The day had finally come – the day of the final of the Rotary Youth Speak Competition in Nottingham. Esther Bird, Anna Wilkie and Amelie Mayou had been busy preparing for weeks, and had beaten off some extremely strong competition in the previous rounds to reach the dizzy heights of the final – the first Macclesfield school to achieve this level in the competition.

It was an early start for all, as the team had to be in Nottingham for a 9.00 start, so yet another Sunday lie in had to be sacrificed! Slightly nervous, but extremely excited, we all headed off for the final –in fact, some of us went the night before to make sure of being on time!

The venue for the event was the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nottingham. The team was well supported by parents, and Mr Botwe and both Mrs Anna Burke attended as well.

The standard of the competition was extremely high, with teams from all over the UK, including Frome, Abingdon, Abergavenny and East Kilbride. There were also some challenging topics such as “Farmers and Stress” and “Artificial Intelligence: Boon or Bane?” However, in spite of extremely stiff competition, our dedicated and dauntless team once again showed their mettle and were declared the winners! An amazing achievement. Mrs Burke commented: “Our team did brilliantly and won in the face of fierce competition. Anna, Esther and Amelie all performed extremely impressively as individuals, but also formed a poised and professional team. I am very proud of them!

Mr Botwe added: “This is a phenomenal achievement. We are delighted with the team’s achievement. This is the first Public Speaking national competition which the school has won so I am an extremely proud Headteacher. A huge thank you goes to Mrs Burke who has worked tirelessly to prepare the students for the competition. ”

A huge well done to the team, and thanks to all who supported them.