Celebrating Our Pupils and Our Planet

Last Friday, we held our annual Public Speaking Competition for our Year 6 pupils. All pupils wrote and presented their speeches to their classes, and a rigorous process was undertaken to determine the 12 involved on the competition day.

Judges included our Mrs Roberts, Year 4 teacher and life-long stage performer, Mrs Kwolek, from the Senior School English team, and Senior School pupils Arjan, Pavan and Isabel, who were all top performers in the Senior School Public Speaking Competition. The standard of the Year 6 speeches was incredible and the range of topics showed a breadth of understanding.

Joshua M worked hard to convince the audience, made up of pupils, parents and staff, that reading is still important despite the rise of digital and video media, Mark N gave a practical demonstration of effective communication, Emilia W set us a challenge to tackle our rubbish, Annabel D pulled no punches when she laid the climate change crisis right at our feet, and Charles M presented a balanced argument for the pros and cons of television and gaming which was cemented by Jacob I’s rallying petition for the value of video games. The audience was enthralled, and the pupils were all gaining new knowledge.

Next up were Finley and Victor, who separately set out their arguments why homework was eroding free time, and their clever use of audience participation certainly put the pressure on. I, of course, declined to comment at that moment. The pupils didn’t let me off the hook, and at that point, Charlotte M took to the stage to set out why school uniforms stifle individuality and go against our desire for young people to form their own identities. This also seemed like a good moment to submit a “no comment” response.

Sisi S shared with us part of her own journey into the world of football as she offered advice on what it might take to become a professional footballer. We all hope Sisi continues on the fantastic path that she is already on, and perhaps she will come back to visit us when she is playing on the international stage.

Bringing us firmly into the hottest topic around, Alice E and Vinushi A both spoke about the impact of AI. Alice took this from the perspective of environmental impact and spoke about the water usage, something few people realise. Vinushi gave a compelling rationale for why we must not abandon the intellectual struggle of finding out things for ourselves, for bringing information together and analysing it ourselves. She warned us of the reliance on AI to do the thinking for us and urged us to value the process of thinking in its own right.

The judges had a terrible time trying to determine the winner as all pupils spoke with clarity, all were engaging and convincing. This year’s Public Speaking Competition winner is Vinushi who wowed everyone with her dynamism. Vinushi now goes on to be our guest speaker at the Year 6 Celebration event at the end of the term.

Staying with some of the environmental themes that came through the Year 6 speeches, this week saw the annual Earth Day and the Prep is alive, literally alive, with a focus on nature. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of duck eggs into the science labs, which will (fingers crossed) hatch into beautiful ducklings. Mr Chawner, Head of Science, is setting up a livestream so that lots of classes can witness the cracking begin. This imminent arrival has spawned many connections across the curriculum.

In Foundation, the inquiry this half-term is considering ‘how living things change over time’ and to help our youngest pupils engage with the topic, Mrs Leung, Head of Foundation, has brought caterpillars into each classroom. The children are observing the life cycle of a butterfly by caring for the caterpillars, watching them form a chrysalis and then emerging as butterflies. They will then release the butterflies towards the end of the half-term.