Trinity Wins Ethics Debate Against Whitgift

On Monday 9th March, the Religious Studies department organised an ethics debate tournament against Whitgift. Our Lower Sixth team, made up of Olivia, Sapphy, Tomi, Róisín and Poppy, debated the topic of whole life sentences in a civilised, structured format that required them to present arguments, respond to challenges, and answer questions from both the opposition and judges. The next round saw the Whitgift team debate the morality and ethical concerns of deep-fake images. It was an excellent competition, and, after a closely contested debate, Trinity came out on top with the judges voting 2-1 in our favour. The judges were impressed with Trinity’s ability to work as a team and to apply their evidence and research to the issues.  The whole team performed brilliantly, responding thoughtfully to their opponents’ arguments and handling the Q&A with confidence. We look forward to more debates, with a return match to Whitgift and hopefully against other schools in the future as this tradition of ethical debate grows.

Reflecting on the event, both students and staff shared their thoughts:

“Ethics cup was an unforgettable experience; it enhanced my teamwork skills as well as being able to retrieve information about different ethical theories and thinkers in high pressure situations. It was also a fulfilling experience as it allowed me to explore my love for ethics outside of the A-level course” –  Sapphy

“Ethics Cup was a unique experience which allowed me to explore my personal intrigue of ethical topics and situations.  The preparation process was engaging and eye-opening, learning about contemporary laws, case studies and ethical theories” – Olivia

“I was incredibly proud of how thoughtfully and respectfully our students engaged with such a complex topic. All of their hard work researching the cases really paid off, and I was very impressed by how they presented their arguments with clarity and composure. It was a fantastic first event and we are excited to take part in more friendly matches like this in the future.” –  Miss Gerlach

-Trinity Students have been working hard to build up their ethical debating skills over the past few years, and more noticeably went onto win the Ethics Cup in 2024 in Trinity’s very first year of entering.