The Inter-House Debating Semi-Final - This House believes that human resources are wasted colonising Mars...

Arion vs Lyon
It was very exciting to adjudicate the Semi-Final of the Inter-House Debating this morning, and to realise very quickly that this was going to be a high-quality, tactical debate. Indeed, the standard was so high that the Semi-Final could easily have been the Final. Arion and Lyon debaters all spoke with confidence and skill. They had prepared well, with clear focus of their content, along with interesting variations in their debating strategy. It come down to strategy at the end, with Arion using their ‘points of information’ slightly better than Lyon to ensure that they won the Semi-Final by one point. All six debaters deserve great credit for producing such an impressive debate.

Ian Wilmshurst - Headmaster

Wellesley vs Priory
Both the Wellesley and Priory teams gave excellent performances in their Semi-Final contest. It was an incredibly close competition, and all competitors deserve to be congratulated for their hard work. Harriet and Sarah began the debate. They both offered cogent points and engaged the audience well: Harriet warned us not to send ‘billions to the bin’ and Sarah repeatedly told us that ‘nothing is wasted’ in humanity’s spacefaring efforts.  Tia delivered a very engaging speech which made great use of language and tone to appeal to her listeners.  Niamh bravely stepped up for Wellesley, when another member of their team was unable to compete, and delivered her speech well. Amelia and Rachel closed the debate with confidence and clearly evident research. It was a difficult decision, but the adjudicators determined that Priory had won the debate through the quality of the content of their argument.  The final scores were 42 to Wellesley and 43 to Priory. 

Duncan Ericson - English Teacher

Flickr album: Inter-House Debating Semi-Final - 27th February 2023 | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin