Shipston High defies the odds to reach the Rotary Youth Speaks Final

On 7th May, Shipston High will represent the whole of the West Midlands, Wales and the South East of England in the Rotary Youth Speaks Final in Telford. 

The magnitude of the team’s success needs to be contextualised to demonstrate how well Millie Bryan, Georgia Cooke and Holly Osborne have done in getting this far. Shipston High School has less than 500 students and yet this team has beaten far larger schools. The high school’s team is drawn totally from Year 10, meaning these students are only 15 years old; the competition they are in contains many teams from sixth forms with some students who are well on their way to being 19. Finally, they have achieved their success by already winning in three rounds, culminating in their stunning victory at Abergavenny on 1st April, when they saw off two very prestigious public schools to book their place in the final.

Do you remember the euphoria last May when little Leicester City, at 5000 to 1, went on to win the English Premier League title? Is Shipston High School the Leicester City of public speaking? We certainly hope so. Good luck Shipston High!