Wrap up of Junior Debating and Public Speaking
I would like to congratulate everyone who participated in DAV Debating and Public Speaking in 2019. Earlier this year in the Senior Debating season, we had 23 Best Speakers and this success was matched by our students in Junior debating. Four out of our five Junior Debating teams were undefeated, and we won 14 out of 15 debates. We had 12 Best Speakers who included Maeli Davenport (Year 7), Ava Colosimo (Year 8)(twice), Zara Johnston (Year 7), Katherine Graham (Year 8)(twice), Jemima Wilcox (Year 8), Rhea Werner (Year 7), Sienna Lonetti (Year 7) (twice), Tayla Sharman (Year 8), Charlotte Wood (Year 7).
In the Toorak region for Junior Debating, we also had three students awarded Top Scoring Speakers: Tayla Sharman (Year 8), Sienna Lonetti (Year 7) and Katherine Graham (Year 8). We hope that these strong performances will encourage other students to rise to the challenges offered by Debating.
Also, based on their strong performances in Senior Debating, Isabella McDonald (Year 11) and Paula Chen (Year 9) have been invited by the Debaters’ Association of Victoria to try out for the Victorian State Team. This is a great achievement, however, all interested debaters are welcome to try out for the Victorian State Team by registering themselves in on this link: http://www.dav.com.au/schools/vst_trials.php
Due to this incredible season, all who participated in 2019 are welcome next year along with any new girls who would like to have a go. I encourage all younger year levels to try DAV Debating to develop important skills and have fun doing so!
We have also had great success with Public Speaking in 2019. Across all of the public speaking competitions this year, we had a total of seven girls who were Semi-Finalists. In the DAV Intermediate Public Speaking Competition: Madeline Powell (Year 9) came 3rd overall, with her great speech on the quality of female leadership in Australian politics in Assembly earlier in the year. Allegra Dennison (Year 10) also came 5th overall, and Fleur Anstee (Year 10) came 6th overall in the same competition – both girls have been stalwarts of Public Speaking in the School and have honed their skills over the years.
House Public Speaking Results
- Equal 1st – Beaulieu Blair and Holmes Kilbride
- Second – Langley Templeton
- Third – Davis
We look forward to welcoming all eager debaters and public speaking to our competitions in 2020.