Do you enjoy public-speaking? Pupils at Swakeleys School for Girls do and on the 7th and 14th of November, a select group of year 10 pupils were fortunate enough to have the fantastic opportunity to enhance their oracy skills. The days were packed full of activities led by a professional trainer who was scouting for a potential 2018-2019 national oracy champion. Students had the chance to take part in confidence-boosting games and learn about skills that would enable them to become poised speakers. All students received an information booklet, highlighting top tips for public speaking including how to write, structure and deliver a confident and well-composed speech. This helped the students deliver a short, one-minute speech about a topic that was personal to them. The topics spoken about included feminism, mental health, personal identity and sport. It was a valuable platform for students to have a shared learning experience in discussing topics that would otherwise not be vocalised in an open environment. For some of the students, this placed them outside of their comfort zone but increased their self- esteem and empowerment once having delivered their speech.
Laylan, 14, a student who took part in the course said, “it was an amazing experience for all students involved as we improved our oracy skills and the activities made us aware of when oracy is really helpful in our lives, for example job interviews.”
Congratulations to the four winners that are through to the next stage of the competition and well done to all students who got involved in this once in a lifetime opportunity!
