The students from the Durham-based school saw off stiff competition from across the North East and Yorkshire, debating contemporary issues such as Happiness is the business of government and Copyright benefits the arts. They took on Beckfoot School from Bradford in the final and successfully argued against the motion ‘We should embrace the use of smart drugs’ becoming regional champions of the Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition.

Though they all agreed both teams in the final had significant merits judges lauded considerable praise on Durham Johnston School arguing they were “Extremely sophisticated in their arguments, and showed a remarkable ability to think on their feet.”

Lawrence Rees, a debater from Durham Johnston School said of the competition:

“Debating Matters promotes a high quality of debate because the judges are subject experts – they really test you to the limit.” Louis Cowling, who was awarded the prize for ‘Best Individual’ said of the day “It was brilliant, but extraordinarily stressful!”

Teacher Rob Johnston, at Durham Johnston said of his students:

“They did brilliantly – bring on the national final!”

Having won the national title of the competition just two years ago, Mr Johnston believes they will go on to achieve great things at the 3-day Debating Matters Competition National Final in London in July, which the students won a place to, alongside subscriptions to Encyclopaedia Britannica and £500 worth of Hodder Education books for their school.

Debating Matters is no ordinary debating competition. Renowned for being ‘the toughest debating competition in the country’ debaters were grilled by panels of expert judges. Judges included Pooran Wynarczyk, Director of the Small Enterprise Research Unit, University of Newcastle Business School; Paul Thomas, Director of the Leeds Salon; Trevor Lincoln, Eaga Director; Andrew Gowers, former Editor of the Financial Times; Caspar Hewett, director and chair, The Great Debate.

Trevor Lincoln, a director from event sponsors Eaga, who judged the Regional Final said of the event:

“It’s been fascinating. There was an exceptionally high quality of debate from all teams, making it very difficult to judge! This is all about sparking debate among students from all backgrounds and giving them greater confidence and more of a voice to shape their future. The topics of discussion, such as climate change, could not be more pressing or relevant. As a major employer in the region, Eaga is also committed to supporting and nurturing talent of the future. Sponsoring Debating Matters is a great way of doing this and in engaging with the next generation of decision makers.”

FURTHER HELP

Notes for Editors
(1) The North East and Yorkshire Regional Final of the Institute of Ideas and Pfizer Debating Matters Competition took place at the Research Beehive, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne on 4th March 2011. This region of the competition is sponsored by Eaga. For more information about Eaga, visit www.eaga.com
(2) Schools debating in the final were: Gosforth Academy (Newcastle on Tyne); Durham Johnston Comprehensive School; St Benet Biscop Catholic High School (Northumberland); Beckfoot School (Bradford); Franklin College (Grimsby) and the Mount School (York).
(3) Durham Johnston School received £500 worth of Hodder Education books. Beckfoot School won £250 worth of Hodder Education books and both receive a year’s online subscription to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
(4) Full details of the programme for the day, including all the debate motions and topic guides, can be found here. For further information about the competition, go to www.debatingmatters.com. To interview students, teachers, judges and other participants, please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 020 7269 9232.

Notes for Photo Editors: Durham Johnston students (L to R) are: Lawrence Bees, Louis Cowling, George Butcher and teacher Rob Johnson (student Esme Stout out of shot).