Last week, the Debate Club took two teams to the English Speaking Union’s Churchill Public Speaking competition, where our debaters once again acquitted themselves admirably.
Team 1, consisting of Alina (Year 11) as Chair, Ellie (Year 10) as Questioner and Olivia (also Year 10) as Speaker, were a new combination of students who showed real potential as a team and individually. Olivia delivered a brilliant speech on the dangers of nationalism and its destructive effect on international relations, whilst Alina chaired her team admirably and Ellie put insightful and interesting questions to the speaker.
Team 2, meanwhile, was comprised of seasoned debaters Amy King (Year 11) as Chair, Eleanor Voak (also Year 11) as Questioner and Lucy Turner (Year 10) as Speaker. Calling on their extensive experience, this group also did exceptionally well, with Lucy fascinating the audience with her talk on bias against introverted people. Amy was a superb Chair, and indeed, won the coveted Best Chair award, whilst Eleanor was engaging and insightful as Questioner. Team 2 made it through to the next round, and I’m sure Team 1 will be back next year, so watch this space in February 2020 for the branch final!