The standard at the John Fry Public Speaking Competition, held in the Theatre on Thursday 6 February, was extremely high.

We were honoured to welcome bestselling novelist Freya North to judge the competition. She was very impressed with all six candidates, and she deliberated for some time with Director of Studies Ian Sheldon before awarding the prize to Rebecca Batcup (Lower Sixth).

The topics were chosen at random from a list supplied by last year’s winner, Emma Neville (Upper Sixth), and some girls faced the challenge of arguing forcefully for a propostition with which they did not agree. You can watch videos of some of the speeches below:

Toluwa Agboola (Year 11) – ‘Feminism is fighting the wrong battles’ 

Rebecca Batcup (Lower Sixth) – ‘The veil empowers women’ 

Zoe Lykourgou (Lower Sixth) – ‘Marriage is a worthless tradition’

Miti Shah (Upper Sixth) – ‘University is not a wise investment at £9,000 a year’

Jemima Wolstencraft (Lower Sixth) – ‘Our “need” to be governed is an illusion’