Congratulations to the winners of the Great Lancashire Debate

The winners were announced as Chorley St Peter's CE Primary School and Balshaw's CE High School from Leyland.

The grand final was held in the Council Chamber, with children representing six different primary schools on Wednesday 20 November.

They each had five minutes for a team presentation, in which they predicted how life will be different in 50 years time and explained about changes that should be made today to benefit Lancashire over the next half a century.

This question was chosen as 2024 marks the 50^th anniversary of Lancashire County Council.

The winning team from Chorley St Peter's CE Primary School was made up of Year Five pupils Lyle, Liam, Lola, Eva-Grace and Alasdair.

Alasdair said:  "I'm very proud of myself and that we won it as a team.  It's been an amazing experience to win something so big. It's overwhelming, but I just feel proud."

Eva-Grace added:  "It's really good, I didn't think we were going to win and we've got a really cool shield now."

Lola was also named the Best Individual Speaker at the primary school event.

The other schools that took part were Barrowford St Thomas CE Primary School, Edenfield Primary School, Sherwood Primary School, St Thomas CE Primary School from Blackburn and Worsthorne Primary School.

The following day, Thursday 21 November, it was the turn of secondary school pupils to take their place in the Council Chamber to present their teams response to the same question.

The winning team was Balshaw's CE High School which was made up of Year Nine pupils Rory, Zac, William and Omar.

Omar said:  "It was amazing and everything went to plan.  We were all really calm under pressure.  Our school won last year too so we'll be aiming for a third win next year!"

William added:  "I think we performed really well and it was good to see other schools doing something like this too."

The Best Individual Speaker was Tabitha from Broughton High School.

The other schools that took part were Broughton High School, Haslingden High School, Ribblesdale School, St Christopher's CE High School, Accrington and Tarleton Academy.

Cllr Phillippa Williamson, Leader of Lancashire County Council, was on the judging panel for both events.

Cllr Williamson said: 

"It's been a fascinating two days hearing from these young people who so eloquently put their points across and made it incredibly difficult for the judges to decide on two sets of winners.

"The competition was extremely fierce, and it was clear that a lot of time had been spent by each school researching and preparing their viewpoints.

"I will be reflecting on all of the ideas that were put forward and they could make a real difference to Lancashire in the future.

"I could certainly see many of these young people in the council chamber again representing a community as a councillor."

 Cllr Jayne Rear, cabinet member for Education and Skills said: 

"I was really inspired by all of the schools that took part in the event, and it was a really difficult decision to choose the winners.

"The young people were incredibly passionate and had some excellent ideas.

"It's been an honour to host this competition for the second year running at County Hall."

The winners were presented with The Great Lancashire Debate Shield and an opportunity to visit County Hall for an educational trip to meet and share ideas with Lancashire County Council's Cabinet.

The best individual speaker from each day will also receive a book token.