Withburga house were crowned the winners of the King’s Ely senior house debating competition for the second year running.

King’s Ely Senior’s houses each put forward a team of debaters for a range of topics.

The Withburga team of Charlotte Ebbens, India Thomas and Isabelle Jupp, and the Hereward team of Aaron Blatch, Mikhail Demianov and Johnson Leung made the finals.

Students and staff came together in the school’s Hayward Theatre to watch the ‘intense debate of vigorous arguments and well-researched points’ around the motion: ‘This House believes that to strive for immortality is morally reprehensible’.

Hereward proposed and Withburga opposed. The arguments ranged from researched to the various meanings of what it is to be ‘immortal’ with arguments from India Thomas and a rebuttal from Aaron Blatch.

The lead adjudicator, Richard Spencer, principal of Ely College, announced Withburga as the winners, earning them the senior debating trophy for the second year running.