A group of six Year 12 and Year 13 students led by Mr Todd and Mrs Rue represented the school at the annual COBIS World Debating Championships held in Malaga, Spain between February 1^st and February 6^th. Sixteen COBIS schools from all over Europe, the Middle East, South America and Asia competed in this prestigious competition. Following on from previous years’ success in Romania and Mexico, the team performed exceptionally well and were only defeated in one debate at the Quarter Final stage of the competition. This year’s team, bar one, were all first time competitors at this level of competition and their achievements were exceptional considering the quality of opposition, which was mostly made up of successful teams from last year including the reigning world champions and the champions from the two previous year’s competition as well.

St George’s defeated teams from the Netherlands, Gran Canaria and Spain, only losing out to the team from Denmark in the Quarter Final. They debated on topics ranging from Post Truth Politics, The Arms Trade, Free Health Care and Slavery in the Post-Colonial World and acquitted themselves with passion, professionalism and rigour - quickly gaining a reputation on Twitter feeds as a team to watch and a team to avoid.

The students also enjoyed a series of cultural excursions to Alhambra, A UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as a tour of the port of Puerto Banus, and Marbella itself. In addition they attended the COBIS dinner where they were greeted by the British Ambassador to Spain as well as other local dignitaries before being entertained by performers of both Flamenco and Cuban music and dance. It was six days of intense competition, cultural excursions and opportunities to make new friends from all over the world, the students did the school proud and are now looking forward to developing their debating skills further in time for next year’s competition in Dubai.