A very 'well done' to our SKI Debating & Public Speaking Club for making such tremendous progress this term with incorporating key skills and the quality of argumentation shown.
This week we focussed on the skills of summary speaking and how to use notes in presentations and debates, as well as arguing against your own point of view.
We began with a newsround that took in the arrival of the Icon of the Seas to St Kitts and the magnificent test victory for the West Indies in Australia - their first test win in Australia since 1997 with the young Shamar Joseph taking 7 wickets in the second innings to level the series.
Our warm-up question asked:
(a) tell us something interesting about the world?; and (b) tell us something interesting about you?
It was super to hear about so many different talents and interests from photography, painting, astronomy and sporting skills to facts about the Planet.
On the back of Tesla's announcement of weaker trading/sales, we turned to the motion:
(i) 'This House still thinks electric cars are the future'.
Here the voting split between those in favour of electric cars, but with modifications to car batteries (to be fully recyclable) and charging for efficiency; to those arguing that they remain too expensive and fail to stand the test of time compared to conventional petrol/diesel/gasoline cars.
Our second motion looked at age for politicians and leadership:
(ii) 'This House believes that age matters when it comes to Presidential or Prime Ministerial leadership?'
Here voting took the view that experience matters, however, different suggestions emerged as to when someone could start in Politics, from the idea of 20 to a much higher 45 years. We looked at different examples of leaders from the late Queen Elizabeth II to Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill. This was balanced against the likelihood of another octogenarian President in a Biden/Trump contest.
We also returned to an earlier motion of term to see if the voting remained the same post reflection:
'This House would have a shorter working/school week'.
Here the voting split 50%/50% as per the first time we looked at this debate. The balance between having a full education, childcare issues against extra-curricular opportunities, a time to rest and travel and the question of productivity in countries with shorter working weeks, e.g. France.
Finally with the loan return of the Asante Crown Jewels to Ghana from the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum we asked whether these items should be returned to Ghana or should remain in museums or be shared 50/50?
Voting went in favour of a return, but with the caveat that the country had to be safe (i.e. no war or civil war) and that the journey must be very carefully arranged to avoid damage to these precious objects.
Another superb session - well done SKI!
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