2025 Canterbury College Junior School Public Speaking Competition | Event Wrap
On Thursday 24 July, we held our 2025 Canterbury College Junior School Public Speaking Competition in our PAT.
As part of our Junior School’s Lumina Program – which supports high-performing students – this event challenges our Years 3-6 students to confidently and clearly express their ideas, building skills essential for being World Ready.
In the lead-up, students attended weekly workshops to develop and rehearse speeches designed to entertain, educate, or inform. This year’s topics ranged from ‘One person can change the world’ to ‘The greatest birthday party ever.’
Finalists were assessed by our judging panel – College Principal Dan Walker, Deputy Principal Meagan King, Head of Junior School Karen Roman and Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator Declan McBride. Speeches were judged on structure, language, voice, body language, and overall impact.
Congratulations to all our young speakers for their courage, creativity and composure!
Year Level Champions:
Year 3: Campbell Hoppe
Year 4: Sonya Naidu-Ali
Year 5: Olivia Parkley-Simpson
Year 6: Ananyaa Parikh
Year Level Runners-Up:
Year 3: Janiah Sandanayake
Year 4: Hadley Young
Year 5: Lewis Musk
Year 6: Lekith Sudhakaran
Year Level Highly Commended:
Year 3: Brahmnoor Kalra, Jaiaansh Sharma
Year 4: India Clifford, Oliver Neilan
Year 5: Amelia Brink, Owen Lahrs
Year 6: Emily Yang, Willow Steven