RHS Students Wins Second Place in GDST Debate

Daisy John, Carlotta Fedrizzi and Eliza Hyde have been awarded second place in a thrilling GDST Debating competition that took place on Microsoft Teams this week. The team of Year 12 students were charged with opposing the motion “This House believes that vaccinations should be made compulsory in the UK” against one of the teams from Northampton High and did so with an accomplished rhetorical skill and dexterity that was widely praised by the judges.

Students from the Oxford University Debating Society judged the competition and picked out the Royal High School for overall second place. They debated brilliantly and this is a wonderful achievement. Daisy was praised by the judges for her ‘wonderful delivery, analysis and organisation in her brilliant speech’ and was singled out for directly exploiting the fatal flaw in the proposition’s case (who had stumbled over a key word ‘mandatory’ in their opening statement). Carlotta was celebrated for ‘some of the best rhetoric of the entire event’ and especially complemented for the ‘incredibly smooth and succinct’ delivery that made her impassioned case feel natural (despite meticulous planning). Eliza was highly praised for responding to remarks on the spot and introducing the four pillars of medical ethics into the discussion, as well as delivering an ‘excellent summary speech’ that managed to distil the whole debate into a ‘clear and concise review’.

The Oxford University Debating Society implored the Bath students to continue debating into the future!