Thurso pupils Ashleigh and Innes through to semi-finals of national debating competition
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Two fifth-year pupils are maintaining Thurso High School's proud reputation for debating after reaching the semi-finals of a prestigious national competition.
Ashleigh Coghill and Innes Morgan, both from Dunnet, are among 16 teams that have progressed to the latter stages of the Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament, organised by the Law Society of Scotland.
The semi-finals are scheduled for next month and it will be Thurso's fifth appearance at this stage of the event.
The second-round heats in January saw 32 teams debate the motion "This house would introduce university fees in Scotland".
The 16 teams going through to the semis impressed the judges with their arguments for and against the motion. The proposers cited a potential boost to university resources, while those opposing the motion raised the issue of accessibility to higher education.
In the semi-finals, contestants are presented with the motion just one hour before the debate and must prepare their arguments without the aid of smartphones, computers or newspapers.
Thurso High debating coach Alexis Wallace said: "Ashleigh and Innes had the second round of the competition in the midst of their Higher prelims and have, like Kyle Leavesley and Kieran Johns last year, quickly picked up a lot of the difficult skills of debating such as rebuttal and making points.
"I am particularly delighted to see Ashleigh debating this year. For years, our teams have been all male.
"Ashleigh and Innes have been proactive and have instigated some fun practice sessions at lunchtime, 'debating the undebatable' to help develop their confidence in short prep debating.
"It is a massive challenge to speak on a motion with only one hour of preparation – with no access to ICT – for six minutes each, but I am sure they will do a great job. Whether or not they reach the final, getting this far was a real achievement and I am very proud of them."
In last year's tournament, Kieran and Kyle were chosen as runners-up after receiving a “wildcard” entry to the final.
Georgia Turnbull, careers and outreach coordinator at the Law Society of Scotland, said: “Congratulations to all the pupils who competed in the second round. The standard of debating was very high, making it difficult for our judges to select the successful teams going through to the semi-finals.
"In the semi-finals we will see a new challenge for our talented semi-finalists, where the motion is unseen."
Now in its 23rd year, the Dewar debate is the biggest competition of its kind in Scotland and has been held virtually throughout the pandemic.
The Law Society offered all debaters in the tournament the chance to attend an online training workshop. The hour-long session, held in January before the second round, was led by voice coach, actor and communications trainer Victoria Pritchard, who co-founded the coaching company Redvoice.
After the semi-finals on March 10 and 15, the grand final will take place in June. The winning team in the final will receive £1000 for their school from the Law Society of Scotland and the top two teams will share educational books to the value of £500 donated by the event sponsor, Hodder Gibson.
One other school from the Highlands has qualified for the semi-finals – Fortrose Academy, on the Black Isle.
Peebles High won the tournament in 2021.
