Celebration of Public Speaking
2021
Catherine Macleish Head of Public Speaking
In 2021, the Loreto Public Speaking program offered opportunities to be heard, to be creative and to be part of a community even when we were isolated. Last year was a chance to learn new skills. This year was about staying connected. Our students again showed their enthusiasm for speaking and performing, and organisations became more flexible in providing online opportunities for these pursuits. This includes both the Senior and Junior inter-school debating programs, public speaking competitions, UN Youth events and theatrical Eisteddfods for our Voice and Speech students. To learn more, I invite you to click on the videos recorded by students who have been involved in these various activities. This year, our program was confidently led by Captain of Public Speaking, Sophia Murray, and the Year 7 and 8’s benefited greatly from the advice and support from Head of Junior Debating, Faith Cullinan. I’d like to thank them both very much for their enthusiasm and commitment to their roles. I would also like to thank the Year 11 debaters who took on the role of coaching our Year 7 and 8 teams. They gave up many hours of their time to help these new debaters who I know were all very grateful. And on that note, there have also been many more Year 10, 11 and 12 students who volunteered to adjudicate House debates this year. A daunting but vital task that was essential to the success of these House events. My most sincere thanks to those students. In our Senior Debating competition, we enjoyed our best result to date, with 13 of our 19 teams in the top 25% of high scoring teams. Particular congratulations to the members of C Grade Team 2 – Mikayla Fitzgerald, Emma Guthrie, Agatha Meehan, Catherine Williams, Georgia Cornfoot, Stephanie Bare and Ruby Simpfendorfer, and their coach, Assa Negline, who successfully debated as far as the Quarter-finals to finish in the top 8 teams in the State. Other finalists this year have been Cindy Chen and Emma Wang who progressed to the finals of the UN EVATT Diplomacy competition, and Lucinda Carr who was a finalist in the Rostrum Voice of Youth Public Speaking Competition. While I offer congratulations to students receiving awards this year, I would like to most sincerely thank every student who participated in the Public Speaking program for 2021. I thank them for their enthusiasm and commitment to our public speaking community and all its opportunities. My final thanks to the teachers and alumnae who assisted this year with coaching and adjudicating: Donna Paatsch, Angela Keam, Laura James, Olivia Stott, Eliza Reid, Sophie L’Huillier, Assa Negline, Elenoire Faiola, Anneka Davys, Chrissy Huang, Kasie Wang, Kate Byrne, Lily Broome and Kathryn Sabljak.
Sophia Murry Public Speaking Captain
The Celebration of Public Speaking is always a calendar highlight. It has been an honour to lead the public speaking program this year as Captain of Public Speaking. My first interaction with Public Speaking was in Year 5 when I began Voice and Speech. Since then, my love and passion for public speaking has only grown. Witnessing our girls accomplish many achievements across public speaking, voice and speech and debating fills me with the deep satisfaction that they are developing skills, as I have, that will be useful for our whole lives. The participation across our program has been incredible, with girls dedicating many hours to a broad range of events including speech recitals, the DAV competition, UN Youth Events, AMEB exams and British Parliamentary Debating competitions. In a year where quick changes, cancellations and rescheduling was the norm I have been so proud to watch the resilience of our girls, and their ability to adapt to both online and face to face settings, and they should be commended for this. The Junior Debating competition, held online, was strongly supported by our Year 7 and 8 students and I would like to thank Faith Cullinan for her support of these junior debaters in her role as Head of Junior Debating. Record numbers of students also participated in the House Debating and House Public Speaking events. These are designed for all students, and it was great to see so many new faces participate. It was also a chance for senior students to try their hand at adjudication and coaching which they all did expertly. The inter-school Senior Debating Competition enjoyed 3 rounds of debating on campus, and it was glorious to be in the Scotch Quad hearing everyone’s excited chatter. In our best result to date, of the 19 Loreto teams entered the senior schools’ competition 13 teams were in the top 25% at the end of Round 4. Our debaters’ skills are most definitely increasing and a special thanks to our alumnae coaches who so ably support and advise these teams. In the Power Pairs Round, round 5, where the top teams are pitted against each other, C Grade Team 2 were victorious and saw continued success through to the quarter finals. I can truly say I will miss the public speaking department at Loreto greatly once I leave but I cannot wait to return as a coach and see all the girls participating in Public Speaking, hopefully face to face next year. I would like to thank every girl who has participated in public speaking, voice and speech and debating this year for all their hard work, and to thank Ms Macleish for all her support for me in my role.
