This term, some of our Year 10 English groups were fortunate enough to participate in Jack Petchey’s “Speak Out!” Challenge. The “Speak Out!” Challenge trains pupils in the art of public speaking and gives them the opportunity to deliver a speech to their peers. The pupil who gave the best speeches on the day will have the opportunity to participate in our school’s Assembly Final in December, with the winner progressing to the Regional Final in February.

Sunabi Chhetri and Neha Patel wrote the following about their experiences. The person who was running our workshop, an amiable guy, taught us that having strong communication skills can help us navigate the world, assist us in getting a job and obtain new friends. We were introduced to the Communication Triangle: content, delivery, and structure as well as Hooks: one line that summarises the speech to intrigue the audience. These tips and techniques helped to make public speaking easier and less nerve-wracking. Throughout the day, my confidence progressively improved and when it came to the final challenge, sharing our speeches in front of our classmates, I had just enough confidence to say my speech without much hesitation unlike I usually do. Overall, I had a fantastic day and we acquired skills and experience that will prove to be valuable in the future.