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Public Speaking as an extra-curricular activity has been steadily growing over the last few years and our students are developing their ability to compete in some very challenging competitions. There are opportunities for students to take part right across the school.
Public Speaking
Once again we are taking part in the 'Youth Speaks' public speaking competition run by the Rotary Club. A team for this event consists of two students studying for GCSE and two Sixth Form Students.
Debating
At Sixth Form level we enter students into several debating competitions including: The Oxford Union Schools' Debate, the Cambridge Union Debate and the English-Speaking Union Schools' Competition.
In October 2008 we will be taking a group of sixth formers to a Shakespeare workshop given by practitioners from the Globe Theatre. This workshop is generously sponsored by the Canterbury Branch of the English Speaking Union.
Mock Trials
Every year we enter a team into the Citizenship Foundation Mock Magistrates' Competition. This involves a team of 12 students preparing a case and taking on the roles of advocates, witnesses, magistrates and court officials. The competition against other local schools takes place in the local magistrates' court at Sevenoaks. Last year we reached the regional finals.
At Sixth Form the students may enter the Bar National Mock Trial Competition; this is very similar to the junior competition but takes place at the Crown Court in Canterbury; we have been runners-up in the last four competitions. In Spring 2008 the students ran a mock trial where they put the manufacturers of the drug Thalidomide in the dock before an audience of students and parents.
In addition to the competitions we enter, the students themselves run two debating clubs which take place after school. We are keen to encourage the development of public speaking skills in our students as we see it as crucial in giving them the skills to conduct themselves with confidence at university, at work, and in the wider world.
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