A team of sixth-form debaters from Notre Dame High School, in Sheffield, have won a place in the Central Regional Final of the Institute of Ideas & Pfizer Debating Matters Competition. By winning the Sheffield qualifying round they have already gone a stage further in the competition than last year. They will take on three other schools from the area for the chance to go on to compete in the prestigious National Final.
Should they win again their school will receive £1000 worth of Hodder Murray books as well as numerous individual prizes. The University of Leicester provide great support for the competition as a regional sponsor and will host this final on April 27th. Dr. Jo Brewis, a reader in management at the university, will help to judge the final. She described Debating Matters as “an excellent event characterised by a great deal of enthusiasm, intellectual acumen and solid debating skills on the part of all particpants.”
Debating Matters is renowned as being the toughest debating competition in the country. This is largely due to it innovative format. The student debaters have to engage in direct argument with their opposition, the audience and a panel of experienced judges. Highly respected experts from a wide variety of backgrounds are attracted to taking part in the competition. Involved in this event will be Dr. Stuart Derbyshire, the senior lecturer in the school of psychology at the University of Birmingham and Kathy Loizou, the director of the Showcomotion Young People’s Film Festival. So too will be Dr. Sandrine Soubes, from the Centre for Stem Cell Biology at Sheffield University, who works as a science communicator to engage schools and the public in discussing scientific issues, and Dr. Martin Halliwell, a professor of American Studies and author of many books including ‘Images of Idiocy.’
Debating Matters is a rewarding experience for everyone involved. Tackling subjects that are occupying contemporary thinkers and policy-makers, students are asked to engage and contribute to real world debates. This regional final will include debates on the motions ‘We should get rid of ASBOs,’ ‘America is dumbing down world culture’ and ‘Physician assisted suicide should remain illegal.’
The contest is designed to place the student debaters under pressure, with the judges providing a rigorous cross-examination of their arguments. This is produces a stimulating and free-flowing argument that consistently brings out the best in the students. Dzi Mavengere, a young debater from Sheffield, said: “You get to learn about who you are. I realised there was all this knowledge in me I didn’t know I had… You gain more insight into public issues… You learn that the world isn’t just about you.”
The Central Regional Final is taking place at the Management School, University of Leicester on Friday 27 April. It is sponsored by the University of Leicester.
The winning school receives £1000 worth of Hodder Murray books.
The runner-up school wins £500 worth of Hodder Murray books.
There are individual prizes for each team member. 3. Years 12 and 13 sixth form students take part (17-18 year olds)
The schools taking part in the Central Regional Final are Notre Dame School School in Sheffield, Dukeries College in Nottinghamshire, King Edward VI Five Ways School from Birmingham and Jack Hunt School from Peterborough.
For details of the event programme, see: http://www.debatingmatters.com/C2B/document_tree/ViewACategory.asp?CategoryID=74 5.
For further information about the competition, go to www.debatingmatters.com.