On Tuesday 27 June, House teams from Upper III and Lower IV competed in the finals of the Baroness Brigstocke Memorial Public Speaking Competition. Earlier in the term, teams from every House competed in the heats for the four places in the final. 

The chair for each team introduced the speaker, organised questions from the audience before thanking their speaker and summarising their speech. The speakers covered a range of topics: ‘Should there be a limit on the use of paper at The Abbey?’; ‘Is Artificial Intelligence a threat to humanity?’; ‘Should the monarchy be abolished?’; and ‘Why every child should have a pet.’

The judges, Mrs Rutland (Deputy Lieutenant for Berkshire, a previous Abbey student, governor and parent) and Mrs Hills (a previous English and drama teacher at The Abbey and teacher of LAMDA), were impressed with all the speeches, considering content, structure and delivery as well as team work to decide the winner. They found the decision difficult, and their feedback to all the teams was very positive. However, Sara and Krisha (with her speech about why every child should have a pet) won the competition for Paget, with the Carrington team of Saanvi and Gabrielle (with her speech on why The Abbey should use less paper) coming second. 

The Upper III audience were attentive, asking thoughtful and sometimes challenging questions which were answered confidently by the speakers from every team. All the students enjoyed the competition, despite having to perform in front of students, teachers and parents. 

Winner Krisha said, ‘I really enjoyed doing Brigstocke this year as it helped to boost my confidence and learnt how to improve my speeches in future’. Sara added, ‘I enjoyed going to public speaking club this year as it prepared me well for Brigstocke, and even if you don’t want to enter the competition it’s a great skill to have for the future.’

The competition was introduced by Mr le Fleming, whilst members of Lower V from the Senior Public Speaking Club hosted the event. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and listening to the students’ speeches. Everyone had chosen such interesting topics and we are so grateful for the opportunity to listen to and host Brigstocke. Congratulations to all of the competitors for their amazing speeches!’

Shefali, Zara and Kashvi Lower V