Congratulations to New House who won the Inter-House Debating Competition

March 11th 2024

Debating House Activities and Competitions

Congratulations to New House who won the Inter-House Debating Competition...

Flickr album: Inter-House Debating Final - 11th March 2024 | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin

New House won a keenly contested Inter-House Debating Final against Lyon House, with New opposing the motion that “This House believes that there is no place for single-sex schools in today’s society.” All six debaters are experienced and unsurprisingly spoke with skill and confidence. Points of Information were used tactically by both teams, with intelligent and skilful rebuttals. New came through slightly stronger on content and strategy with both teams scoring equally on style. More might have been made of faith schools and primary schools, although the questions from the floor were pertinent and well thought through. Lyon and New have both gained a reputation for strong debating skills and given that five of these finalists are in the Lower 6^th Form, the ongoing development of House debating is likely to continue. My thanks to Miss Maher for organising the debating competition and well done to all the House debating teams for a very impressive competition.

Ian Wilmshurst - Headmaster

What impressed me most about the final is how far the speakers have come since the first time I saw them debate this academic year. All six speakers were engaging and confident using tone and emphasis really well. They were also able to answers the Points of Information extremely well and dealt with the Questions assuredly. I was also very impressed with the questions that were being asked from the floor - they were articulate and thoughtful. As Mr Wilmshurst said, it was a very close debate but New House won the title due to their ability to work together as a team and they had clearly researched thoroughly. Overall, it has been a delight adjudicating a number of debates this year and I look forward to the competition next year.

Emily Simper - Deputy Head, Pastoral

I am so proud of the New House Debate team for their consistent and sterling work; James and Sebastian have been outstanding debate captains and I am delighted that their commitment and determination has paid dividends in winning the competition.

Ashley Marshfield - Housemaster New House

This morning's debate was a culmination of all the hard work and dedication that we have given inter-house debating over the past few terms and is a testament to how far we have come as a team.

James - Debate Captain - L6^th Form New House

It was an immense pleasure to take part in such a high quality, entertaining and close final against Lyon. Both teams performed exceptionally well, showing how far we have all come throughout the competition: onto next year!

Sebastian - Debate Captain - L6^th Form New House