Debating News

February and March are traditionally the peak of the debating season, and this half of term has been no exception. The first day of the February half-term saw Eden and Tanisha (VI) reach the gold final of the Imperial Schools debating competition. A week later, Julie and Maya R (V), having just returned from the school ski trip due to a cancelled flight, turned up at the LSE competition and reached the gold final, where they were finally beaten by Maia and Vanessa (VIII). Meanwhile, Taarini and Agatha, as well as Beatrice and Aishwarya (UIV) reached the junior finals. Julie and Maya reached the gold final again at Imperial Juniors on 28 February.  

Our juniors did very well at the SHHS Fictional Worlds debating competition on 19 March, with two of our teams coming top of the junior strand.  The team members were Taarini, Olivia W, Beatrice, Aishwarya, Olivia Y, Emma, Jiya and Bella (UIV). It is very good to see the rising generation of debaters doing so well!  

March is also the month of all the finals, where our squad has had a string of successes. Oxford and Cambridge are the two most prestigious under-18 debating competitions, where qualifying for finals days is already a noteworthy achievement. 

We are proud to announce that Maia and Vanessa reached the ultimate dream of any school debater, winning the Oxford competition. It was the third SPGS victory in six years, a rare achievement for any school. Maia was also Best Speaker in the finals. The exploit nearly repeated itself a week later in the Cambridge finals, where Maia was Best Individual Speaker and Vanessa third; they narrowly missed the ultimate victory in a two to three judges’ split, meaning that any other panel would probably have given them the win. 

It has been a splendid way for Vanessa to crown her school debater’s career, and a confirmation of Maia’s undeniable place as best speaker on the circuit. Maia also deserves a special mention for her latest achievements with Team England: the team won the European Schools Debating Championships, where Maia was ranked individually as the 2nd Best Speaker in Europe and 1st Best Reply Speaker in Europe.  

Last week also saw the regional final of the ESU Churchill public speaking competition, which was won by our team of VI students: Eden (VI) captivated the audience with her speech based on Oscar Wilde’s quote: ‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us look at the stars’, aptly complemented by Limi’s (VI) probing questioning and Evelyn’s (VI) warm chair-person act .  

The debaters have certainly been reaching for the stars these last six weeks and we congratulate them heartily on their magnificent achievements! 

As ever, our gratitude goes to the VI and VII debaters who week after week coach and inspire their junior peers: Maia, Kiran, Beatrice, Eden, Tanisha and Jemima. They are doing a splendid job.  

Hélène May 

Head of Debating