To coincide with our Focus Week celebrating Antarctica Day, Year 11 House teams debated the question: ‘Is Global Warming a Myth?’
Teams presented opening and closing statements in support of their arguments. During the middle segment of the debate they were able to challenge the points made by the opposing team and make counter-arguments.
The external judges were Carrie Jahn (from The Spires Care Home in Lichfield) and Philip Burke (School Governor), with librarian Helena Cresswell serving as moderator. Teams earned points based on making solid, supported arguments and rebutting the opposing arguments. Marks could be lost for interrupting or repeating a previously made point.
The final results were:
1st Place: Seward
2nd Place: Darwin
3rd Place: Johnson
4th Place: Garrick
There were some very strong individual performances so it was a difficult decision to choose the most valuable debaters. However, our external judges ultimately chose Isabelle Smith (Darwin) and Ben Wykes (Seward) as ‘Most Valuable Debaters’ for their strong contributions.
Mark Drury, Assistant Headteacher, said: “Making a coherent argument based on evidence and research is an important skill. Antarctica Day gave our students opportunity to debate a key question facing society and it was great to hear them discussing fake news, questioning the evidence and misinformation around this issue.”
