Rock Challenge April 25th

The final night of the senior section of the Be Your Best Portsmouth Rock Challenge saw local school, Purbrook Park, competing with nine other schools from across the South of England.

Four of the schools were from Portsmouth, with one each from Oxfordshire, Essex, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight. There were also two other schools who had already made it through to the Premier final.

The performances from all of the schools showed a very high standard of achievement, and I found it very hard to pick the one that I thought was the best. Thank goodness I was not one of the three judges!

One of the notable performances was from Mary Rose Special Needs School in Portsmouth. They received a standing ovation for the excellent work.

At the end of the evening I was one of several people invited on stage to present awards. I gave a certificate for best make-up design to Purbrook Park School and the 2nd place overall to Portsmouth College. The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth then presented the 1st place plaque to our own Purbrook Park School, to the obvious shock and delight of their performers.

This marked the end of four days of senior performances, with local schools doing exceptionally well. Park Community School won on Monday, and then on Wednesday, working with Rachel Madocks Special Needs School, they came second.

Over the four nights of competition these three schools, plus South Downs College who were already in the Premier final, were the only schools from the Borough of Havant. What a lot of talented young people we have here. We should be very proud of them.

The Finals will be held at Portsmouth Guildhall on June 19th and 20th.