English News 

PESA 

Tuesday 24 May was a very exciting day for debaters and public speaking enthusiasts at Nossal as we were hosting the VCAA Plain English-Speaking Award (PESA) Regional Finals. It was here where the best public speakers in the region, aged between 15-18, came to display their exceptional oral communication, speech writing and researching abilities, in the hope that they could qualify for the state semi-finals.

The competition consisted of two rounds. The first was the prepared speech round, where competitors could deliver a six-minute pre-prepared speech on a topic of their choice. The second was an impromptu round, where competitors were introduced to a secret topic and subsequently had four minutes to prepare a three-minute speech with only a pen and paper. This year there were eight competitors from four schools, including two of our very own: Mila Vargas (Year 12) and Lina Afanasyeva (Year 11).

The first round was filled with a range of thought-provoking topics from the economics of climate change to TikTok’s beauty algorithm. Each competitor delivered their speeches beautifully and left the audience with something to think about. Mila delivered a very emotional and heartfelt speech about the importance of language diversity in society and education, which left some listeners in tears. Lina talked about how political advertising had shifted towards pointing out the unpleasantries of opposing parties and politicians, rather than promoting their own agenda, which was especially relevant during this time.

The second round was highly anticipated as it would show which competitor could work well under time pressure and think on their feet. The secret topic was “you get what you give”. Mila delivered an intriguing speech on whether this sentiment was true, and reflected on circumstances where people do not receive what they give out. Lina’s speech agreed with the secret topic, citing that results require effort and that those who do not put in the work should not be surprised by the lack of results.

In the end, the competition was extremely close, and the adjudicators spent a considerable amount of time deliberating the winner. After intense anticipation, all Nossal students and teachers present were overjoyed to find that our very own Mila Vargas had won! This meant that she had a ticket to the state semi-finals.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience for all those present and a sign that in a world where the preferred form of communication is digital, the art of public speaking is still alive and well.

Wilbur Machado 

Year 9

Interhouse Debating Finals

A battle of linguistic eloquence and wit which culminated in a decisive victory to a house that well deserved it; also known as the interhouse debating finals. Both teams brought forward powerful arguments to the topic, reality television is harming society. 

The affirmative side wove a tapestry about the illegitimacy of reality television. They spoke about powerful figures who cared not for the personalities which made their shows, contestants exploited to be tossed away once they fulfilled their use and apathetic viewers who seek to escape a dull reality. All these points formed the juggernaut of an argument to face the equally erudite negative side. 

The focus of the debate was brought towards the carefully crafted nature of reality television, which provided an avenue through which minorities could find representation, complications largely unknown to viewers could be brought into the public eye, and an apathetic audience could be inspired to grasp at loftier ambitions to break the monotony of life. The audience was redefined as a horde who fed into the cycle of “trashy shows”, bound to repeat the cycle of demand begets supply begets demand unless regulations were enforced to break the vicious chain of events. 

The final decision came down to who addressed the topic most appropriately. The negative team, convinced that any issues that were to by found with reality television could be fixed with tighter regulation, lost sight of the topic which asked for the present state of reality television and if it harmed society rather than what it could be in the future. Thus, the affirmative team attained victory and the spirited duel of words came to a close.

Names of participants in the order they spoke are as follows:

PHOENIX (affirmative)  

Kertikrohan HARIHARAN, 

Abinesh BASKARAN 

Alicia VARKEY

GARUDA (negative) 

Ria KUMAR

Danial YOUSEF

Luca BOGDANOVITS

Alex PUNNELIPARAMBIL JIBU

Year 12

ABC Q&A Show

On the May 19, some of the Nossal SRC and NSU members attended the ABC Q+A show, hosted by David Speers. We departed from Nossal at 6 pm and after a pleasant but long bus trip, we finally arrived at ABC Studios in Southbank, full of spirit and enthusiasm. After completing all the necessary entry protocols, we had a chance to admire the previous generation of recording equipment they had up on display. 

We were then ushered into the surprisingly compact studio they use to record the show. It was filled with miscellaneous types of cameras, microphones and various other recording equipment. After taking a few photos we sat down in our allocated seats and listened to an impromptu comedy routine by one of their staff members while waiting for the panel members to arrive. 

Very soon, however, it was time for the show to start. In walked the panel members for the show, James Paterson (Liberal Senator for Victoria), Cathy McGowan (Former Independent Member for Indi), Josh Burns (Labor Member for Macnamara), Peter Hartcher (Political Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age), and Gigi Foster, (Economist).  

The topic of this discussion was the housing pledge, local members, and the power-sharing parliament. Nossal was fortunate enough to have two students from the audience who were given the opportunity to ask the panel some questions. These students were Wilbur Machado and Yomith Jayasingha. The questions they asked were about whether raising the minimum wage could help combat inflation and whether the government was planning to burden the next generation with paying off the debts of today. The discussion went on for around an hour, ending with a performance by Paul Kelly, accompanied by his nephew and daughter. 

By the time we arrived back at the Nossal campus, it was around 10.30 pm. Overall, the experience was incredibly unique and was memorable for every single individual who attended.  

The episode can be found here: The Final Countdown - Q+A (abc.net.au) 

Wilbur Machado, Marion Liew,

Pahal Dandiya & Sugirthan Rangarajan  

Year 9