WCCS Summer Term - April 2025

It was great to resume our Debating, Public Speaking & Interview clubs with WCCS post the Easter holidays. 

For skills this week we looked at persuasive language in addition to conclusions, as well as a recapitulation on body language. 

Our warm-up questions asked:   

‘If you had the chance to revolutionize your favourite hobby, how would you push the boundaries and create a different or unique experience?’

 ‘What was the highlight of your holiday? & crucially why?’ Justification was key here.

This took in a wonderful array of locations, family time, and hobbies from sporting activities to artistic endeavour. 

Our newsround focussed on:

• The War in Ukraine

• Trump's tariffs 

• Earthquakes in Turkey and Myanmar

• The IPL

• The London Marathon

• The Local Elections 

• Canadian General Election

• Forthcoming VE day celebrations 

We also discussed whether British Steel should be nationalised. 

We then divided into teams for our set-piece debates. The motions:

• ‘This House believes that the Blue Origin Space Mission with Katy Perry, was just a publicity stunt’

• ‘This House believes we should do homework’

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

• ‘This House would ban devices (iphones, ipads etc./computers) from bedrooms for children’

• ‘This House believes that we should reduce our imports of the avocado (and other imported products) to help the environment’ 

In each case we worked on both sides of the argument, with voting before and after. It was super to see the group grow in confidence as the session progressed with some compelling and extended argumentation. 

• Unseen work involved analysing an image of George Washington following his inauguration on 30th April 1789

A super start to the term - very well done all!