French Debating

On Tuesday 10th February, Charlotte Parks-Taylor, Alicia Manley, Kiki Winter and Olivia Stancombe went to Sevenoaks School to participate in the South London French Debating competition.

The competition follows a traditional debating format of proposition and opposition speakers followed by a floor debate and closing arguments. The voting is generally on a swing system to encourage all to assess the issues on the quality of the speeches and debating skills.

The Jags pairs fought, dans la langue de Molière, with Eltham College, Whitgift school and the very strong teams from Sevenoaks School and St. Paul's Girls' School.

Candidates had to debate three motions in French, ranging from ‘Barack Obama's victory proves that racism no longer exists' to ‘We must impose biofuels to save the planet’.

All girls demonstrated strong debating skills as well as linguistic flair, mixing solid rhetoric and quality of arguments. Unfortunately, we did not qualify and had to leave Sevenoaks and St Paul's fighting for the prize. This event encouraged students to articulate their arguments and ideas in public and with respect for those of differing views, a fantastic preparation for the oral examinations coming up after the Easter break.  

Toutes nos felicitations, Mesdemoiselles!