By Zahra Mahmood, Year 11

On Saturday 8th of February, NHEHS participated in the English Speaking Union Public Speaking Competition hosted by Francis Holland School.

The team, who were in Year 11,  consisted of the Speaker Zahra Mahmood, Chairperson Freya McNeill and Questioner Alice Rowlands. The speech the team presented was: ‘Is it possible to trust a government’ discussing topical issues such as the coronavirus and the Australian bush fires. Our team hosted the speaker whose topic was ‘The vilification of Margaret Thatcher is not justified’ which explored areas of interest such as the breaking of the unions, the stimulation of the national economy and her influence in modern Britain. Although the team did not move forward to the next round of the competition, we had a very enjoyable day meeting other debaters and practicing our public speaking skills team.

The highlight of the day was Alice being awarded Best Questioner.