House Speaking Competition

This week, Head of English Mrs Corrigan introduced the final of the House Spoken English competition. The final took place in the Croston Theatre in front of the whole school. There were four contestants who were representing their houses for the chance to win points that would go towards the outcome of the annual House Trophy competition. Each student was introduced by their House Captain(s) and spoke on a topic of interest of their choice.

First up, representing was Samra in Year 7! Samra’s topic was questioning whether ‘fruit was a dessert or just a healthy snack’ and she argued that fruit could never really be considered a true dessert, when you compared it to some of her favourites such as cake, chocolate brownies and other delectable pudding options. She had even spoken to a member of the catering team at Westholme, who seemed inclined to agree with her side of the argument, which she played as a video on the big screen on stage.   

Second was Holly, Year 8, who spoke about the subject of witchcraft, debating the issues surrounding the treatment of many women hundreds of years ago who were accused of practising witchcraft. She used some famous examples from the Salem Witch trials in America, as well as examples a bit closer to home…those of the Pendle Witch trials. She highlighted that in today’s world, many of those women would have simply been practising pagan/traditional forms of medicine that left them open to persecution, and they were harshly treated as a result due to lack of understanding and religious beliefs. 

Thirdly, Lily in Year 8 focussed on a particularly infamous example of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, to discuss issues around crime and inhumanity. Dahmer’s crimes were horrendous, and some of the questions from the crowd at the end of the talk opened up the debate about whether true evil really exists or if a person is made evil by the decisions and actions that they take throughout the course of their life. 

Finally, Jasmine, from Year 7, spoke on the topic of bees! The narrative around saving bees have become an increasingly important topic in British society and culture, due to their importance in nature and the roles that they play in our everyday environments in the UK. She also enlisted the help of her fellow students who dressed as bees to bring her section to life, going on to highlight interesting and key facts about bees and how it could negatively affect humans if they were to decline in numbers. 

Each contestant spoke really confidently and impressed with the level of quality they showed, particularly speaking on stage in front of a live audience. We had a special guest judge in the form of OW and successful screenwriter Miss Jade Jones, who gave feedback on the student speeches and eventually chose a winner. The winner was Jasmine who represented Pendle.

Congratulations to Jasmine for winning and to all those who took part!