Youth Speaks Success for St Benedict's

Published on isbi School News dated Tuesday 18th of March 2014

On Saturday 15th March three Year 10 pupils from St Benedict's School, Ealing won the London District Final of the Senior Youth Speaks Public Speaking Competition, organised by the Rotary Club of London. The competition was held at City of London School for Boys.
Ben Farmer as Chairperson, Rebecca Walker as the Main Speaker and Caroline Gakpetor as Proposer of the Vote of Thanks made up the team from St Benedict's. Ben won the award for Best Overall Chairperson, and Rebecca won the award for Best Overall Speaker. Caroline also spoke excellently.

St Benedict's, as winners of the London West group, were up against four other schools who had won their London regional groups. The judges agreed that the standard of the competition was exceptionally high, with all the speakers conveying points engagingly and persuasively.

Rebecca's speech on 'The Most Important 7 Seconds of Your Life' focused on the importance of making a good first impression when you first meet someone. She spoke without notes and her speech was well-argued and funny.

Ben, Rebecca and Caroline were up against pupils currently doing A Levels, which made their achievement all the more impressive. They now go on to the Regional Final which is being held at Bishop's Stortford College on Saturday 22nd March.

Mike Watts, Head of English at St Benedict's, said,' Ben, Rebecca and Caroline should be immensely proud of themselves and what they have achieved. We have never reached this far in the competition before and it is all down to the talent and hard work of the team.'