The first preliminary round of the Wokingham Schools Debating Competition will be held this Thursday, the 15th October, at Luckley Oakfield School from 7pm. Teams from Luckley Oakfield, The Forest School, The Willink and Maiden Erlegh will battle it out for the John Redwood Cup for debating. They will be joined by teams from Bearwood College, St. Crispin’s School, Emmbrook and The Holt the following Thursday, the 22nd October at Bearwood College.

This Thursday, Luckley Oakfield will kick things off by proposing the motion “This House believes extremist views should not be aired on television”, with Forest opposing. The Willink will then propose “This House believes in free speech, as sticks and stones may break your bones but names can never hurt you”, which will be opposed by Maiden Erlegh.

The Forest School’s second team will then propose “This House thinks that everyone who wants to go to university should be able to do so”, opposed by Luckley Oakfield’s second team, and to wrap up proceedings Maiden Erlegh’s second team willl argue “This House would scrap coursework in favour of exams”, opposed by The Willink.

The contest is open to anyone who wishes to come and observe and we would ask teachers to encourage their pupils to attend even if they are not taking part. If you would like photographs for media purposes please arrive slightly earlier as we will be starting at 7pm sharp.

The competition is a yearly event, with previous contests having been won by the Emmbrook and Maiden Erlegh schools. It is organised by Wokingham MP John Redwood and is made possible by sponsorship from 3M, Clifton Ingram and Bill Clark.

For more information, please contact Carl Thomson on 020 7219 4205, or if you have any questions on the day please contact Christine Hill on 0118 962 9501