Hopelands Preparatory School Triumph in Stroud Mock Trial Competition

IN MARCH this year Hopelands’ Year 6 took part in a mock trial court case at Ebley House.

The class were acting as the prosecutors in the case of an alleged arson of a wheelie bin outside a newsagents in Cirencester.

After both prosecution and defence had been given the opportunity to examine and cross-examine both prosecution and defence witnesses accordingly - the five magistrates (including two of our own!) - found the defendant not guilty of setting the fire.

The Chairman of the Court said ‘this had been a complex case, but although the prosecution have put forward a strong case, the evidence was not strong enough to convict’.

There were powerful performances from our prosecution lawyers, as well as some assured and composed deliveries from our witnesses – even under the skilled cross-examination from our opponent’s defence team.

However, despite failing to secure a conviction, after all the local trials had taken place it was announced that in the small schools Mock Trial Competition…. Hopelands had won!

The Celia Hardwicke Shield for the Best Small School was awarded jointly to Hopelands Prep School and Stone with Woodford C of E Primary who both achieved an overall score of 98.5 out of 120.

This also placed Hopelands fourth overall in the entire competition, the highest they have ever been placed.

And to add icing to the cake, Hopelands’ Frankie Coles was named Best Reporter in the overall competition for her piece about the trial, which was written in the heat of the moment as the trial progressed.

Mrs Barbara Sands, Head of PHSE said ‘I am not just delighted to see all their hard work be rewarded in this way but I am genuinely touched by the way the whole class came together and embodied the spirit of teamwork to achieve a result for everybody’.

The Year 6 Form Teacher, Miss Ellie Porter, was equally thrilled ‘We all worked together, teasing out ideas and coming up with questions and theories; it was a real team effort’.

A very big message of congratulations should go to all the class members who took part in the weeks before the trial.

The questions they all worked on, the detailed drawings and court reporter exercises they practised and their understanding of the workings of the judiciary all helped to prepare the whole form for the trial itself.

Well done everyone.