New and familiar opportunities in Debating

The Senior Debating season is about to commence. This year we have 60 eager students from Years 9 to 12 who are ready to argue, rebut, and test their skills against both new and familiar competitors in the Hawthorn region. We look forward to the first training session at St Catherine’s, which will be held after school on Thursday 12 March, with the first debate at Scotch College on Wednesday 18 March. Parents and friends are always welcome to watch the debates.

Each year the Debaters’ Association of Victoria (the DAV) invites high scoring students from the previous year’s Schools’ Competition to try out for the Victorian State Team. As debaters with consistently strong performances in 2019, Isabella McDonald (Year 12) and Paula Chen (Year 10) were invited to try out this year along with 200 other students across the state. Angela Yu, a previous Best Speaker in the Inaugural DAV Women’s Competition also tried out as the competition is open to all Senior debaters. All three girls found the standard of the try outs to be extremely high and competitive.

Students were asked to prepare for two debates with only an hour of preparation. The topics were challenging and ranged from the issue of introducing a wealth tax (in A Grade – Year 12) to the banning of political donations (in C Grade – Year 10). The try outs gave our students the opportunity of seeing first-hand the complexity and detail involved in preparing for Secret Topics, and experimenting with some new Debating skills which they hope to be able to use in the 2020 competition. All Senior debaters were encouraged to try out for the Victorian State Team, despite the challenges involved.

On 31 March six of our debaters took part in the DAV Women’s Competition: Flora Du and Catherine Karas (Year 9); Angela Yu and Maddie Farrer (Year 10); Jessica Yang and Fleur Anstee (Year 11). Placed in random teams, our students faced the challenge of preparing and debating a range of Secret Topics, and working with keen debaters from other schools. Angela Yu achieved Best Speaker, while Maddie Farrer and Fleur Anstee achieved equal Best Speaker. Exemplary performances from Fleur’s team also saw them win all three of their debates for which they were awarded Runners Up for the day’s competition – a fine achievement against debaters of high calibre. We congratulate all of our students on their achievements; their quick thinking, adaptability and strong collaboration skills continue to underpin their strong debating skills.

In January, all Junior and Senior debaters were offered the opportunity of attending a two day non-residential Debate Camp. Year 8 students, Nadia Mohamed, Sophie Abbott and Jisu Yang found the experience valuable and eye-opening; they were encouraged to think outside the box when preparing and responding to topics, and felt their confidence grow with each debate.

Year 9 students, Catherine Karas and Flora Du were challenged by being placed in a variety of Speaker roles. Detailed feedback from the adjudicators also meant that our students developed greater awareness of the DAV marking system for debates. Year 10 debaters, Maddie Farrer and Angela Yu had their interest piqued by being exposed to the energetic and animated British Parliamentary style of Debating.

Paula Chen and Isabella McDonald

Fleur Anstee, Jessica Yang, Madeleine Farrer and Angela Yu

The camp (attended by 70 Victorian students) has become increasingly popular with students wishing to extend their skills in the off-season, in a casual and collaborative atmosphere which promotes the meeting of like-minded students.

Upcoming events which can be helpful in extending students’ Debating skills include the Easter Debate Camp and the British Parliamentary Competition. Anyone interested in taking part in these events as well as a wide range of public speaking competitions should contact the Coordinator of Debating and Public Speaking, Ms Keratiotis, directly.

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