The Islington Regional Finals of the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge was held at Highbury Fields School on Tuesday, 5th December. Mazen and Mylo took part in a workshop delivered by the speaker’s trust before delivering their speeches in the final.
George Vizitiu, who came 2nd in the competition last year, participated as one of the guest judges alongside, ex Central student and now actor, Idris Sobande, as well as many others.
The Judges’ Panel
17 students participated from Highbury Fields School, St Aloysius RC College, Beacon High School, Arts and Media School Islington, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School, St Mary Magdalene Academy and City of London Academy Highbury Grove.
Mazen gave a speech questioning our amount of screen time.
Mylo spoke on spending time on hobbies that support schoolwork.
Both boys were excellent – with Mazen winning 1st place! As a winner, Mazen is among the top 0.2% of young public speakers in London and Essex.
Mazen being awarded his prize by local MP Jeremy Corbyn and actor Idris Sobande.
The process moving forward is as follows – the Speaker’s Trust hold 37 Regional Finals throughout London and Essex and from 37 Regional Champions, 15 will be selected to go through to the Grand Final on 8th July 2024. These 15 will be selected by an expert panel at the semi final in June 2024 who will watch all 37 videos and judge them on the same four criteria as they were judged at the Regional Final: content, delivery, structure and positive impact.
All Regional Champions will then be notified in June as to whether they’ve been selected for the Grand Final.