Oratory Competition 2021

After a year's absence due to the lockdowns of 2020, the College's Annual Oratory Competition returned with a bang on Wednesday, May 26.

Eleven students from Years 7-11 presented their opinions on a range of diverse topics, after being nominated as the best speakers from their year levels.

Although the topics vary from year to year, the level of quality at the Oratory Competition is always high, and this year was no exception.

The judges for the competition, Pauline Morgan (retired teacher who taught English at Trinity for 22 years) and Meg Nelson (2020 Performing Arts Captain and winner of the Oratory Competition in 2018 & 2019) had a tough job deciding on a standout in each category.

In the end, Phoebe Tobin from Year 8 was awarded Best Speaker in the Junior Section (Years 7 & 8), and Zach Charity from Year 11 was awarded Best Speaker in the Senior Section (Years 10 & 11).

Vice-Captains Ruby Kerr & Liam McCullagh skillfully ran the event, and Luke Shalley (Year 12) provided some fantastic musical interludes on the piano throughout the night before an audience of parents, family members and teachers.

I would like to acknowledge and thank the various English teachers who generously gave up several break times to help narrow down the best speakers from each year level to the eleven. My thanks also go to the staff who attended the event, as well as those who helped with the set up and pack up afterwards.

The list of students and their topics are below. Each deserves to be congratulated on a fine effort. The future of public speaking and debating at Trinity is certainly looking bright!

Junior Section

Ned Pyle (Yr 7) - 'Whether or not country living is better than city living'
Marissa Gibbs (Yr 7) - 'Whether or not siblings are best friends or best enemies'
Angus Ferrari (Yr 7) - 'Whether or not country living is better than city living'
Biddy Billing (Yr 8) - 'Whether or not home schooling was a success throughout the COVID-19 lockdowns in Victoria'
Phoebe Tobin (Yr 8) - 'Whether or not Australians should stop celebrating Australia Day in its current form'

Senior Section

Sophie Millar (Yr 10) - 'Whether or not the death penalty should be abolished in the USA justice system'
Amaia McCallum (Yr 10) - 'Whether or not animal testing should be banned'
Alicia Pain (Yr 10) - 'Whether or not social media is beneficial for society'
Josiah Ellemor (Yr 10) - 'Whether or not drones should be the next generation of superiority fighter jet'
Imogen Nelson (Yr 11) - 'Whether or not teenage boys and girls require greater education around issues of consent and respectful relationships'
Zach Charity (Yr 11) - 'Whether or not performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in sport'

Daniel Rodway

Learning Area Leader: English & Languages