We took 6 teams from Wellington up north this week to compete in the Lancaster University Schools Debating Competition. There were four debates, with debaters only having fifteen minutes to prepare for five minutes speeches on topics ranging from university rankings, to fan adaptations of cartoons, to figure skating. Whether it was a good thing that time heals all wounds, proved to be the most interesting of the four debates. With some of our debaters now competing for the second time in this competition, our experience really showed, with the teams of Sourish Chanda & Jaden Chiu and Georgia Holmes & Maiko Fairbrother both doing well. However, it was our first-time debaters – Chris Bhattacharya & Sam Coyle in Year 12, and Jack Goodman, Ruby Wang, Leyla Shi, Kylie Leung and Chloe Yuen all in Year 10 – who made the biggest impact, scoring a number of 1st and 2nd positions between them. Dilara Gencer in Year 10, one of our more practiced debaters, was singled out by judges for particular praise. A brilliant day at Lancaster University, and a great start to this year’s debating season, with Oxford, Cambridge and Liverpool University competitions all to look forward to.

 

Mr Ahern & Mr Murphy