Last weekend, 11 students from Years 9-13 participated in a two-day residential MUN conference at Shrewsbury School, accompanied by Madame Lagarde and Dr Scherer.
Tasked with representing the USA and Nigeria, the girls debated topics ranging from the Syrian civil war and lethal autonomous weapons to the issue of ‘fake news’, the morality of gene editing and the use of education to prevent radicalisation in refugee camps. The icing on the cake was no doubt Saturday night’s ‘International’-themed disco, which was enjoyed by all.
Our delegations included both seasoned MUNers with many conferences under their belt as well as first-timers. We were particularly pleased that head girl Alex McDonald, who has MUN experience at an international level, had been invited to act as guest-chair in the UNESCO committee.
In our weekly MUN club sessions, the girls prepared by researching their countries’ views and developing clauses and resolutions. Led by experienced MUNers from our Sixth Form, practice debates were held so that everyone could familiarise themselves with MUN protocol and hone their public speaking skills.
This was Madame Lagarde’s first MUN conference. She said: “I’m impressed by the girls who embraced the challenges of MUN with gusto. The more carefully the students prepare for the conference, the more they will get out of it, and on both counts our girls clearly did well. MUN supports the development of essential transferable skills – for example, the French A-level course requires students to discuss current social and political issues, so I see a clear link here with the skills developed at MUN.”
