The Roman Ridge School (TRRS) has surpassed its own record-breaking performance in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition.
TRRS pupils were awarded an astounding 163 medals after participating in the 2019 edition of the essay competition making it the highest number of medals received by any school in Ghana. TRRS has also topped the overall tables in this prestigious international writing competition for the past five (5) years in a row.
The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is the world’s oldest schools’ international writing competition, managed by The Royal Commonwealth Society since 1883. Every year, it offers all Commonwealth youth aged 18 and under the opportunity to express their hopes for the future, opinions of the present, and thoughts on the past through the written word.
The competition is used to build confidence, develop writing skills, support creativity and encourage critical thinking, using literacy to empower young people to become global citizens.
In 2019, over 12,000 young people from across the Commonwealth nations took part, submitting entries around the general theme, ‘A Connected Commonwealth’.
TRRS’s performance in this internationally acclaimed competition remains unmatched in Ghana, and arguably across West Africa and the continent as a whole, earning the highest number of medals in the country, every year for the past five (5) years:
2015 23 medals 9 Gold, 7 Silver & 7 Bronze
2016 19 medals 8 Gold, 6 Silver & 5 Bronze (only school in Ghana awarded Gold)
2017 21 medals 6 Gold, 5 Silver & 10 Bronze
2018 64 Medals 21 Gold, 14 Silver & 29 Bronze
2019 163 MEDALS 4 GOLD FINALISTS, 20 GOLD, 51 SILVER & 88 BRONZE
More than 100 judges, drawn from 40 different countries, assessed entries across every region of the Commonwealth. A total of 923 medals were awarded for entries from Africa with 163 awarded to TRRS pupils.
The RCS has confirmed that TRRS has won the most medals overall in Ghana for 2019, and the most medals in each of the four categories. Across all Commonwealth nations, only 140 children in total received Gold Finalist Awards, with their work being forwarded for consideration by the Final Panel for the Global Award. Judges commented on the skill and talent shown by many of the young writers, with entries described as ‘massively memorable’ and ‘very powerful’.
On Monday, December 9, 2019, the school hosted a Special Awards Ceremony to celebrate the participants and medal winners of the 2019 competition. The Akwaaba Dancers (Junior Troupe), TRRS’s Traditional Dance Group welcomed an impressive group of Dignitaries and Special Guests to the occasion, with a colourful display of Ghanaian Cultural Dance & Music.
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