The final of Fern Speak Fesival 2016 took place last week in school infront of a panel of judges.

We started with Own Poem and the performers had created sensitive and thoughtful poems with great mastery of language. Memorable moments included a beautiful poem in French and some excellent descriptive poems. What stood out, this year, was the poise of all our performers. It takes commitment and courage to stand up and perform to an audience, but, each year, our festival shows children with really impressive presence and skill. Our Poem by Heart category included some great entertainers, full of energy and dramatic skill as well as feats of learning longer poems by heart.

This year’s Public Speaking included: Great Grandad in World War 1, Lego, Fear, Teachers versus Footballers and If I was Prime Minister. Our speakers had their audience listening spellbound; you could have heard a pin drop in the Hall.

Our Drama performers, this year, showed great focus and entertained us with a wide range of monologues and duologues. The judges particularly commented on the concentration and energy; we believed in the characters, laughed and were moved by their stories.

It has been a pleasure to direct Fern Speak and watch these performances develop. The Finals are only a fraction of the numbers who take part in earlier stages and Heats. You should all be very proud of yourselves, both the children for whom this was their first event and those who are desperate to be involved every year. What a fantastic display of skill and learning!

Cath Howe