Year 10 Speech Competition Winners

In Term 3, all 462 Year 10 students participated in a speech assessment and 20 semi-finalists were identified. The semi-finalists were put through their paces over the course of three days and the 6 best orators of the group went through to the 2016 Year 10 Speech final that was held on Wednesday, 9 November.

The finalists should be very proud of themselves. Their eloquence, passion and purpose put the US Presidential candidates to shame. With topics varying from light-hearted to heart-wrenching, the audience was entertained from the very first word. Connor Welch was exquisite and he gave us an insight into the mind of the abused, Aiden Scott-Nathasack’s fervent plea to stop abuse touched even the most hardened of hearts and Fergus Washington-Smith’s speech about terrorism was a timely reminder about the horrors out in the world. But, ultimately, there were three students that stood out. Henry Yao’s speech about the barriers set by our reality, earned him a 3^rd place and 2^nd place winner, Lennox Reynolds, entertained the audience with his plea for equal rights for the “Ranga”. However, there can only be one…Dylan Poihipi. His speech about suicide and the consequences thereof left us with food for thought and resulted in a well deserved win!

Thank you to Mrs Weston and Ms Dobbyn, our esteemed judges, who had the hard task of judging six articulate young man who all produced stirring and thought-provoking speeches.