The outstandingly resilient Debating Teams set off from St Gabriel’s at 7am on Saturday 11 March. Having registered in the Gladstone Room at the Oxford Union, Zara, Oluchi, Stephanie and Emily headed for the Union Building for the introduction to the day’s debating.

One hundred and seventeen teams from across the UK and the world took part in the debates and Zara, Oluchi, Stephanie and Emily should be congratulated for their success on the day.

There were to be four debates following the Oxford Parliamentary style, before and after lunch, followed by supper and the Grand Final. The girls demonstrated their debating skills and determination: Stephanie and Emily achieved second place debating the motion “This House Opposes the narrative that women can have it all (e.g. having a family, a successful career, love etc.)“ taking the position of Closing Government.

Zara and Oluchi achieved second place in their group debating the motion “In areas of socioeconomic deprivation, This House Would prioritise training students in vocational skills (such as being a mechanic, electrician, carpenter, etc.) as opposed to traditional academic subjects (history, language, advanced maths, etc.)“, taking the position of Opening Opposition.

The main debates ended on a note of excitement as Zara and Oluchi achieved first place in their group debating the motion “This House Opposes career politicians “.  Zara and Oluchi were debating in their favourite position for this round which is Closing Opposition. Supper was served in the Oxford Union grounds after which we settled down to watch the Grand Final in the Oxford Union Chamber - this was incredibly exciting! The motion was “This House Proposes a world in which DSC is available and used in all functioning democracies“.

We arrived back at school at 10.20pm tired but with a real sense of achievement: the girls had debated in the Oxford Union against some of the best teams in the world and had definitely made their mark.