The legendary Green Guys
Claremont High School finds its voice at Imperial College
On Saturday 15th March 2025, five Year 11 students – Pedram Abasi, Uday Kabriya, Jaishal Patel, Teyago Robertson-Yebovi and Tiago Singh - accompanied Ms Arbani to Imperial College in London to compete in ‘Speaking for Tomorrow’, a one-day nationwide STEM public-speaking competition for high-school students.
This involved ten intense hours of preparation for three rounds of 10-minute public-speaking sessions in front of esteemed Imperial fellows and UCL Public Speaking Society judges - all without PowerPoint or props. Claremont were up against twenty-five other top-performing schools from around the UK and were honoured to receive the prize as ‘runners-up’ in second place!
Ms Arbani, who led the initiative at Claremont, was rightly proud of her students: ‘Huge congratulations to our Year 11 boys, called “The Green Guys”, who grew in popularity with the audience as the competition went on. They were truly magnificent in their deliveries. They commanded the stage and the attention of each and every member of the audience every time they stepped up to perform… And my goodness, did they give three performances that will be remembered for a long time to come!’
It was definitely a day to remember for Jaishal Patel in 11.3: ‘Attending Imperial’s “Speaking for Tomorrow” competition was an exciting and rewarding experience. At first I felt nervous, uncertain how I’d perform, but as each round progressed, my confidence grew and I found my voice. By the end, I was genuinely enjoying the challenge, engaging more with my audience and appreciating the opportunity to share my ideas.’
‘Although we didn’t win,’ adds Uday Kabriya in 11.4, ‘we secured second place - a huge achievement! It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we couldn’t have done it without our amazing team and all the hard work we put in. A huge thank you to Ms Arbani who was so passionate about our success.’
‘What a fantastic achievement,’ concludes Ms Arbani. ‘The students will have this experience on their CVs forever… Green Guys, you are legends!’