Today was such an exciting, unique day here at Reach because it was the much-anticipated interdisciplinary day! After breakfast, students gathered in the historic Cambridge Union to learn principles of public speaking and debate, before putting this knowledge into practice through preparing for a debate. Students were put into groups, working to present their motion back in the Union in the afternoon. Cambridge Union itself is an incredible building, and has hosted speakers such as Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, author James Baldwin, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The afternoon’s debates featured topics such as ‘should schools set homework’, and ‘should under 18s be allowed social media’, issues that are both relevant and relatable to our students. The grand and inspiring atmosphere brought the best out of our students, and we were really impressed by their effort and eloquence, both from those who had debated before, and those who were trying it for the first time. Throughout their time with us we have seen students grow in confidence and develop their communication skills, and it was lovely to see this demonstrated so clearly through their active participation and willingness to engage with one another’s motions.
For lunch Reach provided food from local restaurants, including burritos, burgers and falafels, necessary and delicious fuel for the budding debaters. In the late afternoon, our fabulous supervisors provided some activities, another game of the popular ‘Werewolves’, as well as an opportunity to rehearse for tomorrow’s World Showcase which we all very excited to see!
This evening students have gathered in a lecture theatre for a football watch party, an intense match, and for those less invested in the riveting current events, crafts including pottery and t-shirt painting were run by our favourite fine art supervisor.
Come back tomorrow to hear all about , and as always, check out our Instagram and Tiktok for more daily updates! (@reachcambridge)
