Friday Headlines
the weekly newsletter from EHS
Success for debaters in ESU Mace competition
08 December 2017
On 23 November 2017, Hannah Clutton-Brock and Davina Mahgerefteh travelled to Joseph Chamberlain College to participate in the first round of the English Speaking Union (ESU) Mace debating competition.
Hannah and Davina proposed the motion ‘This house would introduce a year of compulsory, non-military national service after Year 13 or equivalent’, against a team of boys from KES.
After watching and asking questions in the first two debates, Hannah and Davina were part of the final debate of the evening. Although they had to face some difficult challenges from the opposing team, both girls were able to continue with their debates fluently and confidently.
Davina was the first proposition speaker and made points about the benefits of national service for both young people and the community. Hannah, in her speech, examined the logistical challenges of implementing this scheme. The other team spoke well and both girls came up with intelligent rebuttal and questions throughout, leading to their victory in this individual debate.
After a very long evening of debating and deliberating this highly competitive set of debates, the judges announced their decision. Thanks to this performance – supported by Mr Wilkins, Ms Park and the input of the debating society – we are delighted to announce that EHS won their debate and were sent through to the second round of the ESU Mace along with the Solihull and KES teams.
We look forward to competing against more Birmingham schools in subsequent rounds and wish Hannah and Davina good luck!
