“It was such a pleasure to judge the Abbey Gate Speaking Competition in November. I was kindly invited by Head of School, Imogen Reid, who herself was the very worthy winner of the national Ancient Worlds Competition organised earlier this year at the Lytham St Annes Classical Association. I was treated to ten talks on a huge range of topics – from the benefits of sport to the possibility of alien life, the need to reduce plastic consumption to the life of Queen Cleopatra. 

I was struck by how much work all of the entrants had put into their presentations, how passionate they were about their topics (especially when it came to lambing and the game Cookie Clicker!) and how they very impressively aced the thing that I look for most from presenters – that their slides complement (rather than forming the content of) their talk and that they have a well-formed script through which they can engage their audience. 

I learned lots, and particularly enjoyed Year 7 winner Jacob F’s passionate talk on etymology, Year 8 winner Oliver L’s advanced insights into the Emperor Nero and Year 9 winner Amy R’s meticulous and eloquent talk on Cleopatra. A big well done to everyone, and most of all to the overall winner Charlotte C who combined persuasive words with good gesture, eye contact and rhythm – the Romans would have approved!”