Pupils took part in the Junior and Intermediate Rotary French Speaking Competition this week at Blenheim High School. The Epsom Rotary Club arranges this competition each year between local schools as Epsom is twinned with Chantilly in Northern France. Epsom College pupils competed against pupils from Rosebery School and Blenheim High School.
There are three levels of competition – this week was the junior (poetry recital) and intermediate French competitions (presentation and questions). The Senior competition will take place at Epsom College in March.
Both Reuben Smith (Lower Fourth) and John Gartside (Middle Fourth) recited their poems beautifully in French as part of the Junior competition.
For the Intermediate competition, Fifth Formers Emma Wright and Anna Gillespie took part. Emma won first prize for her speech and discussion on the importance of keeping healthy, and Anna won second prize for an original take on why holidays aren’t always as fun as they seem. Fifth Formers Lily Gartside and Daniel Singer also competed, presenting on their love of running, and holidaying in Marseilles.
Hafsa Hasan, Head of Modern Languages, said, “I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of each piece, in particular the thoughtfulness that had gone into each presentation as well as how well each of the competitors coped with the pressure of performing and responding to questions in another language in front of so many people.”
