Open Night Speech
Good evening parents and possible future Cantabrians. My name is Lucy Melville and I’m in Year 10.
I started at Canterbury in the Academic stream in 2013 and was so excited when I learned of the array of opportunities here. Possibly a little too eager, I thrusted myself into every extra-curricular activity I could fit into my schedule.
Probably the most difficult thing about starting high school was trying to narrow down my options. I had an activity pretty much every lunch and after school every day. Luckily I’m terrible at dancing so that made choosing easier. But I soon figured that whatever I chose would be a great option at this school.
Some hobbies I HAVE chosen to carry through to my third last year here are Drama, Debating, Public Speaking, Music, Writing, Athletics and Soccer. Today I’ll be outlining the possibilities for students interested in debating and public speaking.
In terms of debating, last year we introduced a more intensive approach to training our teams for competition. Both Ella and I are on the team, which practices every Friday after school during the season. Last year our tutor was a national debating champion who had moved on to an International level. In training, we learned the conventions of debating including how to formulate arguments, structure our cases, rebuttal writing, and speech presentation. Not only do the teams have a considerably higher rate of success in competition BUT we also had feedback from parents stating that family squabbles had become considerably more sophisticated.
Here at Canterbury there is also a wide range of public speaking opportunities. But the thing that I love about our school is that the teachers here, knowing the importance of public speaking in adult life, try as hard as they can to provide speaking opportunities to every single person who shows interest, not just the practised and confident ones. A recent example is when 4 of my classmates were chosen to speak at an interschool debate competition based around mental illness and the issues surrounding it. These four friends of mine, with little public speaking experience, put so much effort into this debate. They won by far and were commended on their research and creative presentation.
Having the influence of such astute and capable teachers like Ms Barford – my English teacher and debating coach, Ms Slattery – our other debating coach who WON the NSW schools public speaking competition in her highschool years and Ms Holden – our principal, gives us a clear idea of what we should aspire to.
In three years at this school, my horizon has been broadened and my plan for my future has advanced. I have had endless opportunities in performing arts, academics and sport. I have watched my classmates grow into complex, unique, interesting and clever individuals – all of them having taken the opportunity to develop what used to be interests into lifelong passions.
I never thought I would be able to say this but I’m looking forward to beginning my HSC next year at a school I know will support whatever I wish to pursue.