Eaton House Belgravia Debating & Interview Club - September 2023

What a wonderful start to the term! The Eaton House Belgravia boys have leapt into this club with enthusiasm and open minds, and how lovely to see some familiar faces from last term!

Our first session was a wonderful introduction to get to know the boys and for the boys to meet each other. We started by discussing everyone's favourite experience over the summer holidays -- from which it is clear that I need to return to Legoland as a lot of fun was had there! We then moved onto the importance of our body language and personal presentation which is a theme we will return to throughout the term. In our current affairs discussion we heard a lot about football transfers but when I said Beckham is the G.O.A.T I was met with a resounding boo so we moved swiftly into more serious world news. We had a long discussion about the earthquake in Morocco and what we might be able to do individually and as a school/community/even country to help. The boys had thoughtful ideas and dealt with the situation very empathetically. This led us into the first debate of the term which was How Best Can the UK Help Morocco. The three teams posited that sending funds, sending workers or sending equipment would be best. The boys worked well as teams and I was very impressed by the confidence with which they then presented their arguments to the whole group. An excellent start to the term and a special commendation to our two Prime Ministers of the week!

The first session set a high bar but I was just as pleased with our second session -- the boys were eager to contribute and were already pre-empting my push for further details to round out their answers. Everyone presented on their favourite subject and the EHB teachers' ears should be glowing with the enthusiasm this topic sparked. We heard about creative writing, maths competitions and the complexities of sound waves! Our current affairs section had us returning to North Africa for the Sudanese flooding and a continued look at the devastation in Morocco. We discussed again how we could help which led us into assuming the mantle of Prime Minister and we debated that, if in charge, we would focus on Foreign Aid, Domestic Care and Developing our IT infrastructure. The boys were evenly split before the debate but the teams all raised interesting points and votes were swayed.

This past week was another fantastic session. It is clear that the boys' confidence is growing -- very well done to all. Today we discussed our favourite hobbies and I was beyond impressed by the boys' collection of medals and trophies from Chess to Football and almost everything in between. Our current affairs talk was a little light on the ground so it would be wonderful for parents to subscribe to The Week Junior or listen to the radio on the way to school and discuss this. We had a wonderful debate and every boy in the club presented which was fantastic! This debate also saw the biggest change of opinion before and after which is a testament to the strength of the arguments put forward. We argued about the Prime Minister's proposed ban on XL Bully Dogs; right, wrong or up to the owners to train their pets responsibly. A fascinating argument with thoughtful points from all!

Huge congratulations to the boys so far this term, really excellent work!