PUPILS of St James' School have won the first round of the English Speaking Union's debating competition, Youth Speaks.
Two teams of St James' pupils took part in the Mid and South Devon area heat of the competition, against teams from St Luke's School, Exeter, St Cuthbert Mayne, Torquay and Torquay Boys Grammar schools.
The event, hosted by St James', is an annual event that sees pupils compete against each other on a topic chosen by the English Speaking Union. This year's topic was Are celebrities detrimental to society? Pupils were expected to speak and question each other for 15 minutes.
The St James' teams were made up of year 10 pupils Ruari Mold, Owen Jones, Rory Irwin, Dixie Jordan, Collette Neave, and Safa Quarishi. Dixie Jordan received the accolade of Questioner of the Event.
After five rounds of speaking, the St James team of Ruari, Owen and Rory were declared the joint winners with St Cuthbert Mayne, due to their use of humour, pertinent questioning and natural command of the stage.
They will go on to compete against the winners of the North Devon heat in the branch final on December 4 at St Luke's.
Claire Palmer, teacher of English, who was overseeing the event, said of the boys' achievement: "We are really proud of their success.
"This is the fourth year that St James have entered this competition and the fact we have won is due to the commitment that these boys have shown; practising every lunchtime and after school for the past two weeks with myself and Miss Hawken. We wish them every success at St Luke's."
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