On Wednesday 27 November, six Leeds schools came together at the Royal Armouries for the annual Leeds Salon debating competition for pupils in Years 10 and 11.
The topics under debate were whether Smartphones should be banned in the classroom, if Humanity should fear advances in AI, whether Cancel culture is a threat to free speech and if Britain should pay reparations for its colonial past.
In the inspiring surroundings of the Royal Armouries Museum, The Grammar School at Leeds, Guiseley School, St Mary’s Menston, Pudsey Grammar School as well as Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College and Bradford Grammar School faced strong opposition to win their group rounds and compete in the final.
This was the tenth anniversary of the Leeds Salon competition, with leading transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (Leeds) as the Headline Partner for the second year running, and presented in association with the Royal Armouries. Debating Matters was delighted to be a judging partner for the competition, as well as supplying the Topic Guides and contributing to prizes alongside Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied (IDEA) Centre, University of Leeds and Womble Bond Dickinson, who awarded a week-long work experience placement to the ‘best individual debater’, Orin Mabe of Notre Dame. Orin said of the event:
We had a fantastic experience. It is something I’d recommend to any budding politician, lawyer or other job in a debating sphere. Our victory was a win for the six of us, for Notre Dame and for state schools country-wide.
Orin Mabe, Notre Dame
From left to right in the photo: Eimear Lawton, Isobel Gales, Greta Hirschhorn-Nolan, Orin Mabe, Tom Williams and Noah Kitchen
In the final debate, in a packed museum atrium, Notre Dame pipped Bradford Grammar to the post with their arguments for colonial repatriations, making them Royal Armouries Champions 2024! As long-time supporters of the competition, they were delighted to receive their first championship win and the prizes they were awarded. Teacher Kevin Warnes said:
‘The [students] were amazing, I have never been more impressed with a group of students in my 25+ years of teaching and over a decade of participation in Debating Matters events. The judges rightly rewarded our students’ sharp debating skills, in-depth knowledge and superb team ethos. Each one of them was an outstanding ambassador on the day for our college!’
Congratulations to Notre Dame and to runners-up Bradford Grammar School, who entered the championship a little later but excelled in their debates, as did pupils from each of the six schools who contributed to an interesting and lively day of debate!
- Best Individual was Orin Made from Notre Dame – who gets a day’s work experience at WBD.
- Highly Commended was Iris Podesta from Guiseley School.
- Commended Individual was Zainab Mahmood from Bradford Grammar.
- The Leeds Salon Individual Prize, which is awarded to the individual who best represents the spirit of Enlightenment inquiry by asking lots of thought-provoking questions, was won by Jamie White from Guiseley for the quantity and quality of his questions from the floor. Jamei won a signed copy of ‘Beyond Confrontation’ by author Phil Mullan.
Jamie White from Guiseley School receiving the Leeds Salon Individual Prize
Thank you to all the judges who came from across various sections of society, including politics and law, arts and education, business and industry, including judges from Leeds Salon, representatives from Womble Bond Dickinson, The Royal Armouries Museum, Debating Matters and Leeds University.