By Nanthana L and Nirupama K, Year 13

Over the past 8 months, students had an amazing opportunity to take part in the TED Ed programme. This programme was an extensive course on public speaking but also researching and presenting topics effectively. We had regular engaging sessions where we were able to watch and analyse talks in order to help identify key skills needed. We then were able to put those skills into practice by having various activities. These exercises were great fun to help us get out of our comfort zone. After a few sessions we started developing our own Ted talk, and with the help of Miss Gordon and Mr Ali we made great progress. Key skills such as the importance of a through line and using an anecdote to keep the audience engaged were pivotal when creating our speech. Overall, these sessions really helped us get feedback on our ideas and practise our public speaking with structured advice from peers and teachers.

On the 23rd September, 18 TED Edder’s took to stage their speech on topics they found fascinating. Overall the evening was a success with talks ranging from the ‘invisible threat of microplastic’ to ‘Mayans civilisation’. The evening started off with setting the stage, with our incredible host, Mr Ali, we were able to get comfortable and confident with our setting. These speeches were a testament to the hard work everyone put in and we had to celebrate with pizza afterwards.

My favourite memory of this experience was definitely the evening of the speeches but also the sessions where we all started researching different topics and being able to come together and have a discussion regarding our individual findings. I learnt lots of new intriguing facts on topics that I have not heard before!

To conclude, the TED Ed programme was an exciting opportunity for us students to have a chance to showcase our passion whilst practising essential skills. The freedom of choosing our own topic was refreshing as everyone had their own niche subject, which made the experience even more enjoyable. This is an opportunity that I highly recommend to future students and would like to thank Miss Gordon and Mr Ali for organising it.

TED Ed Topics:

The ancient Mayan secret to life

A Picture is worth a thousand words

What makes you alive?

Where’s the money in mushrooms?

Is it possible for rehabilitation programs to replace the current prison system

Would a universal language work

The strategy of survival

Diving Blind: Chinese debt traps and Sri Lankan corruption

Health without borders

Why is poetry the crown of literature?

Immigration and identity

We all influence the novels of today. New Historicism and my take on it

An invisible threat: microplastics

Growing up multilingual

The art of conquering bitcoin

How has technology impacted society?

Should rapid technological innovation slow down?

How effective is online misogynists’ use of Myths and Classical ideas?