Upload
others
View
7
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
E V E RY G I R L - E V E RY DAY
6th March 2020
Chrystall Carter Public Speaking Competition Winner
Following a victorious round at the semi-final at Sutton High, Sarena in Year 11 travelled to
Portsmouth High School last Friday 28th February to compete in the final of the GDST Chrystall
Carter Public Speaking Competition. We are delighted to announce that Sarena won the
competition – a Croydon High first. Well done, Sarena!
One of our talented Young Reporters, Dina in Year 11, covered the event in This is Local London.
A first-time win for Croydon High School at the GDST Chrystall Carter Public
Speaking Competition - by Dina, Croydon High School
On Friday 28th February, Portsmouth High School hosted the final of the GDST (Girls Day School
Trust) Chrystall Carter Public Speaking Competition: an excellent opportunity for students in
E V E RY G I R L - E V E RY DAY
6th March 2020
GDST schools to test their ability to speak
confidently about important topics in front of a
large audience.
The Chrystall Carter Public Speaking
Competition was created in memory of
Chrystall Carter: a Legal Adviser and Deputy
Secretary to the GDST, until her sudden death
in 1999. Students are given a topic relating to
societal issues of today and must give a
confident argument of their view on that topic.
They must also be able to engage with the audience and deal with challenging questions posed to
them after their speech.
Croydon High School - as well as all other GDST schools participating in the contest - held
auditions to select one of their Year 11 students to represent them in a bid to win the prestigious
Chrystall Carter Prize. In Croydon High School, Sarena was chosen as the best candidate and
then competed in the semi-final of the competition against four other GDST schools in her
region.
After emerging victorious from the semi-final with her brilliant speech on the topic “Are humans
becoming defunct?”, Sarena then went on to compete in the final competition which was held at
Portsmouth High School. This was a tougher competition as it was against the four other
speakers who had won their semi-final - just like Sarena had done. These schools included:
Notting Hill and Ealing High School; Sheffield High School; Wimbledon High School; and
Oxford High School. Topics discussed included: “Memory is the most important part of identity”;
“There is no such thing as evil”; “Can we tackle climate change without changing human nature
first?”; and “Fake news has always been around. In fact, all news is fake in some way”.
Although these were all extremely interesting and thought-provoking topics, discussed in
creative ways by four confident girls who had evidently put much effort into writing and
performing their speeches, it was ultimately Sarena who managed to win the final - and therefore
E V E RY G I R L - E V E RY DAY
6th March 2020
the whole competition - with her speech on the
topic of “The fear of racial other is inherent in every
nation. We should be embracing otherness rather
than attempting to eliminate it”. This gave Croydon
High School their first-ever win in the competition.
Speaking after her victory, Sarena told me, “I was
quite shocked to win because I really didn’t expect
it! The experience as a whole was out of the
ordinary for me because I’d never done anything
like it - so it was a bit daunting at first and I felt privileged just to be able to listen to the other
speakers let alone take part!”
The day was one to be remembered by all who were
lucky enough to have the chance to watch as well as
those taking part. Many thanks are given to
Portsmouth High School for being such brilliant
hosts of such an enriching and wonderful
competition.