Debaters secure spot in Oxford Finals 

On Monday 3 February, the School Debating Team travelled to Worcester for the Midlands regional round of the Oxford Schools' Debating competition.  

This competition employs similar skills to our House competition, but participants instead compete as pairs in multiple consecutive debates. The round included discussion of the goals of the feminist movement and spending caps for parents.  

Whilst all eight representatives of Shrewsbury should be commended for their outstanding efforts, special congratulation must go to one pair who were victorious in making it through to the national finals at Oxford University in March. 

Very well done to our team: 

Will H (Ch, UVI) 

Alanood A (MSH, LVI) 

Matthew W (SH, LVI) 

Elsa L (M, V) 

Violet R (EDH, LVI) 

Max W (SH, UVI) 

And special congratulations to our pair going on to the finals at Oxford University: 

Lulu G (QEH, V) and Bea C (G, LVI).

School Captain of Debating, Will added: “This was my first external debating competition as captain of debating, and it did not disappoint. Considering the time the team spent prepping for the competition, the nerves were high before the first debate, but once topics were announced we were straight into developing interesting arguments.  

“I must credit the team for coping well with the constricting 15 minutes to prepare. Such little time to prepare a thoughtful speech was a real challenge, but a challenge we coped with very well as seen with Bea and Lulu getting through to the finals. For me, the competition was a real breath of fresh air being in person, having primarily competed in online competitions before. The added energy of an in-person competition made it a memorable one for all in the team.”