On Friday 2 July 2021, twenty Year 10 students took part in this year's Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge workshop. We were delighted to be able to welcome Fiona Whytehead, from the Speakers' Trust, back into school to lead the day-long workshop.

Fiona led the students through a series of games and activities, and offered lots of her 'Top Tips' for public speaking. Throughout the day, all of the students got up and 'spoke out' to the rest of the group three times. They learnt about the three components needed to produce a high-quality speech - content, structure and delivery. All of the students were fantastic, and were a real credit to our school - they approached the day with open minds and with enthusiasm. By the end of the day, all of the students stood up and presented their own one-minute-long speech to the rest of the group - they chose their topic, and they carefully crafted and shaped their content, structure and delivery. I was so impressed with the mature approach shown by the students on the day; the support they gave each other when each of them stood up to speak was remarkable. They should be so proud of what they had achieved by the end of the day, and a big congratulationsmust go to Isabella Laithwaite who was chosen as our school winner, and who will now further develop her speech on 'Gender Equality' and go forward to the Regional Final where she will compete against students from other schools in Essex.

Mrs A Stringer

Teacher - English