This week saw Epsom College host the Epsom Rotary Senior French Public Speaking competition in Main Hall in front of an audience of supportive parents, teachers from Epsom College (Mrs Winmill, Acting Head of French, Mr Baker and Miss Allen, both Sixth Form teachers of French), Blenheim High School and Rosebery School, as well as visitors from Epsom and from our twinned town in France: Chantilly.
Mrs Helen Keevil introduced the evening and congratulated the two competitors from Epsom College, four competitors from Rosebery School and the competitor from Blenheim High School for taking part in this challenging spontaneous public speaking competition.
The presentations did not disappoint as the topics of discussions were of an extremely high calibre, ranging from challenging the relative quality of one of France’s previous rulers, the evolution of French society and the state of the institution of marriage, the relevance of a secular state at a time of cultural and religious discrimination, the elitism of the French educational system and an interesting comparison with the similarly elitist British educational system to only name a few.
Both Epsom College competitors, Cara Robinson (Rv) and Katie Vickers (Rv) were highly commended, whilst two of the four Rosebery competitors gained first and second place this year.
Both Katie and Cara were praised for their eloquence, confidence and the high level of research displayed in their presentations as well as their fluency and confidence when dealing with the unexpected spontaneous questions and answer session. Very well done to both of them.
