Debate Hub

This is a re-issue of episode 19 in which Kate (who holds a first class undergrad and a PhD from Oxford and heads up South Hampstead's Oxbridge programme) discusses with Michael how Oxbridge applications work, how to do well in interviews, and how debating can help. 

In this episode Michael sits down for a conversation with three of the team England debaters who took part in the 2024 world championships in Serbia. We discuss their experiences at the tournament and what it takes to speak for your country. 

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe spent over 5 years in an Iranian jail having committed no crime. In this special Speaker Series, Nazanin sits down with Anna Paul and a live audience and discusses the experience, what Boris Johnson said to her after she returned, and the women she met during her imprisonment. 

This is a speech given at South Hampstead High School in 2024 by a year 11 student to an audience of roughly 1000. It has great examples of humour, repetition and juxtaposition of tone. 

For motions, resources and competitions, check out www.debatehub.co.uk 

With the new academic year fast approaching, we are re-publishing one of our most popular episodes. In the first half, Kate and Michael discuss some of the key principles to running a successful debate club. Remember our website debatehub.co.uk is jam packed with lesson plans, debate topics and instructional videos to help your club thrive! 

Michael sits down with Zoe Brass to discuss the global issues oracy project ran recently at South Hampstead High School. 

In this episode, two of our year 12s discuss their experience of running debate clubs for year 5s in some of our local state schools. 

In part two of our bumper long episode about public speaking competitions, Michael & Kate discuss the importance of the 'compere' role and all the skills it brings, as well as why we let students have complete free reign on topic choice. 

In the first half of this bumper episode, Michael & Kate discuss the format Debate Hub uses for our public speaking competitions, the reasons we designed it this way and how schools can replicate either our model or the principles behind it. 

The South Hampstead Oracy conference takes place July 6th 2024. In this episode, Michael and Kate give a brief overview of what the conference is, who it's aimed at and why you should attend. 

In this episode we sit down with Cesca Reynolds, who runs the 'development squads' wing of England's national debate team, as well as her own organisation 'Impart.' Development squads is designed to help more state school students trial and speak for the England team. You can apply here: - https://forms.gle/ZURg2py7m4SiKxGw5 Cesca can be contacted on cesca@nationaldebatete...

Zoe Paramour is the author of 3 education books: The Writing Book, The Grammar Book & How to be an Outstanding Primary Middle Leader.  She has also been instrumental in the debating programme at South Hampstead Junior School and has a lot of thoughts on primary school oracy. 

An in-depth discussion about the Oxbridge application process: admissions tests, what they really want to read in your personal statement and the dreaded interviews. How can debating help students prepare and what else can teachers and students do to maximise their chances of admission? 

Part 2 of our bumper length discussion about the most important aspects of running a great debate club

In part 1 of this bumper episode, Kate and Michael discuss the principles that are key to success in a debate club and how to practically implement them in your club. 

In this episode Michael and Kate talk to two year 11 students who both improved hugely during their year 10 and are now reaping the rewards as they break and win at seniors competitions. 

In this week's episode Michael is joined not only by Kate but two of our colleagues from Physics and Classics, to discuss how to use debates and other oracy activities to enhance teaching, even if you don't have a debate background as a teacher. 

In this episode, Michael and Kate discuss the incredible power of good assembies (and the horror of bad ones) and how you can change your school culture so that every assembly is interesting, inspiring and purposeful. 

Today we sit down with Elisa from Oxford High School who did no debating in her own education but became head of debating at a top school in her second year of teaching. How has she found it and how has she succeeded? 

Following on from our discussion of selecting students for competitions, this week Kate and Michael discuss how to pair students to compete. Just like team selection in football, team pairings for BP competitions are complex and multi-faceted. We discuss our process when we have to select teams for competitions, how often we vary pairings, pro ams and more!

In this episode Kate and Michael discuss when students are ready to compete, how to gauge that, which competitions to enter them for, and who to pick when competitions are oversubscribed. (Unfortunately, it's not as easy as 'the best people.') 

Today Kate and Michael sit down with two of our students who have made multiple finals with a a variety of partners rather than the same person each time. We discuss being a good partner, how to pro-am, the importance of teamwork in debating and the benefits of speaking with a variety of people vs having a steady partner. 

In this episode Michael sits down with Amy and Beth from Castle Mead Academy in Leicester, a state school who started their debating programme a little over a year ago and who are doing a wonderful job. 

This is part two of our discussion with Jane and Nadia which was episode 4 'Oxbridge Alum.' In this short segment they discuss the usefulness of framing and the importance of a good club culture.