Parumoana Schools Speech Contest 2021
Parumoana Schools Speech Contest 2021
The Parumoana Schools ‘cluster’ covers the nine primary schools in northern Porirua. It is a longstanding tradition, now stretching back over 20 years, for them to compete to see who their best young speech-makers are. Our club sponsors the contest in late November each year.
This year it was again held at Discovery School, under the new Covid-19 traffic light system. This meant that each speaker was allowed only two supporters, so the audience was smaller than usual, but it proved to be as enthusiastic as ever.
As previously, it was coordinated and chaired by Sarah Jenner, the deputy principal at Discovery School. There were entries from all nine primary schools in the cluster: Plimmerton, St Theresa’s, Pukerua Bay, Pauahatanui, Papakowhai, Discovery, Postgate, Paremata, and Adventure.
Sixteen children (eight girls and eight boys) entered the contest, in two groups: 10 and 11-year-olds, and 12 and 13-year-olds. Each had won the right to compete by winning their own school’s contest. Parents, supporters, and club members were treated to speeches covering an extraordinary variety of topics, some humorous, some serious, and some challenging. The students were animated, confident and well practised, and astonishing in their maturity.
The chief judge was Wendy Betteridge, supported by David Pine, and Darrell Phillips from Spinnaker Toastmasters.
There were certificates for all the contestants, trophies for the winners, and cups for the winners’ schools, all presented by President Kay. Wendy had some well-chosen words of advice for the contestants at the end and opined that the standard of speeches this year was the highest ever.
The prizewinners were:
Years 5&6
First: Annabel Mander (Pauahatanui): “Plastic waste”
Second: Dylan Griffiths (Plimmerton): “Octopusses”
Third: Ava Duncan (St Theresa’s): “Smiling”
Year 7&8
First: Sebastion Knighton (Paremata): “Bread”
Second: Hadley Fale (Papakowhai): “Covid 19”
Third: Ollie Bass (Plimmerton): “The colour yellow”
The school trophies were awarded to Pauahatanui and Paremata Schools.
David Knight again ran things at the Rotary end, quietly but with his usual aplomb.
Because of the enthusiasm of the participating schools, the speech contest shows no signs of losing momentum and is greatly enjoyed by the club members who come along.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.4% Summer
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36.2% Winter
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1.4% Other - I'll share below
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