The S. Anselm's Debating Team in Action!
The inaugral debating competition versus Foremarke Hall Preparatory was a resounding success and both teams performed superbly well. The motion was, "This House believes that zoos do more harm than good". S. Anselm's proposed and kicked off the debate with two outstanding speeches by Will A and Nancy S. They spoke with great passion and skill and formulated mature and convincing arguments. Freddie H had ably assisted the speakers by providing vital information and producing relevant slides for the Power Point Presentation. The Foremarke response was formidable (especially when one considers that they were all Year 7 pupils) but Charlie L was able to formulate some excellent counter arguments and made some clever off the cuff responses. It was a shame that we had to stop many of the debaters before they had finished due to time constraints as both sides spoke with real skill. They cross-examined each other with precision and responded superbly well to some excellent questions from the floor.
The fab four!
We were fortunate to have Mrs Gail Robson-Bayley, an English teacher and Head of Marketing at Worksop College, as our adjudicator. She was ably assisted by Luke and Jake - sixth formers at Worksop who had recently got to the final round of the National Schools Question Time competition organised by the BBC. They dissected both sides' performances and were generous with their praise but also gave valuable advice. S. Anselm's triumphed and were given a huge bar of Toblerone for their valiant efforts. Foremarke were a very close second and went home with some chocolate too!
The Foremarke Team
My thanks go to Mrs Robson-Bayley and her two assistants who were very kind to come so far to offer balanced judgement. My thanks also go to the parents who came to watch, Charles Adams who sorted out the projector and to Mr Wells from Foremarke who had organised his team. I would also like to thank the boarding boys and girls who really enjoyed the evening and behaved very well. All in all it was a fabulous occassion and Mr Wells hopes to host us at some point soon.
The judges mulling it over!
A S. Anselm's debating team will be travelling to Malvern College to take part in the Malvern Prep Schools Debating Competition next May. Let's hope for similar success!
Posted on
Fri, November 12, 2010
by RDM