Day 4

After another day of challenging tutorials the students were taken en masse to the world renowned speaking society ‘The Oxford Union’. With speakers including presidents, pop stars and priests, the students were given their own chance to make some noise in the famous debating hall. 

Our chief executive, Bobby, led the coaching with some of his colleagues teaching students about British Parliamentary Debating alongside some basic tips for forming a strong line of argument and being clear and concise. 

Whilst some struggled with shyness most were able to overcome their initial fears with exercises including arguing that dogs were better than cats. More serious and stimulating topics followed, the students argued whether celebrities have a right to privacy and if junk food should be banned in schools.

 Special mention goes to Rosa who wowed the opposition aiding her team to the semi-finals. Alongside that fantastic performance was Olivia who has a knack for arguing which lends itself strongly to her legal studies. Jean-Luc despite seemingly shy exceeded his own expectations and argued fantastically in opposition of banning violent media.

The busy day of debating was sustained by Oxford’s largest burrito order ever. Over forty five burritos were enjoyed by the students prior to the night’s final debates. After a heated debate under the watchful eyes of the entire summer school  - standing where world leaders have previously argued - we had our champions. The winning team who argued fantastically against the motion “this house believes university education should be free” consisted of Emma, Dimy, Will and Sarah-Kate.