SENIOR SCHOOL

13 MSJ girls from Year 10-13 braved the snow with Mrs Huntley and Mrs Martin to attend the Model United Nations Conference at Lady Eleanor Holles School last weekend. There were 41 delegations from schools including: Wycombe Abbey, City of London Boys School, Putney High School, Wimbledon High School, Shrewsbury School, Hampton School, St George’s Ascot and others.

Lord Hannay, distinguished diplomat and former British ambassador to the United Nations, addressed the conference at the opening ceremony. MSJ girls were quick on their feet to ask him salient questions and followed this up with witty and well informed speeches about their countries: Iran, Afghanistan and Germany. Our Ambassadors, Catherine Stylianou, Victoria Jackson and Sophy Coombes–Roberts had prepared and trained the girls in their delegations well.

Girls then dispersed to their different committees: Economic, Environment, Political and Human Rights. We were also given a Security Council seat, usually reserved for the best competing schools.

In every committee I visited, MSJ girls were not just asking ‘points of information’ from the floor but were speaking from the floor and leading the debates. A snapshot might be Jiwon, Year 11 novice, representing Afghanistan, speaking from the front about nuclear power and facing a barrage of questions from the floor, or Sophy Coombes Roberts doing battle with the delegate for France (Shrewsbury), on the question of violence against women.

MSJ came away with a marvellous array of awards. Most importantly, we were awarded 2nd best delegation overall – an outstanding result against very serious competition. Many individual awards were also collected. Each committee consists of 40 delegates and an ‘Outstanding’ award is only given to the top delegate. The next 2 to 4 delegates who perform particularly well will be awarded ‘Highly Commended’. At this event, 3 of our girls achieved ‘Outstanding’ awards: Sophy Coombes Roberts, Ife Otegbeye and Elizabeth Rees. ‘Highly Commended’ awards were given to Toria Jackson and Jenny Robb – an incredible achievement for Jenny as this was her first attendance!

Catherine Stylianou, Year 12 said ‘After making a well-received opening speech and getting into the swing of things, I got myself really involved with every debate and had a great time. I feel that I learned a lot about mustering the courage to just get up and speak, regardless of who is watching or what objections people may have, as you will always be credited for trying - as long as you manage to make some sense and link with your country's views!’

Ife Otegbeye, Year 11, said ‘LEHMUN was a wonderful experience for me and as it was my second conference I was looking forward to speaking more confidently and frequently. I loved almost every bit of the conference, from the General Assembly meetings to committee debates, however I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the opening ceremony where each ambassador came out to give speeches. I found it most entertaining!

Elizabeth Rees, Year 11 agreed, ‘LEH was a brilliant conference; it was a great chance to debate pressing issues such as the Arab Spring and the economic disaster which have had such a recent impact. We made lots of new friends on our committees and I’m thoroughly looking forward to the next conference.