All teams in Mace have achieved great things but, this year, we discovered one had made it to the grand finals almost entirely of their own volition
‘We never thought we’d make it this far,’ says Isabel, of her team which was formed just a few months ago. Realising that a lot of her friendship group enjoyed current affairs (‘We like reading the news and are very talkative and quite argumentative,’ she says), Isabel set up a lunchtime debate club last September, which was soon so popular it was standing-room only. Teacher of History, Politics & PSHE Lynton Moore then suggested they might be interested in the ESU Schools’ Mace debating competition, ‘and so what started as a bit of fun between friends has escalated into this crazy experience,’ she says.
The team – Year 13 students Isabel, Iris and Sam – entered the first round, merely thinking it would be good practice. ‘It was quite intimidating,’ she says. ‘I remember thinking, “oh wow, these people look like they’ve done this before.” We never expected to go any further, but in every round, we have – it’s been a slight fever dream in terms of getting all this amazing feedback.’
That they have progressed this far shows how well they have taken the feedback on board, and how well they’ve responded to Mr Moore’s gentle guidance. ‘He’s given us a broad way to attack motions and to substantiate our arguments, things that will stand us in good stead for any motion we’re given,’ says Iris. ‘A couple of rounds ago, we had a ‘This House Regrets’ motion and Sir was able to provide an article on how to approach that sort of question,’ continues Sam. ‘We didn’t have the history or maybe the traditional understanding in our school of what that was, but just that baseline support made it feel much more accessible.’
The trio are clearly riding high on their success and bubbling over with enthusiasm for their newfound passion, which they feel everyone should try. ‘I think that people sometimes don’t realise that they are debating,’ says Isabel. ‘You can be having a conversation about any issue, whether it’s the new Ariana Grande album or foreign policy. If you’re engaging with the other person’s viewpoints and listening to them and countering with your own thoughts and arguments, then you are debating.’
‘I don’t have any sort of background in debating, but I’ve found that I’ve enjoyed it more and more each round as you learn the intricacies of how it works,’ says Sam. ‘I mean, I did put a point of order in in protected time about half an hour ago, but other than that, I’m learning the process of doing it,’ he laughs. ‘And if you’re someone who likes reading news, dissecting those things, then – and I don’t mean this in a pretentious way – this is intellectually stimulating. You get to find other young people who are interested in the same issues and want to have a back and forth. It’s a really enjoyable experience.’
That much is clear in the grand final debate where they make a spirited case for the motion that ‘This House Believes that AI-generated content weakens critical thinking and creativity’. Their opponents, the defending champions Radley College, just pip them to the post however, persuasively arguing that AI in fact sharpens our thinking, liberating us from mundane work and offering a fast-track tool to innovation, advanced critical thinking and higher-level skills.
The Bristol team might be disappointed, but they make a good show of hiding it. ‘As we’ll soon be leaving the school, we’ve handed over the debate club to new leadership. It’s exciting that it’s something that we started and we’ve shown that our school can be really good at, and now somebody else is going to carry on. Hopefully, we’ll have another team enter the Mace next year as well.’
We look forward to welcoming them and, while Bristol Cathedral Choir School may not have been victorious today, in terms of life skills, there can be no doubt that they are winners through and through. As political commentator and author Sam Freedman, one of our finals judges, says: ‘To do all this yourself without being coached is even harder. It’s very impressive indeed.’
