By Mrs Lincoln (English and Psychology Teacher)
On Wednesday 20th November, a group of Year 10 students were invited to St Francis’ College for a debate competition against two other schools. The students were asked to prepare four topics involving women’s rights and gender equality. The topics were:
- The increased prominence of trad-wives is a threat to gender equality.
- There should be quotas in companies for seats for women on leadership boards.
- Campaigners for female rights have achieved their aims in the UK.
- Gender is no longer a barrier to reaching the top of UK politics.
The teams all came with lots of enthusiasm and well-planned arguments, and there was some excellent debating on show. Unfortunately, the competition was fierce and none of our teams made it to the final round. However, all eight BGS students who took part (Marwah, Safa, Mariyam, Nora, Jia, Haniya, Zoya and Helen) showed brilliant teamwork and a great ability to think on their feet throughout the day.
A special mention goes to Safa Akbur (10PPR), who was remarked on by the judges as being one of the top three speakers on the day. Speaking after the event, Safa said, “Our team worked tirelessly to present well-researched and persuasive arguments, tackling challenging questions with confidence. Although we didn’t win this time, we’re proud of our performance and how we supported each other throughout. The experience taught us so much about teamwork, public speaking, and handling pressure. Competing against other talented teams was incredibly inspiring and gave us valuable lessons to take into future debates - which we’re excited to attend!”
