Debaters from a school in Custom House won a borough-wide competition and came third in a national event in Mayfair.

Students from the Royal Docks Community School competed against other young people in Newham at Rokeby School and came out on top.

Carl Hastings, Margaret Oki, Celena Davis and Thien Nguyen, all in Year 10, then faced fierce competition from the rest of London at the English Speaking Union’s London Debate Challenge at Dartmouth House before moving on to the Debate Mate Deutsche Bank Grand Final where they came third out of 150 schools.

Ruth Martin, headteacher at the school in Prince Regent Lane, said: “We are so proud of their achievements so far. They have put a lot of hard work and effort in to these competitions and they deserve all the success they are getting.”

Also this month, the Royal Docks Community School celebrated their Year 11 Achievement Evening with special guests including chair of governors Tim Harrison, Dr Douglas Bourne from the Institute of Education, Master of the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers Edward Crossley, and Helen Mitchell from the University of East London.

Adding a touch of glamour to the evening, there were musical performances of original compositions from Year 11 students Bethany Hodgkinson and Nadya Yakubu, performed by Mille Lock and Abigail Thomas respectively, and a version of a song from West End show ‘Wicked’ by head boy Sam Knight.

The successes of the rest of the school were also celebratesd with four pupils receiving Overall Outstanding Achievement awards including Justine Franco Okedigun, Kieran Morris, Bradley Tildesley and Miruna Alaru.

The evening also featured a performance from each year group, with a star turn from Year Seven Daniel Dinu, 11, who played an original composition on the piano.