Cranford Review 2019

Weekend
October
2018
A group of forward thinking year 11 students took advantage of the free student tickets available for the
annual Battle of Ideas weekend at the Barbican in October 2018. This annual event has been attended
by a number of likeminded Cranford students over the years and this year was no exception. As a
consequence, they were able to sit in on academic debates on a number of themes which are highly
relevant to all citizens and perhaps young people more so. The topics covered included:
• Do we need a new curriculum for the 21st Century?
• Charities: Has the halo slipped?
• Social media corrupting young minds?
• If data runs the world, who is in control?
• What’s the point of feminism today?
Well done to the year 11 students who attended this thought challenging
event. They clearly gained a great deal from this experience. Here are
just a few examples of their responses to the topics covered.
Mehmoona Yousaf (Senior Teacher – Pastoral)
The battle of ideas was a great
opportunity for students to gain an
insight into debating with a panel
and the rest of the floor. One of the
most interesting debates was “do we
need a new curriculum for the 21st
Century?” which explored a large
spectrum of perspectives including
focussing on practical skills.
The new 9-1 GCSE system raised
many disagreements between the
panellists and the students present.
The panellists agreed with the new
style of GCSEs as in their opinion
“it fills students with knowledge”
whereas the students felt it was no
more than a memory test”.
Rajvir Sran (year 11)
The annual Battle of Ideas held at
the Barbican centre was a day of
many eye opening debates, in which
even the audience can participate. In
this rapidly changing world, I have
learnt from the Battle of Ideas that
debating ideas matters more than
ever. I was especially interested in
debates on the topic of our modern
education system and the debate
questioning whether advertising is
all powerful or overrated. It has
led to me gaining new insights on
the idea. It was interesting to hear
the many sides to arguments and
I feel that hearing others express
their views has helped me formulate
my own opinions so that I can
participate in future debates as well.
The programme also gives students
the opportunity to attend for free,
which is great. I recommend joining
in with next year’s Battle so you can
experience the range of interesting
debates like I have done.
Hussain Raza (year 11)
The school strongly recommended
me to go to the Battle of Ideas in
Central London, I was intrigued so
I went. It was really interesting and
fascinating hearing different people
talk about controversial topics,
like ‘Should medical drugs be
free?’ or ‘Should parents encourage
their teenagers to socialise, take
risks ad have lots of freedom?’.
The speakers were very passionate
about their topics and I loved how
I could choose which debates to
go to as there were a wide variety
of debates going on at the same
time. I met lots of new people who
had interesting ideas and I will
definitely be going again next year.
Salma Abdalle (year 11)
We are living in an era of great
changes. Technology is enveloping
our lives to the point where we can
no longer thrive without it. Life
expectancy is increasing due to
giant leaps in healthcare. Equality
may be only a few steps away. The
yearly Battle of Ideas addresses
these changes and brings to light
the various issues which come
with it. The programme also gives
students the opportunity to attend
for free, a great opportunity if you
want to join in next year. Debates lie
at the heart of the programme, the
audience members can join in and
give their opinions. We discussed
controversial topics such as the
Gender Pay Gap or the Effectiveness
of our School Curriculum, topics
which influence us all directly. It is
both important and enjoyable to be
able to listen to so many different
viewpoints, and the Battle of Ideas
was the perfect place to do just that.
Harit Boonyarakyotin (year 11)
Going to the Battle of Ideas was
a really prestigious opportunity.
Debating helped me to develop
essential critical thinking skills, the
ability to make reasoned and well
thought out arguments in addition
to questioning the evidence behind
a particular stance or conclusion. I
particularly liked the debate on the
country’s military which highlighted
nationalism, the recruitment system
and their pledges. Overall I found the
event extremely thought-provoking
and if it comes again I recommend
it to all.
Walid Fadie (year 11)
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