Propose The Motion

It’s been a few weeks since the national final now and I still can’t get used to how empty my email inbox is, how there aren’t any speeches to be rewritten and the fact that both debating clubs have ended. It’s been a long hard slog since April and with A-Levels looming, a team of only 4 debaters and the ‘KN6th Prom’ the night before the first debate – it was never going to be easy pickings.

Having never been to the final before we were going in blind and I’d be lying if I said we weren’t scared stiff at the prospect of being totally out of our depth. Preparation was solid from the day we received the motions until we got off the train in London. Whilst other debaters hit the town on the Friday night, Kings Norton didn’t stop working until the early hours of the morning making sure speeches were perfect and arguments were tight.

The next day came and we realised we were as ready as we were going to be, but had mixed feelings about what would happen if we won the debate (would we show ourselves up in the final round?) However, nerves were put aside, free food was eaten and Anna even managed to fit in an interview before heading down to the debate!

After a compelling first round in which Ropa and Anna artfully argued that “Clinical trials in developing countries are exploitative” to great effect, the decision of the judges came as a huge shock to all of us – Kings Norton were not to go through to the semi-finals. It was such a close call and the judges main criticism of the girls was not of their rhetoric skills or subject knowledge, but their style. We realise you can’t please every judge, but we do take it to heart when their criticisms go against the mantra of the competition!

However, ‘Team Geek’ aren’t the type to go down without a good fight and come evening time – we were back for more. United in our snazzy team hoodies, we burst back into the Royal Society of Medicine for ‘Question Time’ singing “I’m a believer” to help lift the spirits. We got a few surprised glances from other students and if there had been a prize for best DM couture clothing/general pizzaz, we’d have defiantly come home in 1st!

The next day we managed to fit in numerous ice creams, a trip to the British Museum and more singing in between the debates – which helped suppress the need to shout “WE WAS ROBBED” during the somewhat frustrating ‘national final’ debate.

As a team we are known for being very active audience members, and we carried on debating from the floor throughout the weekend. Adding to the list of awards received throughout this years’ competition was an honourable mention received by Laura Pritchard for her provoking questions throughout the weekend and the ‘Gina Owens Memorial Prize’ by myself.

Our national final journey may have ended at the quarter-final stage, but considering it’s only our second year in the competition we’re feeling quietly proud of ourselves. Out of 144 schools competing, ‘Team Geek’ rank 1st in the central region, and in the top 8 nationally…

…Next stop: Qualifying rounds 2010/2011

After months of preparation, practise during half-term and some pretty serious stalking of the judges and opposition, our trip to London for the Battle of Ideas Showcase Debate turned out grand. There was one heart-stopping moment when Anna glimpsed one of our judges at the end of a long corridor and whispered  ‘it’s C-O-R-Y D-O-C-T-O-R-O-W’  -  but  she and Isobel recovered sufficiently to eat their way through sandwiches, baguettes, crisps and cakes before triumphing over Woodhouse College in the café of the Royal College of Arts.

After winning  the debate ‘Copyright Benefits the Arts’, Team Geek were widely congratulated by the judges, academics,  journalists and other attendees. Their performance was described as ‘slick’, ‘incredibly well-researched’ and ‘like politicians’. Some of these things are believed to be compliments.

Cory signed autographs, Sandy Starr was a delight and Marcus Lanyon threw up mid-debate. Afterwards, there was wine and fabulous music provided by of the Royal College of Music. The Leader of the Pirate Party had the cockles of his heart warmed when he saw young people able to debate copyright and piracy in a sophisticated way

Enormous  congratulations to Anna and Isobel  – and thanks also to the Institute of Ideas for their invitation to the debate and their warm hospitality. Thanks, too, for the support of Prof Kathryn Ecclestone,  Anna’s parents and Boots the Chemist for providing Isobel with the performance-enhancing drugs she needed to win.

Once again, the KNGS team have been successful in the “Debating Matters” qualifiers, beating three other teams to take their place in the regional finals.

In a fast-paced first round, Chloe Jones and Hugh Sheehan skilfully convinced not only the judges, but apparently even the proposition that celebrities do have a place in politics. Although both debaters were anxious before the competition, all traces of nerves disappeared the moment they got up there and they were complemented by the judges for their passion, good teamwork and all-round confidence.

After a nervous wait to see who they would be up against in the final debate of the evening -Anna Muncey and Priya Francis took to the floor. Arguing for the motion that we should embrace organic food, they put their arguments forward with utter conviction and held their own through a tough judge and audience questioning session.  The judges awarded the win to Kings Norton and all that worrying, speech writing AND rewriting suddenly felt worthwhile!

Once again the KNGS team were successful in the qualifying round of DM, beating 3 other teams to go through to the Regional Final.

Congratulations to Chloe Jones, Anna Muncey, Priya Francis and Hugh Sheehan.

The Debating Matters showcase debate in London is drawing nearer and now Anna and Isobel have had their biogs added to the BattleOfIdeas website. Read all about Anna here and about Isobel here and wish them luck in debate. They’ve perhaps drawn the more difficult side, speaking for the motion; but if peoples’ hearts are inclined against, we are confident the judges’ votes will be for after hearing the persuasive arguments, irrefutable logic and rhetorical skills of our two debaters.

Two of our winning team from the Debating Matters competition have been invited to take part in the Showcase Debate at this year’s Battle of Ideas at the Royal College of Art in London at the end of October.

There’ll be 75 debates over the weekend and of all the schools seen in the Regional Finals of Debating Matters the organisers of the Battle of Ideas event were impressed enough with Kings Norton and one other team to invite them to attend the weekend-long event.

Isobel Bates and Anna Muncey will be travelling down to London to argue for the motion ‘copyright benefits the arts’