RIBI Youth Speaks 2015

A Public Speaking Competition

Mid Herts Rotary Heats

INTRODUCTION TO THE 2015 COMPETITION

Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) has, for many years, run public speaking competitions for young people.  Public speaking is an important life skill and is one that Rotarians value.  Rotarians are always delighted to support and celebrate the expertise of young people.

Each year, thousands of young people take part in events that culminate in the regional and RIBI finals to which participants travel from throughout the British Isles to take part. It is a wonderful demonstration of the achievement of those taking part and a great experience of their speaking talent..

We are inviting teams to take the first step on that journey by entering the Mid Herts Rotary heats of the competition, the winners of which will go on to the District semi-finals in February and hopefully to the further levels.

The Intermediate competition is open to students aged 11 to 13 years at 31st August 2014 and the Senior competition to those aged 14 to 17 on the same date.

Teams consist of three young people. The Chairperson has two minutes to welcome the audience, to introduce the Speaker and to inform the audience of the relevance or expertise of the Speaker to the subject of his/her speech.  The Speaker has six minutes for the address and a maximum of two minutes to consider and answer a question that will be posed by a Questioner.  The third member of the team proposes a vote of thanks and comments on the content of the speech and the answer to the question.

The Speaker is free to choose any subject approved by the organisers, with the exception of subjects directly concerning party politics, race or religion. Considerable discretion is urged in the choice of subjects which might be sensitive to members of the audience. 

Entries should be sent to midhertsrotary@ymail.com using the entry form (obtainable from midhertsrotary@ymail.com) by Monday 10^th November.

The competition aims to offer young people:

¨       An experience of speaking on a public platform as members of a team.

¨       An incentive to formulate ideas on significant subjects.

¨       The discipline of dealing with a topic in a limited time.

¨       The opportunity of learning and practising high standards of expression, presentation and appearance.

¨       The impartial criticism and assessment of performance by experienced adjudicators.

Each team comprises three members: 

          the chairperson, 

          the speaker 

 and the proposer of the vote of thanks. 

The team should be the same throughout the competition. In exceptional circumstances substitutions may be made, subject to the approval of the competition organiser.

Each team member is allocated a time in which to perform their role, 2 minutes each for the chairperson and proposer of the vote of thanks, and 6 minutes for the speaker.  The speaker also has 2 minutes to answer a question posed by a questioner.

The winners and some runners-up (depending on the number of teams competing) will go on to the District Semi-Final and hopefully further, to the District, Regional and National Finals.

If you would like a full set of the rules and an entry form, please email midhertsrotary@ymail.com

Mid Herts Rotary Activities 2014-15

A new year and another chance to get involved!

The calendar below shows all the events and when they are coming up.  There are descriptions of each event below the calendar in the same order.  Have a look and see what you fancy.

(In case you wonder, RIBI is the national Rotary organisation, Rotary in Britain and Ireland.)

Calendar of Events 2014-15

Youth Speaks                                    Entries by Monday 10^th November 2014. 

Local heat w/c Monday 17th November 2014

Young Chef                                       Entries by Friday 23rd January 2015

                                                            Cook-off Saturday 7^th February 2015

Young Photographer                        Entries by Friday 23rd January 2015

Young Citizen Awards                     Proposals by Friday 30th January 2015

Young Writer                                    Entries by Friday 20th February 2015

Technology Tournament                  Tuesday 3rd March 2015 (TBC)

Welwyn Hatfield Rotary Walk        Sunday 26^th April 2015

Young Digital Artist                          Entries by Sunday 31^st May 2015

Rotary Young Leaders Award        A weekend late June/early July 2015 (TBC)

Youth Speaks Local Heats –w/c Monday 17th November 2015

This popular and long-established public-speaking competition has been entered by many local secondary schools and other groups in previous years.  We plan to hold two heats, one essentially for Brookmans Park/Potters Bar, the other for Welwyn/Hatfield.  (We may amalgamate the two heats if there are insufficient entries for two decent competitions.)  Teams of three are needed, a main speaker, a chairperson and a proposer of a vote of thanks.  There are two age groups, Intermediate (approximately Key Stage 3) and Senior (approximately Key Stage 4 & 5).  The local competition winners can progress to district, regional and national stages of the competition.  Teams may speak on any subject with the exception of those directly concerning party politics, race or religion. Details are at http://ribi.org/what-we-do/youth-competitions-and-awards/ribi-youth-speaks   Deadline for entries is Monday 10^th November.  

