Ella Ricciardi, Will Irvine and Bo Kessler recently returned to their former primary schools to judge the annual primary school speech competitions. Will and Ella (Class of 2015) were part of the judging panel at Birchwood School, while Bo (Class of 2016) was one of the judges for the interschool competition, hosted by Nayland Primary School.

Nayland College liaison teacher Gaye Bloomfield was impressed that these students were happy to take time out of their own schooling to be of service to their former primary school. “We are such a cool little community and it is great that our students still feel connected enough to their primary school to do these sorts of things,” she said.

For each of the students, part of why they said yes was that they enjoyed returning to their old school and reconnecting with the physical spaces and with their old teachers. “I thought it would be cool to go full circle because I competed when I was at primary, so being asked to come back as a judge, I think it's really really cool," said Bo.

The judges were firm in their opinion about what makes a good speech, stressing that it is a combination of how it's written, how it's delivered and that it has to be authentic and from the student's perspective. “You're trying to convince listeners - whose main drive is feelings, their emotions. So to make a logical argument there has to be emotion. Feelings first, and arguments behind that make a good logical speech” said Will.

Some might argue that speeches are a bit old-fashioned and in the digital age, everything around us is all about video. Again, there was consensus from these judges that speeches are a great way to help you build confidence and will always be relevant – being a storyteller is one of those traits that are universal and built into our DNA.

“I feel like it is one thing to speak in front of a few people, but to speak in front of a group I think is really important. You’re going to need to be able to do that as an adult,” said Ella.

Birchwood Primary School Deputy Principal Kim Donelly-Greep was certainly impressed. “They took on the judging challenge very seriously and Will gave great feedback to our students,” Ms Donelly-Greep said.

Equally impressed was Leanne Watson, a Nayland Primary School teacher. "It was a delight to welcome Bo back to Nayland Primary School as an Inter-school speech judge. Bo was enthusiastic about her role as judge and gave thoughtful and encouraging feedback to all of our contestants. Thank You Bo!" Ms Watson said. 

Thank you for your service Ella, Will and Bo.