Debating

It has been a great month for our debaters. Laura Van Keulen and Gabriel Chan of year ten were selected to participate in the Debaters Association’s development squad. They attended three training sessions during the school holidays at Wesley College. Well done to both students as they gave up three days of their holidays to participate and hopefully they can share some tips with the rest of the debaters. Some other exciting news is that two of our teams are currently on top of the ladder for their section. Phung Tran, Shani Nguyen and Lani Nguyen of year 10 are undefeated so far and Hiba Cuttlerywala, Joskun Celebioglu and Czarina Estores of year 12 have only lost one debate. There is one more round left for this season, which means that if they are successful in their final debate then they will be in the finals.

All of our teams performed well in the last debate. The topic for the D grade teams was ‘That we should ban internet gambling’. Both teams had the difficult task of arguing in the negative. Fulmatu Jima, Mathilda Van Keulen and Zeliha Kaya were narrowly defeated by Santa Maria College and Vicky Le, Salma Jamal and Chelsea Tran lost by one point to Glenroy College.

Congratulations to Chelsea Tran for being awarded best speaker.

The C grade teams had a secret topic and students only had one hour to prepare for the debate. The topic was, ‘That we should ban home schooling’ and both teams argued in the negative. Phung Tran, Shani Nguyen and Lani Nguyen defeated Sirius College Eastmeadows by two points and Lani was named best speaker. Janaki Kharel, Gabriel Chan and Laura Van Keulen lost by one point to Santa Maria College. The A grade topic was also unseen until one hour befor the debate. The topic was, ‘That politicians should be limited to serving two terms in parliament’. Hiba Cuttlerywala, Joskun Celebioglu and Czarina did an exceptional job against Simonds Catholic College and won the debate by eight points. Hiba and joskin were awarded equal best speakers.

The Junior Debating Competition for year 7 and year 8 students will begin in August and we have over thirty students participating which is fantastic. The Junior competition will be held at St Albans Secondary College and I would like to encourage parents and staff to come along and support our teams.

A huge thankyou again to Ms Avril Good and Mr William Rowland for coaching and helping out with transport. A special thankyou to Ms Fatima Azmitia for helping us out with transport for the last debate.

Ms Nicole Carbonaro

Debating Coordinator