On Monday eight year 12 students took part in the South West Region European Youth Parliament UK debate. They travelled to County Hall in Exeter to compete against 5 other extremely well prepared school teams to earn the right to progress through to the four-day National event in June.

Throughout the day each team had to defend their allocated resolution and for STRS that meant researching and preparing to propose and support the EUs position for resolution 5; ‘Prevailing in Poland, pandemonium in Paris: with constructive UN climate change talks at COP24 IN Katowice occurring against the backdrop of fuel-tax riots in Paris, what measures can the EU take that balance both commitment to fighting Global Warming and the welfare of European Citizens?’

By also offering opposing arguments for other resolutions on topics as broad as Gilbratar post Brexit and the roll of Social Media, the team showed how their broad knowledge base and their ability to listen and respond to developing arguments throughout the day made them the right team to progress to the National Competition. The team were complimented on how  well they listened to the arguments of others, built on ideas, changed their position in light of new information and worked together to participate in each resolution.

The National event takes places over four days in June at Liverpool University where the students will be guided by policy experts to draft their own resolutions which, they will then propose and debate a part of mixed school teams. The group are delighted with the results and are looking forward to the next round.