The Bingham Debating Competition

We hosted over 100 pupils from 10 partner schools for the inaugural Bingham Debating Competition on the first day of our school holidays.

South Hampstead’s award-winning Debate Hub was established to help promote oracy in collaboration with our partner schools.  We now run a comprehensive programme of staff training, pupil coaching and regular competitions throughout the year, with South Hampstead students and staff volunteering at a range of events that help hundreds of primary and secondary school pupils to develop their confidence and skills of argumentation.

The Bingham Debating Competition, named after our departing Headmistress, invites state school pupils from across England to speak up and speak out. At the inaugural event this year, 108 students from 10 partner schools delivered 444 speeches, competing for a range of individual and group prizes kindly donated by the ZVM Rangoonwala Foundation. We were delighted that Mrs Bingham was able to join the final judging panel and award prizes to the winners.

Debate Hub has now reached over a thousand pupils across more than 50 schools nationwide. We are thrilled that four pupils from one of our partner schools, Castle Mead Academy in Leicester, have just been accepted onto the Team England Development Squad. Debate Hub is one of the South Hampstead initiatives recently nominated for the Independent School of the Year Award for Outstanding Educational Partnerships.

We rely on the generosity of our community to help fund the Debate Hub programme. If you would like to support this initiative, or sponsor one of our many debating events, please visit support us or contact development@shhs.gdst.net.