The Upper Middle School Speech Finals were held on Wednesday 17 November. Congratulations to all the Finalists.

The UMS Speech Finals is an annual event where each UMS Learning Commons is represented by a Year 9 and a Year 10 speaker. Due to covid restrictions, we ran it slightly differently this year with each speaker inviting 5 guests each to comprise the audience.

Curriculum Leader Andrew Tilby and UMS Deputy Principal Pip Tining were our judges for the morning and were impressed with the breadth of topics with everything from The Bombing of Pearl Harbour, to The Responsibility of Freedom of Speech, and with the confident, impactful, and engaging deliveries. Mr Tilby commented that they were the best speeches he had heard, and enjoyed, for several years!

The WINNERS for 2021 were:

• Hannah Edwards 9MOT2 with a speech about being left-handed.
• Tallulah Haynes 10MOT2 with a speech about why the performing arts curriculum should be compulsory in schools.

Our runner up speakers were:

• Poppy Plank 9AWA2 with a speech about the paralympic athlete Ryan Boyle. 
• Eva Lynch 10WAA1with a speech about the war on abortion.

Ka pai to mahi to all of our finalists and winners for 2021!