The final of this year’s John Fry Public Speaking Competition was an extremely closely-contested affair, with some of the finest oratorical displays ever seen at Queenswood.

Our guest adjudicator was former Queenswood Head Girl, and previous winner of the competition, Lucy Pickworth. Lucy is now working as Strategic Finance Lead at Uber.

Each of the finalists was tasked with delivering a five-minute speech based on a Beatles lyric, and answering an unprepared question from the floor.

• Hannah P (Year 11): ‘Imagine there’s no countries...nothing to kill or die for’
• Lucie B (Year 12): ‘Money, that’s what I want’
• Willow H (Year 13): ‘Help! I need somebody’
• Lisa O (Year 12): ‘Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?’
• Andie B (Year 12): ‘You say you want a revolution’

During the deliberation, the three Junior John Fry finalists delivered speeches. Olivia C (Year 7) spoke about online beauty products, Isla P (Year 8) paid tribute to the NHS, and Alice B (Year 9) gave her thoughts on prejudice against redheads. 

The overall winner of the competition was Lisa O. Many congratulations to everyone who took part – not just in the final, but in the preliminary rounds.

If you would like to watch a video of the speeches, please email [email protected].