Debating Partnerships

Our Debate Hub continues to flourish, with more pupils from schools in London and beyond joining our regular coaching sessions and friendly competitions.

Established in 2019, our award-winning Debate Hub aims to do for debating what most schools already do for sport: to organise regular training and fixtures so that novices can get more practice.

In November alone, we heard nearly 800 speeches in 132 competitive debates, involving pupils from 24 different schools. At our first Junior School competition, 175 pupils from local schools, including Ark Franklin, Goldbeaters and The Orion Primary School, joined our own Year 6 pupils for three rounds of debates. The following day, we welcomed over 120 students from local secondary schools, including Chiltern Academy, St Marylebone, Maria Fidelis and La Sainte Union for our termly Debating Competition – back in person for the first time since 2019. Our Debate Coach also delivered a workshop for 24 primary school pupils in Barnet this month, encouraging more young pupils to speak up and speak out.

Meanwhile, our own debaters have gone from strength to strength this term. At the Edinburgh Juniors, with 136 competitors, Olivia in Year 10 and Sophia in Year 9 won the Gold Final; we also secured all of the top individual speaker slots. Well done to Molly in Year 9 (1st); Olivia in Year 10 and Leila in Year 9 (joint 2nd); Sophia in Year 9 (4th), Eleanor in Year 9 (5th) and Lara in Year 10 (6th).  Olivia and Sophie ended the term with another superb performance, defeating St Paul’s Girls and City of London School for Girls to win the UCL Juniors Gold Final.