Debating: Senior British Parliamentary Competition

The St Catherine’s Team at the Senior British Parliamentary Competition.

On Sunday 9 September, four of our Year 12 students participated in the Senior British Parliamentary Competition. Team 1 consisted of Pia Graham and Isabel Gray, who won their Round 1 debate. Isabel was named one of the top five speakers in last year’s competition. Team 2 consisted of Isabelle Gough and Kate Rowland.

Students received an excellent training session and observed an animated demonstration debate on the topic, ‘This House would ban unpaid internships’, which showcased all the theatricality of this style of debating. Students do not need to be seasoned debaters to take part in the competition, as evidenced by the participation of Global Politics student, Kate Rowland, who is passionate about political issues.

At the Senior School Assembly this week, Isabelle Gough provided an overview of the event and encouraged other students to consider becoming involved in the future. Isabelle articulated the common elements of traditional debating: speakers require clarity of argument, an overtly persuasive manner and making rebuttals. However, given the parliamentary origins of British Parliamentary debating, students are allocated to teams that adopt either opening or closing arguments, and take on roles such as Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Prime Minister or Government Whip, to name a few.

Students are expected to interject by asking for points of information at any time, which makes for a very lively debate filled with strong personalities.

The benefits to students’ academic work in being involved in a variety of debating programs are unquestionable. Students learn to select and determine the relevance of arguments to specific topics, and develop the strength of their reasoning and skills which can clearly inform the quality of their persuasive and analytical writing and thinking.