Our Public Speaking Team put their persuasion skills to the test when they recently competed in the area round of the ESU Churchill Competition…and won!
The team of three is composed of Ethan Ofosu in the Fourth Form, whose role it is to introduce the two speakers and chair the debate. Also in the team is Harry Hine also in the Fourth Form, who took on the role of Speaker, and Freddie Pelling in Remove Form whose role it was to be the Questioner. During each round of the competition, the Chairman and Questioner from one of the competing schools are randomly selected to present with a Speaker from another school.
Harry chose to speak on the topic of ‘Is Harry Potter still relevant?’ and Freddie questioned the topic ‘Are we becoming an angry society?’ Our team was by far the youngest in the competition, and so it was an incredible achievement for both Harry and Freddie to win Best Speaker and Best Questioner respectively.
Their victory means they have secured a place in the regional final which will be held in March at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Public speaking is a vital life skill that students will use throughout their academic careers and in their everyday lives. It is not an easy skill to master and the fact these boys are still so young is a testament to their hard work and practice. We wish them the best of luck for the finals.