Oswestry School Sixth Form pupils have been judged to be the best young public speakers in the UK at the final of the Rotary Youth Speaks competition held at Thomas Telford School on Sunday 7th May.
Over 2,600 teams from Rotary districts all around the country initially entered the competition and, having progressed through three local and regional stages, Sebastian Banks, Adelina Creciun and Matthew Cooper went head to head against seven other schools in the national final. Talks included the topics “The internet killed the music industry, or did it?” from St Columbus School, Gryffe Valley to “The role of the Monarchy in the 21st century” from Chigwell School, Redbridge and “What’s in a name?” from Gryphon School, Sherborne.
The Oswestry team presented “Down’s Syndrome – To be or not to be” and their delivery on this subject has been described as “incredibly moving”, “inspiring” and “passionate”. They have been praised for their warmth, camaraderie and team work and are an eclectic concoction: Sebastian is the voice of reason and logic; he is composed but passionate, Matthew is warm and humorous; he provides a laugh a minute while Adelina is emotive in her delivery.
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 and I had picked them out as my overall winners. They must have been on a high yesterday, which will add to their confidence. Good luck to them in all they do in the future, it’s very bright for them.”
Sebastian, Adelina and Matthew have been followed and supported by a loyal group of Rotary members at each round of the competition beginning with the Club round held at Oswestry School, progressing to the District round at Wrexham Glyndwr University, the Regional Final at Darwen Vale High School and recently the National Final at Thomas Telford School. The speaking team are sponsored by Oswestry Rotary Club who have encouraged and supported the youngsters, their families and Oswestry School’s Head of English, Ruth Huish, for whom this was her first encounter with the Rotary competition.