Quaker Quarrel Debate Day 

On Thursday 22nd June, the Leighton Park Debate Team were hosted by Sibford School for a Quaker Quarrel Debate Day. The debating topics were derived from the Quaker book ‘Advices and Queries’ and the questions and format created by our students!

Millie in the Lower Sixth, commented “The day out was brilliant. All the new Fryers and Year 9s did really well at debating and all their hard work paid off! The motions included pacifism as the only moral response to war, assisted suicide should be legalised and that the developed west should not impose sustainability goals on other countries.”

She continued, “The debate was really interesting; a great new challenge of debate style with a mix between Parliamentary and Oxford. Debating is exhilarating, challenging, fast paced, and so satisfying when you get it right.”

Aidan added, “The Quaker Quarrel Debate Day was a blast. I was nervous at first, as I normally am, but I very quickly got over the pre-debate jitters. I found it very easy to talk about all the debate topics as they were very relevant to current events, and the strong debaters on other teams inspired me to be more articulate and concise in my speaking.”

Fellow debater, Harriet, reflected “I really enjoyed debating against Sibford especially since some of them had never experienced a real debate competition before. It was great to see everyone’s confidence grow throughout the competition in such a supportive environment.”

Head of Science and Debate Club Coordinator, David Hammond, was delighted with the outcome of the inaugural event: “The Quaker Quarrel at Sibford School was an amazing showcase of debate. It was great to meet students from another Quaker School. Overall, the experience was very memorable and some of our younger students had their first chance to compete.  We hope that the Quaker Quarrel will grow and continue for years to come!”

Amongst our two teams, we were delighted to come first and third.