English Olympiad brings together Poetry, Speeches, Debates and Drama

At the end of March, our annual English Olympiad was held at Hethersett Academy for Inspiration Trust secondary students. English-related performances and displays touched on the whole range of our curriculum across the day, a true celebration of the subject.

The day began with poetry recitals from the four categories, Apollo (a performance of an existing poem), Thoth (an original student-written poem), Dionysus (performance poem written by a student) and group performance. This formed The Calliope Award and students were encouraged to read, write and perform poetry to our supportive audience full of their peers. Every performance was spectacular with a diverse range of themes and ideas on display, ranging from classic poems to thought-provoking originals.

After the poetry there was time for the speech and debate competitions, the theme of the speeches this year was “My Truth”. A selection of students were asked to deliver their speech in front of the audience and panel of judges. Simultaneously, the debate competition was taking place in an adjoining room, The Inspire Student Symposium saw teams prepared for an electric debate tournament. Students were given their debate topic and faced off, with winners decided by a panel of judges.

Closing the day was our 10-minute play performances, based on the theme of “Greek Theatre”. The range of acting performances was outstanding with lots of creative ideas used to build on the theme. We saw interpretations of myths and legends, including a minotaur, Helen of Troy and even Zeus!

As part of the end-of-day awards ceremony, the annual reading initiative – The Inspire Ribbon, was awarded. This initiative was led by the librarians of our academies and engaged students in a reading group at their respective schools. A select group of texts were chosen to be discussed and celebrated at the Olympiad. These awards recognised readers for engagement within the initiative and their commitment to reading.

Throughout the day the supporting environment and audience created a welcoming atmosphere for all of our performers and speakers. Numerous different topics were covered and ranged from legendary poetry to futuristic ideas, with many thought-provoking and personal stories told as well. This type of event is so crucial for students to be able to express themselves in a way that is often not afforded in a curriculum that has more focus on written word rather than the spoken, with the vast majority of our students excited to have an opportunity to take part in a day immersed in their favourite subject.