Five schools from across the Midlands took part in the event, which began with a training session on the fundamentals of British Parliamentary debating. As well as giving visiting pupils a solid foundation for the day ahead, the session was a valuable opportunity for our Sixth Form students to use the experience they have acquired during their time at Trent to teach others.
The debates encouraged pupils to consider and discuss a range of topical issues including social media use, veganism and capital punishment. For some pupils, the day provided them with their first experience of competitive debating.
Josh and Isabel were two of the Sixth Form students who pioneered the event. Josh said, “The competition offered universal opportunities for all involved, through taking part in debates, shadowing judges and helping out with the organisation.”
Isabel added, “It was great to see the first Trent Schools Debating Competition go so well. Hopefully this competition will be the start of many to come.”
Congratulations to Solihull School who were named the overall winners on the day and also to the other schools who joined us for this milestone event – Bosworth Academy, Littleover Community School, Wilsthorpe and Chilwell School. We hope the Trent Schools Debating Competition has inspired every school that took part to #GoFurther in their own debating journeys and we look forward to meeting them in the debate chamber in the near future!
Trent debating
Trent has developed an enviable reputation on the debating scene with a number of accomplishments in national competitions, from both the school’s Debating Society and its younger counterpart the Junior Debating Club. Last academic year Trent pupils competed in 10 different competitions across the country. Highlights include:
- Debate wins over well-established debating schools Eton, Westminster and St Paul’s
- Connor and Isabel reaching the Novice Semi-finals at Durham University in the biggest debating competition in the country
- Josh and Jack making the Novice Finals at Warwick Debating Competition
- James and Jonathan making the Open Finals at Nottingham University
- Junior debaters Devindi and Savannah winning the U16 Midland Championships at Solihull and Devindi receiving the Best Speaker award