The Senior Speech Trophy Competition
- from Phoenix 69 [undated - assumed post-October 1969]

On the evening of Wednesday the seventh of May the school held Its annual speech trophy competition. Mr. Dunham, chairman of the Phoenicians Society, took the chair.

The audience who deigned to attend was particularly small, no more than about fifty and although the weatherwas not at all pleasant,a larger gathering was anticipated and would have been appreciated.

Keith Barbrook opened the evening1 s entertainment with a speech about the "End of Life'. This speech was obviously well prepared with good content and excellently delivered. Following.Keithwe had uiane Cowgill speaking about 'Guys and Dolls'. Again this was a very good speech with an outstanding vocabulary. Diane delivered the speech fluently and audibly and she expressed her views clearly but concisely. Peter Durrans was next speaking on the topic of'Student Power'*. This was a long speech and at times it was delivered rather stiltedly. Apart from this though Peter's speech was most interesting and often interspersed with humour. John Fenn spoke next on the subject of 'Religion in Schools'. The content of John's speech was excellent and it was presented very forcefully. John's speech was highly professional and well polished, obviously having been well planned. Martin Hewitt next gave us a long speech entitled, 'Too Much and Too Many'. After a 'shaky' beginning he warmed well to his task. Gerard Nolan spoke next about the 'End of Life'.Gerard relied somewhat on his notes but nevertheless argued well to produce an entertaining speech full of interesting ideas about this particular topic. Gerard's brother Thomas followed next and his speech was about 'A Modern Decalogue'. Thomas' speech was delivered in a clear and audible voice and was not too long. He kept well to the point and the result was a good concise speech. Gordon Powell was next to speak and his subject was 'Religion in Schools'. Gordon spoke confidently and clearly and his speech had an excellent content. This speech was delivered very smoothly and could easily be heard by people sitting at the back of the hall. David Reading next gave us a speech about 'Too Much and Too Many'. The content of David's speech was good but unfortunately his presentation was rather stumbling. David's sister, Marilyn, was last but one and her speech was about 'A Modern Decalogue'. This, like so many of the evening's speeches, was extremely good. The theme of the speech was well sustained and again the presentation was good. Louise Rogers concluded the speeches with an entertaining delivery upon the topic of 'A Modern Decalogue'. This speech was very well thought out and was full of humour all the way through.

The Judges at this stage retired to decide upon the final placings. Not unexpectedly John Fenn won the competition with Marilyn Reading a worthy second. Peter Durrans took third place. Miss Carter, who was invited along to help judge the speeches then spoke about each of the speakers in turn offering praise arid advice to the competitors. She especially bestowed praise upon Keith Barbrook expressing how close he came to taking third place. Miss Carter next said a few words about the speeches in general. She thought that the standard of English at Drayton Manor must be exceptionally high for so many good speeches to have been produced. Finally she expressed her gratitude at having been invited to help Dr. Evans and Mr. Johnson judge the competition. She said it had been an exciting and stimulating experience. Mr. Dunham ended the evening's entertainment by thanking Miss Carter for having attended to help adjudicate.

A. Offord. VB.

* Peter Durrans' speech was reprinted in the Original Work section of Phoenix 69 and can be read here.