On Wednesday 6 July 2022, four finalists from Cirencester Deer Park School took their places at the Royal Agricultural University for the Cirencester Rotary Club Schools' Public Speaking Showcase, each pupil prepared with a unique topic, a head full of ideas and some superb rhetorical skills.

The last ‘in-person’ Public Speaking competition was in 2019 and, although we had taken part online in 2021 (read article), it was fantastic to be involved again in this community event with Rotary Club members, family members, pupils and teachers. Everyone remarked on how special it was to be back amongst the community and involved with events such as these.

For the past few weeks many Deer Park pupils have been writing, re-writing and rehearsing their speeches. The standard of all the speeches was incredibly high and it has been fantastic to listen to so many quality pieces of rhetoric. The finalists were chosen to represent the school, and they then received tuition to hone and practice their pieces in preparation for the competition on 6 July.

Our finalists were:

• Evelyn (new Year 9) speaking about 'Mental Health in young lives'
• Olivia (new Year 10) giving a unique insight into her experience of 'Language learning for young people'
• Nigel (new Year 11) astounding the audience with the unusual tale of 'The Great Emu war of 1932'
• Bella (new Year 11) giving a passionate plea to the audience regarding 'The Glass Ceiling' for women in the world of work.

Each speech was passionate, eloquent, dramatic and well-structured. The Deer Park teachers in attendance were so proud to see them representing the school with such aplomb. Cirencester Rotary Club had a tough decision to make and remarked on the incredibly high standards, the passion the speakers had and the important range of topics covered. Although the overall winner did not come from Deer Park, all of our finalists received a certificate and a gift voucher for their participation. It was a splendid evening: it was fantastic for our pupils to be supported by, and supportive of, the wider Cirencester community.