Alongside curriculum specific opportunities, such as the Junior Maths Challenge and Biology and Physics Challenges, pupils have participated in Rhetoric (Years 7 to 9), Scholars’ Society (Years 10 to 11) and Head’s Essay Society (Year 12).
In Scholars’ Society Dominique P and Caitlin W were supporting the motion “This house believes that freedom of speech is always justified” which was countered by Honor G and Esme S. Both teams presented well structured and prepared speeches and were supported in their rebuttals by other members of the group, before taking questions from the floor. This was a hotly debated topic and many searching questions were asked. No overall consensus was reached, although the motion was narrowly carried.
Year 12 students researched the well known trolley problem for their final Head’s Essay Society meeting of the year. A runaway tram (a ‘trolley’ in US English) is hurtling along, out of control, towards five people who are working on the track. You are standing on a side spur of the track, beside a switch. (i) If you do nothing, the tram will go straight ahead, and kill the five. (ii) If you throw the switch to the right, the tram will turn into a righthand spur, where it will kill one workman. (iii) If you throw the switch to the left, the tram will turn into a left-hand spur, where you are standing—so it will kill you! Which of the three options are you morally allowed to take? Which of the three options are you morally required to take? Why? A wide ranging discussion was held, debating moral and ethical stances on this topic, extending ideas into the world of driverless cars, medical ethics and much more.
Finally, last week in Rhetoric, Mrs Newnham ran a session on ‘hopping frogs’ where pupils had to figure out how many slides and hops it took to swap red and green frogs on one side of the lily pad to the other without hopping over more than one frog or being allowed to go backwards. The idea was to test a few ‘games’ so to spot patterns and predict how many moves it would take for any number of frogs on each side. The task tested the organisation and planning of a task as pupils had to write their findings down in a logical manner. It also tested the resilience of some as it wasn’t easy to keep count! The session ended with a sequence being found which actually related to quadratic sequences – something pupils usually learn in Further Maths GCSE.
A big well done to all the students involved who continue to impress with their hard work, logical thinking and debating skills.