Each year, the Lions Club of Stratford hosts the Junior Public Speaking Competition for students from Stratford Primary School and St Patrick’s Primary School in Grades 3/4 and 5/6.

The Junior Public Speaking Competition starts in May, with each school selecting students to participate in public speaking.

This year, the Grade 3/4 students embarked on an imaginative journey with the topic ‘I woke up and I was a giant’. The Grade 5/6 students had an equally intriguing topic: ‘The most unusable world record’.

The school-level competition was a challenging task for the two Lion members and the teacher who served as judges. With more than 20 students from each grade and school to evaluate, determining a winner was no easy feat. The judges had to carefully listen to each participant, making their decision a truly arduous one.

The marking criteria for evaluating students’ speeches was comprehensive, covering various aspects such as content, the opening, the main theme, research, language usage, conclusion, and delivery. The latter included visual aids, confidence, gestures, eye contact, voice modulation, and audience engagement.

One student from each grade and school was crowned the winner, progressing to the semi-final at the Stratford Mechanics Hall.

Stratford’s St Patrick’s Primary School student, William Longmuir, earned Grade 3/4 runner-up at the District 201V3 Lions Junior Public Speaking final on October 28.
Photo: Contributed

William Longmuir was the chosen Grade 3/4 St Patrick’s Primary School winner, while Abigail Brooks was the Stratford Primary School Grade 3/4 winner.

St Patrick’s Primary School student Ella Patrick and Stratford Primary School student Adian Murphy were the Grade 5/6 winners.

William Longmuir and Adian Murphy were the semi-final winners, going on to represent the Lions Club of Stratford at the District 201V3 semi-finals.

On October 8, the Community Centre Trafalgar hosted the District 201V3 semi-finals, with students hailing from Stratford, Sale, Heyfield, Moe, Trafalgar, Warragul, Inverloch, Dromana, Red Hill, Koo Wee Rup, Tooradin and Pakenham. The Lions District selected the District 201V3 semi-final judges.

St Patrick’s Primary School’s William Longmuir was the Grade 3/4 winner, progressing to the final at the District 201V3 convention on October 28.

The final judges represented the major sponsors of the convention.

William Longmuir’s outstanding performance earned him the well-deserved title of Grade 3/4 runner-up.