Head's Newsletter 9 December 2016

Abiram Uthyakumar and Euan O’Connor (both 10SE) proved more than able. They argued amongst other things that young people should have a part-time job, but that homework should be banned! Euan and Abiram won all three debates, and secured top spot by a single point over the hosts, and that is a very special achievement for two boys competing in a higher age group. They are all to be congratulated for their immense preparation and fluent logical arguments. IN GERMAN!!!! TARGET 2.0 Target 2.0 is an annual competition where students get the chance to advise the Bank of England what to do to reach the target inflation rate of 2%. This difficult challenge was taken on by able Economists Jeremy Chen, Matt Stevenson, Greg Tucker and Tariq Freyer-Elgendy. Before a panel of judges on November 23 rd at the Bank of England they gave a succinct and detailed fifteen minute presentation on the state of the UK economy and their recommendation to keep the interest rate at the current level and not employ any more quantitative easing. They then faced demanding questions which displayed their excellent understanding of the economic climate. Although the students did not get through to the next round they displayed impressive teamwork presentation skills.

GERMAN DEBATING COMPETITION On Tuesday 29 th November, Tiffin went to Ibstock Place School for the 2 nd annual German Debating Competition. Tiffin put forward teams of 2 contestants in each of the 3 year groups: Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13. The tournament consists of 3 rounds of debate on three different motions all done entirely in the German language. The contestants did not know which side they would represent until they were in the debating chamber.

Abiram and Euan: Ibstock Place School Year 11 German Debate Winners 2016

The competition this year was stronger than ever but the level of fluency and spontaneous argument from both our Year 12 and Year 13 teams was excellent. Sebastian Tyrrall and Joe Dumpleton had to argue a range of topics: that social media has too many negative effects; that German bands should be forced to sing in German. Sanchith Nadanakumar and Andrew Siu had to argue that the Olympic Games were a waste of money, and in favour of the use of high pressure water to release shale gas from reserves deep underground. The Tiffin Year 11 team was actually selected from Year 10, but both