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Public Speaking and Debating

 

• A New IAPS Public Speaking Competition

Kate Simmons, Saul Garrett and Sam Adamson represented St Hugh’s in 2009 in a competition which was to test the format for the proposed IAPS Public Speaking Competition. They chose to speak on the subject ‘Sport is simply another form of war’.

Being invited to speak first of the five teams competing, was a tough challenge for Kate, our Chairman, but she set us off wonderfully well and was rated the most effective of all the competitors in the role. The main speech was delivered by Saul, who had clearly worked very hard crafting his words. He showed humour and confidence in his delivery, scoring highly from the judge, Tony Chan from Stowe School. It fell to Sam Adamson to wind up the proceedings and he did so with care and control.

By common agreement the format works and the St Hugh's Team performed extremely well.

• Public Speaking at Bradfield College

Demosthenes, the famed Greek orator, was celebrated in the Public Speaking competition at Bradfield which gave Cressida Lawrence and Kirsty Chaplin the opportunity to entertain a full auditorium with a talk entitled "Are we nearly there yet?”

They spoke with such style, wit, clarity and confidence that they were approached by the judge, the actor, Alistair Petrie, after the competition to be praised, flattered and encouraged. Sadly, although he told us that we were outstanding in our group, we would not win because we spoke over time!

How frustrating – but in 2010 St Hugh’s hope to seize the cup for the school!

• Marlborough Cup

A debating team represents St Hugh's at the competition for the Marlborough Cup held at Marlborough College in the autumn term. St Hugh's have won this cup twice in the last five years. The morning workshops are a chance for our young debaters to hone their skills in a mini debate. As the teams learn, it is important to carefully define the motion before speaking in the competition proper in the afternoon.

This is a fine day for our pupils and we thank Marlborough College for giving us the benefit of their guidance and encouragement.

Poetry at St Hugh's

The teaching of poetry plays a central role in the English curriculum and St Hugh's are the current holders of the SATIPS National Prep Schools Poetry Cup for the best school collection. St Hugh’s poets triumphed again, emerging as the winning school in the 2009 national SATIPS competition for the third time in the last four competitions.

Over the past three years, since we first entered, our pupils have won individual awards but it was marvellous to receive the cup to celebrate the breadth of our pupils' talents.

 

Leviathan

The more knowledge you have about the world the easier it is to make sense of your place in it and the possibilities it contains. Our general knowledge challenge LEVIATHAN adds another dimension to our pupils' awareness and the termly Leviathan Challenge is greeted with much enthusiasm. The questions are handed out to the pupils and can be downloaded from our website each week. 

Since the introduction of Leviathan, St Hugh's has won the Magdalen College General Knowledge Prep Schools Challenge - a splendid achievement.