Pupils in KS3 have been taking part in the Urban Debate Competition this year. Since November, the academy has been lucky enough to have a mentor from the Debate Mate program attend the academy once a week to work with a group of pupils from Year 7-10 on their speaking and listening skills through the Debate Mate format. This format starts from the most basic fundamentals of arguing a point up to structuring a full debate within teams of 4.

Five pupils from Year 7 and 8 attended the first round of the Urban Debate League on the 6th February following 8 weeks of extra-curricular work with the Debate Mate program. The five pupils represented themselves and the academy excellently, winning their first debate against a team of experienced competitors and narrowly missing out on a second victory to another excellent team of experienced debaters.

The second round on the 7th March saw them win both their debates!

We look forward to seeing these pupils progress further through the program and act as ambassadors and role models for building up a successful culture of debate within the school.