It was great to catch up with old and new Socratic members this weekend.
With so much in the way of geopolitical news to discuss it was a tremendous set of sessions for the start of the new academic year.
We began with interview style/warm-up questions including:
'What was the highlight from your holiday?' and 'What are your goals for the new academic year/is there something new you would like to try?'
Our skill focus this week turned to Proposition speaking and how to build/construct an argument in favour of the motion.
Highlights ranged from trips to Ireland, LA, Pearl Harbor, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Corfu to staycations in Kent and Oxfordshire with a balance of family time, sporting activities and intriguing/poignant museum visits.
Goals for the new academic year took in:
New Music Grades
Reading More
Rowing
More Acting
Working on organisation skills
Swimming squad plans
Fencing finals
Developing more confidence
Our newsround was extremely impressive with reference to:
The South China Sea
Pacific conference
The ongoing conflict in Israel-Gaza
The War in Ukraine
The Olympics/Paralympics
MI6 & CIA meeting
Great Ormond Street hospital review
The US Presidential election
International Space Station news
We then moved to our set-piece debates with the following motions:
(i) This House would ban smoking in public outdoor spaces;
(ii) Should the Olympic Rings stay on the Eiffel Tower?; & Should the Mayor of Paris need to consult her constituents?
(iii) Are there too many exams? (following a BBC/OCR article/review); and finally
(iv) This House believes we still need coins? & Will the coinage help raise awareness for endangered UK wildlife?
Voting in both Junior and Senior sessions saw a majority in favour of a smoking ban (more generally too); as well as support for the removal of the rings from the Eiffel Tower.
The Junior Group felt the Mayor did need to consult the citizens of Paris (80% in favour) on the Eiffel Tower; whilst the Senior Group felt that she had been elected and therefore had the delegated authority (60% against consultation).
There was widespread agreement that the coinage was still needed (and would raise some awareness for the environment) with concerns around inflation and practicality without coins, as well as the ability for young people to learn about money/counting.
On exams we had a strong push for a via media - with a more balanced approach of exams supported by termly work.
Overall a super start to the term and we much look forward to meeting again in a fortnight.
Comments