A huge congratulations to Isla McTague, who recently entered and WON the Nelson Intermediate Speech Competition held at Nelson Christian Academy this week. We are very proud of the four students who represented Saint Paul's in the Years 5 & 6 and Years 7 & 8 Speech Competitions this week . Speech competitions are always a highlight in the school calendar. All of our students in these year levels prepare their speeches and present them at classroom level. The finalists from classes compete in the Syndicate level speech competition and the finalists move on to compete against other schools in the region. Isabella Fraser represented the year 7 in the same competition and the following night two year 6 students Abby Isherwood and Finn McTague, competed in the Primary Schools Competition.

This is a transcript of Isla's speech

We know words are powerful, we hear the words of the powerful.

but whose words are silenced, marginalized, forgotten?

Whose words do we need to hear?

Whose words are ignored and what would those words be If they were enabled to speak and we in return listened.

What if the people without a voice spoke?

What would their statements be?

What would they ask and what could they tell us?

Only through tragedy did we hear the words of Malala, a young innocent girl in war-torn Pakistan simply going to school against the wishes of many in her society, fighting for education. Malala You shafzai then went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. She has an organization who helps young girls who don't have access to education. A very noble cause in her society.

Yet at the same time, we hear the words of Donald Trump on a daily basis.

Making untrue statements such as “ the concept of global warming was created by the Chinese ”.

Global warming is real and happing in front of our eyes -  the scientists have the facts.

Scientists' words matter as they hold the power of our future. although whose voice is being heard -  the scientists or Donald Trump?

We hear 1 side of many stories but how often do we hear the other, we hear the sides of the people with the money, wealth and power.

We hear plenty of anti-immigration speeches but what if we were to hear the words of asylum seekers and refugees what would be different? What would we hear?

Would we have a fuller understanding of what these families are going through? What would they ask of us? What action would they want us to take? Would they ask for food, water, and shelter? Everyone has a voice so why aren’t we listening?

Albert Einstein was an asylum seeker he fled Nazi Germany in 1933 to avoid persecution. Here are some of his words "I shall live in a land where political freedom, tolerance, and equality of all citizens reign."

Maybe if everyone was to consider these people's words we would be in a better world? How do we know? When have we never listened! listening is the root of justice.

We hear the words of the world leaders, these peoples words play a huge part in countries' opinions toward one another. For example, accepting others' religion, race, and sexuality

Because 1 powerful rich person's opinion will be shared nationwide with people of all ages hearing these words some agreeing and others not. How would the people targeted for being themselves feel? What would they want to say? but would they find the confidence?

Many people feel as though they can speak what's on their mind .But, is this all necessarily good?  Freedom of speech is a power that can be used well to change segregation laws but also to  discriminate against others for the colour of their skin. Martin Luther King. Jr strengthened the civil right movement and spoke a powerful speech.  "I have a dream." The most powerful line in his speech is “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

You and I are powerful, this is our world, our job is to hear all the sides of a story, to think about the people affected by the decisions being made. The power of words is only as powerful as those who are willing to listen, to listen to the truth, to speak for the silenced, marginalized and forgotten. This is the power of words.