Budding politicians take on the best

Congratulations to the team who represented the school at the European Youth Parliament in the imposing surroundings of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. The team (Renda Ng, Liza Malby, Nikita Kamraj, Lucie Skacelowa, Nejra Pasic, Max Simpson, Lauren Teaney and Anna Peppitt) enjoyed the cut and thrust of three challenging and thought provoking debates on whether Europe should establish a standing army, ways to rationalise funding for science projects and the role of culture in building a knowledge-based economy. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to thrash out the issues facing Europe's decision makers against pupils from some of the most academic schools in the south east - not to mention the game of "rock, paper, scissors" they played against Oxford undergraduates! 

Max, Nikita, Renda and Nejra, along with Hana Mattocks and Claire Barker, have also represented the school at the Cambridge Union and Oxford Union schools debating competitions this academic year. Max, Nikita, Hana and Claire came second in their respective debates in the Cambridge competition: an impressive achievement for a debating club that started up in September 2010, under the guidance of Mrs Dolan, Head of English.