The 2026 ‘Staff v Pupils’ Debate

On Monday 28th September, Shrewsbury’s finest staff and pupil debaters faced off in the second annual ‘Staff v Pupils’ debate.

In front of a captivated audience in the Barnes Theatre, the pupil team of Elsa L (M, UVI), Lulu G (QEH, UVI), Zainab A-M (G, UVI) and Harrison W (Ch, UVI) (looking resplendent in their academic gowns) took on a staff side comprising Mr Brogan, Mr Lyon, Mr Smiter and Ms Morse. The motion under debate was ‘This House would give pupils and teachers an equal voice in shaping school rules at Shrewsbury’ with the predictable twist that the staff team would be arguing in favour of the motion while the pupils were asked to speak in opposition.

What followed was a tour de force in argument and counter-argument as the two sides clashed on an impressively wide range of approaches to the question. Issues such as the efficacy of student councils, the role of the teacher-pupil relationship, and the very nature of ‘voice’ in decision-making were batted back and forth with poise and eloquence between the two sides, as well as more philosophical arguments on the very nature of democracy and ‘tyranny of the majority’. Claims were questioned, challenged and rebutted as both teams battled for the hearts and minds of the dozens of staff and pupils in attendance.

In a very tight final vote, the teachers were declared the winners by the barest of margins, avenging the narrow defeat suffered in last year’s debate.

Building on the success of this latest event, the House Debating Competition in which ‘senior’ and ‘junior’ teams from the 12 boarding houses compete against each other in a series of weekly debates will begin immediately after the October Exeat. If the quality of argument and oratory is anywhere close to what was on show this week, it will be a scintillating and closely fought competition once again this year.

TPEJ, September 2026