We are proud to announce that our Year 9 Debate Team came second out of seven local school teams at the Rotary Youth Speaks Competition. The Intermediate Level Competition 2016/17 for age groups 11-13 years, promoted by The Rotary Club of Dorking, was really tough with two teams each from Downsend Preparatory, St John’s Leatherhead and St. Teresa’s Effingham, in additional to Manor House School, Bookham.
Each contributing team has a Chairperson, Speaker and Vote of Thanks. Team 1 from Manor House School was made up of Emma S as Chairperson, Kathleen S as Speaker and Cecily F who gave Vote of thanks – and they won with their topic of ‘Music Today: Authentic or Automated? Team 1 are now through to the Rotary District 1145 Northern Senior semi-final at Oxted School on Saturday 4 February.
Our second team also performed brilliantly. Ellie, Candice and Orla presented on ‘Britain: Are We Lazy Linguists?’
Mrs Mayes, Head of English, at Manor House School, Bookham entered the girls for the competition and supported them in the preparation of their entries in the weeks leading up to it. Mrs Mayes said ‘The girls worked incredibly hard and I am extremely proud of their performances and the quality of their work.’ Mrs Mayes runs Debate Club for students in Years 9 and 10 every Monday.
The Chairperson has two minutes for an introduction to their team and topic. The Speaker then has six minutes for the Address, after which a question is posed by the Questioner (from the floor) and answered by the Speaker. Finally, the Chairperson briefly introduces the Proposer, who has two minutes in which to propose the Vote of Thanks. The Chairperson closes the proceedings. Each team presents for approximately 15 minutes. There are three adjudicators who assess the performance of each team including retired BBC presenter and Talking Newspaper trainer, Mrs J Thurtell and retired circuit Judge, His Hon John Bishop and Mrs B Mills, a seasoned public speaker. They are supported by four members of the Rotary team.
All in all, it proved to be a great night with lots of proud Manor House School parents attending and our congratulations to the two Manor House School teams.