It was great to catch up with our Knightsbridge Debating and Interview Club post the Easter holidays and to see many familiar faces and meet a number of new members of the group too.Â
In addition to introductory skills for new members, our skill focus this week looked at Explanation - and the combination of Point, Evidence and Explanation.Â
For our warm up we then turned to our interview style question with an emphasis on 'why'?:
What were your highlights from the Easter break? - from skiing in the Alps to adventure in Egypt, from family time, to general relaxation following the busy term, and sporting camps (tennis and football) it was great to hear the group so engaged. Â
Our newsround saw the events in the Middle East feature, in addition to the Solar Eclipse, the forthcoming election in the US and local elections in the UK. We encouraged the group to engage with First News, BBC Newsround and The Week Junior.Â
We then turned to our debate on the back of new bank notes being presented to King Charles III by the Andrew Bailey Governor of the Bank of England (to be released to the public in June):
The motion: 'This House would abolish cash'.
The group unanimously rejected the motion, but nevertheless we split into two teams and quickly the group saw, that, as with almost any debate, there are two sides to the argument. Arguments in favour of the motion looked at practicality, helping HMRC with tax avoidance, tackling crime and banking efficiency. Arguments against the motion turned to budgeting, travel, helping those on lower incomes, children learning to save and learning about money and the implementation - how would it work? What would happen to collect coins and small change?Â
It was a great debate and we also saw some excellent structure and use of rhetorical questions.Â
Well done all!