On Wednesday 25th September, 20 Year 7 pupils were involved in a workshop run by Debate Mate, practising and honing their debating skills, before being involved in a formal debate at the end of the day.

Eadie, in 7 Keats, commented “I really enjoyed the workshop, as we learnt and practised things I had never heard of before, like rebuttal and points of information. We got to meet new people, and debate against them using the skills we had learnt. Overall, I think it is great we are able to do this kind of thing in school, and I know that if I do choose to go to debate club, I will feel a lot more confident than before.”

Unai in 7 Keats said, “In Debate Mate we had a joyful and informative experience. We had a great time learning how to rebut other people's arguments and making our own reasons for our disagreement as persuasive, believable and effective as possible. We all also found standing up all of a sudden and saying "POI!" with the actions extremely entertaining. I hope I do something similar to this fun, educative activity again.”