Victory was brought home to Didsbury Sixth Form as Year 12 student Suzie secured first place in the annual Laurus Trust Great Debate competition.
On Wednesday 6th November 2024, the Intra-Trust ‘Great Debate’ final saw students from Laurus Trust secondaries and Sixth Forms give five minute speeches answering the question ‘How can local histories tell global stories?’.
The competition is an ideal opportunity for students to gain valuable experience in speaking to an audience and developing their debating skills, confidence and self-esteem.
After multiple internal rounds of debating, three Sixth Form students were chosen to represent Didsbury in the Intra-Trust final, which was held at Cheadle Hulme High School.
Our students made an impression on the judges as they delivered thought-provoking speeches with confidence.
Rosa spoke brilliantly on the industrial Manchester origins of the Communist Manifesto.
Poppy beautifully explored how changes in the Lowry’s paintings encapsulate wider global shifts of the 20th century.
Suzie expertly delivered a tour de force on how the origins of Pan-Africanism lie within a Manchester bookshop.
All students were judged based on the quality of their argument, the use of historical argument and detail, making clear links between local and global stories, and their presentation and delivery.
The quality of speeches was of a really high standard which made the competition very close.
We are delighted to share that Suzie was proudly chosen as the overall winner after blowing the judges away!
The Great Debate is a national public speaking competition hosted by the Historical Association (HA). Students aged 16-19 have five minutes to present their speech arguing their answer to a set question.
Now that the Intra-Trust competition is complete, our students will go on to enter the HA local heats against other schools with the aim of getting through to the National round.
Well done to the students who represented us and to Suzie for achieving first place, we wish them the best of luck in the HA Great Debate local heats!