From little things big things grow...

When our family gather around the table, this story of my daughter’s creative NEWS presentation is often shared. Let me set the scene – our home is busy, both parents working, after school activities are in full swing, and there are lots of things to remember each week.  Inevitably, one of the fast-spinning plates will drop....and in this story, our dropped plate happened when I (we) forgot to prepare our 4-year-old's bag for NEWS at preschool. 

Rather than not participating, our daughter used her creativity and went to her bag, gathered an item and walked with confidence to the front of the room. Other children talked about their special toy, a holiday, a photo from home – all showing well-prepared items to support their informal presentation. When it was our daughter’s turn, she stood before the class, and confidently brought her hands forward and said, “this is a pear and I like them very much because they are sweet and juicy”. With nothing else prepared, she had taken the pear from her lunch box and used it as a prop to speak in front of her peers.

When the teachers told me this story, I felt both proud of our daughter’s creativity and on-the-spot thinking, and guilty for not remembering and helping our 4-year-old to be ready to share her news. Thankfully, this little glitch didn’t stop her from future presentations – and throughout her schooling, she gained in confidence and skill when presenting before a group.

Last week I had the privilege of being one of the judges for the Year 6 Speech Competition. I am always a little nervous about this process, as the standard is consistently high, and I am often blown away by the presentation, the message and the maturity with which our Year 6 students speak before their audience. The 2026 finalists certainly did not disappoint! 

Their topic, “If I was Prime Minister for the day...” encouraged them to think carefully about real-life issues that they would want to see changed. During their presentation, I leaned over to another adjudicating teacher and said, “maybe we should have invited some politicians here to listen to our students' ideas!”. The issues put forward, together with the supporting evidence, were convincing. Woven cleverly with a well-crafted introduction, persuasive language and emphasis throughout, you too would have been stirred into a call to action as I was. Congratulations to Mia Vom Kolke as the winner of this year’s competition. 

This competition does not stand alone, rather the skills, the confidence, and the craft of learning to present before an audience starts at pre-school, as it did with my daughter. At Kinder, little learners are encouraged to stand before their peers and present. With the support of a teacher alongside them, young children learn to speak in a voice that can heard by others, and respond to the simplest of questions. 

As they move through Primary School, ‘News’ shifts from informal presentation to a more structured and focused presentation in the upper years as part of the English Curriculum. Whether it is during class discussions, at assemblies, in specialist lessons or throughout times of reflection and devotions, students are given formal and informal opportunities to develop the skill of public speaking and the confidence to be effective communicators of information. 

I commend the work of our Primary Teachers – from Prep all the way to Year 6 for providing these opportunities for growth – and congratulate all of our Year 6 students for the way they have worked hard to refine their skills over time, resulting in a fabulous showcase of eloquence and creativity. Last week’s Speech Competitions was a wonderful culmination of many learning experiences across the years, understanding that from little things, big things can and do grow!