St Mary's College is through to the semi-finals of a prestigious national public speaking competition for the eighth year in a row.  The school qualified for the regional stage of the English Speaking Union's public speaking event after winning the Liverpool Branch final held at the Athenaeum in the city centre.
 
The three-pupil St Mary's team consisted of Chair Katherine Orme, Questioner Gabriel Bean and Speaker Alice Mackay.  The topic for discussion was should mothers at home be paid by the state?
 
As well as carrying off the team trophy there were also individual awards for Alice - voted best Speaker and best Personality - and also Katherine who was honoured as best Chair.

The ESU public speaking competition for year 10 and 11 pupils 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.  Competitors are trained to listen carefully and speak confidently in a wide variety of contexts, adapting what they say and how they say it to different situations and people.
 
St Mary's Head of Sixth Form, Daniel Magill, commented: "We are very lucky to have such skilful and engaging speakers at the college and what I really appreciate in them is that, as well as presenting their own views, they listen courteously to the opinions of others.  This year's team is helping us to maintain our excellent track record in this competition and our aim now is to go all the way to the national finals in London which would be a real ‘feather in the cap' for the school," added Mr Magill.

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