Winning speeches at Trinity School

The young public speakers were asked to work in pairs to create and present a persuasive speech about any issue relevant to teenagers, and those taking part brought real originality to the subject.
Speaking in the finals were Stephen Caldaralo and Callum Pomfret, and Koshesai Fundira and Megan MacKenzie for Dragon house; Shiona Frayne and Charlotte Taylor, and Ryan Little and Harry Jiggins for Griffin house; and Pierce Jones and Sam Oades, and Maria Gurtinski and Zoe Burton for Phoenix house.
Topics covered included ‘stereotypical children’, ‘problems come in threes’, ‘the smallest of problems’, ‘new heights’, ‘stereotypes’ and ‘independent living’.
Judges for the competition were Teresa Dawes, former head of English at the school, Yvonne Jackson, deputy head of Fir Tree Primary School, Newbury, and Brien Beharrell, editorial director of the Newbury Weekly News.
The overall competition was won by Griffin house and age-group winners received certificates presented by the judges.
All those taking part – including those who featured in the previous heats of the competition – were praised for their talent and willingness to tackle a difficult but important skill.
Thanks were also expressed to the school’s heads of house for coaching the competitors and judging earlier rounds of the increasingly-popular school competition.