Local Debate at Burgess Hill School for Girls

On Wednesday 23rd November, students from St Paul’s Catholic College took part in the annual Rotary Club Youth Speaks event hosted this year by Burgess Hill School for Girls.

Ruby Arliss, Lennon Cooper and Melanie Hajdecka-Hole, all in Year 11, had been preparing for the event for a number of weeks. They were coached and supported by Miss Barlow and by Mr Mitchell, a teacher from Hurst College, who spent several weeks gaining experience in the English Department here at St Paul’s.

The team worked together on their motion and arrived at this ambitious and thought-provoking one: ‘This house believes that school subjects should better prepare students for adult life.’

The evening itself was engaging and inspiring with excellent competing teams, and although the Senior category was ultimately won by the ‘home’ team at Burgess Hill School for Girls, the St Paul’s team certainly met the high standards of the competition with their articulate, passionate and thoughtful debate.

Ruby, our chairperson for the debate, said of the experience: ‘Coming together and collaborating with my peers was a vital aspect in the debate and without it we wouldn’t have been able to develop the complex and thoughtful arguments we presented. The debate itself was a nerve-wracking experience but the opportunity of public speaking and being listened to was amazing, especially since we had chosen a topic that we were not only in agreement on but also felt passionate about.’

Ruby, Lennon and Melanie were fantastic representatives of our school community and really did us proud. We very much hope to build on this experience, and the successes of the team, in future and hope that the students who took part – and their peers who supported their preparation – appreciated and benefited from an opportunity to have their voices heard in such an ambitious context.