To mark ‘Banned Books Week’ in October, the History Department and our Librarian, Mrs Vigden – along with the help of several subject prefects – organised an Inter-House debating competition.
In the debating heats, Houses argued over whether two key texts studied at SWPS as part of the curriculum should be banned: Animal Farm and Of Mice and Men. Teams comprising students from a range of year groups represented their respective Houses, and debated the motions with excellent points being made and challenged by all involved.
Lonsdale and Quant advanced to the final where the motion ‘Governments should have the power to ban books’ was the subject under examination. Again, strong arguments on both sides of the debate were put forward and challenged by the teams. A staff and Sixth Form panel decided that Quant just had the edge and they were declared the winner with their opposition to the motion being intelligently and thoughtfully put forward. Many thanks to all involved, it was great to see a range of year groups grapple with some important concepts and formulate some erudite arguments and ripostes, and wonderful to see our focus on Oracy coming to the fore across so many year groups.
