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Congratulations to Year 10 student at Westminster City School, Suhaib, who has secured his place on 'Team England Development Squads'.

Their purpose is to train potential members of the national team, provide engaging activities to young people, helping them to establish skills and long-lasting habits that will enhance their debating skills. 

Suhaib shared his experience, thus elaborating on how he found out about the opportunity. He said:

"Posters were put up around the country with a link to a google form to sign up for the opportunity. This was then filled in, and to the best of my knowledge only about 60% of applicants got through. I found out at a later date that I was the youngest there which had a profound impact on me and I am really happy to be involved in this.

"The initial training was a week of three-and-a-half hour sessions which laid out some groundwork including how the World Schools Debating Championship format works, the role of each speaker and how to make effective points.

"I personally feel that debating should be a strongly advised activity for all young people. It doesn’t even need to be phrased in “intellectual language” because having the skill to make your point and defend it is near essential in my opinion. This applies whether you’re planning on being a surgeon or a politician. Debate study also promotes being up-to-date with current affairs, thinking critically and working well as a team, which are undeniably versatile and important."

The World Schools Debating Championships is an annual English-language debating tournament for high school-level teams representing different nations.