Our Sixth Formers went head to head with John Lyon School in the ESU Schools’ Mace debating competition at Harrow School. The motion was ‘This house would make voting compulsory’.

The English-Speaking Union’s Schools’ Mace, the oldest and largest debating competition for schools in England, hones students’ debate skills in a fun, competitive environment. Working in teams, students enhance their speech-writing, public speaking and critical thinking, helping them to excel both in and out of school and giving them a sense of pride in themselves and their achievements.

A Sixth Former described the experience as, “Entertaining, invigorating and challenging but we stood our ground and enjoyed debating the motion. We then watched the other schools perform and took tips on how everyone was performing.  Shortly after, they announced that we (St Helen’s) would be going through to the next round – we are ecstatic and would like to thank Mr Johnston for all his help.”

It was a closely fought contest, with all teams contributing to an evening of high quality and enjoyable debating on motions. St Helen’s team –  Hannah, Abirame, and Maya were a credit to the school and debated with distinction. Well done, we are looking forward to the next round of debates so watch this space…