ORATORS from a Thornbury school impressed judges at a public speaking competition.

Students from The Castle School’s public speaking team secured themselves a place in the Bristol final of the Winston Churchill National Public Speaking Competition after amazing the judges in the heats on Thursday, November 20.

The event was held at Cotham School in Bristol and two Castle School teams were entered by teachers Miss Clio Corpe and Miss Louise Branton.

The first team of Abigail Bow, Megan Robinson, Charlie Woolf and Michael Wall confidently argued the case that the ‘pain of war cannot exceed the woe of the aftermath’ and our second team of Cammy Phillips, Jonathan Ainsworth, Jack Moore and Louis Harvey put forward the argument that ‘24 hours news has led to worse not better informed citizens’.

The judges commented on the excellent presentation skills from both teams and the team spirit that was so clearly evident in our students.

In preparing for the competition, the school was able to work closely with Julian Okoye who made the national finals of the Professional Speaking Association's prestigious 'Speaker Factor' competition and is passionate about helping young people develop their speaking skills.

The regional final takes place on Wednesday, January 14 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital School, with the national final taking place at Cambridge University in March 2015.