Colfe’s was delighted to once again host the annual KS3 Debating Workshop, welcoming pupils from Years 7-9 from Conisborough College and St Paul’s Academy to join our own pupils for an afternoon of debating. The event is designed to stretch pupils beyond the GCSE curriculum, with an afternoon of preparation and delivery of speeches.
This year’s event debated the motions: This House believes that all social media should be banned for under 18s; Saturday school should be compulsory for all children; and International travel should be limited in order to preserve the environment. Pupils were allocated into small groups, with guidance and teaching from Colfe’s Y11 and Y12 experienced debaters who mentored each group. The resulting debates proved lively and inspirational, touching on highly relevant and important social and political issues.
Teacher of English and Debating Co-ordinator Miranda Solley said: “The Debating Workshop was a fantastic event. I was so impressed with the maturity of all the participants. This was the first experience of formal debating for nearly all of them, and they picked up the format really well and conducted the debates with respect, producing some extremely thoughtful and insightful discussions that raised some really pertinent issues. It was wonderful to see all the pupils growing in confidence throughout the day.”
The students themselves told us how much they enjoyed it: “I really enjoyed speaking with all the other teams and I was so inspired by all the analytical arguments, plus I learnt some excellent new vocabulary I hadn’t known before” (Abigail, Y8, Conisborough College); “I hadn’t previously done any formal debating, and I loved it. It was fun to interact with students from different schools, and I found it helped give me confidence and I was more able to put my thoughts into a structured argument.” (Neriah, Y8, Conisborough College).
