Bingham Debate Competition
Towards the end of the summer term, eight keen debaters travelled into London to the Bingham Debate Competition. This competition was hosted by South Hampstead High School with 60 teams participating!. As arduous as the early morning commute was, our spirits were high: we knew we were starting with firm foundations, reinforced by the practice that we were extremely grateful to have received at Debating Club.
The day ran as scheduled, and at 9.45am we were all formally welcomed. In the commencing minutes, Round 1 began. In the whole of the competition, there were four rounds (excluding the finals).We competed in the junior competition. With the rounds came their motions (topics) and a one of our favourite ones included 'This House Believes The Big Bang Theory was good for the neurodivergent community', where we debated on whether or not the popular TV show helped the neurodivergent community when Sheldon, the main character, displays traits of autism, though his condition was never specified on the show. Another preferred motion of the day was 'This House Supports parents using spyware', where we debated if parents should use devices such as trackers and similar apps that can (for example) check their children's browsing history or location via phone with or without their knowledge.
Wilson's was split in two teams: Wilson's A and Wilson's B. I (as part of Wilson's B) know that we competed against the Wood Green Warlocks, TBSHS Wagstaff's Warriors, Jack Hunt Hobbits and the Orleans Pandas. Unfortunately, neither of our teams made it to the finals, however, we put up a strong fight, with Wilson's A winning 3 of 4 debates and Wilson's B winning 2 of 4 debates. Our favourite part of the day was the soft drink social after the first four debates as we got to wind down after a long day of debating and got a chance to meet the teams we had debated against without the competitive element. Most importantly though, we got invaluable feedback from the judges there, taking our debating skills to the next level with useful techniques and helpful guidance.
Once again, a huge thank you to Prefect Nihithan and Miss Mortimer who were essential to this trip!
Report written by Lakshman (Year 7)