Mrs Winch-Johnson has been coaching girls in public speaking at Farnborough Hill since she joined the English Department as a teacher in 2000. Since then, the school has gone from strength to strength in three major competitions run by The Rotary, The Catenians and The English Speaking Union. Farnborough Hill girls have been constant winners of local heats for both the Rotary and E.S.U. competitions, and on many occasions have gone on to scoop Best Chairman, Speaker or Vote of Thanks, or Questioner awards. We have also attained the dizzy heights of Regional and District champions and scaled entry to semi-national level. We are very proud of the tradition that the school has established. 2012 was marked by an especially pleasing result in the Rotary Youth Speaks competition when the Intermediate team (pictured above) won Best Chairman and Best Vote of Thanks as well as becoming the NATIONAL WINNERS in the final competition. Click here for more details.
Farnborough Hill’s young women are natural public speakers. Each year, Years 8 and 10 assist Mrs Winch-Johnson in the selection process when she is scouting for new talent to form new teams. The year groups all compete in their English classes and then the winners from each class perform in front of the entire year group with Mrs Winch-Johnson selecting the first, second and third places. The girls in turn then form members of teams for the competitions. The process starts in October as contests usually begin in November.
Mrs Winch-Johnson says it is a great pleasure to work with the girls and to hear them speak on a range of interesting and stimulating topics. She works very closely with the girls during lunch times for quite an intense number of weeks and all competitions are held in the evenings or week-ends. It is a commitment that the girls take seriously. Some girls continue to represent the school from Years 8 right through to Sixth Form in the various events and she is always sorry when they leave to go to university after working with them for so many years. However, the new talents who emerge in Years 8 and 10 each year are a reassuring reminder that there are many girls who have the skills to speak in public successfully.
The art of public speaking is a wonderful form of speech to learn. It makes us aware of the origin of words, the need to avoid slang or dialect – unless it is used deliberately for effect – and to mould a speech that is apt for an audience, especially for the judges who are marking on content, style, engagement with an audience, confidence, clear pronunciation and use of language. There are also particular roles to learn if girls are not selected to be the main speaker; these include learning to question an opponent without being combative, or to give a Vote of Thanks with sincerity in spite of having heard your speaker’s speech many times, or to Chair the event with control, charm and humour. Each role is an essential part of being a team and it is team work that wins out in the end. Farnborough Hill girls are excellent as team players as well as stunning individual performers.