On Saturday, Ms Donington and eight members of the Channing Senior Debating team competed in the St Paul’s Girls’ School Women’s Open competition. Although we were competing for the first time in a new format, the team demonstrated fearlessness and resilience by throwing themselves into learning about British Parliamentary debating by competing. Amelia D, Saira C, Leila AH and Serrana B in Year 11 and Keira A, Darcy G and Lillia H in Year 12 represented the school with confidence and poise.

They debated four motions throughout the day on topics including whether we support the rise of Kidfluencers, whether AI should aggressively be integrated into our education system, whether we should make preemptive arrests if crimes could be predicted 100% accurately and whether award ceremonies should have gendered categories. All teams did exceptionally well; however, a particular congratulations goes to Lillia and Darcy. They came first in all of their heats, progressing to the Gold Final. Whilst they did not win the final, Lillia was highly commended as one of the best speakers in the tournament. This is a brilliant achievement for all pupils as it was, for many, their first time competing.