The annual Speech and Drama Festival was hosted last week, 6 -10 November, in the Belmont Hotel, Banbridge.
St Mary's had over 100 children who participated at individual or group level, in this competition. The Principal and staff of our school are so very proud of all the boys and girls who were involved in this significant public speaking event. The standard was exceptionally high. Many of our pupils won medals and certificates of achievements in their individual classes. Well done to each and everyone of you.
Kathy Colgan, our Speech and Drama teacher, entered a group of children, including some of the older boys and girls from her drama group, to represent our school in the group classes of 'Good Conversation,' 'Dramatisation of a Poem' and Choral Speaking. Imagine the delight when the children achieved first place in all of these categories at primary school level. One of the highlights of the festival was "The Clown Show," which received one of eight golden tickets to return on Friday night to the Belmont, and perform in the Battle of the Champions. Eight memorable acts delighted the audience with miming, singing, dancing and acting. It was such a treat for all there. After all the performances, it was up to the audience to cast their votes to find an outright winner. That winner was the cast of THE CLOWN SHOW.
Not only did we win the McKay-McKenny Cup for the audience appeal but we took home an array of silverware:
- The Gillen Shield, awarded for the Dramatisation of a poem, The Clowns, by Margo Bosenay.
- The Anderson Cup, awarded for group choral speaking, The Visitor, by Jack Prelutsky and The Land of the Bumbley Boo, by Spike Milligan.
- The Lockhart Shield, awarded to our Senior Learning Support Class for their dramatization of the story, Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes.
- The INTO trophy, awarded to the school that appeals most in any group, St Mary's Primary School, Banbridge.
- The Armstrong Cup, awarded for the most promising speaker(s), in primary school, The Visitor.
- £100 bursary, awarded to the primary school with the highest overall marks of the festival, St Mary's, Banbridge.
Such an impressive haul of awards for our wee school!! We are so excited to be able to show off this collection to our school community.
What is Speech and Drama?
Speech is communicating with one another, and drama is choosing an interesting way to express it. Fear of speaking in public or socialising with peers is not uncommon for children. They are anxious, afraid of being ridiculed or being the centre of attention. The truth is, these fears will remain with children and develop long into adulthood–if not challenged.
Speech and Drama builds or develops confidence, self-esteem, social skills and conversational ability. It also teaches empathy, providing opportunities for children to experience the world from perspectives outside their own. Speech and Drama lessons are not meant just for reserved children but for the exuberant ones too. Drama is a wonderful way through which they can channel their energies to find innovative methods of creating and expressing!
The benefits of Speech and Drama are obvious. Children become self-confident and at the same time become good communicators!
Through Speech and Drama…
Children develop:
Accurate speech skills
Oral presentation skills
Reading ability
Social skills
Children become:
Self-confident
Good communicators
Creative
Expressive
Whether your child is reserved or exuberant, Speech and Drama is a wonderful way for children to express themselves, which they may not be able to do in a regular classroom setting, further encouraging their imagination by playing ‘dress-up’, where the children experiment with and act as the characters they are learning about. In that way they learn how to characterise and dramatise. They become enthusiastic performers. They gain the courage to step out of the box.
We have a well-established drama club in St Mary's under the expertise and guidance of Kathy Colgan: Kathy is a well -respected teacher from The Sheridan Stage School and has a wealth of talent in the field of performing arts. Her next venture is the celebration of the First Christmas. In the New Year, Kathy is thrilled to be able to offer our children the opportunity to enter both solo and group examinations with the New Era Academy, London's Examining Board. Disciplines include, Musical Theatre, Acting, Speech and Drama, as well as communication exams for our children with special and educational needs.
We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Kathy for her passion and dedication to our pupils and we know that we are very privileged to be able to avail of her talent and skills.
Our local newspaper, The Banbridge Chronicle was in school today and has taken group photographs of all the individual performers and group categories. Watch out for this week's news!
A rapturous round of applause for Team St Mary's - Together We Achieve More!
See the 'Gallery Section' for more photographs.
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