Unaccustomed as they are...

7:55am Tuesday 13th May 2008

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PUPILS at Bourton's Cotswold School have become so accustomed to public speaking that they nearly won a national award for it.

Pupils Seb French, Alana Powell and James Ager comprised the school's three-strong team that reached the final of the English Speaking Union Public Speaking Competition.

Although they did not win the annual competition, which the school has entered for the past two or three years, the judges said they came close to doing so.

James received a trophy and a £40 book token for being named outstanding personality' in the final, in which the Cotswold School was one of only three comprehensives among the nine finalists who had to speak on the topic: Should the state dictate our diet?' Five hundred schools entered the competition, with the Cotswold School reaching the final by winning the Gloucestershire and Midlands rounds.

The school's head of English, Heather Richens, formed the team and coached its members.