During the last week of term, nine Thornton students from Years 10 to 13 took part in two debates with students from St Paul’s Catholic School in Milton Keynes. Thornton students also chaired the debates and kept time.
The motions for the debates were: ‘This house believes the UK needs to do more to protect and promote freedom of speech’ (Thornton spoke for the motion) and ‘This house believes capitalism is a force for good’ (Thornton spoke against the motion). After a ‘Good luck’ video from Callum Anderson, MP for Buckingham and Bletchley, which stressed the importance of lively debate, the teams got straight into the topics. All the debaters involved put forward a range of interesting arguments across both debates, showing their deep interest in current affairs, issues around balancing rights and freedoms, and the best economic system to support human flourishing.
Each debate was judged by local councillor Diana Blamires, who was very impressed with the quality of the contributions. St Paul’s were judged winners of the first debate; Thornton were winners of the second.
It was a great experience for all the students who took part, some of whom will have a further opportunity to hone their debating skills when Thornton takes part in Haileybury Model United Nations in March.
Categories: Senior School