This well-established competition is sponsored by Waitrose and Filippo Berio.  Entrants have to submit a menu and the judges then select the best six.  (We would encourage schools to hold their own competition with our help, in which case the school winner will get automatic entry to the cook-off.)  The six selected competitors then cook their menu at a cook-off on Saturday morning 8^th February 2014 within a two-hour time limit.  The competitors are provided with a voucher to cover the cost of ingredients and the winner goes on to district and potentially regional and national finals.  Details are at http://ribi.org/what-we-do/youth-competitions-and-awards/ribi-young-chef   The deadline for entries is Friday 25^th January 2013 and the cook-off is planned for Saturday 8^th February. 

Competitors have to submit a portfolio of 3 photographs on the theme of “Light up the Community”* in colour or black and white on photographic paper.. Each print should be submitted separately and, including any mount should be no larger than A4 size, with a 50 word description of what inspired them.  The competition runs in three age groups, Junior (approximately Key Stage 2), Intermediate (approximately Key Stage 3) and Senior (approximately Key Stage 4 & 5).  Competitors have to submit 3 different prints along with digital copies.  Further details are at http://midhertsrotary.blogspot.com/ The deadline for entries is Friday 23rd January 2015.

                                   

*We should all be responsible for helping our communities. There are community projects, fundraising, displays, activities and events which raise money or offer help to local communities. These efforts are helped and assisted by volunteers who Light up the Community with their hard work and time. No actual examples are shown here as it is up to the individual competitors to show their interpretation of the chosen topic.

Please note: Photographs which include people under 18 years old must be accompanied by written permission from the parent, guardian or carer of the person photographed.   Photographs will not be returned unless specifically requested.

The Rotary Young Citizen Awards, which have been going for some 10 years, have recently received some publicity on television as they are now sponsored by the BBC News channel.  We are keen to recognise the achievements of your students in school or in the local community.  If you know of individuals or groups who you feel are worthy of wider recognition, please email us at midhertsrotary@ymail.com.  It may be that they qualify for the national Rotary competition, details of which are at http://ribi.org/what-we-do/youth-competitions-and-awards/ribi-young-citizen-awards , in which case we will be pleased to put them forward.  Proposals are needed by Friday 31^st January 2015 but email us as soon as possible

.

This is another well-established competition.  This year young authors are being asked to produce a written or typed story in prose entitled Light Up The Community. “We should all be responsible for helping one another in our communities. Please write a story about a project in your community which you know about or a suggested project in your community which will help others and improve the community. Your entry could include fundraising for a project but it must say what the project was is/was and how it has or will Light up the Community”.  An A4 page or 500 hundred words is a suggested suitable submission.

The competition runs in three age groups, Junior (approximately Key Stage 2), Intermediate (approximately Key Stage 3) and Senior (approximately Key Stage 4 & 5).  Further details are at http://ribi.org/what-we-do/youth-competitions-and-awards/ribi-young-writer  The deadline for entries is Friday 20th February 2015.

This competition has been running successfully for many years and most of the local schools have entered.  Teams of four have to design, build and document a solution to a problem posed on the day.  At the end of the day the various solutions are demonstrated and winners chosen.  Details are at http://ribi.org/what-we-do/youth-competitions-and-awards/ribi-technology-tournament   This year’s local competition will probably be on Tuesday 3rd March 2014 (TBC).

Welwyn Hatfield Rotary Walk, Sunday 27^th April 2015

This event is open to all individuals and groups who wish to raise money for a charity or project through a sponsored walk, an ideal way of raising money without the hassle of having to organise the walk yourselves!  There is a choice of 7-mile or 11-mile routes, or a 2-mile suitable for very young or disabled participants, all starting at Campus West car park in Welwyn GC and following a gloriously scenic route through Sherrardswood, Brocket Hall park, bluebell woods and along the River Lea.  75% of what you raise goes to your chosen project and 25% to Rotary charities.  Why not organise a group to come and take part?  An excellent social activity as well as a fund-raiser.  Or perhaps a warm-up hike for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award?  Details at http://www.whwalk.org.uk/  

                      Young Digital Artist

 

This is a purely local competition now in its fifth year.  We are looking for digital artefacts (manipulated still pictures, movies, web pages or complete websites) that have that touch of artistic flair as well as demonstrating technical skill.  There are three age groups, Junior (approximately Key Stage 3), Intermediate (approximately Key Stage 4) and Senior (approximately Key Stage 5).  It is quite acceptable to enter coursework though the assessment criteria will be different from public examinations.  As well as gift voucher prizes, we hope to be able to offer the winners the chance to work with a local graphic design company.  The deadline for entries is 31^st May 2015.  Details at http://midhertsrotary.blogspot.com/

Rotary Young Leaders Award

a weekend at the end of June or beginning of July 2015.

A weekend “Outward Bound”-type experience run by the RAF Regiment at RAF Henlow for 18-30 year olds sponsored by their local Rotary club.   Let us know you are interested at midhertsrotary@ymail.com. 

Further information is at http://ribi.org/what-we-do/youth-competitions-and-awards/ryla-rotary-youth-leadership-awards