Students speak up at CWA public speaking competition

OXLEY GROUP CWA A rainy Tuesday 19 May saw primary and secondary students and their families gather at Parkes Uniting Church Hall to compete in the Oxley CWA Public Speaking Competition. A very successful day was held with more than 90 students from 22 schools across the Oxley Group CWA area participating. The winner of each section and the three Highly Commended students will go onto the Intergroup Competition at Narromine on 22 June. The reserves are asked to prepare speeches just in case one of the other competitors are unable to attend. Intergroup competition includes CWA groups from the Far Western, Oxley and Central Western CWA groups. There were 37 Year 3/4 students who could choose to speak on one of three topics: “My Favourite Time of the Week’, ‘Why Saying Thank You Matters’ or ‘If Animals Could Talk’. The results in this section were: Winner: Edith Cannon, St Joseph’s, Peak Hill - If animals could talk Highly commended: Rosie Coates, Forbes Public School - If animals could talk; Brooklyn Golding, St Francis Xavier, Lake Cargelligo - My favourite time of the week; and Abbey Lovell, Parkes Public School - If animals could talk. Reserves: Freya Rowling, Ungarie Central - Why saying thank you matters; and Grace Wild, Middleton Public School - If animals could talk. Year 5/6 students could choose from the topics: ‘The Importance of Being Kind’, ‘The Day When Everything Went Wrong’ or ‘If I were Principal for the Day’. Thirty-eight students competed. Winner: John McConnell, Parkes Christian School - The day everything went wrong Highly commended: Abby Quade, St Patrick’s, Trundle - If I were Principal for the day; Jackson Bennett, Condobolin Public - If I were Principal for the day; and Frances Pereira, St Laurence’s, Forbes - The day everything went wrong. Reserves: Tilly Madge, Forbes Public School - The importance of kindness; and Ashton Albert, Holy Family, Parkes - If I were Principal for the day. The two secondary school sections were not as well attended as they have been in the past. Although there were only 10 students in the 7/8 section, the students were highly competitive. Their topic options were: ‘What I Would do About Food Waste’, ‘Are Audio Books Really Reading?’ or ‘If I could Change One Thing About the World’. This last topic was the most popular with seven students choosing it. The results in this section were: Winner: Grace Bligh, Parkes Christian School - If I could change one thing in the world Highly commended: Peter Elias, Red Bend Catholic College - If I could change one thing in the world; Chelsea Ray, Parkes Christian School - Are audio books really reading?; and Sasha McCarthy, Red Bend Catholic College - If I could change one thing about the world. Reserves: Emily Wild, Red Bend Catholic College - What I would do about food waste; and Chelsey Spencer, Ungarie Central - If I could change one thing about the world. Again, only 10 students competed in the 9/10 section, but all were very proficient in maintaining the audience’s attention. Their topic options were: ‘Why Imagination is More Powerful Than Technology,’ ‘The Pros and Cons of Social Media’ or ‘The Impact of Music’. It was noticeable that no students selected the Social Media topic, with the majority of students opting to speak about the Music topic. The results in this section were: Winner: Rhys Hutchins, Parkes High School - Why imagination is more powerful than technology Highly commended: Grace Mayo, Parkes Christian School - Why imagination is more powerful than technology; Georgia Baird, Red Bend Catholic College - The impact of music; and Georgia Campbell, Red Bend Catholic College - The impact of music. Reserves: Catalina Elias, Red Bend Catholic College - The impact of music; and Shay-Lee Crofts, Tullibigeal Central - The impact of music. Students did their schools and families proud by providing a very competitive but supportive atmosphere at the annual public speaking contest organised by Oxley CWA Treasurer and Public Speaking Officer Ros Edwards. An appreciative thank you to all students, parents and teachers who attended to make this a positive and supportive day for students learning a lifelong skill and putting their talents for speaking on show. The audiences were well entertained with a wide range of perspectives on each of the topics and often humorous interludes in their speeches. The judges, Robyn Miller (CWA Oxley Group President) Lorraine Everest (CWA), Carolyn Butler, Kath Whitchurch, Rev. Brian Schmalkuche and James Whalan gave their time freely to adjudicate and support the students. A huge thank you to these six very generous people. Also thank you to the timekeepers, chairpersons and Parkes CWA for providing morning tea and lunch for the officials, students and their families.