Established only three years ago the Society has vastly expanded opportunities for both Northumbria students and school-age children to develop their confidence and skills in public speaking, opportunities that would not exist without the vision and commitment of society members.
Since July 2011 it successfully; (a) sustained growth in membership - 20% this year, 10% last year - to 86, (b) secured Alan Milburn’s participation in a March debate, (c) initiated and delivered a schools outreach programme, none with a tradition of debating, (d) won debate competitions, beating Oxford and reaching the final of the European Universities Debating Championship.
The society has high levels of student participation. An average of 40 members participate in weekly meetings and peer- peer training. The Society fields both an experienced and novice team in each debate to ensure opportunities for all interested students to participate at competition level irrespective of experience.
Since August 2012 the committee have recorded 660 hours of volunteering time and created posts charged with training all members and supporting international students. In both years every committee member has attended the Union’s induction training.
The reason for its participation levels can be seen in the feedback of members;
“Debating society is simply perfect. The committee members are always more than happy to help and truly welcome you to the society.”
Melina Jenabi,
“Once I joined the debating Society, I was able to receive the help in public speaking that I so desperately needed to pass the module. The weekly debates helped me gain confidence while speaking and also assisted me with being able to think on my feet. Without the constant practice, through the debates, I do not feel I would have made it through the course.”
Ashley Evans
This year the Society:
- Won NSU Society Sectary of the Year
- Won NSU Specialist Interest Society of the Year
- Won NSU Society Committee Member of the Year
- Nominated for NSU Overall Society of the Year
The Society has used its resources effectively to enable its members to participate in a range of competitions and pioneer a new community programme in schools. As well as securing funds from the Union and Law School to cover the costs of member participation it has successfully sought in kind support from individuals and organisations whose interests align with the Society.
The English Speakers’ Union provided 25 places on a child protection training course to meet the requirements of the partner schools. Their success in recruiting schools was due to a mix of their own contacts and using the credibility of both University and Union. As Chair of the Commission of Social Mobility, Alan Milburn agreed to waive his usual fee in recognition of the educational work the Society was doing in schools. As well giving his time freely in an event to benefit all students, he also agreed to the Society’s request to hold a question and answer session afterwards solely for members. The event on 14th March could not have gone ahead without the fee waiver and without the support of the Law School who ensured the University provided the logistical support necessary for such a high profile speaker.
The Society has positively contributed to the student experience through offering students of all backgrounds opportunities they would otherwise not have to build expertise in the vital skill of public speaking and opening debates to the wider student body. The Society has a strong commitment to accessibility of training met through weekly training and individual support. Every member who expresses an interest in competing is given an opportunity through entering both an experienced team and a novice team into all competitions. After each competition, participants are asked to deliver a presentation to members about their learning points. This year they created the role of training officer to ensure all members were benefitting.
Debating is not a society of committee and members it is a society that has worked together to continually improve to achieve what has been this year.
Kirsty Adamson – Debating President
What activities that have been of benefit to the student population or the wider community has the club or society taken part in or led?
This year the society has led two activities benefitting students and the wider community. They bought a high profile public figure to the University giving hundreds of students the chance to hear him speak. As has been said he waived his fee out of sympathy for significant community benefit the Society was bringing through its school programme and this benefit could not have happened without that waiver.
The schools programme was conceived entirely by the Society who began planning in June 2012 with 60 students signing up. Places were limited to the 25 spaces available for child protection training and the Society plans to expand this next year. This has been a national programme of community involvement with seven schools recruited; 4 in Newcastle, and one in each of Darlington, Hull and Northampton. Society members ran three to four training sessions in each school and will host an inter-schools competition in June this year at Northumbria. All the schools are in the state sector and none have a tradition of debating. The society is doing something genuinely innovative at a local level that provides opportunities children would otherwise not have access to. While similar schemes are run by Russell and Red Brick Universities with a long tradition of debating and often significant financial support, the success of this project is entirely due to the commitment and hard work of the Society. The students have been ambassadors of higher education and widening participation through their outreach to schools, encouraging children to aim for University by promoting the university experience and the range of opportunities available.
The society has also used its expertise to contribute to the debate community by providing judges for national IV competitions for free and a moderator to a religious diversity debate hosted in February 2013 by the Union’s volunteering programme.
