James Tonnison (6JM) won a gold medal as well as the Grand Champion Award of the competition for his speech on ‘The Meaning of Life’. James said it took him a long time to decide on the topic. “It is kind of my life story until now, how my parents have helped me and how I found a new role model in Homer Simpson,” he explained.

James said he was quite surprised to make the gold medal round. “In the final, I improvised a bit and added a few new things in. I think I did it the best I’ve ever done.”

Miguel Porteous (6JP) was awarded a silver medal for his presentation, titled ‘Christchurch to Christ Church’, which talked about his move from New Zealand to the Claremont school. Miguel, a talented skier, flew back to New Zealand recently to represent the national skiiing team at an international event.

Sam Ng (6TG) was awarded a bronze medal for his humorous speech about ‘Bricks’. Sam said he chose the topic because he thought they were boring. “People find it interesting when you make something boring funny,” he said. His speech included reference to some of the most famous bricks in history including the Great Wall of China and the Berlin Wall.

Preparatory School Headmaster Richard Wright said the boys were selected to compete at the challenge, held at Carmel School, after placing in the top three of the School’s internal speaking competition.

“The boys were asked to prepare a four-minute speech on any topic,” Mr Wright said. “The speeches were adjudicated on content and presentation.”

Mr Wright said James and Sam would now take part in the Speak Up Award, run by the Grand Lodge of Western Australia, later this term. Miguel was unable to take part due to his skiing commitments.