On Saturday the 12th March Tilly J and Marie M in Yr 12 took part in the finals day of the Oxford University Schools Debating Competition. Tilly and Marie had successfully debated in the regional rounds of the competition and were invited to debate against some of the best debating schools both nationally and internationally at the Finals Day.
We arrived at Oxford at 8:00 am for the start of a long gruelling day of debates that spanned across the historic Oxford Student’s Union debating chamber as well as several other venues in Oxford. All teams had to debate in four competitions with eight teams debating at a time. Each of the four debates lasted 50minutes. Tilly and Marie debated incredibly well on a variety of topics including whether childrens’ versions of social media platforms do more harm than good, to the issue of introducing a universal basic income. They ranked second in two of their debates which was an incredible achievement for both students who were novices in this particular event. A massive congratulations to Tilly and Marie not only for making it to the Finals Day but also for debating with such style and grace against some formidable teams! Well done!