DET Public Speaking Competition 2026

The third DET public speaking competition, open to all secondary schools in the Trust, was hosted by Onslow St Audrey’s on Wednesday 17 June.

Teams from St Clement Danes, Croxley Danes and The John Warner School, travelled to join teams from Onslow St Audrey’s for a highly enjoyable and competitive evening of public speaking as well as a generous tea provided by OSA.

Huge thanks goes to our three visiting judges who gave up their time and praised the pupils for the exceptionally high standard of speaking.  Previous judges Ameeta Sabharwal and Rachel Gauke were joined by former St Clement Danes colleague Shand George.

In the Junior competition, Amelia C, Sachin V and Anushka M (SCD) were chosen by the judges for the overall junior prize, debating the topic ‘AI will never take over’.  They were praised for their confidence, team work and engagement with the audience.  Sachin also won the individual award for best overall junior proposer for his confident well-paced delivery.  Jonathan W (OSA) won the individual award for best opposer for his passionate and knowledgeable argument on the ethics of war.  Millie F (CDS) won the award for best junior chairperson for her sensitive and good-humoured role chairing the debate ‘Are females better than males?’

In the senior competition, Onslow St Audrey’s team took away the Senior prize for their brilliant discussion of the topic ‘Digital ID: The Uk’s Panacea or Poison?’ which challenged the audience to think deeply about both sides of the argument. Tanvi P impressed everyone with her confident control of the debate and took the prize for best overall senior chairperson, despite being the youngest person in the whole competition -  a Year 7 competing in a team with Year 10s.  The prize for best senior opposer went to Natalia G (TJWS) arguing against the proposal that paper books are better than ebooks - a difficult argument which she presented with authority and conviction.  The final prize, for best senior proposer, went to Malik K (OSA) for one of the most memorable speeches of the night on the topic ‘Is Freedom of Speech Dying?’ - superb content and delivery of an exceptionally high standard.

 Congratulations to all of the participants and thanks to Claire Weetman for hosting, as well as all of the teachers involved in preparing their teams.  In adjudicator Ameeta’s words:

“The standard of the competition was exceptionally high, and I believe it provided invaluable experience for all participants. It was a delight to listen to their well-prepared and thoroughly researched speeches, and it was evident that a great deal of effort, thought, and commitment had gone into their presentations. The competition created a wonderful platform for participants to develop and showcase their communication skills, and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the experience”

The competition will return next year to be hosted at Croxley Danes in the summer term.