Year 6 student, Brooke Rowntree to be the Year 5/6 overall winner and Year 8 student, Ada Hu to be the Year 7/8 overall winner. Brooke’s speech, ‘The hidden power of music’ shared great insight into how listening to music helps your mood, brain function and overall performance, and Ada’s speech, ‘The uncommon common sense’ encouraged us to stop regretting and live with passion.

Both winners expressed great passion in their delivery, connected with the audience, used great pitch and tone in their voice and shared interesting research which set them apart. Both Brooke and Ada will go on to compete at the Remuera Lions Speechmakers Competition in November. Brooke will also compete in the Remuera Zone Rehu Tai Festival of Oral Language, which we are hosting on the 16th October.

Congratulations to all those who participated and all the best to Brooke and Ada as they go on to compete in the regional competitions.

Year 7-8 Overall Winner
Ada Hu (Year 8)

Year 5-6 Overall Winner
Brooke Rowntree (Year 6)

Category Winners:
Ruby Roach (Year 4), Ruby Bryson (Year 5), Brooke Rowntree (Year 6), Poppy Heazlewood (Year 7), Ada Hu (Year 8)

Finalists:
Year 4: Isobel Horne, Ruby Roach, Elsa Taylor, Kasey Wray
Year 5: Ruby Bryson, Alexandra Doull, Lucy Lonergan
Year 6: Aisling Burns, Georgia Frankham, Sienna Robertshaw, Brooke Rowntree
Year 7: Emily Cornaga, Poppy Heazlewood, Charlotte Lee, Ava Van Rij
Year 8: Amelia Duff, Holly Skidmore, Holly Skidmore, Karenpreet Kaur

Click here to view the gallery
Click here to view Ada’s Speech
Click here to view Brooke’s speech