School ‘immensely proud’ of debate team who reached national final against tough competition

Eastfield Academy was proud to represent Northampton, having only formed the debate team at the start of this academic year.

The team may not have won the final, but they conquered many other schools and just missed out on a place in the top two.

Keleigh Moore, assistant principal, science and R.E. lead at Eastfield Academy, explained that the school works closely with the University of Northampton and was invited to a debating workshop.

A team of eight year five and six pupils, varying from nine to 11 years old, was created after the university visit – which inspired the youngsters to practise the new skills and techniques they had learnt.

When asked why she believes debating is such an important skill for young people to have, Keleigh said: “It underpins everything we do and our day-to-day interactions.

“It’s about how you present yourself and your body language so interactions are positive and understood. It helps with job opportunities and interviews. If you can’t speak it, you can’t write it.”

To get to the final, Eastfield Academy had to compete against schools across Northamptonshire first.

After winning against three schools in prepared and unprepared debates, the team won a further head-to-head and were named the Northamptonshire champions.

“The best part of all of this is these children are from a standard state school in an area of high deprivation,” said Keleigh. “They’re never represented. They competed against six private, independent schools in the national final and were so close to making the final two.

“They represented Northamptonshire with all the pride we would expect.”

The students travelled to Hampton Court Palace for the final and Keleigh described it as an “amazing opportunity to stand in grandeur and hold their own”.

“They faced their fears and showed courage and perseverance,” she added. “That sort of pride will stay with them.”

When asked how proud she and the rest of Eastfield Academy are of the students, Keleigh said: “We’ve seen their growth and development. They were so nervous at the start of the journey with no exposure to formal debates or scoring.

“We’ve seen them progress to holding their own, formulating clear and convincing arguments, defending their points, and arguing with the other team with high quality vocabulary. We’re all immensely proud of them and to witness it was fabulous.”

Eastfield Academy will continue to partake annually and the year sixes, who are leaving for secondary school, will be replaced by new students.

One of the team members, Dana, says this experience has made her want to establish a debate team at her new secondary school. Keleigh described her enthusiasm as “infectious”.

Parker, who is the school’s head boy, said that although they were not crowned best in the country, they are very proud to be the best in the county.

Freddie is pleased that debating has helped him win arguments with his mother, whereas David described the process as an adventure.