Year 7 triumph in first RSB public debate

03 June 2010

The judges were impressed with the sophisticated level of argument

All students in year 7 recently went head to head in their first ever live public debate.They have been working on developing debating skills in their English classes over the last month. They especially concentrated on developing precise arguments that were logical and well organised. They also practised talking English in more formal situations, such as to large groups of people, to adults and debate style formats. The debate was the culmination of all their hard work.

Held in the LRC, English groups 7C (Mansoor Al Helli, Mohammed Al Helei, Abdul Aziz Al Saud) and 7D (Mohammed Salem, Mohammed Al Kaus, Marwan Mohammed) debated the positive and negative arguments about the ethics of zoos around the world. The debate was very close, with some very tricky questions from the floor of the house. The boys coped admirably and were well prepared with their arguments and ripostes. The judges said it was a very hard decision, but in the end they chose Mohammed Salem and Abdul Aziz Al-Saud as the best speakers. The winner of the Zoo debate was 7C.

The second debate was even more passionate and heated with English groups 7B (Rashid Bin Sulaiman, Ahmed Essa, Mohammed Al Ameri) and 7A (Mohammed Bin Qatami, Mohammed Bin Sulaiman, Saeed Zayed) debating the pros and cons of hunting. 7B began with a very strong argument about the economic advantages of hunting, especially for poor nations. 7A came back with equally strong points about the unethical and inhumane practises of many hunting activities. The judges were impressed with the sophisticated level of argument. In the end, after much deliberation, the two best speaker awards went to Rashid Bin Sulaiman and Saeed Zayed and the winning team was 7A.

Congratulations to all the students involved in the successful morning. It really was a team effort with a month long preparation where all students helped to research and develop arguments and discuss potential questions for the opposition. Special thanks is also given the English Department staff who prepared their students so well and for the superb work of the three judges - Mr Kilsby, Mr Shahparaki and Mr Fitz-Gerald.