Benenden students have taken part in debating competitions organised by Oxford and Cambridge universities in recent weeks.
Upper Fifth (Year 11) students Claudia, Tatiana, Izzy, Alisha, Amelia, Ellie, Madison and Audrey competed very well at the Oxford competition which was hosted at Sevenoaks School.
They debated on two motions concerning basing the length of prison sentence on rehabilitation criteria and on hosting the Olympics at the same city each time. While they did not qualify for finals day, they debated confidently against some fantastic teams.
On Saturday, the regional round of the Cambridge competition took place and Benenden was represented by three teams of Six Ones (Year 13s): Hailey and Izzy, Lauren and Ava, and Alesha and Claire. They all debated very well over a gruelling day of four online debates.
Topics were covered such as whether or not the trend of politicians having a big social media presence is beneficial and whether the government should ban the media from publishing graphic depictions of terrorist attacks.
All three teams finished highly, but particular congratulations go to Lauren and Ava who finished fifth out of over 40 teams and so have qualified through the Finals Day at the Cambridge Union next month.