Youth Speaks National Final - Thomas Telford School, Old Park, Telford, TF3 4NW

A team of three Oswestry School Sixth Form pupils were judged to be the best young public speakers in the country by a panel of independent professional public speakers including Mark Wingfield, President of the Professional Speaking Association, at the recent Senior National Final of the Rotary Youth Speaks competition.

Over 2,600 teams, from Rotary Districts all around the country, had entered the competition back in the autumn when Oswestry School emerged as Oswestry Rotary Club's representative from the Local round of the senior competition held by the Club. The team then progressed through the District and Regional rounds before Sebastian Banks, Adelina Creciun and Matthew Cooper went head to head against seven other schools in the National Final when subjects included the topics “The internet killed the music industry, or did it?” from St Columbus School, Gryffe Valley, “The role of the Monarchy in the 21st century” from Chigwell School, Redbridge and “What’s in a name?” from Gryphon School, Sherborne.

At the Thomas Telford School in Shropshire, a new venue for the final, the Oswestry team presented “Down's Syndrome – To be or not to be”.  Their delivery on this subject has been described as "incredibly moving", "inspiring" and "passionate", receiving praise for their warmth, camaraderie and team work.

The trio are an eclectic mix.  Ruth Huish, Head of English at Oswestry School, said “I am extremely proud of the whole team and in particular Adelina, their Vote of Thanks, who is still learning English having only arrived at the school in September. I am incredibly proud that she was able to tackle the topic with such spontaneity.  Each member of the team is a very different personality. Matthew, their Chairman, is a comedian and very natural and raises his performance on the day. Sebastian is a very warm Speaker and is very passionate about the topic which is close to his heart. All of them are a reflection of the school in terms of their variety of personality and the fact that we are an international boarding school.”

National Event Organiser Joyce Marston of the Rotary Club of Uppingham commented, “The Oswestry School team was excellent and were deserving winners, but what competition they had.  It really was very close - all the better for us in the audience.  They must have been on a high afterwards, which will add to their confidence.  Good luck to them in all they do in the future, it's very bright for them.”

The prizes were presented by Eve Conway, president of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, who described the standard of public speaking as “outstanding” and spoke of the “absolutely fascinating” diverse range of topics telling an audience of about 300 in the Thomas Telford School theatre “Rotary does so much in our communities including helping young people to develop their skills because we believe that they are the future. Youth Speaks is one of our jewels in the crown in the youth area.”

Sebastian, Adelina and Matthew, their families and teacher have been encouraged and supported by a loyal group of members of Oswestry Rotary Club at each stage of the competition from the Club round held at Oswestry School all the way through to the National Final.  Jenny Edwards, Youth Speaks Organiser at Oswestry Rotary Club is full of praise for the team, commenting, " What made this a successful team was their support for each other and their obvious determination to make this a winning story. Well done to all including their teacher Ruth Huish on her first encounter with this prestigious Rotary competition."

Vicky Evans - Oswestry School
Hazel Yates - Oswestry Rotary Club

Additional photos Mike Griffiths and David Banks