The annual Year 9 and 10 Speaking Festival was held at the end of last term.

In the Year 9 Speech competition, Jaeda Fortunado (9SMI) was first place, Mel Buckby (9MER) was second, and Saigey Evans (9SMI) and Safera Wintrup (9SMI) were third equal.

The Year 10 event, Mana Wāhine, was based around the theme of strong women. There were three sections: Speech, Spoken Word and Poetry Out Loud. First place in the Speech section was Emily Hewson (10SHR). The winner of the Spoken Word section was Bianca Oliveira (10CRO), and first place in the Poetry Out Loud category was Shakaya Craig (10LWR). Thank you to Helen McDermott and Paulette Tamati-Elliffe for judging these events.

The calibre of entrants was impressive. Congratulations to all of the students who entered the festival.

Georgina Beck

Assistant HOD English