Developing the skill of public speaking has long been a focus of our Year 8 English program starting with the English Speaking Boards (ESBs) when Kolbe first opened its doors in 1989 to Oracy which later became Talkfest. In 2022, the College launched KED Talks, and the second year of this Year 8 public speaking competition took place in weeks six and seven this term.
The KED Talks program motto is ‘Find Your Voice’, and the Year 8s did just that! After a week of class-based performances that were of such a high quality the judges struggled to limit themselves to nominating only the 16 strongest performers, the following students were invited to compete at the final:
Maddison, Rachannie, Noble, Pavinyasre, Sienna, Henriette, Ruby, Sofia, Emmerson, Maddison, Amari, Brydee, Rachel, Violet , Lauren and Laini .
After a morning of exceptional competition on Friday November 24, the judges – Rob Armitage, Head of English; Jacqui Murphy, Head of Year 8; and Laura Eastwood, English teacher – had the unenviable job of choosing the top four place getters. With speeches that included topics such as “The Power of Dreams”, “Female Rights”, “The Great Social Media Deception” and “What is the Perfect Body?” the winners were:
- 3rd runner up – Brydee
- 2nd runner up – Lauren
- 1st runner up – Violet
- KED Talk Champion – Pavinyasre
Congratulations to all the KED Talk participants, particularly the sixteen finalists, and a special thank you goes out to all the Kolbe Catholic College English team, who all played a huge role in making the KED Talks competition a thrilling success.
