Following May’s public speaking workshop run by a Speakers Trust trainer and paid for by The Jack Petchey Foundation, The Ramsey Academy’s representatives, Sophie Ford and Sam Hawes took part in the regional final on Wednesday 13th May.

This exciting opportunity to learn and develop public speaking skills is offered to Year 10 students across London and Essex, and is of enormous benefit to those who take part, developing confidence that will help students with many aspects of life such as interviews.

Competitors from all the North Essex schools involved arrived at Maltings Academy, Witham, at 16.00 and worked with Emily Pollet and Fiona Whytehead, Speakers Trust trainers, in order to prepare themselves for the evening ahead. Although this was a competition, it was great to see the bonding that went on: students from different schools, meeting each other for the first time, seemed to be making some fast friendships.

The Ramsey Academy competitors, Jack and Sophie, both acquitted themselves well in the Regional Final, although unfortunately neither of them came home the winner on the night. Jack’s speech was entitled The Chicken or the Egg and explored whether society really wants people to be individual and express their own views. Sophie’s speech, Dream, Believe, Achieve, very much echoed the Jack Petchey Foundation’s motto “If you think you can, you can” and implored young people not give up on their dreams just because life sometimes makes it tough to achieve them.

Each year the standard of speeches gets better and better; it’s not an easy thing to stand up in front of an audience of strangers to deliver a speech, many adults would struggle to do this, which makes the achievement of every single competitor truly praiseworthy. Our congratulations go to Dexan Charlery-Warner from Notley High School who was a very worthy winner.

We are looking forward to next year’s competition when, hopefully, we will bring the prize home to Halstead.

Ms A Williams