Public speaking is one of those skills which is so important in many spheres, yet daunting to many people. Some of us have genuinely struggled with it over the years and practise for many hours before every speech, enduring feeling sick the night before and boasting dangerously elevated heart rates as we stand to speak.

Watching others speaking publicly is much more fun and happily has featured a lot in my role over the last fortnight. This started with time spent listening to Hannah Schwarz’s wonderful Mikolot speech which she delivered in Sydney. Hannah may not have realised how many of us watched the live streaming of her speech (and it might not have helped her nerves had she known!) but we were certainly very proud of the way she spoke and admiring of her performance.

Year 4 students Harper and Rafi also made the School proud at the IPSHA Speakers’ Challenge, asking ‘Should people under 18 be allowed a mobile phone?’ and ‘Is a bully a bad person?’ On Monday morning, judging the Year 6 Primary School Speakers’ Challenge was a delight, as Ms Birch, Mrs Creasy and I sat on the panel at the back of the hall and listened with great interest to a variety of performers. And great performances there were – culminating in Abigail and Dani being selected to represent ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP at the IPSHA Speakers’ Challenge later this term. If the students of ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP are anything to go by, the future of public speaking in Western Australia is safe.

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