Success at the EYP Debate Regional Heats

“This was the second time that LP have entered the European Youth Parliament competition, but this time we were more experienced and perhaps even better prepared! “ enthused Richard Duckett, Head of Politics, History teachers and leader of the ‘Debating Matters’ club at Leighton Park with David Hammond, Head of Science. “The competition on Friday 17^th March was a great success and our team performed brilliantly today at the regional heats. As a result we have been selected to go to the Nationals in Liverpool 6-10 September 2023!”

The competition is part of a peer-to-peer educational programme that brings together young people from across Europe to debate pressing issues. The organisation aims to “inspire and empower a young generation of informed, open-minded, responsible, and active citizens that shape society and drive impact.” Founded in 1987 it is one of the largest European platforms for political debate, intercultural encounters, European civic education and the exchange of ideas for young people in Europe.  Each competing team is allocated a committee and a resolution to propose or attack.  Each team needs an opening speaker and a closing speaker, with time in between for all competing teams to respond or add to what another team has said.  There were eight debates with each team contributing to every discussion, and points are awarded for research, clarity of ideas, quality of opening speeches, and how well the team work together.

“The opening debate of this year’s competition was our motion to debate better welfare for migrants across the EU,” explained Richard. “We therefore got the chance to set the standard for the rest of the day, and Max rose to the challenge superbly with his speech which opened up the conference.  We went on to have our motion accepted by delegates after some interesting to-and-fro from the opposition teams and an excellent summation of the debate by Harriet.  The bar thus set, the LP team shifted up the gears in the next five debates which covered toxic masculinity, the energy crisis, digital skills, needle spiking, and criminal rehabilitation.  Our team consisted of rookies and more experienced members, with newbies all getting involved and ‘old hands’ showing they have honed their skills through their dedication to weekly club meetings and competing in other competitions such as ISA and English Schools’ Mace.  We are through the regional heats and into the nationals – Liverpool here we come!”

Will (Lower Sixth), a first timer at the EYP competition enthused, “I enjoyed how dynamic the competition was. Constantly teams were forced to adapt their strategy and find new points to argue and defend points. It truly made us a better team! This experience is valuable as it allows students the opportunity to not only learn about resolutions and policy, but also practice making ourselves vulnerable speaking in the debate. As the day went on, we felt more comfortable speaking and taking part, which is what ultimately led us to winning the competition!” Teammate Max (Lower Sixth), agreed, saying “I feel like experiences like these are very important in improving and developing your public speaking skills. I think being able to speak in front of an audience and voice your opinion is a valuable skill which can be transferred to many walks of life. I certainly feel that being in the EYP debating competition has improved my confidence in both debating and public speaking which I am forever thankful for. The aspect I enjoyed the most was hearing the different view points that everyone presented. I found it very interesting hearing all the different opinions on the issues that we discussed.” Millie (Lower Sixth) commented, “The best part was the opportunity to socialise and see different viewpoints on debate topics. This experience is valuable for teamwork skills which our group was specifically noted on as well as practising quick thinking and improvisation skills. We are all really excited to be going to nationals and to make new connections.”  Harriet (Lower Sixth) added, “I loved the open debate section of the competition because the sense of collaborative discussion is amazing. The competition teaches you how to be concise and also develops your confidence.” Aiden, a newcomer to the team was keen to encourage others to give it a go saying, “The EYP event was quite stressful because I joined the debate club only 2 weeks before the event. I was really worried when I showed up that I didn’t prepare enough, but I quickly realised that EYP wasn’t the intense and cut-throat event that I had imagined. Everyone there was extremely friendly, and after a while I really started to enjoy the experience. I’m not the most comfortable when it comes to public speaking, but everyone’s support allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and make a few points of my own. It was also really nice as a boarder to go out and speak to new people my age. I absolutely loved the EYP competition. I’d highly recommend it for anyone who wants to improve at their public speaking skills (and listening skills), because everyone there was really amazing at debating. I was definitely able to learn a thing or two from everyone else.”