The annual Mayoral Debate for Secondary Schools was held on Wednesday 23 November.
Teams from five of the Borough’s secondary schools participated and presented their ideas on “How can the Borough of Broxbourne build upon the legacy of Her Majesty for the benefit of Broxbourne residents”.
Each team spoke for 10 minutes in the Council Chamber at Bishops’ College, using PowerPoint to illustrate their arguments and, afterwards, were posed a question about their presentation from another competing school.
Their views and suggestions were evaluated by a judging panel comprising the Mayor of Broxbourne, Councillor Paul Seeby, Deputy Youth Mayor, Adesola Jinadu-Adewale, and the Council’s Community Development Manager Steve Whitlam.
After much thought provoking debate, the winning team was announced as the Goffs Academy whose members were Aston Williams, Charlotte Bonfante, Elmaz Fevzi, Liam Paculanan, Meryem Tutuman and Sharon Hood.
The Mayor of Broxbourne, Councillor Paul Seeby, said: “It was lovely to see the Council Chamber full of young people again after a two year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The young people spoke clearly and confidently and their propositions were strong and thought-provoking. All participants, their teachers and their families should be very proud of their young people.”
Runners-up were the Broxbourne School. The other schools participating were the Robert Barclay Academy, St Mary’s C.of.E High School and Haileybury Turnford.
Every participant was awarded a certificate and the winning team received a trophy which was donated by the Mayor.
The Mayoral Debate was the final event in the Borough’s Platinum Jubilee commemorative programme. The programme started with the lighting of Jubilee beacons in Hoddesdon, Wormley and Waltham Cross, enabled decoration of the Borough’s three town centres with bunting, provided grants for residents to host street parties, put on popular town centre events in Hoddesdon and Waltham Cross, reinstated the Broxbourne in Bloom competition and allowed for a photographic competition. Younger children were able to participate in a poetry competition via their primary schools. A programme of events to mark the coronation of King Charles III in May 2023 is being developed.