Fourth Form students took part in a Modern Foreign Languages debating competition held at St Catherine’s school, Bramley. The event brought together students from five local schools, including RGS Guildford, Guildford High School, Tormead and Charterhouse, and provided an excellent opportunity for students to develop their linguistic skills in a competitive and intellectually stimulating environment.
The competition was organised into a series of pools, with teams debating against their peers in French, German and Spanish. Each debate was judged by external teachers, who assessed not only the quality of the arguments presented but also the students’ command of the target language and their ability to respond effectively to questions. At the end of the preliminary rounds, the two highest-scoring teams from each pool progressed to the final stage of the competition.
The topics under discussion were varied, challenging and highly relevant to contemporary society. Students debated issues such as whether school uniform should be compulsory in Germany, whether life in a city prepares people more effectively for adulthood than life in the countryside, and whether artificial intelligence represents a threat to education. Although competitors were permitted to bring notes to support their preparation, much of the assessment focused on spontaneous communication, teamwork and the ability to adapt arguments in response to questions from opponents and judges. This rewarded students who could think quickly on their feet while maintaining accurate and persuasive use of the language.
RGS students performed exceptionally well throughout the day and represented the School with great distinction. In addition to demonstrating impressive linguistic ability, they showed maturity, confidence and a strong commitment to the spirit of the competition.
Several of the Spanish teams delivered strong performances and secured second place within their respective pools, narrowly missing out on qualification for the final. In both the French and German competitions, however, one RGS team successfully progressed to the final round in the unprepared debate category, where students had to formulate arguments with minimal preparation time.
In French, the RGS team reached the final after a series of impressive performances. Despite presenting well-reasoned and persuasive arguments, they were ultimately defeated by a strong team from Guildford High School. In German, the team also produced an outstanding display of debating skill, linguistic accuracy and teamwork. Their confident and convincing performance earned them victory in the final, making them overall champions in the German category.
Congratulations to all the students who took part for their enthusiasm, hard work and excellent representation of the School. Their performances reflected both their dedication to language learning and their willingness to engage with complex issues through thoughtful discussion and debate.