Debating at DCC

Our debating program continues to be a great example of the strong academic culture at our school. This year, our students have already had a fantastic start, with four out of five teams winning their interschool debates in the first three rounds. Even more impressive, all three of our Year 9 teams have won every debate so far. 

We compete against several schools across the Eastern region, including Aquinas, Doncaster Secondary, Luther, Our Lady of Sion, Oxley, Tintern Grammar, Whitefriars and Yarra Valley Grammar. Many of these are well-resourced, higher fee-paying private schools, which makes our students’ success all the more impressive.

Our debating captain Adriel Chen writes: 

“Debate is definitely one of my highlights throughout the year, with each round being completely different from the one before. Each topic brings something new to think about and discuss, and each opposing team presents a different sort of challenge. This year, we have more teams than we've had before, and the standard of debate has risen enormously, with teams winning more often than losing—but more importantly, having so much fun no matter the outcome.

A new challenge that arose quite recently is the nerve-racking 'secret topic' rounds, where topics are given on the night of the debate and teams have only one hour to prepare, without the ability to research. These topics were stressful at first as no one really knew what to expect, but the more we worked through them together, the more our confidence grew. 

Not only that, but through each debate—from Year 7 all the way through to Year 11— we have all seen a huge improvement to our public speaking skills, trained ourselves to think logically, learnt the art of persuasion, and even made a few new friends.

To me, being part of the interschool debating team has made a huge and unforgettable impact on my school life.”

Since expanding the program in 2018, building on a long-standing Senior debating tradition, our students have continued to rise to the challenge. We have five teams in the Senior program, and we run a Junior program (JSP) at DCC in Term 4, which is open to Year 7 and 8 students who are new to debating. 

More information can be found on the Impact Learning Portal under the Secondary tile on Schoolbox.

We look forward to seeing how our students go in Round 4 in Week 8!