Public speaking success

We have great pleasure in announcing that two of our S3 pupils, Linus West and Paul Tiplady, took part in the Procurator Fiscal’s Public Speaking Competition on 27^th April at the Sherriff Court and were the overall winners of the Edinburgh final. They were up against stiff competition from three other schools (The Royal High School, St Margaret’s High School and Craigmount High School) and spoke with great eloquence and passion on the topic that “society is losing out as our TV and movie screens do not reflect it.”  Their glittering success at the final followed on from a tough qualification round where they spoke on the concept of “what it means to be a refugee in Scotland today” in competition with another three Edinburgh schools. By achieving such standards, the students have demonstrated a strong ability to engage with challenging topics, construct convincing arguments and present their ideas in a measured and thoughtful manner. They are a credit to the school and reflect the importance that is placed upon critical thinking skills at James Gillespie’s High School.