A group of our Sixth Form students have been preparing for the Young Citizen’s Bar Mock Trial since September 2022.
Students have been meeting on a weekly basis at lunchtime to prepare their cases, practise their questioning skills and prepare to undergo questioning as witnesses. Students also attended after school sessions to develop their skills and seek advice from members of the legal profession. We were very privileged to be supported by an experienced barrister and now Judge, Leona Harrison. She told students about her role and experience as a barrister and a judge. Students had the opportunity to ask Judge Harrison about the legal profession and different jobs and roles available within the justice system. Judge Harrison gave student valuable advice on how to present their arguments and question witnesses. She also observed our students' role play the criminal cases and gave students advice on how they could improve their opening/ closing statements. She gave valuable support on how to use open and leading questions. Students taking on the role of barristers were committed to improving their advocacy skills and reflected on the advice given by Judge Harrison. All students taking part worked very hard to prepare for their roles, they have worked collaboratively and supported each other throughout.
On Saturday 4 February, the Sixth Form students took part in the Bar Mock Trial at the Sandra Burslem Law Building at MMU. WHGS students competed against other Sixth Form Colleges from the North West.
Prosecution barristers, Yanmon and Ridha did and outstanding job at presenting their cases, questioning witnesses and cross examining the defence witnesses. The Judge commented on the confidence of both barristers and highlighted the strength of their closing statement.
In the second round, prosecution barristers Jamal and Sakinah did an amazing job in defending their case. Their opening and closing speeches outlining the law and burden of proof to the jury was a key strength. They won their case and outperformed the other Grammar school competing.
Defence barristers Mohammad and Olu did an excellent job in defending their case in the third round of the competition. Both students thoroughly questioned and cross examined witness to highlight the evidence for their case.
Mulaikah did a superb performance as the clerk. She confidently led the proceeding and clearly read the witness statements. Zabina did a fantastic job as the court clerk. She collected and swore in witnesses and ensured that the trial ran smoothly.
Iman, Ibraheem, Hasan, Dana, Abdul and Sakinah played the role of key witnesses. Dana and Abdul played the roles of the defendant. Both students did stand out performances, they knew their statements and were able to confidently respond to tough questioning. Hasan did an excellent and comical performance as the witness for the defence team. He made it very difficult for the competing team to cross examine him. His performance helped the defence barristers to win their case. The Judge commented that he would love to have the opportunity to question someone like Hasan in a trial. Ibraheem and Sakinah knew every detail of their statements, they worked well with their teams to make sure they presented the points the prosecution/defence team wanted them to highlight. They performed very well responding to questioning from other school teams.
All students took part being jurors for other schools competing in the competition. They listened diligently to all the evidence presented and came to a verdict of guilty/not guilty for each case.
All students enjoyed the day and thrived during the competition. They represented WHGS fantastically well and made Miss Ingham very proud.