On Friday 4th March, our Years 11 and Lower Sixth students attended an engaging European Youth Parliament Regional Forum at Churchill College, Cambridge. Lower Sixth student, Grace Maguire, gives a fantastic insight of the day:

“The European Youth Parliament Regional Forum was a fantastic and invigorating experience. Our task was to debate topical and relevant issues with other neighbouring schools. Topics ranged from immigration, to repatriation, the gig economy and COVID-19 vaccines. Specifically, we had to argue against the repatriation, or return, of cultural artefacts to their country of origin, which while difficult, was great at developing debating skills. In order to prepare, we had to write a three minute defence speech and make sure we had sufficient and accurate knowledge on the issues, which included looking at counter-arguments to see how they could be rebuffed.

“A challenge was working as a team under such intense conditions. We overcame this by taking the time to communicate our points effectively, and allow everyone to make a point if they so wished. By lunch time, we were incredibly successful at working within the timed conditions, which made for some exciting final debates. Specifically, was our use of the ‘direct response’ card that we would hold up if we had a direct comment of agreement, or disagreement, regarding a different team's point. For example, in the last debate we discussed whether there should be greater restrictions on the fast-fashion industry to make it more environmentally friendly. Our team was opposing the new regulations, so when the proposing team commented about the fast fashion industry contributing to 10% of CO2 emissions every year, our team made a ‘direct response’ to say that agriculture, transport and industry all contributed far more to CO2 emissions into the atmosphere; highlighting that there are, perhaps, more relevant issues to be addressed than the fashion industry.

“Overall this was a very exciting and useful experience, particularly because of the skills we  were able to develop in teamwork and organisation. Moreover, being able to argue for or against an issue, without getting too caught up in your own personal views, is a skill within itself that many future employers recognise as valuable. Most importantly, however, the debate was very interesting to be a part of, as it truly allowed young people to voice their thoughts on current issues, and defend their opinions to the fullest.”