Although involvement in the Debating program is extensive at St Catherine’s, with approximately 100 students competing in competitions each year, the Debaters Association of Victoria seeks to address the reported under-representation of women in debating generally. As such, they offer an opportunity for female students to develop their skills outside of the main DAV Schools Competition in the Women’s Debate Competition.

Year 11 student Isabella Teoh represented St Catherine’s School on Sunday 1 March in the Senior DAV Women’s Debate program and Year 9 student Parnian Hosseini will take part in the Intermediate Division Women’s Debate Day later this month.

Isabella was the highest scoring debater on the day, having debated in an Interschool team across three debates. This incredible achievement follows the accolades she received last year as a member of the winning team in the Intermediate Division, as well as being awarded a Swannie Award for having the highest average speaker score in the 2024 Senior DAV Debating program. Achieving a Swannie is the highest individual honour students can be awarded in the DAV Schools Competition, and a testament to the assertiveness and confidence with which Isabella debates.

We look forward to the upcoming Senior (Years 9-12) DAV Debating season commencing on 26 March and the Junior (Years 7-8) DAV Debating season commencing in Term 3, along with the array of Public Speaking competitions throughout the year