GDST Debating Competition

On Saturday 13th June 2020, Ania, Elsa, Ananya and Louise from Years 7 and 8, along with our fabulous Year 10 judges, Izzy G and Shriya, took part in a virtual debating competition hosted by Putney High GDST. We thought this was a great opportunity and especially exciting as it was the first online debating competition we had ever attended!

The day was divided into three separate debates, each with a thought provoking motion that challenged us and taught us how to think on our feet – including the motion that MPs should be selected by national lottery! The time limit of a mere 15 minutes to prepare our speeches, as well as the pressure of a new style of debating, was tough but allowed us to practise many important skills.

We got off to a flying start, with our Year 8 team winning their first debate and the Year 7 team coming second in theirs. Overall, we were pleased with our performance and learned a huge amount from the whole experience. We are looking forward to getting more involved with debating and building on our success in the future.

We are extremely grateful that, despite guided home learning, we were still able to attend this competition and we were able to do something new. We thank Mrs Tooke for giving us this splendid opportunity and for sacrificing so much of her time to help and prepare us before the competition!

Ananya and Louise