THE QATAR SHIRBURNIAN
SHERBORNE SENIOR SCHOOL
Debating Many of you will recall that last year the Sherborne Qatar Debating Society was pleased to announce that our Senior Girls’ Team was crowned Qatar National Champions 2021. The fantastic performance of our pupils at the debate was streamed online and broadcasted on different social media platforms. Huge congratulations again to Year 12 pupils Shahd Al-Hajri, Turkia Al Thani and Year 13 pupil Janine Obiri for their outstanding performances at this national event. Shahd was awarded fourth best speaker of the league and Turkia second place. Turkia was also awarded best speaker at the Open Grand Final. This year, the dates of the competition coincided with our school half term and the mock examinations in November which meant we were unable to join the girls’ competition. However, our boys’ team successfully represented Sherborne and attended the Qatar Schools Debate League competitions. Please join me in congratulating the following Year 10 pupils: Henry Kakkad, Mohamed Abdelrahman, Shek Chong, and Khalid Al Marri who all successfully participated in the Qatar Schools Debate League in the senior section this year.
At this national championship, over 300 student debaters from independent and international schools debated for over eight hours on different motions. I look forward to supporting them further as the competitions will be more frequent from next year. The Sherborne Debating club has been excellent this year and we have attended numerous online events and engaged in several debates within our school. I have been able to develop my public speaking skills, as well as my ability to quickly think of a counterpoint to ensure victory in a debate. Debating has also greatly increased my self-confidence and I am now much more able to speak clearly and coherently in front of an audience. Most importantly, debating has improved my critical thinking and I now understand issues on a much deeper level. By Henry Kakkad, Year 10 T 126
