Debating a topic such as ‘religion makes good men evil’ or ‘defend yourself and protect your property at all costs’ sounds challenging enough in itself, but six King’s School sixth formers faced the added challenge of performing in French, German or Spanish when they took part in the fifth annual Northern Schools’ MFL debating competition on 5 November 2011. They had to prepare either to defend or attack four motions, with the motion for each debate decided by the toss of a coin immediately before battle commenced. Nine independent schools took part in the competition and the King’s School teams achieved very creditable scores – especially the German team which reached the semi-final. Our students were complimented not only for their good language skills but also for their lively, good humoured approach to the event and above all for their ability to react spontaneously and creatively to their opponents’ arguments. We look forward to competing again in 2012.