Years 5 & 6 Debating Team
Miss T. Tran, Miss Kho and Miss S. Huynh
Introducing our 2023 Debating Team ...
From L to R: Chloe, Heidi, Anyi, Olivia, Josephine and Dang
This year, St Johns Park Public School is involved in two debating competitions:
Parks Area Competition - This is a local school competition that is held in Terms 2 and 3. There are 7 - 8 debates in the season and different teams are selected for each debate. Teams are given two to three weeks to work on the topic. They debate both at St Johns Park Public School, and away at various schools. Each speaker should speak for 3 minutes.
The Premier's Debating Challenge for Years 5 and 6 - The Premier's Debating Challenge involves one hour of preparation for each debate. Teams do not know the topic or whether they are the negative or affirmative side until one hour prior to the start of the debate. The one hour preparation time is unassisted. Teachers are not allowed into the preparation room for any part of the hour.
Teams consist of four students with one acting as the team's advisor in the preparation room and during the debate. Each speaker should speak for 4 minutes. The Premier's Debating Challenge is conducted by the NSW Department of Education Arts Unit.
Teams entering into the Premier's Debating Challenge are organised into zones of four or more. The teams in a zone debate each other in a round-robin competition to decide the zone winner. Zone winners then proceed to a knock-out stage of the competition until a regional winner has been determined. The ten regional winners attend a three day camp and compete in a series of debates to decide the State Champion.
Who can be on the debating team?
In any given debate a team will field four members. Those members can change from debate to debate, so a team can in fact be made up of a large squad of students. Both competitions are open to Stage 3 students only.
Debating Roles
In a debate, there are two teams of three speakers, the affirmative team and the negative team, which debate a topic. Their roles are:
| AFFIRMATIVE | NEGATIVE |
|---|---|
1st Speaker - Introduces the topic, provides a definition, introduces a teamline, allocates reasons, provides arguments and summarises. | 1st Speaker - Accepts the definition, rebuts, allocates reasons, provides arguments and summarises. |
2nd Speaker - Rebuts, provides arguments and summarises. | 2nd Speaker - Rebuts, provides arguments and summarises. |
3rd Speaker - Rebuts and recaps all of their team's arguments. | 3rd Speaker - Rebuts and recaps all of their team's arguments. |
| 4th Speaker (Advisor) | 4th Speaker (Advisor) |
Upcoming Debates
Parks Area Debating Competitions
Term 2 Week 5 - St Johns Park PS vs Governor Phillip King PS
Term 2 Week 7 - William Stimson PS vs St Johns Park PS
Term 2 Week 9 - St Johns Park PS vs Fairvale PS
Premier's Debating Challenge
Term 2 Week 4 - King Park PS vs St Johns Park PS
Term 2 Week 5 - Bonnyrigg PS vs St Johns Park PS
Term 2 Week 10 - St Johns Park PS vs Mount Pritchard PS