Rostrum Australia - ACT Primary Schools Speaking Competition

The Rostrum ACT Primary Schools Speaking Competition

Great news for primary school students! The Rostrum Primary School Speaking Competition is going ahead in 2021 after cancellation in 2020 due to the Covid crisis.

Please register your school by 23 April 2021 using the online registration form available at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSerxQkQqaRXkK-hp5Ri2QXry6ZM8Mcvhq3Nht5lGqMwRvAhMw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&gxids=7628

Rostrum has been running a Primary Schools Speaking Competition for nearly 50 years for schools in the ACT and surrounding areas of New South Wales. Each school is invited to enter one competitor into the competition after running a selection process in their own school.

School Finals are held at each participating school at a time and date of their choosing. School Finals shall select a Winner and Reserve. (The Reserve is needed in case the Winner is unable to attend the Quarter Final).

The Quarter and Semi Finals are held in the evening at a host school. Topics for the Quarter and Semi Finals are provided by Rostrum. Each student speaks for 3 minutes with a warning bell at 2 minutes. Rostrum adjudicators will assess each speech and determine the Winner and Runner Up, both of whom will proceed to the next round.

The Grand Final will be held on 6 September at a venue to be determined.

All competitors receive a certificate at the Quarter Final, Semi-Final, and Grand Final. The Grand Final winner and runner up receive medallions and trophies, and the winning school will receive the Perpetual Shield to hold for the next year.

School Finals are conducted by each participating school at their discretion but before 31 May. Quarter and Semi Finals are conducted at host schools in the evening from June to August. Details of venues and dates for the Quarter Finals will be forwarded to schools after all Registrations have been received. The Grand Final will be held on 6 September at a venue to be advised.

How to register:

This is the link to the online registration form for the 2021 competition - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSerxQkQqaRXkK-hp5Ri2QXry6ZM8Mcvhq3Nht5lGqMwRvAhMw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&gxids=7628

Please register your school by 23 April and advise the name of your school finalist by 31 May. If you need any further information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Topics for the Quarter and Semi Finals:

A better way

Assistance animals

Cars of the future

Escape from the city

Glaciers

Going to Mars

I took a big risk

The Year of the Ox

Topics for the Grand Final will be advised two weeks prior to the Grand Final.

Venues for the Quarter and Semi Finals

Quarter and Semi Finals are conducted at host schools in the evening.

The success of the Rostrum Primary School Competition means that we now have about 90 schools participating each year. To give each school finalist and the Rostrum judges a fair chance we like to have about 8 schools competing in each of the quarter and semi-finals. In practice, this entails 12 quarter finals and 4 semi-finals.

This means we require 14 school venues for finals. It is of considerable assistance to us if we have more than 14 offers as this helps us to schedule only one final per evening. If your school hosts a quarter final, your competitor will be able to compete at your venue. Rostrum will work with host schools to ensure compliance with all COVID requirements and restrictions.

How do you help?

Simply indicate your willingness to host a quarter final or semi-final on the online Registration Form, and your preferred dates, Monday to Thursday evenings. The more offers we have the easier and quicker it will be to produce a finals program meeting everyone's needs.