Challoner's Speaks

Annually, the students at DCGS take to the stage to give a speech on a host of subjects, to practise and display their oracy and rhetoric skills whilst, more importantly, shining the spotlight on important topics and issues. With the speech-making competition around the corner, the English and Drama Department at DCGS choose the topic of amplifying.

Amplifying, to make sounds louder, but in this instance, it meant giving wider attention to a topic of the speaker’s choosing. Inspired by insights generated from the school's new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Charter, the competition was a great success. As a Year 8 writing this article, I was highly impressed with the range of topics and skills with which were delivered. These included speeches on the Suppression of LGBT+ Communities, the Destruction of Wildlife, and Discrimination Against Immigrants, among a few. The most popular topics included Racism in Football and Men’s Mental Health. These topics not only reflected the diversity DCGS seeks to promote as a whole but also reflected the ability of each student to grasp the meaning of diversity and present it appropriately and captivatingly.

These speeches were given by Years 7 to 10 and were certainly valuable in promoting the values, beliefs and ambitions of each student in the school.

Congratulations to all who participated and a special mention to the winners: Talk on Anxiety by James Ife (Year 7), Talk on Discrimination Against the Disabled by Vatsal Mishra (Year 8), Talk on Gender Stereotypes by Finn Macdonald (Year 9) and Talk on MFL by Eshwar Tewari (Year 10).