Hosting the European Youth Parliament!

For the second year in a row, we hosted and took part in the European Youth Parliament (EYP) in our Main Hall on Monday 23^rd March. Ten teams from eight schools all competed to debate over relevant topics such as Ai, the Manosphere, and childhood hunger to list a few.

Each team takes part in all debates, meaning students must prepare for each debate and are participating throughout the whole day. Once a debate was finished each team would cast their votes, and it would be decided if the motion was passed or not, which helped the judges score each team. Between debates there was some great talks from guest speakers Yuan Yang, MP for Early and Woodley, and the Mayor of Reading Dr Alice Mpofu-Coles.

Richard Duckett, Assistant Head of Sixth Form and Head of Politics, commented on the benefit of this event: “It is a collegiate environment, where solutions are sought as a parliament, rather than being offensive and trying to ‘win’.  This creates a lively yet competitive climate where all students should get involved over the course of the day. Overall, it’s a friendly event for our students to take part in.”

For a few of the students it was their first time participating, which was the case for Naina (Lower Sixth) who reflected: “Today has been amazing! We’ve debated in practice runs but this is our first time on the big stage. It’s been challenging but together as a team, we’ve made up a document of notes, decided who will be covering which debates, so cooperation has been an excellent point for us and I’ve just really enjoyed today.”

Anya (Lower Sixth) felt the same: “At first I was feeling nervous because I had a big speech, but then when we were on the second debate it became more relaxed, friendly and comfortable to talk in. I gained some more confidence in public speaking, and now some more experience in debating. I would definitely like to help the people who do this next year!”

Leighton Park has a solid history with EYP, having won the Thames Valley Regional Round twice in the past three years. Continuing that relationship, two of our previous students, Will and Anis, have become organisers and still debate with EYP.