Debating has a long history at St Columba’s, providing numerous benefits such as sharpening critical thinking and communication skills, encouraging research, and cultivating self-confidence, teamwork, and respectful discourse. It broadened students’ knowledge bases and teaches them to construct persuasive arguments and articulate ideas clearly.
Former Head Prefect Sophie Hannigan and Depute Callum Hendry, both Class of 2024, were stalwarts of the school’s debating club from the time they first arrived in Senior School. Indeed, Sophie was first selected to represent Team Scotland at the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) when she was just 14 years old.
During the summer of 2023, Sophie and Callum travelled to Hanoi in Vietnam as part of the 5-strong Team Scotland to take part in the first in-person WSDC since the pandemic. This two-week tournament saw teams from around the world go head-to-head to debate a wide range of social, moral, and political issues in the hope of being crowned the best in the world.
Team Scotland made it all the way to the semi-finals before being knocked out by Canada. Sophie ranked as the 5th best speaker of the tournament – an incredible achievement!
On their return from Hanoi, Sophie and Callum were victorious in the inaugural Ayrshire Debating Cup, placing first and second on the tab. They were a formidable duo on the schools’ debating circuit and made sure to leave a lasting impression in their final competitions before heading off to university.
On 30th May 2024, our debating dream team triumphed over the team from Dollar Academy in the final of the Schools’ Mace Competition at The Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. The Mace is the longest-running schools’ debating competition in Scotland and one of the most prestigious events in the annual debating calendar. Following this victory, they travelled to Belgrade as part of Team Scotland to participate in the World Schools’ Debating Championships. Made up of five members, Team Scotland also included pupils from Dollar Academy, Broxburn Academy, and Portobello High School. Teams from 68 countries participated in the 2024 World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) held in the Serbian capital.
Team Scotland overcame New Zealand, Pakistan, England, and Qatar to make it through to the grand final where they won against Bulgaria in a 7-2 split. The winning motion was: “This house regrets the glorification of champions.”
The long tradition of Debating at St Columba’s is thanks to the dedication and expert guidance of Mrs. Janet Stevens. Indeed, four of the eight Scots who travelled to Belgrade were Columbans, as former pupils Maxine Muirhead (Class of 2013) and Jamie Beverstock (Class of 2018) had been working as Team Scotland coaches.
Following the announcement of the Team’s victory, congratulations poured in, including from First Minister John Swinney, who posted on X: “Warmest congratulations to Team Scotland who have won the World Schools Debating Championships.”
In September 2024, Sophie and Callum – along with Mrs. Reilly and the rest of Team Scotland – attended a Reception at Bute House hosted by Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth MSP to celebrate Scotland’s win.
Sophie and Callum have now started their undergraduate degrees at Cambridge and Durham, respectively, where they are seizing every opportunity to debate.
