The Chrystall Carter Prize public-speaking competition brings together Year 11 pupils from across GDST schools to speak on the most pressing debates in modern society. This year’s South London semi-final, hosted by Croydon High brought together speakers from Blackheath High, Croydon High, Sutton High and Sydenham High to compete for a place in the GDST-wide finals. 

Sutton High’s Darshanaa opened the competition with an impassioned speech about “Why feminism remains important today” where she explored how, since moving to a GDST school, she realised she had been self-silencing to live up to the societal norm of girls not taking up too much space.  Seraphina from Sydenham High followed the theme with her talk “What is the ‘Pink Tax’ and what can be done to avoid it?” in which she considered how we all have a role in ending the financial inequalities facing women as consumers. Arwa from Croydon High also drew on her personal experience for her speech entitled “Don’t look away – a fear of the other”, a challenging exploration of how Muslim girls are treated in the UK today. Blackheath High’s Ellie closed the competition with an exceptionally well-researched and argued speech on “Trickle-down economics: is there a better way?”, deftly handling questions from the judges and audience on whether a higher tax regime could boost economic growth in the UK. 

The overall standard was incredibly high, with all speakers sharing a message that both inspired and challenged their audience.  Darshanaa took first place and will advance to the finals next month, while Arwa was named runner-up and will be a reserve for the final. Congratulations to all competitors and we can’t wait to hear about the finals. 

The Chrystall Carter Public Speaking competition has been running since 2001 and is named after Chrystall Carter, Legal Adviser to the GDST for nine years until her death in 1999. Chrystall passionately believed in the power of reasoned argument, and the competition honours her memory by providing a platform for girls to build confidence and have their voices heard.