On Wednesday 27th November, a team of six A-level Politics students took part in the annual Debating Matters event at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. The team included Isobel Gales, Greta Hirschhorn-Nolan, Noah Kitchen, Eimear Lawton, Orin Mabe and Tom Williams. They were up against very tough opposition from five other local schools in this prestigious all-day event.
The ND team dominated all three of their head-to head debates. Noah Kitchen and Tom Williams convincingly won the first debate on whether or not smartphones should be banned from classrooms. In the second debate, Isobel Gales and Eimear Lawton made a very strong case that we should not fear Artificial Intelligence. In the Grand Final in a packed museum atrium, Greta Hirschhorn-Nolan and Orin Mabe won the judges over with their case against any need for colonial reparations - and Notre Dame became Royal Armouries Champions 2024 for the first time ever!
Orin Mabe won the Best Individual Award (another first for the college), and the judges also cited Greta-Hirschhorn-Nolan for her remarkable questions from the audience to teams throughout the day. Orin quotes on the day 'We had a fantastic experience. It is something I'd recommend to any budding politician, lawyer or other job in a debating sphere. Our victory was a win for the six of us, for Notre Dame and for state schools country-wide'.
Kevin Warnes, who helped the team prepare for their debates and supported them on the day, says, 'They were amazing, I have never been more impressed with a group of students in my 25+ years of teaching and over a decade of participation in Debating Matters events. The judges rightly rewarded our students' sharp debating skills, in-depth knowledge and superb team ethos. Each one of them was an outstanding ambassador on the day for our College!'
From left to right in the photo: Eimear Lawton, Isobel Gales, Greta Hirschhorn-Nolan, Orin Mabe, Tom Williams and Noah Kitchen
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