Earlier this month, Sixth Form students Amelia H and Hannah L took part in one of five local debates preparing for the EU Mock Council.
The girls travelled to the British Council offices in London, where, alongside students from sixteen other schools, they took part in workshops led by students from UCL and the LSE. The workshops included activities designed to teach students the fundamentals of making arguments with confidence and clarity, practising how to structure and develop arguments, and learning the key differences between making an argument and responding to one.
Following the workshops, Amelia and Hannah joined two students from another school to propose the motion, ‘This House believes that the free movement of people is critical to the success of the EU’, a challenging topic for which teams were allowed only twenty minutes to prepare ‘ without the benefit of laptops or phones!
Hannah had the daunting task of opening the debate, making a strong argument for the benefits of cultural diversity and the investment in a country’s economy brought about by the free movement of people. Faced with a challenging point of information, she held her nerve with a clear and articulate response.
Amelia had the job of rebutting the first opposing speaker, which she did confidently, remaining cool and collected in the face of more challenging points of information. Her ability to think on her feet was commended in the judge’s feedback.
Students were judged on style, content and strategy, with schools from all five events competing for an invitation to take part in the EU Mock Council on 22nd November.