The amazing annual Public Speaking Competition at this local private school is an event that all pupils in years 7-10 take part in. Although for the 14 and 15 year olds in the school this date has now been set for the fourth time for them, every pupil finds it nerve racking. The stages of the competition are as follows. The pupils write a speech on a topic of their choice and learn it so that they will be able to make eye contact as they speak. These speeches are then presented to their English class and assessed by their teacher. The best speaker gets voted to go through and the two ‘runners up’ get appointed Chair Person and Vote of Thanks. The next round sends one speech from each year into the final, which is a day when the whole school can happily listen after eating an appetising sticky bun. The faithful sticky bun is another Surbiton tradition, along with the bookmark competition. All these things are in celebration of the school’s founding and this year SHS will be 126 years old! So the nerves and longing for sugar are normal at this time of year for all Surbiton Girls and as the tension builds up and drops down, it will soon be half term. Public shaking and nervousness, yet pure happiness too.