Our Year 9 Debate competition took place this week, with students debating the motion, ‘It is the responsibility of the state to care for the elderly,’ as part of the Focus Week on World Carers Action Day.
It was a topic which engaged and inspired our students on both sides, with some arguing that ‘the elderly are the backbone of our country’ whilst others countering with other worthy causes and the fact that the government money pot wasn’t a bottomless fund.
Our external judges, school governors, Nina Worrall and Mona Sihota, were impressed by the research and counter-arguing skills of the student debaters.
The clear winners with 69 points were the team from Johnson House: Eva Parry, Isla Luckhurst, Sam Thacker and Tyler Shaw. They were followed closely by Darwin on 61 points, then Seward on 47 points and Garrick with 42 points.
The external judges chose Daniel Jones (Seward) and Eva Parry (Johnson) as the Most Valuable Debaters. They also wanted to give a special mention to Sean Curtis (Garrick) and Isla Luckhurst (Johnson) for their debating skills.
Helena Cresswell, School Librarian, said, “Well done to all who took part in the debates. It was great to see passionate debating from the students.”
