Sixth Formers from The Friary shone in the Michael Fabricant-Arthur Price of England Schools Speaking Competition which took place in Lichfield’s Guildhall. The school was defending champions, so was very much there to be shot at, but, despite King Edwards running out winners, the team performed fantastically well amongst a large group of top local schools including Erasmus Darwin and Lichfield Cathedral School.
The Friary team consisted of Jack Askew, James O’Donnell and Ellie Upton-Loach and the debate topic was: “This House believes the British Monarchy should be abolished.”
Michael Fabricant MP, a good friend to our school, said: “The debate was meant to happen on March 2, but with all the snow it had to be postponed. But with schools competing from Barton under Needwood, Burntwood and Lichfield all keen that it shouldn’t be cancelled this year, we decided it should still go ahead with just a two week delay.”
The debate is held on Parliamentary lines and everyone is invited to join in the fun by waving Order Papers to show approval from the audience.
“Is the monarchy an institution of the past that has had its day or will a post Brexit Britain gain from our modern monarchy?” We all have our views, but this is an opportunity to hear from Britain’s students where they think our future lies.
The competition, which has become an integral part of Lichfield City’s civic season, awards cups to the best school speaking team and to the best overall speaker, who may not necessarily come from the winning team.
Ian Rose, Deputy Headteacher, who attended the event with our students, said: “All of the students from each school performed incredibly well and deserve huge praise, but naturally we were delighted with the skill and efforts of our own students. This is a fantastically challenging event and one that we value for our students as it gives them as taste of the competitive world outside of our school site.”
