The Rotary Club of Frome organised the Intermediate heat of the National Rotary Youth Speaks Competition at Standerwick Conference Centre on Thursday 5th February.
This is a public speaking competition designed to encourage young people to develop their verbal presentation skills in the formal context of a public meeting.
Eight teams of 11 to 13 year old Frome students competed for places in the District semi finals.
The teams representing Oakfield Academy, Selwood Academy and Frome Community College comprised a chairman, main speaker and proposer of a vote of thanks. The students prepared their own presentation on subjects varying from ‘Do footballers get paid too much?’ to ‘The impact of screen time’.
The standards were extremely high and students showed considerable skill and ingenuity in researching their topics. All speakers were congratulated on both their courage and high standards of performance which was before an audience of a hundred adults and a panel of three adjudicators.
The evening was organised by the Rotary Youth Committee headed by John Osborne and the MC was Rotarian Dennis Barnard. The adjudicating panel comprised David Riley (chairman), Debbie Holt and Philip Jefferson.
The winning team was Selwood Academy Team Three who delivered a thought provoking presentation on ‘How modern transport affects global warming’ pointing out the effects of unnecessary car journeys and the need for us all to appreciate the contribution we can make to save the planet. The team comprised Joy Beaven, Jessica Leigh and Sophie Hancock.
In second place were Oakfield Academy Team One comprising Jayden Wheeler, Soli Llewellyn and Lewis Wells who entertained the audience on the subject of ‘Do footballers get paid too much?’
In third place was Selwood Academy Team Two whose subject was ‘Should young people have more say?’ This was a slightly controversial subject maintaining that young people should have a greater say on how they run their lives, well presented by Grace Jackson, Isabel Jones and Madeline Howes.
All three teams go through to the District Final to be held at Frome Community College on Thursday 12th February.
A special prize for the Best Speaker of the Evening was presented to Soli Llewellyn of Oakfield Academy for an outstanding speech on the subject of footballers’ pay.
The adjudicators had great difficulty in choosing the winners. They congratulated all the students who took part and were convinced that the experience would be one which would be of great benefit them in the future.
The prizes were presented by Jerry Lewis, the president of the Rotary Club of Frome who thanked the students, teachers and parents for making the whole evening possible.