Concours d'Art Oratoir

Concours d'Art Oratoire

On 17 March, five Year 8 pupils: Jordan Thomas, Annabel Martirossian, Sophie Edwards, Tracy Quao and Vincent Langley, took part in a French poetry competition called ‘Concours d'Art Oratoire'.

The children had to learn off by heart a presentation of their choice and a poem from a famous French author (Victor Hugo or Jacques Privert to name a few) which they then had to present to a panel of judges.

The day started off with some light refreshments followed by an Orgue demonstration in the school chapel where an impressive version of the French national anthem was performed. After that, the ‘Concour' started officially with ‘the presentations' followed by a short break before the recitation of the poems. The pupils were then invited to a very interesting ‘Demonstration d'escrine' (fencing) before the final prize giving.

All the participants who volunteered to enter this competition should be congratulated for their outstanding efforts. Learning a poem in a foreign language is clearly a huge challenge and presenting it in front of an audience can be a daunting experience.

Overall, 30 pupils from 7 different schools took part in the competition and I am delighted to announce that Tracy Quao achieved third position with her presentation, and Annabel Martirossian and Jordan Thomas achieved a second position with their poem (which was a joint performance).