This Wednesday, 19 November during period 7, the school hall will host the annual Inter-House Debating Final, which is one of the most anticipated house events out of all the interhouse competitions. There’s already quite a bit of eagerness building around the upcoming event. Teams from two houses made the final – Victoria and Kensington – with students from Years 9 to 11 stepping up to represent their house.

The event is part of the Academic House Cup series, so there’s more than just pride on the line. Teachers will be judging, and the rest of us will be watching, preparing questions and opinionated thoughts we might have regarding the discussed topics.

The hall will be set up with two tables diagonally facing each other, and students from all year groups are encouraged to come along and support. It’s always a lively atmosphere – in the field of debating – but you can feel the tension when someone’s about to deliver a persuading argument or a robust rebuttal.

The debating competition has been running for a few years now and has become one of the most popular house events. This time, the topics are just as challenging , with the semi -finals topic being “Should national service be mandatory for all UK citizens?”, and the topic being debated in the finals remains a mystery…

Teams have been preparing during lunch breaks and after school, and there’s definitely a competitive edge, with both Victoria and Kensington having their best speakers and debaters ready to represent their house hoping to take back the Inter-House Debating Shield with them!

Everyone’s hoping to make their house proud, and maybe even change a few minds in the process.

• Tara