Debate Club

On a dark, wet and windy evening in mid-January ten members of the esteemed Bishop Luffa Debate Club set off with Mrs Pegram and Mx Thomas through the countryside to the prestigious Churcher’s College in Petersfield. Their challenge: to enter into lively and informed discussions with some of the best debate teams in the area, vying for a place in the regional finals of the famous ESU Mace competition. Unlike some of the competitors Bishop Luffa decided to mix up the speakers and give other members of the team an opportunity to take to the stage. Furthermore, due to another team being unable to attend, Luffa also had the honour of providing a swing team (an additional team who cannot qualify but who allow the remaining lone team to continue to compete).

It was a high stakes event and the team took it in their stride. Led by Year 12 students Rachel Cook and Amelia Geraghty-Bellingham the two Bishop Luffa teams also comprised of Year 10 students Eva Callaghan and Ella Blamire, and Year 9 students Eesa Salah and Ivy Revill, as well as four additional lively supporters. Up against students who were up to four years older than them, our younger debaters held their own in a strong field. There were three rounds of debate and Bishop Luffa were contesting the following motions as the proposition teams:

This House would hold tech companies legally responsible for the mental health impact of their platforms. And: This House Believes that modern politics does not represent the interests of young people.

The teams presented thoughtful, balanced and well-informed arguments. In the first heat Rachel remained completely unflappable despite fielding numerous points of information from her opponents (essentially challenge mid debate) before 13-year-old Eesa took to the floor engaging his audience and working the room; finally Eva tied everything together eloquently and concisely to round off the first debate.

In our next go Ella kicked things off for the swing team grabbing the audience’s attention with a personal story, before Amelia got the audience laughing and participating throughout her speech and also posed some really tricky points of information to her opponents. To finish, Ivy, juggling numerous bits of paper full of rebuttals, (responses to what has been heard from the opponents) took to the floor and calmly and clearly rounded off the evening.

It was an insanely strong field and we were unlucky not to progress. Feedback was positive and constructive and the team left Petersfield for the wild and wet journey back to Chichester in high spirits. We will be back next year for another go!

Katie Pegram, Second in Charge of English