The annual debating competition for the Socratic Cup between WCCS and St Philip’s saw a tightly fought contest, with St Philip’s just edging it on a superb opening debate. Both schools impressed with excellent set-piece individual speeches as well as some magnificent contributions from the floor. POIs and the summaries also added to the occasion.
The Motions: ‘This House would lower the voting age’ and ‘This House would not ban homework’.
Each school had the opportunity to take Opposition and Proposition positions.
Neither side knew which side they would be on until the debate itself, so the arguments made and shown were all the more commendable. It was great to see ‘thinking on the spot’, active listening, rhetorical questions and rebuttal. It was also very good to find our workshop session emphasis on stories and evidence being applied so comprehensively during the debates.
St Philip’s won the close contest, showing excellent teamwork and homogeneity of argumentation in the first debate. WCCS won the second debate by a narrower margin than St Philip’s in the first, but both sides deserve considerable commendation for outstanding public speaking and debating.
Well done all on a superb morning of debating!
The contest therefore stands at 2:1 to St Philip’s with all to play for in our next competition!
Comments