As part of the largest public speaking competition in England and Wales, four local schools will compete in Lincolnshire branch’s English-Speaking Union – Churchill National Public Speaking Competition for Schools on Wednesday 6 February at Lincoln University; Caistor Grammar, Queen Elizabeth High School Gainsborough, the Priory Academy, Cherry Willingham, and Lincoln Minster will each forward teams of three students to demonstrate their prowess chairing and questioning as well as public speaking.
Head of Public Speaking for the ESU Lincolnshire, Caroline Childs said, ‘Public speaking is a vital life skill that students will use throughout their lives. We want the competition to build confidence and experience in articulating ideas and sharing them with others. And, as last year’s event saw a team from Caistor Grammar make it all the way to the national final, our expectations will be high.’
Lincolnshire University’s Deputy Head of the School of English and Journalism Deborah Wilson David and Schools and Colleges Liaison Officer Penny Miller will join Alex Bailey from the ESU’s Education team on the judging panel.
The winning trio go forward to the regional final in Leeds on 10 March with the Grand Final to be held at Churchill College, Cambridge, on 27th April.
Wednesday’s event, organised by Caroline Childs and Rosemary Burke from the English-Speaking Union’s Lincolnshire branch, will be held 5 pm at the University’s David Chaddick Building and is likely to last approximately three hours.
Over 1,500 Key Stage 3 & 4 students (years 9-11) participate every year in the ESU’s Public Speaking Competition, which challenges students to engage with wide-ranging cross-curricular topics, whilst helping to meet national curriculum speaking and listening targets.
The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational charity and membership organisation that brings together people of different languages and cultures in over 50 countries. Through the help of our branches and international ESUs, we run educational programmes, competitions and cultural exchanges to equip young people with the skills and confidence to articulate their ideas and share them with others.