The Socratic Club - 7th September 2025

This was a great start to the term with our Junior and Senior Socratic club sessions. It was super to see old and new faces alike as we begin the new academic year.

We began with a recapitulation of key skills from body language to evidence, stories and rhetorical questions to support argumentation. In addition we spent time working on building blocks for proposition arguments.

Warm-up questions included:

·         ‘What was the highlight(s) of your holidays?’

·         ‘What are your goals for this academic year?’

From family time, to travel in Slovakia, Cyprus, Sweden, India, Vienna, Montenegro, the Kent Coast, Swiss Alps, camping, hiking, cycling and other sporting activities, the music of Mozart and the wonders of the palimpsest of Istanbul.

Goals took in higher grades/scores, improving science and mathematics performance/results, mastering Algebra and working on language skills from Mandarin to Latin.

Philosophical questions included:

·         ‘How do you know the moon isn’t made of cheese?’

The key point here was to put emphasis on evidence.

Our newsround saw reference to US politics, the War in Ukraine and conflict in Gaza, Deforestation, earthquakes in Afghanistan, a Millennial Saint, AI concerns and the start of the school year.

Debating motions took in the topics/questions:

·         What support can be provided for Afghanistan? Following the most recent earthquake

·         Following the resignation of the deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, we asked can politicians/leaders/those in public life make mistakes? Or do mistakes erode public confidence? (here voting was very finely balanced)

·         Should we name storms?

·         Can more be done to help with the price/cost of food?

·         Is Chess a sport?

·         Is it good to be bilingual?

·         ‘This House would choose to be famous’

·         Are UK smartphone test alerts a good idea or something that unnecessary and worrying for the public?

·         Should tube workers be allowed to strike? Or should the service be regarded as essential? (the majority by 89% voting against strikes)

As ever we voted before and after the set-piece debates.

Well done all for listening so attentively and beginning the new term on such an impressive note!