On Wednesday 27 November, the St Mary's Senior Debate Club sent two debate teams to South Wilts Grammar School in Salisbury to compete in the first round of the 66th English Speaking Union Mace Competition.This annual contest brings students from across the UK together to compete in debates on topical issues. The St Mary's teams had to prepare two debates, one against the banning of facial recognition technology in public places, the other against the building of homes on the greenbelt to ease the UK housing crisis. Both topics had been researched and debated by the entire Debate Club over a number of weeks, but for the competition, seven intrepid volunteers set out to take on other Wiltshire schools. Ellie, Soraya, Violet, Olimpia and Anna in LVI and Coco and Candy in UV represented the school, armed with flash cards and heads full of relevant facts.

During the competition our speakers were magnificent, not only in their compelling public speaking, but also in the way that they engaged in the other debates, asking questions and supporting the other competitors. It was humbling to see how well they coped with the pressure of delivering their speeches in front of an audience and with their agility in responding to points of information and questions from the floor. They did the school proud.

At the end of the evening it was announced that St Mary's was moving onto the second round of the competition. The Senior Debate Club look forward to finding out what the next topics of debate will be, so they can start planning their arguments again. Congratulations to all!

Mr Adrian Stoten, History and Politics and Debate Club Co-ordinator