First up was the Manchester University Schools Competition, where topics of debate included whether to pay politicians the average salary of their constituents, or introduce quotas for men in female-dominated careers like teaching and nursing. We approached the event as a ‘pro-am’, pairing more experienced year 12 speakers with year 9s and 10s, to great success – Anoushka and Inji are through to the Gold Final, and Niamh and Olive are through to the Silver Final.
Equally assured performances followed in the regional rounds of the Oxford Schools Debating Competition. Undeterred by its fearsome reputation as the largest debating competition in the UK, two teams made it through to Oxford Finals Day. Here’s to continuing the successful run as they tackle the Cambridge regional round this Saturday!
Finally, a well-deserved win from our year 9s in the first round of the ESU Public Speaking Competition this Thursday. After watching Cecilia's chairing, Eliza's questioning, and Anna's speech on Confucius’ maxim ‘Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated’, it appears the judges’ decision wasn’t complicated at all: they unanimously declared the team winners.
