They were required to perform solo to a large audience of competitors and accompanying adults from schools across B&NES and beyond.

Headteacher, Mrs. Bazeley, who accompanied the children, said that she was really proud of the resilience and self-assurance shown by all the pupils who performed to a high standard with confidence.

She said: “We like to encourage children to enter – controlling nerves, rising to an occasion and performing in front of an audience enables children to gain essential life skills for a world in which they may be required to give presentations or perform well in interviews. Our Year 1 pupils, who are only five and six-years-old, were tremendously brave.”

This year, the sixth time Longvernal has participated in recent years, resulted in particularly impressive outcomes for the school. All the children who took part scored at least a Merit (a capable performance showing some artistic appreciation and/or technical ability), with the majority being awarded Commended (a convincing performance technically and artistically) and four children achieved Distinction (an excellent performance, technically and artistically).

Special mentions go to Percy in Year 1 for taking first place and winning The Plowman Memorial Trophy for Verse Speaking. This caused a surprise and delight for Headteacher Mrs Bazeley as she has fond memories of winning the exact same trophy, way back in 1977 – amazingly, the names on the Cup have not yet been filled up, so it still bears her name, which will be joined shortly by Percy’s! In the same class, Ziggy came second. In Year 4 Verse Speaking, Bertie came second and Connie came second in Year 4 Reading Aloud. Mia took first place in Year 3 Verse Speaking and was awarded a souvenir badge. Arabella came second in the same class. In Year 5 Verse Speaking, Benji took first place in his section and was initially awarded a souvenir badge before later discovering that he had, in fact, scored the highest across both Year 5 sections, meaning that he had won The Cawood Challenge Rose Bowl; he was awarded this at the Winners’ Concert at The Mission Theatre, Bath, on Friday, 18th March in which he was invited to perform.

Headteacher Karen Bazeley added: “Simply to take part is an amazing experience and achievement, but to be so extremely successful this year has been wonderful. I would like to thank all the parents and family members who supported their children in learning their poems and practising their poems and prose readings at home.”