This has been a fruitful year for the public speakers. St Mary’s entered the 56th High Schools’ Public Speaking Festival, held under the auspices of the South African Speech and Drama College of South Africa.

The prepared public speaking teams excelled. The teams that participated in the Open Section were the overall winners of the Senior Section and the runner–up in the overall team results. For the first time in many years, St Mary’s Trophy team and the Individual speaker were among the finalist teams of this year’s Public Speaking Festival and they were invited to attend the Finals’ Night.

This remarkable accomplishment attests to the calibre of speakers the school produces. The trophy team, of Kristin De Decker, Sophia Wolov and Jordan Dittmar, was outstanding. Annabel Morphet, who received an A+ symbol, walked away with title of the best Individual speaker of the 2017 festival.

The impromptu teams set an incredibly high standard and St Mary’s was the runner-up in this discipline. All participants are congratulated on their success, and these outstanding results are indicative of hard work, the high level of speechwriting and confident deliveries.

Janet Milasinovich Public speaking co-ordinator