THIS year's spoken English competition at Mount House School in Tavistock brought some outstanding entries from both boys and girls aged from seven to 13 years. All Mount House pupils take part in the early stages of the competition, when the children choose a passage of prose or poetry, or write one themselves, and read or recite it in class. The best entries go forward to the finals, which are held in the presence of parents, teachers and the whole school in the main hall. The aim of the competition is to develop the presentation skills and articulacy of the children, and to encourage them to perform their chosen piece rather than simply to read it. This year's final was adjudicated by Jane Quan, Director of Drama at Bryanston School in Dorset. Miss Quan made individual comments on each of the performances, and gave constructive advice on how the children could improve. Miss Quan said: 'It was great to see such confident children across the age range performing so well and so unselfconsciously.' Headmaster Jim Massey said: 'The competition is a celebration of prose and poetry — this year's event was our best ever.' The Junior Poetry category was won by Charles Secombe, who brought the poem 'Abdul the Bulbul Emir' to life very well with his acting and accents. In the intermediate section, Oscar Mustard won first place with a performance of Eric Idle's 'All Things Dull and Ugly'. Georgina Sutcliffe-Maynard won the intermediate poetry category with a rendition of Jabberwocky. Finally in the senior prose competition, first place went to Flora Zajicek, who had chosen a passage'Sculptor's Daughter'.
