THREE eloquent year 10 students from The Royal School made it through to the second round of the English Speaking Union Winston Churchill National Public Speaking Competition, held at Guildford’s Guildhall.

Aniela, the team’s main speaker, gave a speech for five minutes, Isobel acted as chairman, and Tim was the group’s questioner. As an added challenge, Tim and Isobel only discovered the speaker’s topic 20 minutes before the presentation.

Sorrel Wood, who teaches English at the private school, in Haslemere, said: “Aniela spoke with confidence and, impressively, managed to deliver her entire speech without any notes.

“Isobel chaired the presentation with poise and the judges commented on her delightful smile. Tim thought of some probing, relevant questions and remained calm and focused under pressure.

“The standard in the second round of the competition was very high and unfortunately the team will not be progressing to the next stage in London. However, all three pupils were a credit to The Royal School and have developed their speaking skills immensely during the competition. We look forward to participating again next year.”