THE English working group from the Richard Huish Trust family of primary schools, which includes West Buckland, was busy during the half-term holiday with performance poetry and public speaking as the children were given the opportunity to develop their oracy skills and enhance their love of poetry.

Each of the five primary schools in the group ran their own public speaking competition where pupils learned and performed from memory a poem of their choosing.

They also delivered a four-minute presentation on a subject about which they were passionate, and then answered three questions linked to it.

Young pupils who reached the finals of a Richard Huish Trust public speaking and performance poetry competition during half-term.
Young pupils who reached the finals of a Richard Huish Trust public speaking and performance poetry competition during half-term. (RHT)

Each selected two pupils to attend a finals evening in West Buckland, where there was a 40-strong audience and judges Mark Braund, headteacher of North Town Primary School, Dora Allen, manager of the Somerset Literacy Network, Charlie Taylor, a BBC Radio Somerset breakfast show presenter, and Richard Huish Trust chief executive John Abbot.

Steven Bate, from West Buckland, said: “The standard of the performances and presentations were very high as the children wowed the audience with their confident and expressive delivery.

“All of the children received medals and certificates.”

The winners were Alani, of Nerrols Primary School, in the UKS2 category with the poem ‘Say How You Feel’ and a presentation on animals, and West Buckland’s Betsy in the LKS2 category with the poem ‘Smaller Ones Are Better’ and a presentation on The Netherlands.

Betsy was crowned the overall winner and became only the second LKS2 child to win the competition in its history.