In March, a team of eight Year 12 pupils visited The Abbey School to take part in the Thames Valley Regional Forum of the European Youth Parliament, a Europe-wide debating competition for Sixth Form students.
Schools from Oxfordshire and Berkshire competed, including The Abbey, Leighton Park and Wallingford School. Thanks to careful preparation and great teamwork, St Joseph’s students were selected to represent the region at the national final in Liverpool, where they will compete against schools from the other 14 regions of the UK.
In a format modelled loosely on the European Parliament, the teams debated topics that are currently pivotal across Europe. The debates were based on six key issues, including mental health support for refugees and a potential prison reform.
The St Joseph’s team had been assigned the committee FEMM (Women’s Rights), and their role was defending the resolution on taking measures against drink and needle spiking across Europe. First up, Cecily gave a powerful opening speech, and after two attack speeches it was time to defend their resolution. The round of debate was very intense, but the team successfully justified that the terms of the resolution were the most effective way to combat spiking, by using varied examples of how schemes outlined in the resolution would be successful. They finished with a strong summary speech that addressed the clashes in the debate, and finally their resolution was passed!
Tierney commented: “Finding out that we were going to the final was a great moment, and we were thrilled that all our hard work and research had come to fruition. The judges praised our communication, high level of research, contributions to the debates and most importantly our teamwork.
The event was such an exciting opportunity to take part in and we look forward to Liverpool in the Autumn term!”
