Developing Girls Confidence - Introducing Debating

We are working with Chiltern Academy to enable them to become confident competitors in debating competitions. This will include collaborative mixed teams of KS3 students, training together with 6th Form mentors to take part in their first debate competition. Training sessions with a professional debating coach will take place at SHHS, and the first competition will take place at Chiltern Academy. The project will also include a separate CPD session for the teachers, again led by a professional debating coach, so that they may carry on the initiative and compete independently in future years.

Aims

The main aim of this partnership is to increase girls' confidence. By helping them develop debating skills among their peers and working collaboratively across the two schools, we hope that the KS3 students from both schools will have the confidence to enter further debating competitions. Additionally, this is a great opportunity for 6th Form students to develop their mentoring and practical judging skills. 

Background

This is the initial year of the project and the additional teacher training involved should ensure that debating becomes a sustainable partnership between the two schools. Chiltern Academy currently has Year 7 and 8 only, so as the students progress they can return for additional training in how to become mentors and judges themselves. 

Resources

The generosity of our Debating Coach in terms of time given is critical in ensuring this initiative is successful. Facilties in both participating schools will be used to host the training sessions and the competitions. The main financial cost is travel.

Impact

The impact will be measured by the number of students continuing involvement in debating. The number of teams that enter the SHHS Friendly Debate series and the number of teachers that become trained in debating. Qualitatively, we can assess the impact of girls' involvement in class discussions in mixed classes.

Pupil Involvement

The project will start with 15 KS3 female students from both schools, plus 6th Form mentors from SHHS. It is expected that this could then expand, and further KS3 students can participate as trainee judges and mentors. 

Frequency

The initial training is anticipated to last one term, but the longer collaboration will be on-going.