Sophia Murray, Year 12 Public Speaking Captain
Faith Cullinan Head of Junior Debating
As the inaugural Head of Junior Debating for 2021 I had the amazing opportunity to work with Mrs Macleish on the junior debating programs including the DAV Junior Secondary Program and house debating. This year has been unconventional to say the least, with constant school closures, lockdowns and uncertainty, but throughout it all it was wonderful to see our junior debaters have a go at debating albeit online. Having watched some of the JSP debates I could see just how well prepared and well versed the newest members of the debating community at Loreto are. It was truly a great experience to work with the junior debaters, who were always eager to answer and ask questions and brainstorm potential arguments. I throughly enjoyed passing on the knowledge I have gained, especially discussing how to overcome your fear when debating. When talking to the junior debaters it almost felt like talking to year seven me who was terrified of third speaker. Congratulations to all the recipients of the coach’s award, as well as a special thanks to the coaches for giving their time to ensuring this program could transition smoothly to an online format. As I prepare for my language oral exam I couldn’t be more thankful for the public speaking program at Loreto that has given me the confidence and skills to express myself in all different mediums. My participation in the Loreto public speaking program started in year seven in the JSP program. Overtime, I’ve been a team captain, adjudicator, coach and now Head of Junior Debating. I’ve participated in JSP, DAV, EVATT model UN and British Parliamentary. The public speaking program at Loreto has offered me so many opportunities to speak publicly and to lead, it is a truly empowering program for young women. This unique aspect of Loreto’s debating program is thanks to Ms Macleish who has been the head of public speaking the whole time I have been at Loreto and has put out many fires during debating seasons ranging from lost debaters at Scotch to bad wifi connections at home. There are many special moments I have missed out on in year 12 because of covid. But Mrs Macleish did everything in her power to ensure us year 12s could experience our last debating season to the full. She stayed back on the year 12 floor for hours after school when we didn’t have a supervisor to ensure that we could do a final debate together as a team. That is a memory from year 12 I will never forget. While my journey at Loreto is coming to a close, I wish the best to the future debaters of Loreto. I hope that they will get to experience a debating season in a non covid atmosphere, and I encourage all of you to have a go at all aspects the public speaking. You never know the skills or friends you could gain from having a go at something outside your comfort zone. Good luck for the next season of debating and I know there will be great things to come for the next generation of junior debaters.
Faith Cullinan, Year 12 Head of Junior Debating
Public Speaking Events
Eleanor Yip Public Speaking Club
Cindy Chen United Nations Youth Events
Public Speaking Awards
Eleanor Martin Medallion
Eleanor O’Brien Medallion
Elena Chiam Medallion
Elizabeth Negline Medallion
Alex Tarraran Medallion
Sophia Murray Medallion
Sophie Broome Medallion
Eliza Galimberti Medallion
Eliza Simpson Medallion
Lucinda Carr Middle School Public Speaking Medal
Voice and Speech
Ella Breene Voice and Speech
Voice and Speech Graduates
Sophia Henderson CVCA
Zara Massimini CVCA
Elizabeth Negline CVCA
Lucy Tuckwell CVCA
Alex Tarraran CVCA
Cecelia NichollsMcCormack CVCA
Ella Breene CSPA
Elaina Macleish CVCA
Debaters Association of Victoria
Bianca Mariani : Coaching and Debating
JSP Coaches Awards
Stasia Simone Team 1
Eleanor Yip Team 2
Zoe Cornfoot Team 4
Mara Cui Team 5
Helena Shi Team 3
Mim Guthrie Team 6
D Grade Debating Awards
Sophia Hannebury Winner Trophy
Rohi Currie Runner Up Medal
Chloe Forster Best Speaker Medal
Ella Ball Recognition of Service
Bianca Court Recognition of Service
Niamh Thomas-Leech Recognition of Service
C Grade Debating Awards
Elaine Ye Emma Wang Catherine Williams Emma Guthrie Agatha Meehan Grade Winner Trophy Runner Up Medal Runner Up Medal Best Speaker Medal Best Speaker Medal
Mikayla Fitzgerald Recognition of Service
Georgia Cornfoot Recognition of Service
Stephanie Baré Recognition of Service
Ruby Simpfendorfer Recognition of Service
B Grade Debating Awards
Elizabeth Negline Winner Trophy
Lucy Tuckwell Best Speaker Medal
Cara Sullivan Runner Up Medal
Eleanor Martin Best Speaker Medal
Eleanor O’Brien Recognition of Service
A Grade Debating Awards
Eliza Simpson Winner Trophy
Georgie Dole Runner Up Medal
Clea Phillips Runner Up Medal
Francesca Apolloni Best Speaker Medal
Jade Nguyen Recognition of Service
Eliza Galimberti Recognition of Service
Debater of the Year
Junior Debater of the Year Cindy Chen
Senior Debater of the Year Meg Nugent
THE CHALLENGES SHE NEEDS
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