St Mary’s College in Crosby is celebrating a double success in prestigious public speaking competitions.

The school is through to the semi-finals of the English Speaking Union’s national Public Speaking Competition for the seventh year in a row after winning the Liverpool Branch final for the sixth time in seven years.
More than 500 schools take part in this ESU event and St Mary’s is now just one step away from a third appearance in five years in the London final.
The competition is designed to promote clear communication, with the young people being encouraged to pit their wits against one another in a polite, non-adversarial way.
Meanwhile, a separate team from St Mary’s is through to the regional final of another national ESU event, the Schools Mace Debating Competition, which also culminates in a London final. This event tests speakers’ skills in critical thinking, persuasive argument and delivery as they discuss a range of controversial and current affairs topics.
Commenting on the success of the two teams St Mary’s Head of Sixth Form, Daniel Magill, said: ‘I am very pleased that the school is doing so well in these competitions thanks to some high-quality public speaking and debating from the team members.
‘St Mary’s has a very impressive track record in public speaking and we have high hopes that we can build on this success in this year's events.’

Pictured: Top five - St Mary’s debating team sgjeph McCormack (far left) and Michael Hearty (standing) pictured with public speaking trio Luke Nugent (second left), Alice Mackay and Timothy Old.

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