Two Moreton Hall girls qualified for the National Finals of the Thomas Cranmer Awards at this year’s annual Shropshire Festival of Verse and Prose, held at Moreton Hall on October 11th and 12th. Stephanie Christenson (aged 13) and Emma Tilley (aged 16) will go on to represent the Shropshire Festival at the prestigious National Finals in London in 2014.
The Shropshire Festival welcomed over 400 entries from children and young adults from throughout the region celebrating verse and prose in approximately forty competitive classes including public speaking, verse reading, poetry recitals, duologues, solo drama pieces, readings from the Book of Common Prayer and sight reading. Competitors came from Oswestry, Wrexham, Shrewsbury, Chester, Blackburn and Alderley Edge.
“We had tremendous support from many schools and colleges around the region,” explains organiser and Head of Spoken English at Moreton Hall, Merriel Halsall-Williams. “The standard was outstanding.”
Moreton Hall students came away with an impressive fourteen first place rankings in various classes.