Harvey Primary School and St Anne’s students compete in Lions Club of Harvey’s Junior Public Speaking contest

Some of Harvey’s brightest young minds have put their public speaking skills to the test, with two students rising to be the cream of the crop.

The Lions Club of Harvey hosted the club-level competition for the Lions Junior Public Speaking Program at the Harvey Recreation and Cultural Centre on July 23, with Year 3-6 students from Harvey Primary School and St Anne’s School Harvey competing for the top prizes.

Club president Anita Hughes said the contest followed a class-level competition in June.

“The aim of this program is to give children in primary schools the chance to develop their ability to speak in public, providing a forum to assist in building their self-confidence and encouraging the students to think more widely on a range of issues,” she said.

“It was a great opportunity to be able to work with the primary schools within Harvey and we hope to continue running this program in the future.”

Year 3 and 4 students prepared a three-minute speech on the topic “Oh no — you’ve turned into a giant”, while Year 5 and 6 students were tasked with a four-minute speech on “Strange world records set in history” and created a one-minute speech using a topic provided on the day.

The students were judged by Lions past district governor Ted Watts, Harvey Lions vice-president Colin Beauchamp, and Murray-Wellington MLA Robyn Clarke.

Ms Hughes said all students did an amazing job and made the judges’ job very difficult.

”They should all be extremely proud of their achievements,” she said.

Harvey Primary School took the two club-level wins, with Year 4 student Madeleine Chester, 9, and Year 6 student Indy Millsteed, 11, earning the right to be club representatives for the next level of competition.

Senior teacher Fiona Hough said the competition was a wonderful opportunity to bring the importance of public speaking to the forefront.

“The students involved in the program grew immensely in confidence and resilience over the journey,” she said.

“Their skills improved greatly and they all loved being a part of this program. It creates a fantastic platform for other students to follow in their footsteps and be brave enough to take on a challenge like this.”