ESU hosts the final of Tower Hamlets Primary Schools Debating Competition

Over the past few months the Excellence in Cities unit in Tower Hamlets has organised a major debating competition in the borough proving that Primary School students are the future of debate outreach in the UK.

On Monday, 19 July the ESU hosted the Finals day of the competition at Dartmouth House in Mayfair, where teams from 8 schools across the borough debated both proposition and opposition sides of the motion "This House believes there should be compulsory school for pupils on Saturday mornings". The Grand Final, between Kobi Nasrul and Columbia Primaries, was on the motion "This House believes people should not keep animals as pets". Columbia were judged to have been the better team by a panel of judges from the ESU's university mentor team and from Tower Hamlets.

The level of debate was impressive throughout the day. Particularly noteworthy were the students from Sir William Burrough School; while most of the pupils were from Years 5 & 6, this team of Year 3 students debated fantastically and one won the prize for best floor speaker in the Grand Final.

This only goes to prove how exciting the future is for debating in Primary Schools. The ESU will be publishing a new DVD and handbook to support this fast-expanding area of debate later in the year. Keep an eye on www.britishdebate.com/primary for details.

posted by Harold Raitt @ 4:18 PM |