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Hurst’s Model United Nations (MUN) team returned from their debut at the Royal Russell Conference with five awards.

When our team arrived at the Royal Russell School last Saturday, they were allocated to rooms and went straight into a networking lunch. After lunch, they headed to their committee rooms to represent the delegations of USA, Lebanon, Georgia and Panama – each one taking on the role of delegate for their country. Committees were established and policy statements were produced on the political issues at hand, allowing an understanding of each country’s stance on matters. Although daunting for many of our students – it being their first MUN conference – our delegates launched themselves into lobbying by co-devising, collaborating and pushing their resolutions to be signed and debated on in the coming days.

Our students had been well prepared for this event and committed themselves to extensive research, including embassy trips which provided excellent insight for the real ambassadors’ objectives. In all, 30 out of the 95 resolutions submitted and approved by the panel emanated from Hurst College.

Despite an active day of fruitful debating, the Hurst ambassadors finished the day by participating in the general assembly with their opening speeches. All other students showed support by watching the live stream. Despite all their hard work during the day, Tilda P and Emma B found themselves signing up to the talent show in the evening.

On day two, Hurst’s MUN team were ready for their first major encounter with political debate on the previously approved resolutions. After some hard-fought and eye-opening debates, Hurst had two of their successful resolutions approved for the general assembly the following day. Rosie J with a resolution for Georgia on sex tourism and Emma B with a resolution for the USA on the demilitarisation of the South China Seas. The evening brought out an inciting performance from Hurst’s very own E-Dog and T-Dog (Emma B and Tilda P) whose high energy left the team in good spirits to take on day three.

The final day of the conference brought an overwhelmingly successful number of debates for Hurst students. This kicked off with Rosie J’s resolution on sex tourism, when she spoke with flare and intelligence as she represented Georgia. The second resolution saw Emma B, in excellent form, representing the USA on the demilitarisation of the South China Seas, whilst other members of the team such as Jess L, Tom D and Phoebe M also spoke with intent. The organisers were so impressed with Hurst’s presence that the Deputy Director of MUN commended the teams on their “ambition and diligence” noting they had “potential to be a real force”.

Day three ended with a 90s themed disco, in which the Hurst team did not disappoint. William D dressed as an Oasis member, with Joe A, Rosie J, Izzy T and Theo T as the Teletubbies! The creativity demonstrated proved that our team members not only have excellent debating skills, but also a sense of style.

The final day was a one of intense debate in the General Assembly. The topics covered were the treatment of the Uighurs in China, prison conditions and even an alien invasion. There was also a debate on Ella’s resolution for the environment.

To read more about A-Level options at Hurst