#harriet's work

[thecymbalyorkcollege-blog]

York College Hustings: Live Coverage

Harriet Rogerson kept you up to date with all the questions, answers and reactions over on Twitter via our live feed. 

12:45 The room is almost full and we're due to start in about 15 minutes

Everyone is getting excited! Great opportunity for youth engagement in politics #ge2015 #YCHustings pic.twitter.com/rqOROIey2d

Editor Freya carrying out a vox pop - Alice, asked about the voting age: "we are mature enough, engaged enough; that is shown by the fact that people under 18 are missing break to be here!"

The candidates are arriving...#YCHustings pic.twitter.com/Uun01mj90i

Conservative candidate Robert McIlveen  "you want to be starting your career in a vibrant economy with lots of opportunity" 

Green candidate: "our economic system favours the super rich, dehumanises the poor...our political system does not represent the electorate"

Lab. Candidate Rachael Maskell: "this election is about you, your future and the kind of society you want to live in in the future"

Labour Candidate RachaelMaskell: "we want to ensure you know your health is safeguarded right until the end"

Lib Dem. candidate: "we would help you move into your own home so you can become more independent...it's all about investing in you"

Ukip. Candidate, Ken Guest: "we want to regain control of immigration which is currently too high...we're better to use that money for...

TUSC Candidate Megan Ollerhead : "TUSC are the only completely anti-austerity party here... I am completely in favour of nationalisation"

Yorkshire First's Chris Whitehead: "Yorkshire has the economy twice the size of Wales...we need to give a voice to our region"

Question 1, asked by Principal Alison Birkinshaw: "what are you going to do to campaign for fair funding for post-16 education?"

Con. Candidate Robert McIlveen "It's something in the long term that we want to prioritise once we have cut the deficit"

Green: "the Green Party would completely find further and higher education completely free of tuition fees"

Lab. Candidate Rachael Maskell: "education is a human right, and every person should be able to access that"

Lib Dem candidate, Nick Love: "we feel small free schools drain resources from the economy...we are fully committed to education"

UKIP, Ken Guest: "In UKIP we would fully fund the education system, and lose fees for science and technology degrees"

TUSC. Candidate Megan Ollerhead: "we need to raise the minimum wage of apprenticeships..."

Question 2, asked by Connor Colvin "there is currently a problem with immigration in this country, how would you control immigration?"

TUSC's Megan Ollerhead "we shouldn't demonise people coming here to better their circumstances,we need to find public services properly"

Con. candidate, Robert McIlveen "I am quite happy for people to come here and work and pay taxes"

3rd question, from Ellie Maycock: "How would each of the candidates take steps on funding for mental health services?"

Labour candidate, Rachael Maskell: "End the privatisation of the NHS which is destroying our health service, making sure we have early intervention"

TUSC’s Megan Ollerhead: "We need to take mental health as seriously as physical health. We need to examine the culture where we deal with that"

Green candidate musing about the roots of mental health issues: “...what about the problems in our over sexualised culture?" 

Question 4, presumably submitted by one of the students who did not turn up, but assigned to Jake Wood by Hayley Macqueen, head of A-Levels: "Does your party plan to make any adjustments to student fees?"

Nick Love, Lib Dem : "I was shattered when we couldn't fulfil our promise. We have no plans to increase fees and we will make them fairer"

Ken Guest, UKIP: "It is not possible at this stage to completely cut tuition fees. We have to focus on important areas" (UKIP will cut tuition fees for science and technology and medical degrees)

Chris Whitwood of Yorkshire First says the partu does not have a policy explicitly on tuition fees.

Con. Candidate Robert McIlveen: "we have no plans to change the current fees arrangements."

Jonathan Tyler : "The Green Party would remove all tuition fees, we do not believe in the discrimination between science and humanities" 

Labour Candidate Rachael Maskell: "You need to have the right to determine the policies of the future, labour is opening the doors to give you a voice in the future"

Thank you to all the candidates for coming to speak to York College today! Very interesting hustings 😊 #ychustings pic.twitter.com/bA0XV9I9ye

In Hub on 3, a few students are debating with Labour candidate Rachael Maskell, the only one to stay on after the hustings, and discussing the event. Ash, Freya, Liam and Luca took the opportunity to ask Maskell questions for The Cymbal.

[thecymbalyorkcollege-blog]

York College Debating Team Win North Yorkshire Title in National Competition

Harriet Rogerson

     Josh Salter and Ash Teague compete in the final against Harrogate        Grammar.

On Thursday 27th November, York College's very own debating team headed to the Mount School in York. Various schools from around the area met to face each other for the national Debating Matters competition.

Debating Matters is a competition held all around the UK for post-16 and college students. Teams are given a topic to debate and the side that they must argue. Ash Teague who organised the event said “DM is a fantastic organisation that everyone can get behind. It promotes team work, hard work and friendly competition.” The topics we were given were "the UK must embrace the use of fracking" and "we should be willing to compromise our personal privacy in the interest of national and international security". Two topics which when we first looked at we knew very little about, but through intense research and planning, the team came out of the Mount School, not only beaming with joy as we had beaten all our opponents and successfully fought our way to the regional finals, but feeling enlightened on two subjects that had previously been new to us all.

In the First debate against The Mount School, Freya Marshall Payne and Liam Cook were the ones to take the spotlight to argue that the UK should not embrace the use of Fracking. We knew we had to win this to get through to the finals of the day and so it certainly was an intense debate. Liam, the chair of the York College debating society said "Doing Debating Matters reaffirmed my love of debating as a competitive sport, allowing us all to work together and prove our skills". Debating Matters is a competition that focuses much more on the content of the argument than the style you use to debate. After the initial 3 minute opening speeches, strong knowledge of the subject was key when it came to the judges’ and audience’s questions, as the way the debaters reacted to these could've completely turned around the day. With the knowledge and passion that Freya and Liam were portraying, it definitely was a well-deserved win and the team had the opportunity to battle in the final.

     Left to right: Callum Moran, Harriet Rogerson and Alice Willoughby          (researchers for the College Team), Liam Cook and Freya Marshall        Payne, and David Holbrook and Clare Kirton (tutors who helped).            Outside. above Alice's head: Ash Teague and Josh Salter. 

After watching Harrogate Grammar top Woodhouse Grove for a place against our team in the final, Josh Salter and Ash Teague went up to argue that we should be willing to compromise our national and international privacy in the interest of security. They produced strong opening presentations, and handled the judges' vigorous questioning perfectly. The head to head debate became heated and energetic with both teams doing everything they could to win over the judges, but in the end, with the evidence they gave and the substance of the argument given, the judges chose York College to have to opportunity of participating in the Regional Finals in the West Yorkshire Playhouse next March.

Alice Willoughby, one of the AS students on the research and supporting side of the team said "Supporting the team gave me confidence in debating on my own, I'd recommend it to anyone just for enjoyment or to help with their future career." If any AS students are looking for the great opportunities that Debating Matters gives, come along to Debating Society and follow in the footsteps of this year’s victory.

Debating Society: every Tuesday 13:10h - 14:00h in 2F111.

Join our facebook group "York College Debating Society".