Private School News

Rotary Annual Conference – Jersey

This weekend the Farnborough Hill public speaking team and their coach, Mrs Lori Winch-Johnson, were delighted to be invited to join Rotary International District 1250 at their 28th Annual Conference in Jersey. The girls were participating as the Youth Speaks Senior Schools winners of 2008-9. The conference programme promised the delegates
‘Chairperson: Joanna Belcher, Speaker: Tegwen Gabb, and Proposer of vote of thanks: Elizabeth Nash will charm and excite you with their enthusiastic and eloquent way of speaking.’ The girls did not disappoint. In fact, Chairman, Jo Belcher, chaired an entire plenary session entitled ‘Youth Opportunities, the Future of Rotary’. One delegate said ‘Jo did an incredibly good job of chairing the session and did Farnborough Hill proud.’

Tegwen’s speech was entitled ‘The Future of Rotary is in the Hands of the Young.’ She began by saying how daunting she found this idea to be – the thought that her generation were being entrusted with so many responsibilities, and being asked solve many of the world’s problems. However upon reflection she decided that William Wordsworth’s ‘The child is father of the man’ was a better interpretation, suggesting that the experiences of our childhood and youth are important because they serve to guide us in the future. Tegwen believes that Rotarians influence the lives of teenagers in ways no-one will ever expect and that the experiences which Rotary International offers will change them, the way they view themselves, and even the world around them. Tegwen’s speech was extremely well received. Elizabeth Nash, fellow-student, said ‘Tegwen’s amazing speech, for which she did not use her notes once, blew the audience away and her response to the question posed to her was concise and intelligent. Our final presentation as a team went without a hitch and we couldn’t have been happier.’

The team and Mrs Winch-Johnson were able to sample the delights of Jersey and the conference during the weekend. They attended the conference barn dance, enjoyed the hotel spa and had a delicious cream tea at the Grand Hotel. Mrs Winch-Johnson added ‘I am so proud of Tegwen, Joanna and Elizabeth. They have always given of their best and performed exceptionally well. I am delighted that the Rotarians honoured them with this invitation to address the conference and to show how talented they are. As a school, Farnborough Hill enjoys the association with the Rotary and taking part in the Youth Speaks competitions and I am really looking forward to this year’s competitions with new teams.’

Picture(l to r): Tegwen Gabb, Joanna Belcher and Elizabeth Nash