Youth Speaks: City pupils win Rotary's debating competition YOUNGSTERS from a Newport school proved themselves to be top talkers when they won a debating competition.

The three pupils from Lliswerry High School won the Newport Youth Speaks contest.

Organised by the Rotary Club of Caerleon, the competition was staged in the council chamber at Newport Civic Centre.

Lliswerry's team of Kate Poole, Gareth Kitson and Kristian Williams debated whether there was too much sport on television.

Their rivals were Rougemont School (Louise Booth, Fraser Read and Michael Healey) and Hartridge High School (Sian Morrison, Kayleigh Burrows and Gemma Winfield), who both debated the rights and wrongs of the war in Iraq, and Caerleon Comprehen-sive School (Stephanie Plunkett, James Cullen and Amy Ludlow) who tackled the issue of the European single currency.

Judges for the evening were Argus deputy editor Kevin Ward, European consultant Catherine Carr, and Rotarian Mel Harris, the former principal of Gwent College of Higher Education.

Individual awards, presented by Newport mayor Councillor Ray Truman, went to Kate Poole (best chairman), James Cullen (best proposer) and Kristian Williams (best opposer).

Lliswerry will now take on other winning teams from around Gwent in the zone final at Newbridge Compr-ehensive School on February 12.