Youth Speaks

CLAVERHAM COLLEGE SCOOPS BOTH YOUTH SPEAKS PRIZES

It was a very successful night for Claverham Community College who won both categories at Bexhill Rotary’s Youth Speaks event held at their own college in Battle on Wednesday 7 th February.

They were competing against Battle Abbey in two age categories for the trophy shields that have been competed for and presented to winners over many years. Each 3 person team, who chose the subjects being presented, consisted of a chairperson, and main speaker and a vote of thanks. The subjects the students covered were ‘Lost in translation – the importance of studying a language’, ‘Are video games the new fairy tales?’, ‘Can Artificial Intelligence ever replace art created by a human?, and ‘Considering the alternatives’. Watching each competing team were the time keepers, Bexhill Rotarians Dave Tollett and Perry Puddefoot, who made sure that each team kept within the competition time limit.

Each team gave brilliant performances on their respective subjects, and the audience learnt some interesting facts along the way - such as, there are around 7,000 languages in the world, the Brothers Grimm wrote some gruesome fairy tales that included torture and mutilation, a urinal could be considered art, and 75% of people have used alternative medicines or therapies.

At the end of their presentations, the three judges were given the difficult task of choosing the winners because the standard was so high. One of the judges, former Wealden District Councillor Pam Doodes, who had never adjudicated at Youth Speaks before said, “I didn’t know what to expect but was astounded by the quality of presentation that the students gave us.”

The other two on the judging panel heartily agreed, they were the Chairman of the judges Andrew Gill, retired lawyer and musician, and King Offer Academy teacher Charlotte Daniels.

The final part was Bexhill Rotary President James Slinn presenting the trophies and a prize voucher to the winners and consolation prize vouchers to the runners-up. He then went on to thank the staff and pupils of Claverham Community College for hosting a successful event, he thanked the judges for their comments and deliberations, and finally a special thanks to the students who he said should be immensely proud of their performances.