The annual Mayoral Debate for Secondary Schools was held on Wednesday 4 December. The subject of the debate was whether green and open spaces should be built on.
Teams from the Borough’s seven secondary schools participated. Half of the schools made the proposition, “To secure a prosperous future, it is necessary to develop Broxbourne’s green spaces for housing, retail and entertainment”, whilst the others argued that “Broxbourne’s green spaces must be maintained as places for relaxation, farming and exercise.”
Teams were made up of Key Stage 3 stidents and each team member spoke for ten minutes to illustrate their arguments.. afterwards, were posed a question about their proposition from both the Mayor and from another competing school.
Their views and suggestions were evaluated by a judging panel comprised of the Mayor of Broxbourne, Cllr Steve Wortley, and the Council’s Community Development Manager, Steve Whitlam.
After much thought provoking debate, the winning team was announced as Goffs Academy whose members were Elliese Brown, Meryem Tutuman, Livvie Simson, Aleksandra Kolenda, Rowan Wilkinson and Josie Lewis.
The Mayor of Broxbourne, Cllr Steve Wortley, said:
I was amazed at the quality of all the presentations and the confidence of the young people in advocating their position. Their detailed and thoughtful research into what is a complex issue led to compelling arguments on both sides of the debate. All seven schools and all of the competitiors’ families should be very proud of their young people.
Runners-up were the Robert Barclay Academy and last year’s winners, St Mary’s C.of.E High School.
The other teams participating in the debate were from the Broxbourne School, Goffs Churchgate, Haileybury Turnford and the John Warner School. Every participant was awarded a certificate and the winning team received a trophy which was donated by the Mayor.