Interviews:

• CONFIDENCE- Above all, success in interviews is all about confidence. This hugely important skill is the cornerstone of our Debate Mate curriculums- we believe that if a child is confident in themselves and their abilities, they can achieve anything! This core confidence that students take away from our courses allows them to speak confidently on whatever topic's thrown at them by an interviewer.
• HANDLING NERVES- This is another huge part of interview success. Fortunately, in our courses, students are regularly encouraged to contribute their ideas in front of a group of their peers and mentors. Crucially, they are increasingly challenged to deliver speeches on the spot or with very little prep time and given lots of opportunities to debate. Whilst nerve-wracking at first, we find that this supercharges their confidence, resilience and ability to perform under pressure.
• ABILITY TO TALK INTERESTINGLY ABOUT THINGS THAT MATTER TO YOU- Often interviewers will ask students to talk about something that interests them. Not only does Debate Mate give your student an impressive extra-curricular interest to talk about, it also gives them the skills to talk about it in a confident, interesting and eloquent way. We teach our students engaging speaker style, including eye contact, hand gestures and intonation, to help them communicate effectively.

                                                         11+ Exams:

• INFORMATION PROCESSING- Our courses combine a mixture of long and short preparation debates. Whilst these short prep debates are amazing at developing our students' ability to think on the spot, our long prep debates are also hugely beneficial in terms of developing information processing skills. Students are often presented with some background information on a motion or given some time to research a topic themselves before being challenged to use that information in a debate. This is such a valuable skill to have during 11+ exams!
• ABILITY TO KEEP CALM UNDER PRESSURE- Exams can throw even the brightest of students if they don't know how to stay calm in a stressful environment. At Debate Mate, we encourage students to take a 'mindful moment' before speaking in a debate to ground themselves, regulate their breathing and keep them thinking calmly and logically. This has obvious application to remaining focussed during stressful 11+ exams.

                                                      Observations:

• INTERACTING WITH NEW PEOPLE- If your child will be observed on their assessment day to see how they interact with new students, the skills they learn at Debate Mate can once again be of huge help to them. Every term, students are placed in new clubs with new peers and new mentors, developing their social skills and ability to constantly adapt to new and unknown environments. Furthermore, at the end of term, students take part in a competitive debate against another debate club, exposing them once again to a brand new group of people whom they must interact with. 

Our parent testimonials and google reviews are living proof of the ways that our courses have a real impact on our students' academic success.

Here's just a few of them...

🔗 If you'd like your child to develop these key future skills, click here to check out courses and here to sign up to our free taster mailing list! 

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