STUDENTS from Tavistock College faced the tense atmosphere of Plymouth Crown Court last weekend as they took part in the regional finals of the National Bar Mock Trial Competition ? the national finals of which the school managed to reach last year. The competition, organised by the Citizenship Foundation, involves the team of sixth form students acting out the roles of prosecution and defence, witnesses, jurors, bailiffs and ushers in two fictional cases. In the Tavistock team?s cases, they involved a teacher accused of assaulting a pupil, some wayward students, a victim of attempted burglary and a bunch of ne?er do wells accusing each other of complicity. Sarah Grinstead, who acted as a witness, said: ?It wasn?t easy to act the parts of lying, cheating, layabouts, but with a bit of research, I think we managed to pull it off quite well.? Tom French, who took the role of court clerk and usher, said: ?It was quite scary. I had to get all the procedures right, and the judges could be quite intimidating. In the end though, I realised they too were acting a role and were keen that everybody enjoyed themselves and had fun. ?It was tough, but in the end we did enjoy the challenge.? The Tavistock team narrowly failed to make it to the national final, finishing as runners-up to the team from Eggbuckland Community College by the smallest of margins. Teachers John Stuart and Liz Rowe helped prepare the students for the competition, helped by barristers from Devon Chambers. Mr Stuart said: ?I don?t want to be too competitive because it is true that taking part is the important thing; all I can say is that we hope to be back next year and we will be pushing hard for a place in the national finals again. ?We wish Eggbuckland the best of luck, but having been there once and getting close to the national prize, we want to see our students experiencing that thrill again.? West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett supported the team at the competition, which he said introduced the legal system to young people in an ?innovative and exciting way?. He said: ?Not only does it allow students to develop an understanding of the law, justice and the legal profession, it also gives them a chance to gain confidence and communication skills. ?It was a great pleasure for me again to see the Tavistock College team in action. They were superb and a credit to the college.?
