FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF YOUTH SPEAKS SUCCESS FOR THE SIXTH FORM COLLEGE

13 January 2015

The Wirral stage of the prestigious Youth Speaks competition took place at Wirral’s No.1 Sixth Form on Monday 12^th January 2015. The public speaking event, organised by Birkenhead Rotary Club, gives students a platform in which to research, compile and present speeches to their peers and the opportunity to improve their confidence and ability within public speaking.

The Sixth Form College competed against two teams from Wirral Grammar School for Girls and two teams from Birkenhead School within the Senior Heats, covering thought-provoking topics including Sexism against Males and Girls Education.

The winning team from The Sixth Form College consisted of the Main Speaker, Tom McNally; Chairperson, Emily Ayre; and the Proposer of the Vote of Thanks, Andrew Haller. Head Boy Tom, who was also a member of last year’s winning team and studies Government & Politics, History and Religious Studies at The Sixth Form College, delivered a confident and articulate speech on the topic titled: Democracy – The Worst Form of Government?

Tom impressed the judges’ immensely by delivering a thought-provoking argument without looking at a single note and opening his speech in Greek.

Tom’s fellow team mates – Andrew who also studies Government & Politics, Drama & Theatre Studies and English Literature and Emily who studies English Language, Fine Art and Spanish, made their debut appearance to the Youth Speaks competition this year both delivering well-presented and confident speeches.

Principal of The Sixth Form College, Kathryn Podmore was delighted to see The Sixth Form College Team retain their title commenting, “All of the students that took part in the competition delivered outstanding speeches. It was an honour for The Sixth Form College to host such a worthwhile event and I’d like to congratulate all who took part along with Jane Cavanagh – our Head of History who has supported our students in preparation for this event.”

Head Judge, Glynn Monhughes commented on how impressed the Judges had been by the range of skills and ability displayed by each team on the evening and how he had gone away learning something new surrounding each topic.

Wirral Grammar School for Girls and Birkenhead High School also entered two teams into the Intermediate Round along with a team from Woodchurch High School. Wirral Grammar School for Girls 1st Team with Main Speaker, Cora Bullivant, Chairperson, Kyla Thomas and Proposer of the Vote of Thanks, Hollie Hall won this round with their argument: “Are Zoos a Good or Bad Idea?”

The President of The Birkenhead Rotary Club, Bill Lynn, was impressed with the standard delivered by each of the school teams, stating, “It has been an enjoyable evening and we have witnessed some wonderful speeches. It is great to see confident young people delivering inspirational and informed arguments.”

The Sixth Form College Team have now been invited to attend a luncheon with Birkenhead Rotary Club where they will be given the chance to present their speech to the Rotarians and will also have the opportunity to take part in the Regional round of the competition later this year.