The Jack Petchey “Speak Out” Challenge is a well established and highly regarded public speaking training and competition project for state schools in London and Essex. Back in December thirty of our Yr 10 students participated in a whole day workshop organised by the History department and led by an external trainer.

As a result of participation in the programme the students learnt to:

     • Deliver and present with confidence and impact
     • Master the art of speaking without notes or extensive preparation
     • Give and receive written and verbal feedback
     • Understand the importance of structure
     • Speak in front of a group
     • Understand the importance of structured arguments

Two of the students, Aaron Vidal and Simon Dasig went through to the next round of the competition. This involved speaking in front of a Year 8 assembly last week.  The Year 8 students then got to vote on who they thought was the best speaker. Although the vote was close  Simon went through to the regional final. This was held at Carshalton High school for Girls on Wednesday.  The standard was very high and unfortunately he did not make it through to the national finals. However, a really good effort on his part - well done Simon!