The SSLP is delighted to be working with the Worshipful Company of International Bankers (WCIB) to introduce debating into our schools (and beyond!).
Register your school’s interest for debating in 2023/24
The WCIB has now sponsored twelve SSLP schools to receive the first five or six workshops from Debate Mate’s core programme.
This year the SSLP will support more schools to receive six KS3 workshops, for up to 15 students. The support will begin with a teacher training session.
Each school will have access to teacher training, a dedicated mentor (who is DBS checked), 6 workshops and a friendly competition.
The schools supported to date are:
- Ark Globe Academy 2020 & 2022
- Ark Evelyn Grace Academy 2020
- The Charter School East Dulwich 2022 & 2023
- The Charter School North Dulwich 2023
- City Heights E-ACT Academy 2020 & 2023
- The Elmgreen School 2023
- Harris Boys Academy East Dulwich 2022 & 2023
- Kingsdale Foundation School 2022 & 2023
- St Joseph’s College 2023
- St Michael’s Catholic College 2020 & 2022
- St Saviour’s & St Olave’s School 2020 & 2023
- Westminster City School 2020
Staff Training
Training for staff on how to run a Debate Mate debating club, what to expect during a competition and how to incorporate debating into the classroom will be provided by Debate Mate. This will either be a half-day or a 2.5hour twilight session staring at 4pm and incorporating a break. We have capacity for 15 staff members and open training to all 18 SSLP schools.
Student Workshops
In 2023 up to 14 schools will receive six workshops from Debate Mate, the workshops are aimed at up to 15 KS3 students. Schools can choose the time and day that suits them best for the workshops. They are also able to secure more workshops at the bulk discounted price if they wish.
Last year the Debating Competition took place on Thursday 8th June at Kingswood Arts.
Debate Mate organised the competition and recruited mentors to run each breakout session. The students received a reminder of the rules in the opening plenary before undertaking three rounds of debate. The Debate Mate system pitches similar aged teams against each other in round 1, with subsequent pairings being determined by scores in the previous rounds. All teams took part in three debates, being both For and Against the argument and facing different teams.
The SSLP coordinated attendance, all schools were invited to submit a novice team of six players.
Impact
From the 2023 ImpactEd report
“Debate Mate was particularly mentioned as an activity that had positive impact by teachers. One noted that debate mate helped to launch a debating society at their school, whilst another noted that it was particularly nice to see younger pupils engage with this, as they had been most hit by the pandemic, so it was valuable to see them communicate with each other and build their confidence in that way.”
“Senior leaders also mentioned the benefit of working across other schools and noted that seeing the students work together ‘has been excellent’. Particularly in reference to the debating competition, one senior leader noted that pupils ‘grow from the experience of seeing students of different ages and different schools being treated equally on all platforms’. They also share that the in person events were particularly great, as students are encouraged to break away from their friends and work with others in other schools, and they noticed that the pupils were really talking to each other and sharing experiences. They noted that this was ’really, really super valuable’.