Our TED debating group has participated in the KES debating challenge this year. After a series of in-school debates in the Michaelmas Term, Chloe and Sofia in Year 6 were selected as the Blue Coat team. The girls have made enormous progress over the course of the year, and developed their critical thinking and rhetorical style. Their first round debate at KES was held at the start of the Trinity Term, with the topic “This house believes learning sign language should be compulsory for primary school children.” The Blue Coat team spoke brilliantly for the proposition and made it through to the next round. In the following debate on 10 June they were given the topic “This house would ban fee paying and selective schools.” Once again we were debating for the proposition, and it was a very challenging topic against strong competition. The Blue Coat team were winners again, and then through to the semi-final.
The semi-final was held on Friday 24 June, with the topic “This house would limit the amount of time children can spend online.” This time Chloe and Sofia were debating in the opposition. It was an excellent debate, with strong arguments presented on both sides. The Blue Coat team narrowly missed out on a place in the final, but Sofia was awarded the chair’s prize for the best speaker of the afternoon. I am very proud of both the girls for the way they have performed throughout the challenge. In the words of Ms Gillow from KES, “Chloe and Sofia are both superb debaters and clearly have an excellent future ahead of them in debating.”
A mention should also go to the year 5 TED debaters who have come to observe and participate in the floor debates; Taran, Ismail, Zail, Aaryan and Rayyan have all shown great enthusiasm and have been excellent ambassadors for Blue Coat. Well done to all.
Mrs Creaton
