Festival of Speech 2026

Festival of Speech 2026

As the jacarandas bloom, SCEGGS’ public speakers and debaters prepare for the IGSA Festival of Speech and this year was no exception.  This year’s festival was large, with debating and a range of public speaking events being held. 

Friday night debating was hosted at Meriden and our two teams proceeded to the quarter finals on Saturday.  The Junior Team made it to the Quarter-Final where they were unfortunately knocked out, but spoke excellently.  The Senior Debaters were runners-up in the Grand Final, an outstanding result!

Saturday’s events were held at PLC Sydney. Our Junior speakers (Years 7-9) were:

  • Charlotte Randall (Year 8) – Soapbox
  • Violet Pendlebury-Simmons (Year 7) – Poetry
  • Siena Walsh (Year 8) – Public Speaking
  • Sarah Yun (Year 9) – Reading

The Junior Team won their division, placing first overall in each section listed above. Individual results were:

  • Siena Walsh – third
  • Sarah Yun – second
  • Violet Pendlebury-Simmons – first.

Congratulations to our Junior Speakers – we very proud of you all!

Over in the Senior Division we were represented by:

Individual Sections

  • Jessica Gallie (Year 11) – Public Speaking
  • Josie Grayden (Year 11)  – Soapbox
  • Olivia Phillips (Year 10) – Poetry
  • Isha Singh (Year 11) – Reading 

Religious and Ethical Questions Team

  • Ava Dua (Year 11)
  • Giulia Peroni (Year 11)
  • Harriet Christie (Year 11)

Current Affairs Team

  • Isobel Weston (Year 10)
  • Josephine Hatherall (Year 10)
  • Scarlett White (Year 11)

Jessica Gallie and Josie Grayden both placed third in their divisions. 

Overall, SCEGGS came a close second to Abbotsleigh. 

The Festival of Speech is a team event and every speaker, whether they place or not, contributes to the overall result so thank you and congratulations to all. 

A huge thank you to Dynielle Whitney, Suvini Kottegoda and the debating coaches for preparing and organising the Debaters and Religious and Ethical Questions teams.  It is a huge amount of work and without everyone coming together, we wouldn’t be able to do it. 

Elizabeth Walsh
Speech and Public Speaking