Before the Easter break, we welcomed Jess Cowling from UNLOC, a local educational and enterprise group who deliver training in local schools that aims to empower young people and give them a voice.
The Public Speaking and Debating two-day Boot Camp proved incredibly popular, and 30 students from Years 8, 9 and 10 arrived ready to use their voices!
The students engaged brilliantly from the start, and did TPS proud with their enthusiasm and eloquence.
The sessions started with some fast moving and interactive group debates, considering what effective public speaking looks like. Students were then given the opportunity to present in front of others in order to practise their developing skills and build their confidence in formal debate. Jess worked with the students to look at examples of both good and bad presenting, and built individual confidence through a range of small group and paired activities. Finally, students were given the opportunity to look at how to prepare for a formal debate, and how to build a good case for the proposition and opposition
The programme has helped to develop the communication and debating skills of individuals, as well as preparing them for representation of the school at the UNLOC ‘Big Debate’ competition at Portsmouth University in the Summer Term. TPS also runs a weekly school debate club to follow on from the two day course to enable students to practise formal debating in a range of contexts, ready to show off their skills as they come up against other Hampshire schools, and attempt to better our runner up prize from 2022!
Since this first offering was so popular, we look forward to welcoming UNLOC back to TPS in May to facilitate the second of the two bootcamps – this time exclusively for Year 7 students!
