For the second year in a row, a Woori Yallock Primary School student has won the Rotary Inter School Speech Competition grand final.
On Wednesday 26 November, grade five student Dixi Schaak-Taylor delivered an eloquent speech on the effects of gambling advertising on young people at Doncaster Secondary College, beating out 12 other schools from the eastern suburbs.
Speaking with a clarity better than most politicians, Dixi said she was proud to have achieved something for Woori Yallock Primary School.
“I feel very privileged, because there’s only been one other person who has won this competition at Woori and I feel like I’ve accomplished a big thing for myself as well as the school,” she said.
Having come out on top against local schools in the Healesville Rotary Club’s Inter School Speech Competition earlier this year, Dixi then faced the winners of other local level competitions.
But – in true public speaker fashion, the bigger the stage, the better she performed.
“I think I went really well compared to when I spoke at the rotary because I had forgotten a paragraph, but at this one I spoke confidently and I didn’t forget anything.”
Woori Yallock Primary School principal Oliver Thockloth said he couldn’t be more proud of Dixi.
“I would have never been able to do it at her age, and it’s just wonderful to see that she actually loves it and really enjoys the stage and being in front of people.
“Once you get to the grand final, the speakers are very polished speakers… they’re better than politicians, some of these speeches that you actually see, and the clever use of storytelling also becomes a part of it,” Mr Thockloth said.
Woori Yallock Primary School has encouraged students to learn public speaking skills for 13 years when it first joined Healesville Rotary Club’s Inter School Speech Competition.
“As a school we wanted to make sure that our kids learnt strategies for how to speak well in public, which we think is an important skill to have,” Mr Thockloth said.
Dixi said she was motivated by her two older sisters who had also taken part in speech competitions.
“I just wanted to be just like my sisters because they’re so great,” she said.
Having spoken about greyhound racing back in 2022, Dixi wanted to further explore the issue of gambling in Australia.
She researched the issue in depth, drawing upon institutes such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian Gambling Research Centre.
Children are exposed to gambling advertising from a young age.
Research by Dr Hannah Pitt, a Vic Health research fellow at Deakin University, revealed children as young as eight-years-old can identify different sports betting companies.
11-year-olds were found to recall specific promotions offered by those companies.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows Australia to have the highest gambling losses per capita, gambling away $25bn a year.
Dixi’s passion for such an important issue is driven by a desire to inform and educate other children to protect them from the harms of gambling.
“I didn’t just want to do it on gambling, I wanted to do it on the effects on children because we are at a school and I want to tell kids what they’re doing and how they are affecting us,” Dixi said.
Mr Thockloth said her confidence in public speaking was leading the way for other students.
“Our kids get to see her and others at assemblies and consistently be very confident. I think that rubs off on them when they become older that they want to do it too.
“The day after the speech she’s already working on her speech for next year, so she’s already started and I think that that is terrific,” Mr Thockloth said.
