There was an atmosphere of anticipation and excitement in the DHH, this morning, with the arrival of the Dramatic Reading Competition Final. 

Always a highlight of the FSM calendar, pupils, yet again excelled themselves and treated their audience to wonderful poetry and prose recitals and TED Talks. Performances were polished, confident and emotive. Our youngest pupils made us laugh with their humorous choices, whilst grittier issues, such as racism and war were tackled by older members of the school.

The Year 8 TED Talk topics of Gender Equality, The Mental Health Benefits of Learning a Musical Instrument, Alzheimer’s and Mental Health in Education certainly provoked much thought and left many of the audience in deep contemplation; also that bit wiser about subjects they may not have considered in depth before.

As Head of English, I could not have felt more proud of our pupils. To think that these young pupils are our future, makes me very excited indeed and confident that we will be in safe hands. Their empathy, knowledge and ability to share ideas is beyond believable, particularly when taking into account their age.

Of course, not everyone could be a finalist today – and not everybody would want to be one: let’s face it,  some children find public speaking terrifying. However, every pupil from Year 2 upwards gave this a shot and again, I would like to congratulate them all. Learning powers for each and every child were developed and their confidence was nurtured a little more. Hopefully, they will find the process that bit easier next year.

Recordings of the finalists’ performances will be released next week. Please do watch them – we have some mighty talented children at FSM!   

The finalists this year were:

Years 2 and 3:
Henry H
Henry L
Jack H
Isabella H

Year 4:
Gideon G
Sophia B
Ricky dL

Year 5:
Addai W
Eliza-Grace S
Heidi L
Freddie C

Year 6:
Sheba G
Parisa HF
Max DS

Year 7:
Hugo 
Immy C
Alexander M

Year 8 (TED Talks):
Felicity A
Esme R
Georgia M & Rosie W

 

Written by: Mrs Thornton