Tytherington’s Top Speakers
2nd March 2020
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Following their success at the local District Heat at Macclesfield Academy on January 28th on which our three teams swept the board taking all team and individual prizes, our nine intrepid public speakers set off for Frodsham for the District Finals on Sunday, March 1st. As so many teams had entered the competition this year, the Rotary Club had to run two separate finals for Intermediate and Senior teams, which meant that there were two separate finals running simultaneously with teams from Tytherington competing in both. This meant that Mrs Burke to don their running shoes and make a quick sprint between the two suites to make sure she was able to see all three teams perform..

As mentioned before, there were a large number of teams in the both the Senior and  Intermediate section this year. Our teams was competing against other District Heat winners from all over Cheshire and areas of the North West , including Alderley Edge School for Girls, Bedford Academy, Eaton Bank School and St Peter’s Catholic High School. There were a range of challenging and engaging topics covered, including “”Saving Earth, Our Biggest Challenge is Also Our Most Important,” “Are Knives Needed ?” and “The Education System: Is it Inadequate?” The topics for our teams were “”Why We need Scoliosis Screening in Schools” (Senior Team); “Autistic: Not Alien” and “Discrimination Against Women in Sport: It’s Just Not Cricket”. Our Senior team was comprised of Emily Paton (Chairperson), Morgan Leigh-Howard (Main Speaker) and Alice Langston (Proposer of the Vote of Thanks. Out first Intermediate team (whose topic was “Discrimination Against Women in Sport: It’s Just Not Cricket”) included Iolo Foat (Chairperson), Amelie Aldous (Main Speaker) and Lily Ventris (Proposer of the Vote of Thanks).  Our second intermediate team was made up of Rosalynn Stainforth (Chairperson), Bella D’Arcy (Main Speaker ) and Mir Ali (  Proposer of the Vote of Thanks.) The title of their presentation was “Autism : Not Alien”.

On the day, the event was extremely busy, and well attended and supported by parents and teachers. The standard of competition was extremely high, and this was alluded to by Adjudicator, who commented on how privileged we all were to witness such articulate and mature presentations.

Each year, the range of topics covered and the quality of presentation becomes higher. Many of the students who took part in the District Final (including all of ours!) used any notes, and this was particularly challenging for the Main Speakers, who had to learn 6 minutes worth of speeches!

Our teams had worked effortlessly in the weeks running up to the District final, giving up more or less every lunchtime since the beginning of term .  All of then produced excellent presentations. On the day, the standard of competition was extremely high, and this was alluded to by Adjudicator, who commented on how privileged we all were to witness such articulate and mature presentations by all the teams.

We are extremely pleased, therefore to announce that our amazing Intermediate team of Iolo Foat, Amelie Aldous and Lily Ventris will be representing Tytherington School in the National Final of the Rotary Youth Speaks competition on May 9th at the University of Central Lancashire in May.

In addition, the following students were awarded Individual Best prizes: Bella D’Arcy (Best Speaker), Amelie Aldous (Best Speaker), Lily Ventris (Best Vote of Thanks). This is a fabulous achievement, and thoroughly deserved by all three students.

However, it has be said that our other two teams were also excellent, and were very unlucky to be pipped at the post on the day.  In the senior section, our team unfortunately lost out to Bedford High School, which was a shame because Emily, Morgan and Alice all gave outstanding performances and were understandably disappointed. The same is true of our first intermediate team consisting of Rosalynn, Bella and Mir. These three had the difficult task of opening the event, and gave a splendid performance.

Everyone present complimented our teams on the quality of their presentations: they certainly did the school proud. Mrs Burke commented: “I am extremely proud of all three teams from Tytherington. They all performed to an extremely high standard  , but the opposition teams were also very accomplished. I feel our teams were particularly strong in their teamwork, and deserve to be congratulated. I hope they have enjoyed the experience and will consider taking part in similar events in the future.”

Thanks to the parents of the participants for their support, and for giving up their Sunday to support the staff and students. But most of all, well done to the teams. We look forward to competing in the National Finals in May.