Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the students at Park Ridge State School for taking out the Goethe Verse Speaking Competition for the seventh year in a row. A contingent of 20 year 5 and 6 German language students competed at the University of Queensland against hundreds of other students. They had seven weeks to prepare for the competition. They even gave up their lunchtimes to practise with their language teacher, Chriso Paradissis. The students had to choose from several different poems and were judged on their pronunciation, expression, intonation and presentation, as they had to also use a prop for effect. In the qualifying rounds the students had to perform their chosen poem in front of a panel of three judges. Then the winners were selected and asked to perform in front of a large crowd.

Park Ridge State School's language teacher, Chriso Paradissis, said all the students showed a lot of enthusiasm and excitement for the competition and their win brought joy to the whole team. I would like to congratulate the school and the students on their tremendous success. It is an outstanding achievement to come back to school with the winner's plaque for the seventh year in a row. Well done to all concerned.

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