In May, we were once again able to enjoy one of the most exciting and most eagerly awaited School competitions, the Choral Speaking Challenge. This is an event in which our KS1 (Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3) and KS2 (Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6) students compete, in their Family groups, trying out their public speaking skills. Individually or in groups, they recite poems and other English prose texts in front of a packed audience at the British Council School Theatre.
Confidently and with some style, each class will recite their chosen piece and they are then evaluated on pronunciation, good diction, artistic interpretation and entertainment value. The points scored are then added up in Family groups at the end of the competition. The Family with the most points, wins.
Public speaking has become one of the most valued, sought after and necessary skills in the workplace. Something which our students will clearly encounter in their future working lives. That´s why the School considers this type of training as something which is key and we try to encourage it from the very first moments, when children join the School. In this way, the Choral Speaking Challenge is the perfect opportunity for parents, teachers and the children themselves to judge their progress and their achievements.
Public speaking helps our students to develop skills which will be useful both their personal and in their professional lives: vocalization, grammar and vocabulary, intonation, non verbal communication, the use of silences, pauses and other techniques. They do, of course, also improve their English pronunciation.
Congratulations to all our students on getting us so excited and on showing off their speaking skills!!!