'the weekly conversation'

Hello and welcome to an advance edition of 'the weekly conversation'. Unfortunately, due to a right old kerfuffle with a memory stick, our template is unavailable, so our official and final edition will be published on Friday if possible. Without further ado, let's get our top headlines.


The week's debate
'This House believes that embryonic stem cell research should be allowed for scientific progress.'

Motion rejected, 9 votes to 0.
Judges' choice: Opposition

In a debate that saw the Proposition confuse their science, there were dramatic consequences, with the rare result of nine-nil. The head judge described some of the Proposition's arguments as 'bizarre' but congratulated the speakers, Sahan Bentotage and David Larke, on their confident and calm manner. Sahan used notes but for his first debate, performed magnificently. David was the only debater to use Points of Information.

However, the man that stole the show was Sahan's brother, Thejana Bentotage. He, along with Jake Robinson, wowed the audience and the panel with their interesting mix of ethics and science. Faced with heated questions from the Floor, all debaters worked well.


Get well soon to Miss Murphy!
Board member and AfD judge Miss M Murphy was absent from this week's debate having had a tooth removed and being in pain. The Society wishes her all the best for a speedy recovery.


Nothing bell-ow par here.
The Society welcomed its latest edition this week's debate: a souvenir bell from Oxford University. Purchased in Oxford by Committee representatives, Speakers will have to bang on the table no more. Ghazaleh Mohammadi-Zaniani was the lucky member who was granted the first use of the bell. Ring-ring!


Executive News
The Executive Committee agreed unanimously to make Mr K Gray; Mr N Holmes; and Mrs K Morrey Patrons of the Heaton Manor Union Society for services to the Society. Welcome to the team.

Yesterday: amazing, amazing, amazing!

With the support of Mrs Robinson; newly-appointed Patron Mr Holmes; Sam; Ghazaleh; Chris; Kaisa (apologies if misspelt!); and myself, our compeititon finalists James and David headed for the Oxford Union Society yesterday for the most challenging day - by far - of their debating careers. No one was optimistic. James was convinced that they would receive four last places...in fact, they received only one.

In their first debate they bagged second place, beating notorious Winchester and Bradford Grammar. Throughout the day they'd go on to beat Guildford High and Westcliffe too. These are all private schools whose curriculums include debating for students of even a young age. James and David have been debating for less than two years. What a feat to be able to debate at the Oxford Union without the years of practice usually expected!

One of the greatest things for me as a spectator to see was how little there was in it between our own Society members and the private school debaters. Plus, the judges in each debate gave some fantastic feedback that will prove useful for the Society's standard to continue to progress as it has. Consistency; bringing new material in one's speech; clear definition of the motion; making the expansion speech interesting; prioritisation; and identifying clash in the summaries are all things that we can work on in the future.

David even spoke in a floor debate in the Oxford Union debating chambers! That's something fantastic to be able to say you've done. There were moments when we were on the edges of our seats, and moments when we had to step back and remember just where we were and how amazing it was that we were there.

There'll be more information on the debates on our website and at the Society meeting on Thursday.

Competition Day Eve

Hello from the University City of Oxford.

It’s the eve of competition day, or as one member of our group has been referring to it, massacre day. Tomorrow will see myself [James Bartle] and David Larke challenge fellow debaters from across the UK and the Republic of Ireland in the finals of the International Competition for Young Debaters.

We’re primed with our points of information, our rebuttal and our summations to attempt to try and pull one over on the private schools and win for Heaton Manor.

But before all of that, we spent a rather nice day today in Oxford which was made even better by glorious sunny weather. Our day began with a 9.10am start at Newcastle Central Station and after a couple of train journeys we finally arrived at the site of our greatest test yet. A bit of shopping, a few drinks and tea in a pub, and a walk by the river made our first day in Oxford a rather splendid occurrence.

Tomorrow, though, is why we’re here and with our army of fans behind us, the zeal to win deep in our hearts and a determination to succeed, we will do well tomorrow! Okay; maybe there isn’t a need for such rousing words but we’re going to try our best anyway.

This is James Bartle, signing out for On That Point!

P.S. There has been a slight technical hitch as far as uploading the videos of our exploits to our YouTube channel is concerned. However we have captured many happy images today and as soon as possible these will be made available to you.

The Heaton Manor Union Society launches a blog!

Welcome to the official blog of the Heaton Manor Union Society. For more information, you can go to our website, heatonmanorunion.org.uk. Enjoy!