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Winner's competition delivery

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The University of Sussex continued its commitment to our local community – and our belief in the power of higher education to drive social mobility - by last week hosting the second Young Speakers Challenge Grand Final. This event was the culmination of a project partnered with Brighton & Hove City Council and nine local schools on a project to raise literacy outcomes amongst 12-14-year-old learners by improving oracy confidence and communication skills. 

The three-month additional curriculum programme attracted over one hundred Free School Meal eligible students to develop their skills during a series of workshops and heats, with the aim of delivering a three-minute final speech at the celebration event. Sussex welcomed 150 guests to the event including local school staff, students, parents, project funders, University academics, Widening Participation staff, and Brighton & Hove City Council representatives. Head of English and Associate Professor Tom F Wright compered the evening, and awarded the prizes, welcoming delegates, many of whom were students, parents and guardians experiencing their first visit to a university. 

Throughout the initiative, the programme has been strongly supported by University’s Widening Participation team and University academics. Tom Wright (School of Media, Arts and Humanities), provided continuing professional development for the staff in local schools supporting the project looking at the power of rhetoric; Dr. Emma Newport and her Sussex Writes Team underpinned communication techniques both in school and on the evening; and Dr. Verona Drisceoil (Law, Politics, and Society) and the Street Law Team promoted advocacy skills amongst the learners during their visits to the Mooting Court Room in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology. 

The final competition speeches, at the ceremony event, were wide ranging in their theme; foster care, nationality, agency, environment, and the learning outcomes of failure. However, the overall winner on the day was a student from Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Lanna Njualem, whose performance of ‘Being a black girl’ was an incredibly powerful performance and well-penned speech.

Associate Professor Tom Wright presented the winner’s award, reflecting on the courage displayed and that the young people who took part in the initiative were picking up the oracy baton from the current generation and represent our future; in our universities and in our civic lives.