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A Good Nights Debating For Bishop’s Stortford

A Good  Nights Debating For Bishop’s Stortford

Hard on the heels of mock A Levels and Oxbridge/medical school interviews the TBSHS ESU Mace team faced what looked like a difficult task in the second round, with only 2 teams from a strong field of 6 to go through to the next stage of the competition.

The first debate featured Hertfordshire & Essex High School, led by Freya Queeney, proposing that “This House Would use Proportional Representation in UK national elections”. Herts & Essex argued that ‘first past the post’ leads to lack of choice and wasted votes, with the Single Transferable Vote system as their preferred alternative. Their opponents from the Perse School who, I felt, were less impressive than in the first round, responded by stating that PR would favour extremist candidates, be unpopular and make MPs less locally accountable.

In the second debate, Chancellor’s School from Hatfield proposed the motion that countries with poor human rights records should not be allowed to host sporting tournaments. Their first speaker pointed out that all countries have signed the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and went on to inform the audience about several other similar documents, with no real reference to the effects of implementing the motion. In response Tom Millar explained, with references to several countries, why sports bans/boycotts do not cause improvements in human rights. When challenged about the end of apartheid in South Africa, he responded extremely well and went on to pose some searching questions that our opponents never really answered. Tom argued that real change comes from collaboration rather than coercion.

The second proposer followed a similar line to his teammate, still maintaining the success of banning sporting contacts with South Africa, and also described the Qatar World Cup as “morbid”. Georgi Petkov’s concentration on the morality of the motion complemented Tom’s focus on the practicalities very well. After some effective rebuttal about the difference between a country signing up to a human rights charter and influencing the hearts and minds of its citizens, he went on to explain how the motion embodies the principle of colonial exceptionalism and to observe that sustainable change stems from pressure within a society, not threats from outside. After a short floor debate, Toby Ford offered a very well-balanced summary speech against the motion. He answered audience questions convincingly and identified the nature of human rights and the question “Which side of this debate is more likely to improve those rights?” as key themes of the debate. Describing the Proposition case as “misguided”, he demonstrated why his team’s arguments had prevailed.

The final debate of the evening featured another very familiar motion – “This House Would abolish trial by jury”, proposed by Longsands Academy (St Neots) supporting the motion against Colchester County High School for Girls. The former proposed the replacement of a jury by a panel of three judges, arguing that they would be less biased and less easily swayed by lawyers’ rhetoric than jurors. The Opposition focussed their arguments on the idea of jury service as a civic duty that benefits all citizens, as well as pointing out that a jury of 10 or 12 members of the public would hold a wider, and therefore more representative set of opinions than three judges who, statistics suggest are likely to have been privately educated.

It was not easy to predict which two schools would progress to the next round and, after the judge’s preliminary general feedback, we were not at all confident that TBSHS would be one of them. However it turned out to be a great night for Bishop’s Stortford, with both TBSHS and Herts & Essex winning out.

Retired teacher and team coach Tony Fraser commented , “It was a close-run thing, but the school is safely through to our ninth successive Regional Final in this competition. The students had only finished their mock A Level exams a few days before, but they really rose to the occasion and were praised for the clarity of their arguments and the confident manner in which they presented them”

More News

  • Two more Finals for TBSHS DebatersMarch 20, 2023 - 11:12 am
  • A Busy Weekend for TBSHS DebatersMarch 17, 2023 - 10:33 am
  • Standon Calling 2023 – Deal for TBSHS FamiliesMarch 10, 2023 - 12:40 pm
  • Music Festival 2023March 9, 2023 - 3:41 pm
  • International Women’s Day at TBSHSMarch 8, 2023 - 2:38 pm
  • The Visit of Hannah Lewis MBE to TBSHS – Tuesday 7th March 2023March 7, 2023 - 12:01 pm
  • National Careers Week 2023, 6th – 11th March 2023 March 3, 2023 - 1:45 pm
  • World Book Day 2023March 2, 2023 - 4:08 pm
  • TBSHS Speakers Compete in LondonMarch 2, 2023 - 3:56 pm
  • Another Final for TBSHS debatersFebruary 10, 2023 - 3:30 pm
  • French Exchange is Back!February 3, 2023 - 3:13 pm
  • A Good Nights Debating For Bishop’s StortfordFebruary 3, 2023 - 2:18 pm
  • Phoebe Schecter visits TBSHS 6th FormFebruary 3, 2023 - 11:51 am
  • Eilidh is the Runner Up Apprentice of the Year February 2, 2023 - 3:14 pm
  • Mitre Racing team from TBSHS, has the fastest car in EnglandJanuary 25, 2023 - 1:35 pm
  • Coming Soon – 43rd Annual TBSHS Music FestivalJanuary 25, 2023 - 12:20 pm

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Latest News

Two more Finals for TBSHS Debaters

https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_2577-reduced.jpg 1333 2000 Helen Haines https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/logo-white.png Helen Haines2023-03-20 11:12:192023-03-20 11:15:40Two more Finals for TBSHS Debaters

A Busy Weekend for TBSHS Debaters

https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Gavel.jpg 194 259 Helen Haines https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/logo-white.png Helen Haines2023-03-17 10:33:402023-03-17 10:34:54A Busy Weekend for TBSHS Debaters

Standon Calling 2023 – Deal for TBSHS Families

https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Standon-Calling-2023.png 1280 1024 Helen Haines https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/logo-white.png Helen Haines2023-03-10 12:40:562023-03-10 13:58:40Standon Calling 2023 – Deal for TBSHS Families

Music Festival 2023

https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_2525-cropped-reduced.jpg 1279 2000 Helen Haines https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/logo-white.png Helen Haines2023-03-09 15:41:002023-03-13 09:57:37Music Festival 2023

International Women’s Day at TBSHS

https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/International-womens-day-8.3.23.png 1280 904 Helen Haines https://tbshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/logo-white.png Helen Haines2023-03-08 14:38:502023-03-10 14:39:19International Women’s Day at TBSHS

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Phoebe Schecter visits TBSHS 6th FormFrench Exchange is Back!
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