Having won the South Regional Debating event three weeks ago, Sevenoaks School's French debating pair Daniel Hope (IC) and day student Oli Peat won the National Title last week at the French Institute in London against this year’s other four best teams in the country. After a series of three debates in the first round on prepared titles (see below), the pair produced absolute brilliance in the final.

Titles of the first round included:

1) With the e-book, books have become obsolete.

2) Wearing the Burqa should be banned in public places.

3) Albert Camus would not have wanted to be buried in the Panthéon

The Grand Final saw a very strong female Marlborough College pair and Sevenoaks debating an unprepared title (only 10 min to think about it): « Parents should not be allowed to smack their children» with Sevenoaks for the motion. Both sides showed some superb debating techniques but Sevenoaks’s fluency, methodically organised arguments and natural ability to turn the opposition’s argument to their advantage quickly made a clear difference. Dan Hope’s real humorous zest and panache coupled with Oli Peat’s precise arguments and “sens de la formule” gave them a decisive advantage and a clear final victory. A truly outstanding team! They both won a 10 day trip to Paris in July ; a courtesy of the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères.

Debates were very skilfully judged by the Secretary General of French Consulate and the Cultural and Language Attaché.