Pride for Year 12 Students at French Debating National Final
Félicitations to Year 12 linguists Millie and Katie, who made it through a ferocious competition to make the national final of the prestigious Institut Français debating competition, the Joutes Oratoires Lycéennes.
Rounds One and Two saw convincing wins after fluent debates on whether ‘The right to strike ought to be banned in the public sector’ and ‘In order to bring awareness to climate change, striking raids are justified’, and the girls made it through to compete in the Finale d’argent. Their final debate allowed only a very short time to prepare, and the girls demonstrated nerves of steel delivering eloquent and authentic arguments proposing the motion ‘Everyone should be able to laugh about everything’. After a nail-biting wait for adjudication, the team finished a very impressive fourth place in the final standing.
The grand final came after intense competition against over 300 students from some of the most competitive schools across the UK, under the eyes of French national adjudicators comprising senior academics from either the Institut or the Independent Schools’ Modern Language Association.
Head of French Cécile Davies said: “This is an absolutely fantastic achievement, we are incredibly proud of Millie and Katie. This was the first time we have taken part in this French debating competition, and what a brilliant debut. The girls were outstanding in their performance, showing an excellent ability to argue and react in fluent and eloquent French. Bravo to them and watch this space for next year!”
