In partnership with

THREE-DAY COURSE PRICE

£149 + VAT & Booking Fee

DATES

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 16 to FRIDAY DECEMBER 18

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 16, 3-5.30PM
THURSDAY DECEMBER 17, 3-5.30PM
FRIDAY DECEMBER 18, 3-6PM

Please note that this course is for children in school years 5-13 only.

Debate Mate is a global education organisation that empowers young people with key 21st-century skills through debating. Intelligence Squared hosts debates and other discussions with the world’s leading speakers. We are excited to announce details of our virtual Christmas debating camp for young people of all debating backgrounds and abilities.

Facilitated by expert communicators and world-champion debaters from Debate Mate, this programme comprises 4 x 2 hour live-streamed, interactive workshops for students to take part in from home. Following 3 high-energy debating masterclasses, the programme will culminate in an exciting and competitive debating tournament. In small groups matching their age and debating experience, students will receive expert training on how to craft logical and persuasive arguments, employ stylistic techniques for maximum impact and respond to challenging counter arguments.

Students new to the programme will be supported to develop their debating skills and confidence in an accessible yet challenging environment, while those with experience will grapple with new, advanced concepts to further develop their skills and competence.

Programme Outcomes and Overview

Developed by expert debaters and experienced teachers, Debate Mate’s virtual summer camp has been designed to:

• Develop communication and future skills including critical and creative thinking, teamwork, leadership, resilience, empathy and, above all, core confidence
• Engage students in topical issues beyond the classroom, addressing issues that affect them, their communities and the wider world
• Celebrate the students’ achievements through competitive debating
• Alleviate the increased anxiety and social isolation faced by young people as a result of COVID-19

Session one: Skilfully making an argument and using stylistic techniques for maximum impact

In this introductory session, students will learn the fundamentals of making effective arguments while developing their ability to think critically and creatively about a range of topical issues. They will then take part in a number of interactive exercises to develop their personal style, using tone, body language, and non-verbal communication for maximum impact.

Session two: Building a Persuasive Case

This workshop will explore the process of taking ‘an idea’ and turning it into ‘a case’. It will support participants in taking an instinctive reaction or an initial thought and building it into a robust and persuasive argument.

Session three: Constructively Challenging

Having developed a solid grounding in making their own persuasive arguments, this session will support participants to develop their active listening and quick-thinking skills to both challenge and respond to challenges from their opponents.

Session four: Debating Tournament

Following a briefing on the rules and format of the debate, and a guided preparation session led by their mentor, participants will go head to head to put their debating skills to the test in an exciting and competitive debating tournament. Participants will receive personalised feedback on their performance in the debate, including key strengths and areas for development.

Following completion of the 4-day programme, participants will be invited to progress to up to two additional advanced courses to further develop their knowledge and skills. The first block of workshops will take place from Tuesday 21st July – Friday 24th July, with a further 8 sessions available from Tuesday-Friday W/C July 29 and August 3.

Online Safety

As an educational organisation, the safety and wellbeing of young people continues to be Debate Mate’s top priority. You can view their Safeguarding Policy here and their online Safeguarding Protocols here. In order to protect your child, Debate Mate has consulted with an online safety specialist to put in place a number of enhanced online safeguarding and security measures, which include:

• A password protected link to the session which is only accessible to invited students, shared with them by their parent/guardian.
• Debate Mate staff and mentors will never contact your child directly.
• At the beginning of each session, participating students are placed into a virtual waiting room and will have their names check against the session register before being granted access by the facilitator.
• The session facilitator will take a register of all participants before the session commences.
• There will be 2 DBS checked adults present in all virtual sessions.
• Features such as participant screen sharing and the private chat feature are disabled to prevent private messaging hijacking and cyber-bullying.
• Expectations and ground rules around appropriate use of Zoom will be established in the first session, and reinforced throughout the programme.
• Parents/guardians are welcome to be present for the beginning and end of each session, and can report any safeguarding concerns to safeguarding@debatemate.com.
• For the purpose of safeguarding all participants, Debate Mate will securely store a recording of the audio of each session. Debate Mate never takes video recordings or photographs during virtual sessions. Audio recordings are deleted four weeks after the end of the programme.