English Speaking Union at Ffynone House School in Swansea

English Speaking Union

Our public speaking team has once more shown that Ffynone House pupils have what it takes to engage with and win over an audience. Having won the regional final in January after discussing the issue of personal privacy, the team participated in the Wales final held in the debating chamber of Ty Hywel, the former National Assembly building, in Cardiff.

Mohamed Wagaafe, our speaker, addressed the motion that the car is essential to the quality of life in a speech that was both witty and impassioned. His responses in the question and answer session were cleverly framed and suggested he has the makings of a successful politician! Camilla Chellew proved a sympathetic chairperson while Harley Morgan, our questioner, teased out the thought processes of his guest speaker.

The judging panel clearly appreciated the team's performance and selected Ffynone to represent Wales in the United Kingdom final.

This took place in April in the impressive surroundings of the City of London Boys' School. Nine regions were represented and it was interesting to hear such a variety of accents and see so many different speaking styles. Our topic this time was the need to use mobile phones with care. Mohamed spoke from the heart when warning of the dangers of this wonderful but lethal invention. We empathised with his horror at appearing on You Tube singing in the shower thanks to his brother's phone recording skills! Camilla coped admirably with the onset of the fire alarm (!) during her introduction, while Harley showed considerable initiative in asking questions about Carla Bruni, the glamorous focus of his topic.

The competition concluded with the excellent news that Camilla had won the prize as best Chairperson. In other words, she's the best in the United Kingdom! Sadly, time marches on and Camilla and Mohamed will now be obliged to retire from this competition at the grand old age of ... sixteen! Therefore, we'll be looking for any budding speakers out there next year to continue the Ffynone tradition of excellence in this field. Get talking while you 're walking!