About

The goal of Debate Hub is for every school to be able to increase its oracy provision, and for every student to have the opportunity to learn to speak up and speak out.

Debate Hub is a partnership programme started by South Hampstead High School. We grew out of our commitment to giving young women a voice – and we haven’t stopped growing.

South Hampstead High School has a proud tradition of encouraging pupils to express their opinions. As our own culture of oracy grew, we found ourselves putting on more debating competitions and public speaking events for local partner schools. Several of our sister schools in the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) are doing the same; we have become not just a hub of debating in our own community, but one of several oracy hubs across the UK.

South Hampstead is proudly committed to empowering young people to use their voice as a force for good.

– Anna Paul, Head of South Hampstead High School

The roots of Debate Hub lie in competitive debating. South Hampstead’s own pupils are to be frequently found in the finals of major competitions and have represented England at the World Schools Debating Championships. But competitive debating is only a part of what we do. Our goal is for every student – in our own community and beyond – to take part in enough oracy to feel confident in their own voice, comfortable speaking in front of people, and assured that speaking one’s mind is, in the words of Oscar Wilde, not only a moral duty, but a pleasure.