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After delivering a fantastic speech, Laurus Cheadle Hulme (LCH) student Molly achieved second place in the annual Laurus Trust Great Debate competition.

On Wednesday 6th November 2024, the Intra-Trust ‘Great Debate’ final saw students from Laurus Trust secondaries and Sixth Forms present five minute speeches answering a central question.

The competition is an ideal opportunity for students to gain valuable experience in speaking to an audience and developing their debating skills, confidence and self-esteem.

After multiple internal rounds of debating, four students were chosen to represent LCH in the Intra-Trust final, which was held at Cheadle Hulme High School.

This year, students were answering the question: ‘How can your local history tell a global story?’

Our students each had a unique focus in their answers as they delivered thought-provoking speeches to the judges.

Emily explored the life of Marcus Rashford to demonstrate the power of people to create societal change.

Rayan used the life of Emmeline Pankhurst to demonstrate how people can create change and why we should cherish our right to vote in a democracy.

Pfabiana spoke about the life of Olive Morris, an activist for feminism, black nationalism and a former student at the University of Manchester. Pfabiana used Morris’ life to tell the global story of the struggle for civil rights across the world.

Molly used the life of Alan Turing as a local history to discuss the global story of discrimination towards LGBTQ+ individuals throughout history.

Our competitors all made an impression on the judges with their well-considered topics and confident delivery. The quality of speeches from all schools was of a really high standard, which made the competition very close.

We are delighted to share that Molly was awarded second place for her fantastic speech, a huge well done to Molly!

The Great Debate is a national public speaking competition hosted by the Historical Association (HA). Students aged 16-19 have five minutes to present their speech arguing their answer to a set question.

Students will now take part in the Historical Association’s regional event as part of the Great Debate 2025. This year Laurus Cheadle Hulme will be hosting the HA’s regional event in January 2025.

Well done to the students who represented us and to Molly for finishing second, we wish them all the best of luck in the regional competition!