Maghull High School crowned champions at debate national final

Maghull High School’s debating team have won the National Urban Debate League held at The Bank of America in London.

Students from Maghull High School have been incredibly successful in their Debate Mate endeavours this academic year. Earlier in the year, they competed in the Debate Mate Cup and League, finishing first in Liverpool. This gained them their place in the National Urban Debate League grand final.

Students worked hard in the week before the event to prepare their speeches on the motion ‘this house believes technology is making us less human’. On the morning of the final, students found out they were debating on side proposition and won their debate. 

In the afternoon, students rose to the challenge of the unseen motion, ‘this house believes that the rise of social media as a main news source has done more harm than good’. They were allocated side opposition and the team of four had 15 minutes to prepare their five-minute speeches.

Their argument touched on points including political activism, music and the arts, censorship and neutrality, nepotism, and careers in journalism. 

The judges were suitably impressed by the style, content and teamwork of the speech. However, students had to wait until the afternoon to find out which two schools, out of the 16 finalists, had made it to the grand final debate. 

The grand final

Maghull High School was delighted to find out its team had made it to the grand final to propose the motion, ‘this house believes that corporates should prioritise social impact over profit’. 

Students did incredibly well to withhold their nerves and debate with confidence in front of a large crowd of schools, 10 Debate Mate judges and numerous Bank of America employees, before being declared winners of the National Urban Debate League.

The students demonstrated exceptional critical thinking, knowledge and public speaking skills, alongside fantastic teamwork. They now want to give back to help enhance the debating skills of younger students in the school.