Offering our Year 8 students an opportunity to develop and refine their public speaking skills has always been and remains a valued commitment of the English Department. It is our belief that in spite of the extraordinary rate of change and development that characterises life in the 21st century, public speaking is and will continue to be an important skill in both a work and social context.
However, this year has marked the beginning of a new approach.
In 2022, through the considerable hard work and excellent leadership of Ms Jody Rubery and Ms Laura Eastwood along with the gracious support of all of our Year 8 English teachers we launched KED talks – Kolbe’s adaptation of the well-known and highly regarded TED talks.
In Week 6 over 220 Year 8 students presented a short-prepared speech on a rich array of subjects to an audience of their peers and two Kolbe teacher judges.
Last Friday, this culminated in our top 16 students competing in our very first KED Talks Final. This was a wonderful event that allowed some of our most talented speakers to present before an audience of Year 7 students, teachers and Kolbe families. It came as no surprise that our finalists rose to the occasion and showcased some excellent skills in both the thorough preparation and highly engaging delivery of their speeches.
The judges were universally impressed by the quality of talks and found it extremely difficult to arrive at the following Top FOUR Award Winners for 2022:
1st – Mia Young
2nd – Paige Aitken
3rd – Makenna Brooker
4th – Riley Went
