By Mrs Lincoln (English and Psychology Teacher)

On Tuesday 4th March, we invited students from Years 7, 8 and 9 to an inter-school debate competition with Bedford School and Bedford Modern. For some of our students, this was the first time debating in a formal setting and for others, it was a great chance to practise and hone their debating skills.

Our first team (Naya, Sarah, Abhinaya, Zaynah and Jaya from Year 7) made some excellent points in the first debate of the evening, arguing in favour of the government banning social media for children under 16 years old. Although they didn’t win this debate, their teamwork and organisation was commendable and the staff member who attended from Bedford Modern School commented on how well this team in particular spoke.

Our second team (Chiara, Miya, Isabelle, Izzy and Ruqayya from Years 8 and 9) then took part in a debate about AI and how they believe it does not limit students’ critical thinking skills and creativity. Again, lots of brilliant arguments were made and some great rebuttals were given to the opposing team. This time, our team was successful in winning the debate! Ruqayya (Year 8) commented that she “loved how supportive everyone was and it was really nice to compete in something other than sports.”

I would also like to thank Amrita (Year 8) who was our chairperson for the evening. She led the event with calmness and confidence, despite never having taken on this role before. Anesi (Year 8) also volunteered to act as timekeeper for the debates, and Nawaal (Lower Sixth) gave up lots of time in helping to prepare our students, putting together a marksheet and acting as one of the judges for the evening.

We look forward to hosting similar events in the future and would like to say a big well done to all who took part!