Senior Debating and High School Mooting

The Senior Debating season runs over three terms and tests the tenacity, teamwork and dedication of many students. As the weather begins to turn cold, the commitment of teams can sometimes be tested, as competing interests demand students’ time and attention. Nevertheless, we are very pleased with the strong results recorded by many of our teams so far. At the end of Round 3, we have C Grade Teams 1 and 2 sitting equal first on the ladder for the Hawthorn region; and all of the following teams in equal second position: A Grade, Team 2; B Grade, Team 1; and D Grade, Team 1.

11 students have been awarded Best Speaker: Pia Graham, Isabelle Gough, Lucy Porter, Flynn O’Brien, Sophie Turnbull, Charlotte Murdoch, Isobel Tanner, Sophie Garrett, Isabella Mc Donald, Fleur Anstee and Lucy Campbell. Towards the end of the season, many of the senior teams find themselves tackling secret topics, which are released one hour prior to the debate. Students may not use any electronic devices to assist them in responding to these topics, but may bring in newspapers. Therefore, beyond the difficulties of being articulate and having sound debating skills, the strongest debaters develop a keen awareness of topical issues of the day, and are able to work effectively in a team situation – the relevance of these skills beyond a school setting is self-evident given the complex world of work that our students will enter after school.

The High School Mooting Competition hosted and organised by Bond University saw two teams of Year 11 and 12 students compete on May 8 on the Gold Coast earlier this month. Gaining invaluable experience last year, Team 1 consisted of Demi Markakis, Isabel Gray and Pia Graham. The Yr 11 students in Team 2, Georgie Cottrill, Allie Hall and Lily Harman, drew on the knowledge gained through studying Legal Studies, in representing the Appellant in a Moot problem. Not even the Queensland rain outside the Moot Court could dampen the spirits of the students as they submitted their arguments before two judges. The popularity of Mooting continues to increase in the senior years, and for students wishing to enter the Law, there is no more authentic experience than taking part in a Moot where every decision must be defended using legal statute and legal precedent. This year, we were fortunate to have past Vice-Captain of the school (‘15) Jaqueline Cantarella lend her expertise as our Mooting coach.

If Debating is the art of structured argument and rebuttal, then Mooting is the art of legal conversation. While Speakers in a debate have the luxury of being able to anticipate the rebuttal arguments that might be raised by an opposition team, Mooting requires students acting as Senior and Junior Counsel to be questioned and interrupted repeatedly by judges, and possibly never being able to introduce some of the prepared content which they have spent weeks preparing. To their credit, our students showed great maturity and resilience in remaining calm under pressure; their arguments were well prepared, and well defended.

Throughout the day, students were also taken on a tour of Bond University, and may consider applying for the Judge John Newton Mooting Scholarship. Interested students and parents should enquire further about this through our Careers Counsellor, Ms Van der Poel.

Public Speaking

May has been a particularly busy month for Public Speaking with our students taking part in a total of five competitions. The increasing popularity of public speaking has seen the Debaters’ Association of Victoria (the DAV) introduce a new intermediate category, and we had four students represent the school in the DAV Intermediate

Public Speaking Competition on Sunday, May 20. Having been awarded Best Speaker in the both the Junior and Senior Debating competitions, Lucy Campbell made her first foray into public speaking and developed her speech on the topic of her love of playing football but being denied this opportunity prior to the creation of a female league. Emilie Walsh (who has joined Senior Debating this year) spoke passionately about the cruelty of animal testing. Topics can come from a variety of personal interests for students, but it can also be difficult for students who enter multiple competitions to keep their material fresh and topical. This was the challenge facing two of our more experienced public speakers. Fleur Anstee (a previous Best Speaker in both Junior and Senior Debating) spoke on the topic of the injustice of incidental and intentional bullying, and Jessica Yang, who focused her speech on the way in which recycling gave her a renewed respect and understanding of the lives of those less fortunate than herself.

Often the experience of public speaking can offer students the opportunity of tapping into personal experiences and linking them with fictional stories in order to make a greater impact on their audience. Enabling students to tap into their personal narratives and reshape them creatively allows them to draw upon a wide range of content, particularly when tackling the difficult task of impromptu speeches. Despite, a very challenging and talented field of fellow competitors, our students performed very creditably on the day in both their prepared and their two impromptu speeches.

Often it can take several years for students to refine their public speaking skills. The DAV Senior Public Speaking Competition gave our students, Samara Gill and Georgie Cottrill, the chance to test their skills against the most experienced of speakers. A newcomer to public speaking, Georgie spoke on the controversial and topical issue of data mining. Both girls acquitted themselves well, and received coaching for this competition from Mr Harrod, whose extensive experience in both Debating and Public Speaking is considerable. The composure of both students belied their years, and the content of their speeches sat well amongst those of the other competitors. A keen public speaker, Samara has entered multiple public speaking competitions during her time at St Catherine’s, most recently in the Rotary: Ainger Public Speaking Award which took place on Wednesday 9 May. We congratulate her in placing third in her regional Heat and progressing through to the Final, which was held on Monday May 21. Samara chose as her topic, the sarcastic defence of the challenges facing the much-maligned millennials, which staff and students heard at our most recent School Assembly. Samara’s vocal delivery was varied and amusing and she has learned the value of pairing it with content that is both substantial and entertaining. Despite not placing, we are very proud of Samara’s presence in the Final.

Addressing the Assembly gave the whole School a great opportunity to appreciate the effort and persistence required to develop the full range of public speaking skills, and the importance of tailoring the content, message and style of speeches to suit the audience. Drawing on her experience in the Rotary: Ainger Public Speaking Award last year, Emily Sutherland (Yr 11) gave a polished performance evaluating our current education system and arguing for the need for increased personalisation. Flynn O’Brien (Yr 11) spoke about political correctness and how the fear of offending is making topics unnecessarily taboo. Our coach for this event, Ms McKenzie commented on the sophistication of the content and delivery of both speeches, but also the very high standard of the competition. Extremely sensitive topics such as grief after the loss of a family member, a personal story about life after the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and gender equality were among the subject matter of competitors’ speeches.

We are very proud of the involvement of all of the students in these public speaking competitions and encourage them to keep developing their skills.

Ms Mary-Anne Keratiotis
Co-ordinator of Debating and Public Speaking