FORMER Test Valley mayor visited a school in Andover following their success at the National Rotary Youth Speaks competition.

Three students from Rookwood School were named runners-up in the event, which was held on April 23 in Rugby.

The students were delighted to be presented with certificates from Cllr Alan Dowden, who recently stepped down as the mayor of Test Valley, his wife Cllr Celia Dowden, and Rotarian Mr Tony Workman on Friday, May 19.

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The pupils, William, Mia, both 13, and Sophie, aged 12, had competed against five other teams from as far as Scotland and North Wales and despite the high standard of competition, were able to hold their own and emerge as strong runners-up.

The Youth Speaks competition is a highly acclaimed yearly national public speaking contest hosted by the Rotary clubs across Great Britain and Ireland.

Each team that takes part has to win local and district stages before progressing to the higher rounds.  The Rookwood pupils proposed and opposed the motion ‘Let’s Ban Fairy tales'.