Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition 2019: Local Finals

Thursday 20th June 2019: Bardwell Park Public School

For 24 years now the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition has been encouraging primary school students to explore ideas of multiculturalism in Australia, as well as giving them a place to practise their public speaking skills and improve their confidence.

After holding an internal Multicultural speaking competition, two students from Stage 2, Toby Maple-Brown (4SA) and Ellora Wani (3HW), and two students from Stage 3, Mahika Sharma (6DD) and Tarith Kumarage (5LW), were chosen to represent Artarmon Public School at the local finals.

In preparation for the finals, these four representatives, attended weekly sessions with Ms Sawyer and Mr Wood. They worked hard on, crafting, refining and practising their prepared speeches that delivered a multicultural message. Additionally they practised their ability to deliver an impromptu speech, with only five minutes to prepare.

 Last Thursday, Toby, Ellora, Mahika and Tarith, went to the local finals held at Bardwell Park Public School, with other finalists from schools in the local area. They delivered exemplary prepared speeches, each with a unique perspective on the importance of having a diverse multicultural society. 

There were many highlights in the prepared speeches. Toby used a clever analogy where he likened the beauty of a diverse society to the different instruments of an orchestra coming together to make a beautiful piece of music. Ellora Wani (3HW) spoke proudly about the way Artarmon Public School embraces and celebrates its cultural diversity. Mahika Sharma (6DD) described the importance of sporting teams taking a leadership role in embracing multiculturalism. Tarith provided a detailed analysis on the need for us to think as global citizens, and consider the way individuals and communities can think beyond themselves and have a positive global impact on, social cohesion, the economy and the environment.

After delivering their prepared speeches, the finalists were then given five minutes to prepare for their impromptu speech. The topic for Stage 2 was “telling lies”. Ellora and Toby both highlighted how honesty is crucial to a person’s character. They also described how telling lies can lead to negative outcomes and stunt personal growth.

The stage 3 topic was “taking chances”. Mahika described the benefits of taking chances by sharing her feelings about the chance that she took coming to Australia. Tarith gave several pertinent examples where risk taking is crucial to success in people’s lives.

Ms Sawyer and Mr Wood want to acknowledge the courage, effort and dedication these four students showed throughout this process. They represented Artarmon Public School exceptionally well, and should be proud of their achievements. We also want to recognise and thank the 30 students who entered our intra-school competition, and did an outstanding job illustrating the importance of celebrating our cultural differences, and embracing our shared values of respect, compassion, courage and the need for equality. 

Public Speaking Coordinators 

Ms Demelza Sawyer and Mr Joshua Wood