A team of students from Haygrove School took part in the Bridgwater Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition.

The event was held at Bridgwater College and the teens taking part were commended by the judges for their professionalism and knowledge of their subject.

Year 10 student, Lauren Sweeting, was the lead speaker, supported by Ted Kelly and Andrew Midenda.

With an open brief regarding the theme of their speech, the topic chosen was feminism: misconceptions of the term.

The competition was strong and a team from Bridgwater College were judged the overall winners for their speech on the benefits of social media in modern communication.

The Haygrove students were pleased to see that the lead speaker for the winning team was Jess Shanahan, an ex-Haygrove student who is now studying at the college.

Lauren said: "Being involved in Youth Speaks was a great experience.

"We all felt very nervous as we stepped out onto the stage, but we did our best and I am proud to have taken part."

English teacher, Mr James Jones, who attended the event with the Haygrove team, said: "Congratulations to all the teams who took part.

"I was really impressed with how our students behaved, they worked extremely hard preparing for the competition and were exceptional throughout.

"Praise goes to Lauren for really understanding her topic and speaking so persuasively."