After an amazing 3 weeks, we’re proud to say that our Debate Mate Cup (DMC) season has come to a triumphant close.
We’ve had over 14 full-day debating competitions hosted for students on our primary and secondary school programmes all over the country. Across all our competitions, we’ve had 143 schools take part, with 293 teams competing in 420 debates. These competitions are a culmination of our 14-week programme, and it’s amazing to see the students’ hard work come to fruition!
For our primary competitions, the students debated two motions and had a final. In their first debate, they debated:
Should students should have the right to go on strike, diving into themes around student voice in education and climate change and should there be the domestication of animals, exploring themes ranging from keeping pets to farming. Finally, in their final, they debated whether investment would be best prioritised towards our towns and cities, or our countryside.
All our finalists did an amazing job at engaging maturely with a tricky and nuanced topic. A special shout-out to our amazing runners-up: The Olive School, Small Heath, Redriff Primary, Willow Brook Primary, Weelsby Primary, and E-Act Primary.
Then another shout out to our amazing winners, Northfield Manor Primary, St Wilfred’s Primary, Central Park Primary, Littlecoats Academy, and Trinity Primary.
Similar to the primary competitions, the Secondary DMCs across the country were a sight to behold! Our secondary school students had 3 debates and then a final.
In Round 1, students debated on whether sports infrastructure is a valuable tool for urban development, exploring ideas surrounding gentrification and the cultural impact of sports. For their second debate, teams went head-to-head discussing the rise of fast fashion, whether the industry should be banned or if there are some benefits to be had. For Round 3, students delved into the world of movies, debating if streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have made trips to the cinema for the newest releases redundant. Teams who then made it to the final debated our most contentious motion yet: should we call for a general election every time a political party breaks its manifesto pledges?
Our finalists blew us away at every DMC with their in-depth knowledge of our political system, how critical the relationship and trust between citizens and politicians can be, and what we should ideally or realistically expect from our democratic system.
We want to give a special shout-out to our brilliant runners-up: Healing Academy, St Teilo’s CIW High School, Eden Boys Leadership Academy, Holly Lodge Girls’ College (Liverpool), Eden Girls Leadership Academy, St Paul’s Academy, Lister Community School, Sarah Bonnell School, and Prendergast Ladywell School.
Then one more shout-out to our incredible winners: Trinity CE High School, Bellerive FCJ Catholic College, Cathays High School, Holly Lodge High School (Birmingham), Camden School for Girls, Sacred Heart RC School, Havelock Academy, St Angela’s Ursuline School and The Bridge Academy!
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From Eve the Otter to the Mexican wave to Lush Life by Zara Larsson, there were plenty of memorable moments at the Debate Mate Cups this year. However, being able to see the results of 14 weeks of hard work and dedication from students was inspiring. From the Debate Mate team, we want to say congratulations to all students, and we hope to see you next year!
