On Friday 23rd March the whole school gathered to question whether robots will make the world a worse place.
Caroline Hyde, from Bloomberg news channel, joined Mr Carew Hunt (Head of Debating) as the guest judge for the 2018 FHS Inter-form Debating Competition. Caroline is a Broadcast Journalist and TV Presenter specialising in business and technology, and herself set the motion This house believes robots will make the world a worse place.
Isabella Fisher Turner & Ellie Valentine (Lower Fifth) argued the case for the Proposition, with Laura Stewart-Harris & Scarlett Field-Green in Opposition. After a week of fervent preparation from our Debaters, the Floor (audience) were treated to an epic contest. When the Floor were asked to make their own points and questions, there were hands galore in the air, and many pertinent questions posed to the debaters.
After the Debate our guest judge took to the stage to share with everyone how debating skills have helped her, not only when at school and University, but every day in her career to date: choosing the key arguments, asking the right questions, maintaining civility in challenging circumstances, story-telling to captivate your audience, and many further debating disciplines that we explore in Senior Debating Society every Friday.
Caroline was full of praise for the FHS debaters, and indeed the Chairs (Alice Emlyn Jones & Yasmin Morrell) before explaining that, though it had been a hard decision, the winners were Scarlett & Laura, who addressed the key points and responded to their opponents and the Floor most effectively.
Well done to all the girls involved in debates so far this year; 2018 has been a great Debating season for Francis Holland School, Regents Park.
