Falkner House School - 18th May 2026

We have had an excellent start to our summer term of debating at Falkner House.

On skills we have looked at body language, POIs, Active Listening, structure and pre-empting/anticipating opposition arguments along with rebuttal, and objectivity.

Our newsrounds have reflected on the London Marathon, the War in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, the King's state visit to the USA, Sir David Attenborough at 100, and the local elections and devolved parliamentary elections.

Warm-up questions have included inter alia:

·         ‘Is it ok to fail and if so why?’

·         ‘Is Spring better than all the other seasons?’

·         ‘Is it more enjoyable to read a book or watch the movie version?’

·         ‘Is money the key to happiness?’

·         ‘Train or Photography: which was/is the more important invention?’

Our debating motions have included:

• ‘This House believes that all woods should be open to the public across the UK’.

• ‘This House believes that safety is more important than freedom’.

• ‘This House would make voting compulsory in the UK’.

• ‘This House believes that board games are better than video games’.

• ‘This House would ban fast food from school lunches’.

• ‘This House believes that Bansky should be able to instal art at any location’.

• ‘This House believes school trips are more educational than lessons.’

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In each case we have split into teams and it has been super to see/hear the constructive discussion and argumentation from the group.

As always we have plenty of voting (before, during and after) and this has revealed excellent active listening. 

We look forward to seeing how the group will perform during competition format later in the term.

Very well done all!