Two Shropshire sixth formers through to nationals of prestigious debating competition
Two Shropshire sixth form students have qualified for the nationals of the prestigious Oxford Schools’ Debating Competition – the largest of its kind.
From 50 individuals competing from schools across the country, the Concord College pair of Rachel Tam and Ethan Loh finished in the top five teams to qualify from the regional round to the nationals.
The finals qualifying duo of Rachel, 18, and Ethan, 16, were joined by another Concord team, Seb Branfield, 16, from form five and Brandon Low, 17, who also ‘performed superbly’ according to English teacher Emily McBride.
The nationals event takes place on March 13 and 14.
Competitors in the regional round debated two key motions – 'This House opposes banning controversial famous figures from social media platforms' and 'This House regrets the glamorization of start-up culture that encourages people to start their own companies rather than pursue traditional career paths'.
Participants were given only 15 minutes to discuss and prepare material in their pairings with no access to internet or help from external parties before delivering their structured arguments to a panel of judges.
Teams meetings
Mrs McBride, who led Concord’s participation in the annual competition for the first time, said: “I have been meeting weekly with the teams via Teams for debate training and competition practice.
“They have also done reading and preparation of materials in their own time.
"As a result, they were superb in the competition and gained really positive feedback.
“I was particularly pleased that they were commended for their speech structure as we have really had to work on this.
“I didn’t know how it would look and operate moving online for the first time.
"I felt nervous for them, but they each took it in their stride and were professional and unflappable throughout.”
Preliminary rounds
Speaking ahead of the nationals, Mrs McBride added: “The team will have to compete in four-hour long debates taking on different roles in each debate.
“Saturday’s preliminary round will run from 9am to 6pm with the winners progressing to Sunday’s final.
"They will not know of the motions until 15 minutes before they have to speak so it will challenge them once again.
“The whole team has been so dedicated throughout and they have given a lot of time to prepare and learn about the British Parliamentary style of debate.
“This will definitely help them in their futures – even more so for some who want to be lawyers and politicians.”
Speaking of the regional qualifier, Rachel said: “It was nerve-wracking since it was my first proper experience of a British Parliamentary style debate. I was also with a team-mate whom I wasn’t familiar with prior to the competition.
“However, I really enjoyed the experience and observing and learning from other people’s style of debating.
“The nationals are very close to school exams so we are both nervous about that too. But I’m hoping we can squeeze in as much practice as possible – and just do our best.”
