Gryphon team through to Youth Speaks Regional Final!
The Gryphon School competed at the District Final of the Youth Speaks competition last weekend – facing schools from across Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.
The competition which is organised by the Rotary Club aims to offer young people experience in speaking on a public platform, on a topic of their choice, in a limited time slot. The Gryphon team had successfully got through the last two rounds to reach this stage –the best result they have ever achieved in the competition. Callum Henry, Kinga Kowalewska and Oskar Maitland spoke on the topic of ‘What’s in a name?’ and discussed how names can not only shape our future, but can reflect our understanding of society. After a very notable performance, which proved popular with the audience, they finished in second place, with students from Abbeyfield School in Chippenham pipping them to first place. This was particularly impressive as due to the date of the final changing at the last minute, one of the original team had been unable to make the competition and was replaced a few days before by Oskar Maitland- who was highly commended by the audience.
Sadie George, English Teacher at The Gryphon School who coached the team, said ‘The team should be extremely proud of themselves. They constructed a fantastic speech which not only entertained, but encouraged the audience to think about the impact of language on society. Our students were professional and engaging throughout the three rounds of the competition. It has been a pleasure working with them and I hope that the skills they have gained during the competition will be put to good use in the future.’
As one of the top two teams the Gryphon will now progress to the Regional Final in Exmouth on the 25th March.
