Each year in the Holderness Academy English Department, we eagerly await The Rotary Club Youth Speaks Competition. This annual event - where schools nationally come together to compete at public speaking – presents a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to collaborate to create the perfect team performance and to represent the school against others from as far away as Gainsborough and Bridlington. And we are delighted to announce another successful performance from our students in this year’s East Yorkshire heats.

Having won the Senior team and individual trophies last year, this year we took a team of Year 8 students to Wyke College to compete in the Intermediate Category. Although our students were younger than those that they were competing with, Elliot H. was the standout speaker and won the individual award, while the team also came home with a cheque for £250 for a very creditable second place with many people commenting on their general excellence. George J. (as chairman) and Alfie F. (as proposer of the vote of thanks) were both outstanding in their roles as they spoke about how the Romantic Poets could help us to combat climate change. Their confidence, commitment and eloquence was a joy to behold.

After receiving his trophy, we asked Elliot what taking part in Youth Speaks had done for him, he said: “My public speaking skills have improved so much and my confidence has grown a lot.”

The excellent work done by the Holderness Rotary Club was also commented on by George, when asked what advice he would give to people considering entering next year, “I would say definitely go for it!”