England Schools Debating Team 2007

This year The English-Speaking is proud to again organize the England Schools Debating Team for the 2008 World Schools Debating Championships. The 2008 competition will be in Washington in September. Representing the England Schools Debating Team is one of the greatest honors available to a schools debater, and competition is always fierce.

Washington World Schools runs from 5th to 15th September 2008. Students in Year 13 leaving school in summer 2008 are therefore eligible to compete in Washington, PROVIDING they are not starting university before 16th September 2008. If your university term will begin before this date, then you would not be eligible to compete (even if you negotiated a slighty different start date for yourself). In practice, we think that very few year 13 applicants are likely to be affected by this restriction, but you should work out now if it might affect you. Please research the term dates of your likely university destination(s) and bring them with you if you are called for trial.

Team members will be expected to attend approximately 10 training days, divided roughly between weekends and holidays, and to work independently to research cases and improve their knowledge of international issues. They should also be prepared to give England training priority over participation in some of the more minor domestic tournaments.

Applications

Applications can [no longer] be made online with a deadline of Monday 21st January 2008. Applicants fill out the online form, and must provide a referee, who will be contacted separately for a reference. This referee should be a teacher, usually the debate coach, who can write on behalf of the school. The deadline for references will be Thursday 24th January.

Any student at school in England in the academic year 2007 - 8 is welcome to apply for a place on the team - usually students from Years 11, 12 and 13 apply. We cannot invite everyone to a trial, but we guarantee to trial those who, this season or in the past, have met one of the following criteria:

reached the third round of the Schools Mace (Area Final)
reached Finals Day at the Cambridge Union tournament
ranked in the top 32 individual speakers at the Durham Union tournament
ranked in the top 32 individual speakers at the Oxford Union tournament

Students who do not meet these criteria may well still be called to trial; in the past, strong experience in other speech activities such as public-speaking, Model United Nations, Mock Trial, the International Competition for Young Debaters, etc. has been considered favourably by the selectors in drawing up a shortlist.

Although we might invite to trial successful younger debaters with experience in ICYD or similar competitions, our policy is that we will never take a student below the age of 15 at the start of the tournament to Worlds. Debaters who do not meet this age criteria may be given a chance to debate at the trials, to gain further experience.

Trials will be held on February 2nd and 3rd

In the first stage all trialists will each debate three times on Saturday 2nd February in the 3-on-3 format used at World Schools. After this the strongest students will be called on to the second stage on Sunday 3rd February, which will involve having two further debates. The panel of selectors will also interview six or so of the strongest trialists.

The trials will take place on both Saturday and Sunday, although only those who make the cut on Saturday will also have to attend on Sunday. Because of this, we are asking applicants living relatively near to London to volunteer to put up another trialist overnight on Saturday 2nd February if this proves necessary. We may not have to take these volunteers up on their offer, but if we do they (and their parents!) will have several days notice of this, and we will put them in touch with the student we are asking them to billet in advance. We hope that this request will produce a generous response, as we do not want the potential cost of staying in a hotel overnight to be a deterrent from applying for a trial. We are also asking applicants from beyond South-Eastern England if they would be able to make their own arrangements to stay overnight in London, perhaps because they have friends or family near the city with whom they could stay.

Trial Format:

All of those invited to trial will speak in three debates in 3-on-3 format. Those applying for a trial are encouraged to gain some experience of this format in advance.

Those unfamiliar with 3-on-3 format are advised to visit www.schoolsdebate.com, the website of the World Schools Debating Championships. Particularly useful sections include:

The ESU also has a video of a World Schools debate which you might be able to persuade your school to purchase. See: http://www.britishdebate.com/schools/materials/

In addition, ahead of selecting our new team, we are planning to support a World-Schools style tournament at Bristol University on 19th January 2008. Over the last two years a similar event at Dulwich was a valuable chance for schools and potential England applicants to become familiar with the 3-on-3 debate format, and our feedback suggested it was a very welcome alternative to the traditional British debate formats. If you might be interested in entering a school team in this one-day event please visit the Bristol University Debating Union website.

General knowledge is becoming increasingly important at World Schools and consequently as a selection factor for the England team. James Acton, the former England Coach, has written a document that explains selection policy in this regard and gives some advice on improving your knowledge base. If you are thinking of applying for the team, you are strongly recommended to obtain a copy by e-mailing me at alastairendersby@hotmail.com.

I hope this information is helpful. Please get in touch with me if you would like to discuss any aspect of the team or trial process.

Alastair Endersby
England Schools Debating Team Committee

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