Bromley High School has won the National Finals of the English Speaking Union Churchill Public Speaking Competition, held last weekend.
Having qualified from the London Regional Final in March, Year 11 pupils Eleanor, Lydie and Ramya travelled with their debate coaches Dr and Mrs Christie to Churchill College, Cambridge to compete in the event. They qualified from the Semi-Finals in the morning to take part in the Grand Final in the afternoon, where the competition was narrowed down to six teams from the more than 400 schools who entered the initial rounds in October 2022.
The judges recognised in their closing comments that the standard of speaking and debate in the final had been extremely high, but said that Bromley High School stood out because of the skill and versatility of their performance, which is testimony to the excellent team work shown by the three students.
Eleanor, Lydie and Ramya were awarded their trophy by the Executive Director of the International Churchill Society, the Director of the ESU, and Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s great grandson.
The Churchill Competition is the largest public speaking competition in England and Wales, so Bromley’s win is a fantastic achievement and situates the school amongst the oratorical powerhouses of the country.
“The whole day was fantastic, and the moment we realised we had won was incredible. We all felt so proud and a massive sense of achievement that our months of hard work and preparation had been recognised”. Eleanor, Speaker & Year 11 pupil
Winning team with debate coaches Dr & Mrs Christie