I had the pleasure today of joining Lower 1 for a formal structured debate about whether zoos ought to be banned. It is always a pleasure to go to the Lower 1 room and see the high level of enthusiasm and engagement from our youngest students. Previously, I have written about the importance of high academic expectations and what I saw here demonstrated this perfectly. The debate was not an unfocussed discussion, but a rigorously structured event, with particular roles and reflection afterwards on what could have been improved. The students were capable of giving spontaneous points of information and presenting logical arguments.
One thing that stood out was the fact that the students were using "connectives" in their contributions, referring back to prior points. They were also giving examples, sometimes from personal experience; they had an excellent grasp of the key issues, and all of this was from independently researched information.
What was particularly exciting for me as Director of Teaching and Learning was to see the progress that the students had made since I last observed them doing presentations on the Vikings last term. They spoke more fluently, reasoned more convincingly and in many places were far less dependent on their notes. It was also clear that they were very comfortable working together and showed a lot of respect in listening carefully to one another. I strongly believe that the skills required in debating (logical reasoning, presentation, clarity of explanation) are incredibly valuable for many other areas of learning, and having finished my own teaching for the year, this has now made me look forward to meeting my own 1st Form class next year and know I will be able to expect great things due to the strong foundation they have received in Lower 1.
