Speech

Example response (about 400 words — speech arguing FOR outdoor play)

Good morning, Ms Cho, teachers, and fellow students.

How many of you have eaten lunch, then sat indoors until the bell — legs restless, brain foggy, ready to burst? I am here today to argue that every student deserves at least twenty minutes of unstructured outdoor play after lunch — not as a treat, but as part of how this school takes learning seriously.

First, movement after eating helps us focus in the afternoon. Last term, 5 Blue trialled ten extra minutes on the oval after lunch. Our teacher reported fewer arguments and faster starts to maths — because we had already burned off silliness outside. Play is not the opposite of work; it is the warm-up for work.

Second, unstructured time teaches skills no worksheet can. When we organise a handball court or build a fort from crates, we negotiate rules, include younger kids, and fix problems without an adult script. Those are leadership habits — not "wasted" minutes.

I know some will say the timetable is already full, or that the oval gets crowded. Crowding is a planning problem, not a reason to ban play. Stagger year groups, open the basketball courts, and train senior students as play leaders. A crowded oval is proof we need the space, not proof we should stay inside.

So here is my call to action. Vote this week in the student suggestion box for a four-week trial: twenty minutes outside for every class, rain plan included. Teachers, measure afternoon engagement. Students, use the time well.

Let's stop treating lunch as the end of learning and start treating it as the reset button. Thank you.

Example response (about 420 words — speech)

Good evening, parents, carers, and teachers. My name is Samira Okonkwo; my daughter is in Year 4. I am not here to pretend that closing our library for a term is painless — I am here to ask you to help us get through that term together, because what we rebuild matters for every child who will sit in these classrooms after us.

Yes, the refurbishment will cost $240,000 and the library will close. During that time, only one portable room will be available for quiet reading. That sounds stark — because it is. But a patched roof and twenty-year-old carpet are not a plan; they are a delay. Our students deserve a space built for how they learn now: research, clubs, storytelling, and calm reading without a leaking ceiling above their heads.

A library is not a room of shelves — it is where children learn to think on their own. Last month I watched Year 3 students argue kindly over a science book they had chosen themselves. No teacher told them whose turn it was; the library taught them. If we postpone repairs again, we teach something else: that books can wait, but they cannot.

Here is the part that should give us hope. The P&C has already raised $38,000. Riverside Council will match up to $50,000 if our community raises the rest by 30 June. That is not a distant dream — it is arithmetic we can finish if every family gives what it can and spreads the word.

Some will ask whether we should spend on sport instead. I say we are not choosing sport or literacy; we are choosing whether our school still has a heart that works in winter, when screens are loudest and reading is most needed.

So this is my call to action. Come to the public meeting on Tuesday 18 June at 6:30 pm in the hall — bring one question and one offer. This week, fill a pledge card, share the online fundraiser, and tell one neighbour why the match matters.

Our children will not remember the term the library was closed. They will remember the term their community opened something better. Thank you.