No argument about Perse pupils’ progress to major debating finals
Perse pupils are celebrating after making their case for a place in the finals of major debating competitions.
Youran and Zahra (both Year 10) have qualified for the latter stage of the Oxford Schools’ Debating Competition, while Liz and Annika (both Year 8) have reached the finals of the International Competition for Young Debaters (ICYD).
For Youran and Zahra that meant putting forward their arguments over two rounds of debates online, while Liz and Annika took part in a series of three discussions at the Cambridge Union.
As Youran and Zahra were taking part in their first competition, they were thrilled to have made the break from the Oxford qualifiers and, with the event open to students from Year 10 to Upper Sixth, they will be among the youngest of the 100-plus teams taking part in next month’s final at the Oxford Union.
In the online round, they argued in favour of motions on preferring a world where adult children take care of elderly parents and that company managers should periodically do entry-level jobs in the workplace, with just 15 minutes to prepare their case for each debate.
Zahra said: “We entered because we wanted to get into debating at this age and gradually learn rather than only get into it in Sixth Form, so we saw it as a learning opportunity.
Youran added: “Being online, it was probably a lot less nerve-racking than it will be in real life, but it was a really good experience. We were really satisfied with how we did and even if we hadn’t made it to the final, we would be proud of taking part anyway.”
Both said they enjoyed the task of putting together a case in limited time, despite the challenges involved.
Zahra commented: “It feels like a level playing field for everybody where there’s a limit to how much research you can do. Those 15 minutes were really stressful though, and because it was online, it was harder to share ideas. We took photos of what we’d written and text them to each other.”
As for their chances of success at the finals, Youran said: “It’s just so exciting to be going to Oxford to debate in real life and I’m sure we’re going to learn a lot from it that we can build on for the future.”
Meanwhile, Liz and Annika won their ICYD regional round to progress to the finals at the Cambridge Union in May, having gained an awareness of what to expect from taking part in the competition last year.
As with the Oxford Schools’ competition, the ICYD sees teams use the British Parliamentary debate format with just 15 minutes to compile their assertions.
Liz and Annika impressed judges with their opposition to the motion ‘This house prefers an education system based on the ‘knowledge’ approach to the ‘talent’ approach of teaching.
They also successfully argued in favour of motions banning political figures from reality TV shows, and countries with poor human rights records from hosting major sporting events.
Annika, whose sisters are also keen debaters, said: “You end up being grouped with other teams of a similar standard, so we were surprised to come first, but we’ve been going to more debating clubs in school that are focused on the BP format.
“I’m really excited that we’re in the final and we’ll carry on practising, but I don’t know how far our luck will go!”
Liz added: “I’ve always liked public speaking and debating, particularly the BP format, so the event was a lot of fun, but we didn’t think we would make it to the final.
“With this format, it’s more about coming up with points and how well you can present them and expand on them. Now we’re in the final, I hope we do well.”