Pupils Pleasing Performance

Date published: 06 April 2011


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Youngsters were in fine voice as they took to the stage for the Oldham Primary Schools 27th Choral Speaking Festival.

The two-day event, which is the biggest of its kind, saw thousands of children from many schools across the area perform well-rehearsed poems old and new.

The first festival took place in 1985. It was started by the Oldham Metro Rotarians and has since seen over 40,000 children aged between 4 and 11 take part. Some parents in the audience remember performing in the festival themselves, and although some of the poems have changed, the same sense of group achievement still remains.

Each group chose two contrasting poems and were marked by professional adjudicator Ann Warr. Both Ann and Master of Ceremonies Mel Farrar were thoroughly impressed by the high standard this year- that just keeps getting better.

The “clarity of diction in all age groups has improved year on year”, Ann commented, and “many classes used the space on the stage to excellent effect with some very strong teamwork creating really nice visual pictures. The way the children were grouped on stage to enable all to be seen was much better than in previous years.”

For more information about entering next year please contact Oldham Metro Rotarians.

To hear interviews and clips of poems from the festival, please play the slideshow.