Our second round of the House Debating Competition saw Year 12 students debating the notion: ‘The net zero target is a waste of money and should be scrapped.’ This tied in with our focus week on road safety and the environmental impacts of different types of transport.

All teams argued their points vigorously, with some debates continuing even after the closing statements. It was a very close result overall, but the winning team was from Johnson House (Hannah Grimshaw, Henry McCarthy, Alex Meredith and Rosie Walker.) Just 4 points behind, Darwin came second, with Garrick in third and Seward in fourth place.

Hannah Grimshaw (Johnson), Alex Meredith (Johnson) and Oliver Bridges (Garrick) were awarded Most Valuable Debaters by the judges, school librarian, Helena Cresswell and school governors, Nina Worrall and Gillian Findlay. A special mention was also awarded to Tamzin Liston-Head for her debating skills.

Gillian Findlay, School Governor, commented, “The students were very passionate in their debates, with impressive counter-arguing and lots of independent research on display. Having judged a number of school debates now, this was one of the best I have seen.”