Taunton School’s public speakers have made a fantastic start to the debating season this term with a glut of competition wins and successes.

Oxford Schools – A First for Taunton School

After several attempts in previous years, we have at last succeeded in securing a breaking team in the Oxford Schools competition, a parliamentary-style debate held annually at Oxford University. Perhaps one of the most challenging debating formats, the students only have fifteen minutes from the release of the motion to prepare their arguments and counterarguments, before going head-to-head with schools from around the country. We fielded four teams this year, with students from Year 10 up to Year 13:

  • Haley (13 Weirfield) & Gus (13 Fairwater) in Taunton A
  • Kat (12 Jenkin) & Caleb (12 Evans) in Taunton B
  • Anderson (13 Wills East) & Harrison (10 Wills East) in Taunton C
  • Afonso (11 Fairwater) & Omar (12 Fairwater) in Taunton D

All students spoke well in the face of stalwart competition across two rounds, where they were paired up with teams from other schools to form teams of four. The two motions discussed were “This House would ban social media for children under 16” and “This House would oblige the government to pay housewives and house husbands to fulfil their domestic roles”.

From a total of around forty teams in this regional round, Taunton A (Haley & Gus) made it into the top five. They will now represent Taunton School alongside the likes of Eton, Sevenoaks and Brighton College at Finals Day in March which is held at Cherwell College Oxford, home to the Oxford Union, the world’s most prestigious debating society. Congratulations!

Success at the ESU Schools’ Mace Debate

Our English Speaking Union Debating team, Katrina, Melanie, and Elizabeth are through to the regional finals of the ESU Schools’ Mace Debate! The girls have performed fantastically this term, facing off against King’s College at the second round of the Mace Debate held at Wellington School this week. All three worked superbly together and put forward a convincing argument for the implementation of a tax on fatty foods.

Facing fierce opposition from King’s College, and a barrage of insightful and difficult questions from the audience, the girls truly deserved their spot in the South West regional finals in March. Work now begins on preparing for their next debate.

Return of the Burke

The second Burke Debate of the year took place on Friday 24th January, offering students the chance to explore the timely motion “This House Welcomes the Decline of America”. Captain of the Debating Society, Georgina, and teammate Tilly headed up the proposition with Katrina and Melanie opposing the motion.

In a week where both teams were busy preparing for the interhouse competition and the aforementioned ESU Mace Debate, both teams handled the topic in an exemplary fashion, delivering a very well-informed and civil debate, with the win ultimately going to the opposition after a strong shift in the audience vote.