March 15 saw the beginning of the Senior Debating season. Our fruitful collaboration with Year 12 Design students continued this year with Olivia Murdoch producing our DAV Senior Debating poster, and Juliet Grant producing our Public Speaking posters which have already been displayed around the School.

A dedicated number of our 56 strong debaters attended the first training session, despite also having commitments to Rowing, the School Music Concerto and Viva Voci rehearsals. We welcomed back experienced coaches and St Catherine’s Old Girls, Tess Price (’14) and Jaquelin Cantarella (’15), as well as Claire Gifford (’14) who was assisted by experienced Debating coach and English teacher, Mr Robert Harrod. Previous Debating Captains, Sofiya Hay (’16) and Chloe Thompson (’17) have also been offered coaching roles this year, and we are delighted that they can lend their considerable expertise to our students.

The 2018 season promises to be a challenging one as our debaters will tackle topics in Round 2 such as, ‘That Spain should grant independence to Catalonia’, ‘That the West should lift all sanctions on Zimbabwe’, and ‘That Australia and New Zealand should unify as a single country’. Topics such as these encourage debaters to go beyond social topics with which they are familiar and comfortable, and to engage with the world around them both politically and economically. We extend a warm invitation to any parents and friends who which to attend the debates at Scotch College. Details for all Rounds can be found on the School Portal under Co-curricular Activities here.

 

Ms Mary-Anne Keratiotis, Coordinator of Debating and Public Speaking