Speech Day
This year’s speech day was a roaring success as our finalists delivered their speeches to an audience of almost 500 people. To get to this stage, the students had to write their speeches based on the World Speech Day theme of Thoughts for a Better World. Originally scheduled for March, there was a delay but it was well worth the wait. The first stage involved the students brainstorming their ideas according to the theme. They then had to write their speeches and record them. These recorded speeches were shared with the house captains who had the incredibly tough task of choosing one representative for each phase – Key Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2), Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4) and Upper Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 (Years 5, 6 & 7). The house captains reported that there were lots of replaying videos to listen carefully to the messages being delivered and more importantly how they were delivered. After this, our finalists were chosen. They were
Aradous – Umar, Japnaam and Harry
Awal – Zacrey, Vaibhav and Amna
Dilmun – Temi, Livia and Inayaah
Tylos – Isaac, Athanasios and Ananya
These students then had the task of learning their speeches. This was very different to learning lines for an assembly. Speeches were to last between 2 and 4 minutes so the pressure was on. Fortunately, our young public speakers took on the task with great determination and gusto. They learnt their speeches at home and gave up their break times for further opportunities to practice at school in front of a small audience and then finally on a stage. By the time Speech Day arrived, they were ready to share their ‘Thoughts for a Better World’.
Standing up in front of an audience can send shivers down the spines of many great people but our students took to it incredibly well. They articulated their thinking with a zeal and a verve which was beyond their years. The audience heard passionate proclamations on how and why we all need to reduce, reuse and recycle. There was great maturity in the consistent message that we are all responsible for ensuring the world is a better place for future generations to come. Facts were shared, examples were given and the audience was left in no doubt that it was their responsibility to do the right thing. The confidence the students showed was incredible, the content had a wonderful breadth and depth, and most importantly they enjoyed themselves.
Thanks to our Head Boy Majd, Head Girl Chiara, Mr Matt, Ms Servani, Mr Ben and for the first time, a very special guest judge DJ Shannon of Bahrain Radio whose everyday job is public speaking to a mass audience. There is no doubt their positive feedback on the speeches will encourage many other students to participate in this wonderful event in future.
