THREE intrepid speech-makers from St Mark’s School in Morwenstow recently made their way to the Atlantic Hotel in Newquay for the district finals of the annual Youth Speaks competition.

On Saturday, March 4, three pupils from St Mark’s School made the journey to Newquay, to take part in the highly anticipated district finals of the Youth Speaks competition.

Ten teams from all over the South West gathered to take part in the third round of the competition, which is organised by the Rotary Club. This competition is an opportunity for young people to speak formally, in public, on a topic of their choice.

The team from St Mark’s consisted of Amy as chair, Molly as speaker and Louis as vote of thanks, whose speech was titled ‘Understanding a Teenager’.

Although St Mark’s were not the winning team, they agreed that they had enjoyed taking part.

A spokesperson for the Rotary Club said: “How proud we were of the team on Saturday. They were up against some stiff opposition from far bigger schools, with some seasoned performers and in front of an audience of 250 people.”

The participants themselves found it scary, great fun and thrilling. They were very interested to meet Martin Parnell, who has done a lot of charity work, and who gave the participants a signed copy of his biography.

The team’s teacher said: “We are very proud of all their hard work, an amazing achievement. The competition has increased their confidence and boosted their ability to work as a team.”