Clydebank school wins COPFS public speaking contest

Two pupils from St Peter the Apostle High School, Clydebank have won this year’s Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service school public speaking competition.

Third-year students Beth Dalrymple and Katie Orr edged out teams from The Royal High School, Edinburgh, and Shawlands Academy, Glasgow in the final at Parliament House in Edinburgh.

The topic for the final was: “The most pressing equality issue in Scotland today is... to address it I would....” 

The judges were Ruth Charteris KC, Solicitor General for Scotland, Scott Pattison, sheriff and temporary High Court judge, and Lesslie Young, chief executive, Epilepsy Scotland. 

Presenting the trophy to the winners, Ms Charteris praised each school’s contribution to a hard-fought final.

The competition started in Glasgow in 2012 and expanded gradually throughout the country, with the first national final taking place in 2015. It represents part of the work done by COPFS to improve understanding of equality and diversity issues. It is also part of its strategy to reach out to communities and young people in Scotland and engage them in discussion and debate on prominent issues related to its work. 

This year’s competition involved 178 pupils forming 89 teams from 57 schools across Scotland. Schools who want to compete in next year’s competition can sign up via the COPFS website.