Our debating society is increasingly popular with students in Years 9-11. In the Autumn term, they have discussed topics ranging from vaping to the benefits and drawbacks of a four day school week.
Both of our Public Speaking teams were delighted to progress to the second round of the English Speaking Union’s Public Speaking competition. Students spoke passionately about mental health in schools and the rise of AI, whilst others hosted students from other schools and offered questions to help them to explore their topics in more depth.
The Year 9 debating team travelled to Easingwold to compete in the first round of the ESU’ Schools’ Mace. Although they did not progress to the next round, they impressed the judges with their use of rhetorical devices and humour, as well as their ability to respond to challenging questions from the audience. They were the youngest students involved in the competition this year, competing against sixth formers from other local schools.
