MSM vs Debate Mate vs Mott McDonald

Since 2016, Mount St Mary’s have been working with Debate Mate, an organisation aiming to increase debating within schools. For the first few years university mentors coached our students but this is now done by MSM staff using the Debate Mate strategies.

Last month 10 MSM students in Years 9 and 10 were invited to work with Debate Mate and Mott McDonald, a global engineering firm, in order to create initiatives to solve worldwide issues, in addition to introducing students to debating in the context of the workplace.

Firstly, students took part in a virtual session on Wednesday 16^th March where they engaged in debating activities before creating pitches for their initiatives with employees of Mott McDonald. Then on Tuesday 22^nd March, Miss Evans took the students to the Mott McDonald offices in Leeds City Centre to deliver their pitches, as well as receiving a tour of the offices and an insight into how the company operated on a day to day basis.

Students were praised by Mott McDonald staff both for their ingenuity and their conduct throughout the process. They were also offered the opportunity of working with Mott McDonald through work experience in the future.