Date: Saturday, 8 February, 2020

Youth Speaks is an opportunity for young people to develop the ability to speak on a public platform, carry out research and formulate ideas, improve self-confidence and presentation skills, and work as a team.

On Saturday 8th February, our two Youth Speak teams successfully competed in the Youth Speaks North Devon finals, and will now go through to the District Youth Speak Finals in Bodmin on Saturday 29th February. The competition consisted of presentations by teams of students from different schools in the area.

Park’s Senior team’s motion was “Freedom of speech is not worth the price of hate speech”. The ‘Chair’ was Cerys Wild, the ‘Proposer’ was Mia Roscoe and the ‘Opposer’ was Phoebe Clarke.

Park’s Intermediate team’s motion was “Children should lead the fight for climate change”. The ‘Chair’ was Seth Hellmund, the ‘Proposer’ was Niamh McLaughlin and the ‘Opposer’ was Boglarka Ungvari .

The teams were accompanied by Miss Jones and Mrs Perkins from the English Department. Miss Jones said, “Both teams were excellent and it is a real achievement for them to get this far against stiff competition. They held the attention of the audience like seasoned professionals and should be very proud – fingers crossed for the next round!”

Headteacher Gareth Roscoe said, “Youth Speaks gives young people a platform to develop their public speaking and debating capabilities. I am very proud of our teams who have shown dedication and commitment in preparing for the two rounds so far. To have both park School teams progressing to the next round is a great accomplishment. My thanks to the staff that support our students and also the Rotary club for providing this opportunity.”