Eaton House Belgravia School - 22nd February 2023
An energetic return from half term.
We had lots to discuss today with all that had happened during our one week away and dove right into what the boys had been reading and hearing about over half term. We continued our discussion about the Weather Balloons above America and was pleased to hear that the boys had been following this news story independently.
We returned to more local news and discussed Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation. This led us into our first debate whether world leaders should have term limits. A complex topic which the boys threw themselves into. It was a challenging debate for all but handled maturely.
We were having too much fun and were cut short during our discussion of the cost of living crisis increasing the prices of fast food but will return to the hamburgers next week — hopefully after everyone has been well fed!
Knightsbridge School - 23rd February 2023
This was an extremely impressive session with our Knightsbridge club! The first half was absorbed in a wonderful display of current affairs knowledge - with each student bringing to the table a news fact: from the earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria; to the Chinese Spy balloons and US-China foreign policy tensions; President Zelensky's Westminster Hall speech; the question of fighter jets for Ukraine; and President Biden's visit to Ukraine amongst other fascinating points of information/headlines. Well done all!
We then turned to our debating of the day informed by the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon. Our debates covered two motions:
(1) This House thinks that leaders should have fixed terms and should not be allowed to 'go on and on'; (2) This House supports Scottish Independence.
In the first instance the group was reluctant to have fixed terms, on the basis that if one had a talented leader (not just in the political world - it could be sport too) then it would be a shame to limit their tenure arbitrarily, provided the public have regular democratic voting opportunities. The second motion saw the group divided over the idea of self-determination if a majority supported the concept; against the idea of throwing away over 300 years a political union, and over 400 years a double crown. This will then be followed by questions of economic difficulty - not least in an age that is looking beyond North Sea Oil. It was great to see the use of POIs and some excellent summary speeches.
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