BISS Student Talks 2023

Over several weeks, with the support of the English and EAL departments, each pupil researched, wrote, and presented their speech to their own form group who then voted for the best one to go forward to the finals. They were all very impressive!

All Key Stage 3 students then got together on Tuesday for an extended morning in the Auditorium for the opportunity to hear the BISS Talks finalists; a showcase of the chosen speakers presenting interesting, well-informed ideas in under 4 minutes. From this experience, our students have learnt that presentation skills are important for children as much as they are for university students and job candidates. They teach children to communicate with others, better express themselves, prepare well, and be responsible for something. Furthermore, they increase their levels of self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-confidence.

The standard of the speeches was exceptional, showing passion, knowledge, and enthusiasm across an exciting range of topics. Our panel of judges, Mr. Marlon Devonish, Mr. Andrew Joy and Ms. Lucy O’Neill found it extremely difficult to choose the winners due to the outstanding level of competition. After much deliberation, the winners were:

• Year 7 Natsume Itani – ‘Why we should watch animations’
• Year 8 Nadav Kastoriano – ‘Procrastination’
• Year 9 Rachel Hu – ‘False Fallacies’

We hope you enjoy the collage of photos showing each of our finalists.

The BISS community of staff and students would like to congratulate all pupils involved. It was a very close competition and the judges commented on the outstanding quality of the talks. The event is always such a success, and we are very much looking forward to hearing new talks next year in 2024.

Emma James
Assistant Headteacher Pastoral