John Redwood

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Parliamentary Debating Competition

left to right the students are:
Scott Pryor and Phoebe Batten - Team 1 Bearwood then Guy Gillbe and Natasha Adkins - Team 2 Bearwood then Victoria Scott and Natalie Ogilvie - Team 1 The Holt then Ram Mashru and Peter Kirwin - Team 1 The Willink (standing behind holt girls)

       John Redwood chaired the two semi finals of the Wokingham Schools Parliamentary debating competition on Thursday 23rd November 2006. The students from the Holt, the Willink School and from Bearwood achieved a high standard, examining how poorer countries in the world could most easily be lifted out of poverty. The three independent judges had a hard task in deciding which two teams were best, but finally concluded by a narrow margin that the two Bearwood teams were the winners. This means that for the first time both teams in the final will come from the same School, and is a tribute to this year’s hard work at Bearwood to hone their debating skills. All the participants from earlier rounds are also invited to join the  winners at the Town Hall for the final next Thursday. On that occasion there will be prizes and certificates for all who have joined in, and special prizes on the evening for the best speeches from the floor during the course of the grand debate. The final will be on the motion “This House believes that schools should have the right to require pupils to wear  a uniform and to ban religious jewellery” – a topical twist to a long standing debate about whether schools and employers should be able to tell us what to wear.

      John Redwood said after the evening: “I was pleased by the competitive spirit shown by all involved. Participating in debates can help students when they apply for university or for a job, as it helps their confidence at interview and puts something different on their CV. We had a most enjoyable and interesting evening at Wokingham Council, listening to the semi finalists.”