Yesterday afternoon, our seven NELT secondary schools went head to head in our annual trustwide debate competition. Now in its third year, the competition saw students rise to the challenge and share their standpoints on some hot topics including ‘Is graffiti as valuable as classical art?' and 'Has social media destroyed our ability to communicate human to human?'
Following last year's win, Ashington Academy warmly welcomed students and staff from across the Trust to host the brilliant event. Three representatives from each school took on the roles of chairperson, speaker and questioner, and debated with two other schools on a range of weighty topics. The titles of Best Chairperson, Best Speaker, Best Questioner and Best Overall Team were up for grabs and the performances were nothing short of impressive!
The competition will be held at Teesdale School next year as Team Teesdale took the Best Overall Team title home. Best Chairperson was awarded to Lauren from Hermitage Academy, Best Speaker to Maisie at Bedlington Academy and Best Questioner to Amelia at Rye Hills Academy.
The competition judges from NELT Head Office commented: "We were blown away by how confident, knowledgeable and polished all the students were. It's no easy task standing up there and speaking to so many people! There were some fantastic arguments and lots of really well-thought-out questions brought to the stage. It was incredibly difficult to select winners as the standard was so high. Everyone who took part should be very proud of themselves."
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