Sacred Heart students participated in the Catenian Province 5 Public Speaking Contest, held on 12th March at The English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College at Hartlepool.
Sacred Heart students were succesful at Key Stage 3 with the Bishop Ambrose Griffiths Trophy being won by Sophie Ritson; the Key Stage 4 Thomas Clifford Trophy won by Davida Ngaujah and Post 16 Runner Up Denise Tepace.
We are very proud of their achievements and have asked the students to explain what happened.
Sophie writes:
On Sunday I was invited to English Martyrs School in Hartlepool to compete in the Catenians' annual public speaking competition. The competition was split into 4 age groups: Year 6, KS3, KS4 and Post-16. I was entered to represent our school in the KS3 section, where 7 people, including myself, had to present a three-and-a-half-minute speech on a topic of our own choosing. The marking criteria was based on audibility, stage presence, audience engagement, diction and pace, we also had to keep our speech within the target time to show our planning skills.
The subject of my speech was the relevance of the monarchy in modern-day society and I was very pleased to receive the first-place prize; this was an amazing opportunity which I am extremely grateful for, and an experience I thoroughly enjoyed!
Denise said:
I’m Denise and I recently competed in the Catenians Association Public Speaking Competition. My speech focused on the topic of ambition and how childhood dreams should not be lost as we grow up, despite the pressures from society. In the end, I managed to receive 2nd place and won a prize of £50 from the judges. I was very proud to represent Sacred Heart and fully enjoyed the whole process, from performing my own speech to listening to everyone else’s. It was a wonderful experience and I hope to do it again someday!
Davida added:
My speech was on the reality of what it is like to be a girl in developing countries and I spoke on their struggles in comparison to us. The competiton consisted of other contestants from schools in different Trusts and we performed our speeches in the different categories and after an interval the results were given. It was a great experience to be a part of and it gives you confidence to share something you've worked very hard on. I hope that others will get the chance to partake in something like this.