PASSIONATE speeches about the importance of learning a foreign language saw a group of teenagers named winners of a national public speaking competition.

Harry Hesketh-Paterson, of Harwich, and his fellow Year Nine pupils at Colchester Royal Grammar School, Gorak Rajesh and Charlie Price, won the intermediate section of the Rotary public speaking competition Youth Speaks.

They used their time in front of the microphone to talk about the importance of learning languages.

They competed in four rounds before reaching the final, which saw eight teams to head to head for the prize.

Each of the boys had to give a speech and took questions from the floor.

Headteacher Ken Jenkinson said: “They are a very talented team.

“They couldn’t have done any better as a team. They deserved the success.

“We think it is a great competition as it gives the students the opportunity to practice their public speaking.”