Achievements

Kalan L (Year 9)

Congratulations to Kalan who recently raced in the Cross Country National Championships in Adelaide. Kalan finished 12th in Australia and 1st in Victoria!

Then a few days later Kalan won the EISM Cross Country Carnival for Huntingtower. 

Well done Kalan on this amazing result.

Chloe D (Year 10) and Michael X (Year 11)

It was a pleasure to have Mr Ben Hosking from the Rotary Club of Richmond present awards to Chloe and Michael for their efforts in the Rotary Ainger Peck Public Speaking Competition for 2022. Chloe was the overall winner and Michael finished in 3rd place!

Duke of Edinburgh

Well done to following students for achieving their Bronze DoE awards this week:

Sport Finals

Congratulations to our Term 3 EISM Sport Grand Finalists (Year 8/9):

Year 8/9 Girls Table Tennis A  (Coach: Ms Anstee) - WINNERS!

Year 8/9 Girls Basketball A (Coach: Mrs Douglas) - Runners up

Year 8/9 Boys Table Tennis A - WINNERS! 

Honours Pocket

Congratulations to the following Year 12s who have been awarded Honours Pockets!

(Achieving honours awards in 3 categories)

Ella E (Production, Basketball, Netball)

Sofia H-S (Orchestra, Basketball, Netball)

Anjali S (Academics, Debating, Netball)

Alvin T (Orchestra, Swimming, Volleyball)

Marlo V (Choir, Basketball, Netball)

Debating

British Parliamentary Debating State Champions

A few weeks ago, Huntingtower hosted the DAV Intermediate British Parliamentary Debating State Tournament, where six teams of Year 9 and 10 debaters got the opportunity to compete against schools from across the state. This is a unique style of debating where students are able to interrupt each other while they speak, and it was an absolute pleasure to host several schools at Huntingtower for a day that began with training and an exhibition debate, and then three extremely high-quality debates.

I had the opportunity to attend the competition and watch some of the debates, and before the debate I had a conversation with a particular Year 9 team who were freaking out - they’d never done BP before in person (zoom is just not the same!) and they were terrified. I remember reassuring them that they were Year 9s in a Year 9/10 competition and there was no pressure on them to win, but to just do their best.

I watched that debate and came out with one question.

How did these debaters get so good?

It was a question that was not answered but only grew more pressing through the whole day as I sat in on the debates of our teams: how did they get so good? There were articulate, passionate speeches, powerful points of information, and some sass for good measure, and I came away knowing that the future of Huntingtower debating is in very, very good hands.

Congratulations to Sophie L and Keira L (Year 9) who came away from the first stage of the tournament with first place overall, and to Nihar P, Liam F and Daniel L (Year 10) who finished third. Sophie and Keira also finished third and sixth respectively in the top 10 speakers on the day. 

These two teams progressed into the state final of the Intermediate British Parliamentary Debating Competition, taking on Melbourne High School and Melbourne Grammar for one last secret topic debate. With forty-five minutes to prepare, they had to argue the topic of whether driving lessons should be part of the Australian high school curriculum. A huge congratulations go out to Nihar P, Daniel L and Liam F, who won their debate and took out the Victorian Intermediate British Parliamentary Debating shield! They are our newest state champions, and the first Huntingtower team to win this competition!

The standard of debating is incredibly high at Huntingtower, and this is shown not just in our results but in the way we debate. It’s shown through the passion and genuine love for debating that shines through in every speech, and through the sportsmanship and camaraderie that we continuously have on display.

As I close out my time as debating captain, I genuinely cannot overstate how proud I am of Huntingtower’s amazing debaters, and how much of a pleasure it has been to watch them grow, just over this year alone. It’s been the opportunity of a lifetime to watch them represent Huntingtower, and I’d be lying if I said they haven’t taught me a thing or two along the way too.

Anjali S (Year 12)

Debating Captain