Pupils tackle a political hot potato – Brexit

YOUNG people from Warrington tackled a political hot potato that is proving too complex even for politicians – Brexit.
Pupils from three high schools took part in a debating contest at The Pyramid and were so evenly matched that a recount was necessary to decide the winner.
Eventually, the prize went to Bridgewater High, but the judges – members of the Priestley College Debating Society – were also highly impressed with Padgate and Penketh high schools.
The event started with students from Priestley College debating whether the voting age should be lowered to 16.
Then the three high schools debated Brexit.
Sophie Johnson, vice president of the Priestley College Council, said: “We supported the younger teams throughout the debate because we know from experience how tough it can be.
“We really enjoyed giving feedback to each group and were so impressed by them all because they made great progress between the two debates. They clearly worked hard to research the topics that seem a little too complex even for our politicians at the moment.”
Students founded the college’s Debating Society after conducting several debates within Priestley’s graduate enrichment classes and wanted to open them up to a wider group of people.
Mark Salmon, a senior tutor at Priestley, said the event was an example of collaboration between the college and other schools in The Challenge Academy Trust.
“The pupils really did seem to look up to our students and responded well to the feedback they received,” he said.
“The students and I were so impressed with the high level of debate from the pupils. We would all like to thank Paul Cordingley from Penketh High School for organising this exciting and challenging event.”