The third of this year’s Primary School Public Speaking Competitions was generously hosted by Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, by kind permission of Professor Watkins on 29 March 2019. Ten teams from seven schools competed, each represented by a chair, a speaker and a questioner with teams paired together for authentic cross-questioning.
The whole event was magnificently compered by a number of primary school students in turn and featured the collective reading of the winning poem from an associated poetry writing competition. The competition adjudicators were ESU Colchester & Essex Brach Chair, Brian Cooke, and Toastmasters, Karen Bellerby and Hugo Heij. Each school team comprised six members, including a captain who introduced their school, a poetry reader and another in a management role, resulting in a highly inclusive occasion.
The judges congratulated everyone who had taken part on their impressive performances. The winning team was from St Joseph’s Primary School, Chelmsford, comprising chair, Hannah, speaker, Gabriel and questioner, Luca. Second was Bishops’ School Team 2, Chelmsford, featuring Matilda, Grace and Amelia and third was St Francis, Braintree, with Phoebe, Eloise and Maisy. The best chair was Hannah of St Joseph’s, the best questioner, Maisy of St Francis and the best speaker, Teri from Bishops’ School Team 1, who argued that school uniforms should be optional. The judges also chose to give an award to the captain of the Thorpe Hall team, Evie, as the event’s outstanding personality. The poetry competition winner was Amber from St Francis.
Medals and certificates were presented by customs consultant, Joe O’Connor, and Margaret Uzzel, Chair of Governors at Bishops’ School.
The chairs, speakers, questioners, captains, poetry readers and managers respectively of the participating teams were as listed below:
Bishops’ School Team 1, Chelmsford – Yaarah, Teri, Katie, Harry, Azra, Sean
Trinity Road Primary Team B, Chelmsford – Jennifer, Alexia, Elissa, Autumn, Jai, Charlotte
Rodings Team 1, Dunmow – Scarlett, Oscar, Lola, Flora, Lexi, Ben
St Joseph’s Primary School, Chelmsford – Hannah, Gabriel, Luca, Jemima, Erin, William
RA Butler, Saffron Walden – Emily, Tristan, Dylan, Cecy, Flora, Emilia
Bishops’ School Team 2, Chelmsford – Matilda, Grace, Amelia, Christopher, Laycee, Evan
Trinity Road Primary Team A, Chelmsford – Louis, Erinn, Viktorija, Fern, Gwilym, Milena
Rodings Team 2, Dunmow – Max, Ollie, Freya, Sophia, Beau, Valentino
Thorpe Hall, Southend-on-sea – Amelia, Neve, Josh, Evie, Isabel, Sonny
St Francis, Braintree – Phoebe, Eloise, Maisy, Eva, Christian, Zuzanna
