On Tuesday evening PNBHS was invited to participate in the Stockley Cup public speaking competition at Victoria University in Wellington. This is of special commendation to all our oratory students at PNBHS, as this is a Wellington Regional Speaking competition and we are typically not invited to participate in the Wellington competitions.

Hemi presented his Nga Manu Korero speech from earlier this term, investing in knowledge has the highest return. This saw him address issues faced by Māori and discussed how the investment in Tipuna and tikanga Māori is the best way to invest in growth in the future.

His competitors covered subjects such as personal experiences facing adversity such as racism in New Zealand, living with chronic conditions and mental health issues, the death of a parent, a great-great grandparent's infidelities and being the only child still at home; topics such as self-care and taking a break, why English isn't a valuable subject (whilst delivering a speech in English) and homophobia's declining fight for equality were all presented.

Wellington brought the best speaker from each school and the competition was fierce, yet it was PNBHS's humility and focus on the benefits of many, rather than the trials faced by the individual that ultimately won the prestigious Stockley Cup.