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Dartmouth Academy proudly hosted the annual Youth Speaks Competition this month. 

Youth Speaks is a national competition, run locally by the Dartmouth Rotary Club, and is  designed to help young people excel in public speaking.  At this event 40 children took part, making up 12 teams from across the region.  2025 has been another record year for Youth Speaks with 90 teams from 45 schools, sponsored by 27 Rotary Clubs, taking part and benefitting more young people than ever.

The experience of public speaking is hugely valuable in building confidence and ambition. Youth Speaks gives young people the opportunity to speak about something which matters to them. The teams consist of three pupils, the Chair, the Speaker and the Proposer of the Vote of Thanks and each has distinct and challenging roles. The Speaker has 6 minutes to address the audience and the others have 2 minutes each.

Schools from across the South Hams and Torbay participated in the event, showcasing exceptional talent in two categories, Junior and Intermediate.  Dartmouth Academy fielded two teams, one in each category, both of which delivered outstanding performances.  The Junior category focused on the theme "What makes me, me," while the Intermediate teams addressed the topic "The value of childhood and adulthood."

The Intermediate group from Dartmouth Academy, consisting of Lacey, Aiva,and Jack, triumphed in their category and will be advancing to the next stage of the competition in Tavistock this March.  In addition to the team success, Dartmouth Academy’s Noah Skilton was awarded the coveted ‘Best Vote of Thanks’ recognition for his outstanding contribution to the event.

Stoke Fleming Primary School emerged as the overall winner, with Blackawton Primary School coming in second, both are also part of the Education South West family. 

The event was made possible thanks to incredible support from Dartmouth Rotary Club, and particularly from Struan Coupar, whose efforts in organising the competition were greatly appreciated by all participants.

Paul Girardot, Principal at Dartmouth Academy, said:

"We are extremely proud of all our pupils who participated in this year's Youth Speaks Competition.  Their dedication and hard work were evident in the exceptional speeches and performances delivered.  A huge congratulations to our Intermediate team for their victory, and to Noah for receiving the 'Best Vote of Thanks' award.”

Matthew Shanks, CEO of Education South West said:

"Everyone at Education South West is very grateful to Dartmouth Rotary Club for providing this opportunity for our young people to shine, and we look forward to supporting them as they progress to the next stage of the competition in March.”