On the 11th of December some of the year 8 ‘Bright Sparks’ club took part in a debate against one another. Originally they were going to debate against Dylan Thomas Comprehensive School and Cardiff High School but they weren’t able to make it. However the debate was still carried out within Gowerton.
The pupils were in teams of two. The teams were Gwen Marshall Rees and Amy McNab, Isla McNab and Rosie Meredith, Amir Elharrif and Steven Button, Luca Garner-Beynon and Isaac Garlick. The debate also included a ‘bonus round’ against the exclusive teachers’ team of Mr. Jones and Mrs. Williams.
The teams first debated the question, ‘Should parents be allowed to take their children out from school to go on holiday?’ There were two separate debates for this question. The first one was between Amy and Gwen and Luca and Isaac, both groups performed well however Amy and Gwen just won by 2 points. The following first round debate was even closer between Rosie and Isla and Amir and Steven. However, again the girls came first but there was only one point in it.
The winners of round one progressed to round two and debated the question, ‘Should humans utilize robots and artificial intelligence to help them?’ This debate was between Rosie and Isla and Gwen and Amy. This was a very interesting and lively debate in which both teams gave lots of a very good points. In the end though it was Gwen and Amy who took home the prize of a box of heroes, a £10 Odeon voucher and a certificate each.
Finally there was an exclusive ‘bonus round’ where the winners of the competition Gwen and Amy, battled against Mrs. Williams and Mr. Jones. In this debate, they discussed the question ‘Should the death penalty be reinstated in Britain?’ This was an extremely close debate which enthralled the audience and had them all on the edge of their seat. Both teams refused to back down and a number of very well researched points were made. However it was Amy and Gwen who triumphed much to their, and the club’s, delight!
By Rachel Smith
