Debate Competition

Last weekend, four members of our Sustainable Development Goals Debate Club (Calliope, Eliza, Ilya and Jason) took part in an international debate competition at the Real School in Budapest. After success in the first two rounds, they came up against a very strong school from Finland where they had to debate a challenging unseen motion. Despite not winning the third round, they gave a very good account of themselves, so much so that they were able to take third place overall in the competition, only missing out by 1.5 speaker points from making the final.

There was individual success too, with Eliza winning the overall Best Speaker Award. An excellent achievement given the strength of competitors involved.

What’s more impressive is that the students achieved this success based on only one short preparatory session a week, and for two team members, this was their first time taking part in a debate competition. Furthermore, the club is entirely student run, with Annamaria, Karolin, and Flora providing expert coaching and support for the team during the year.

The four members enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to more competitive debates next year, welcoming new members to the debate club, and running longer after-school preparatory sessions.

Ashley Phillipson

IB Diploma Programme Coordinator