Learning to express oneself fluently and convincingly in speech is a fundamental part of our boys’ education. But, going one step further and being able to address a live audience with eloquence provides a skill that helps smooth boys’ future career paths and comes in handy for future events in life.
Therefore, public speaking and debating are fundamental to our oracy curriculum, with some boys, under the expert helm of our Head of English, Mr Nick Hopton, choosing to compete against other teams at inter-school public speaking competitions.
Notably, Henry Gillham (Chair), George Gutteridge (Questioner) and Fraser Morgan (Speaker) recently won the English Speaking Union (ESU) Churchill Public Speaking Competition Area Final. Their win qualifies them for the Ouse Valley District Regional Final on 11 March at Wycombe Abbey School, where they will compete against teams from Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
This competition is the largest and most prestigious of its kind in the UK, and the boys reached the final by virtue of success in a virtual round held during the autumn term. In February, they competed in person at Shenley Brook End School against six other teams.
George Gutteridge was awarded ‘Best Questioner’.
The team, who prepared thoroughly, were coached in the lead-up to the competition by Head of Speech and Drama, Miss Fi Fowler, who gave them lots of practice and tips on how to improve. Fraser’s talk was on issues facing the National Health Service, and George impressed judges so much they named him ‘Best Questioner’.
Mr Hopton said after the competition, “The boys were absolutely excellent and every bit as good, at this stage, as the team that reached the National Final just a few years ago!”
Additionally, Jibran Baloch, George Gutteridge and Millan Verwoert represented the school in the District Final of the Rotary Youth Speaks: a debating competition on Tuesday 28 February.
Teacher of English, Mr Grimshaw, who accompanied the boys at the competition held at Bishops Hatfield Girls’ School, said, “The boys gave an extremely strong performance and, in a very tight competition in which the standard was impressive, were perhaps unlucky not to be named in the top three.”
The boys’ responses to the motion “This House believes war is a necessary evil” were intelligent and expressed with considerable eloquence. Having already won ‘Best Questioner’ in the ESU Churchill Public Speaking Competition, George was awarded the prize for ‘Best Proposer’ in this final.
We wish the boys competing in the Regional Final on 11 March the best of success – watch this space for news on how they fared.