On the 22nd January, Year 11 public-speaking ambassadors Eleanor and Amy headed with Ms O’Neill to Howell’s High School in Cardiff to compete in the semi-final of the prestigious GDST Chrystall Prize Public Speaking Competition. Amy kindly wrote this account of their day.
“A quick trip to the Pret in Reading fuelled us for our journey and we arrived in good time, where we were warmly greeted by the friendly Head Girl and Head Boy (!) of our sister-school, Howell’s. After a delicious lunch, the competition began. We were treated to five excellent speeches. The speakers from Northampton, Shrewsbury, Bath and Howell’s (as well as OHS) considered a great range of topics, from the imprisonment of fashion to whether comedians should be restricted on their jokes. However, Eleanor’s insightful and passionate speech on “There is no Planet B…Veganism is our only option” won her a place in the final, where she will represent the West of England next week.
She was especially strong on taking the challenging questions from the audience of Year 10 students, staff and judges. Indeed, one of the judges subsequently commented that she had converted him to veganism!”
We wish Eleanor all the very best in the final, and thank Amy, Ms O’Neill, Mrs Phipps and Ms Masterson for their continued support of public speaking and debate within the school.