Winners of the East Region Sixth Form Public Speaking Competition revealed
The final of the annual East Region Sixth Form Public Speaking Competition was generously hosted by The Perse School, Cambridge, on 18 November 2019.
The event was contested by four teams, one from the host school and the others from St Benedict’s Catholic School, Bury St Edmunds, King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, and Colchester County High School for Girls. Each had qualified as the winner of an area heat. ESU Head of Member and Stakeholder Engagement, Matthew Christmas, and the founder of the highly successful literary festival ‘Words in Walden’, Dr Joanna Burch, judged St Benedict’s to be the winners. The winning team comprised chair, Emily Bickers, questioner, Emily Black, and speaker, Alfred Dry, who considered it not unethical to use live animals in organoid research. They are pictured above celebrating their achievement.The speaker from the Girls’ High, Holly Farrell, was also recognised for her outstanding performance in arguing that we should not isolate politics from our daily lives.
Each of the participants received a finalists’ certificate from the President of the East Region, His Grace, Petrus, the Earl of Hoole, Count de la Marche and members of the winning team were given anthology of great speeches.
Nineteen teams covering six counties participated in the whole competition, representing the direct involvement of 57 young people.
