Congratulations to all the girls who took part in the first heat of the Youth Speaks Competition organised by the Rotary Club which took place at St John’s College in January.

Sonia Bungaroo acted most ably as chair for the Year 11 Senior Team. Beth Noble was a very engaging speaker on the topic of organ donation, which many of us have been following with considerable interest in the national news. Beth Montgomery proposed the vote of thanks and pressed home the team’s view with great conviction. The research and practice for the presentation has engaged all of us in this most urgent of current debates and we certainly learnt a lot from it.

The Lower Sixth Team entered for the second year in succession and made a real impact. Alex Jackson won the prize for Best Chair. Helen Gaffney presented a sophisticated critique of the problems, pressures and pleasures of teenage life, asking the question Do Teenagers have it too easy? Lucy Gowling’s considered summing up and proposal for the vote of thanks rounded off the team effort very well.

The Sixth Form team competed in the next round of the Youth Speaks Competition on Monday 11 February. They performed extremely well, but unfortunately did not win this round. Well done to all those girls who took part and we look forward to next year’s competition!