DAV Schools Competition

Grand Finalists:

After nearly a full year of debating, the DAV Schools Competition has finally come to a conclusion. This is the largest debating competition in the state, and this year two teams of Huntingtower students made it to the finals after finishing undefeated in our region. Both teams were in the C Grade (or Year 10 division) of the competition, although one team was comprised of Year 9s who were debating above their age group to allow more of their fellow Year 9s to compete in their grade of the competition.

Both teams performed exceptionally well, finishing top of their region and progressing into the state finals. The DAV Schools Competition is a truly huge debating competition, with hundreds of schools entering thousands of teams across dozens of regions. After nine months of continuous competition, team Huntingtower 1 (Liana C, Julia P, Claire C, Charlotte C and Antara A) made it through to the final eight teams in the competition, narrowly losing to Melbourne Grammar in a debate on whether catfishing should be illegal.

Team Huntingtower 4 (Elle D, Alexis F, Amelia L, Jehan M, Helena S and Grace T) won their quarter final debate, and went on the beat the team who defeated their teammates in their semi-final debate, earning this team of Year 9 debaters a place in the Year 10 Grand Final.

Their Grand Final debate against St Kevin’s College was held last night, and despite drawing a tough side in an especially tough debate on the benefits of carbon offsets, and despite debating against an older and more experienced team, they forced the debate into a split decision, missing out only narrowly in an exceptionally high-quality performance. Their result is still an outstanding one, finishing second out of the 750 teams in the highest division of prepared-topic debating in the state.

A huge congratulations is due to all of our senior debaters over the fifteen teams involved in the Schools Competition on a fantastic year of debating, and a big thank you is due to Mr Barlow and Mr Drennan for their work with the C Grade in particular. We all express our immense pride in Elle, Alexis, Amelia, Jehan, Helena and Grace for being only the third Huntingtower team to ever make a Schools Competition Grand Final, the first ones to ever make a C Grade Grand Final, and achieving the unheard-of accomplishment of making a Grand Final while debating above their age-group. Well done to everyone!

DAV British Parliamentary Debating

Years 7 and 8 State Champions:

Last weekend our Year 7 and 8 debaters had their opportunity to try out British Parliamentary debating in the DAV Junior British Parliamentary Debating State Tournament. This type of debating is more challenging and dynamic than regular 3v3 debating, with four teams competing in each debates, a short 45 minute preparation time, and the ability to interrupt other speakers’ speeches through asking ‘points of information’.

The teams competed across three secret topic debates, discussing banning homework, imposing plain packaging on junk food and soft drinks, and whether children should be allows to protest and strike.

Congratulations for Inuki A, Lily H, and Mia P (Year 8) who finished as the top team in the tournament after winning all their debates, which qualified for the Junior British Parliamentary Grand Final. Last night they won their Grand Final debate against Scotch College, Melbourne Grammar and Kew High School, debating whether drones should be banned. Their victory makes them the 2023 State Champions, bringing home the title for the sixth year running for Huntingtower. Well done to Inuki, Lily and Mia on an outstanding achievement!

Years 9 and 10 Grand Finalists:

In Term 3, Huntingtower hosted the DAV British Parliamentary Debating state tournament. This year four teams of Huntingtower debaters were able to participate in the competition. At the end of the tournament the top four teams were invited to participate in a Grand Final debate, which this year saw two Huntingtower teams (Jade H, Prisha R and Olivia W, and Sophie L, Keira L and Grace T) face off against two teams from Melbourne Grammar School.

In a close and fiercely fought debate over whether the world should adopt a universal language, the Huntingtower teams put in a great effort to finish second and fourth overall in the competition. Well done in particular to Sophie L, Keira L and Grace T, who were the runners-up in the competition, finishing second in the state.

Junior Debating

Huntingtower – Avila College Competition:

Over the past semester, Year 7 and 8 debaters from Huntingtower and Avila have been participating in a friendly interschool debating competition run by our two schools. Each round ten teams of Huntingtower students debated against ten teams of Avila students across topics including banning homework, single-gender versus coeducational schooling, and the whether the prevalence of superhero films is a good thing.

Alongside our junior debaters, a huge contingent of senior debaters from both Huntingtower and Avila volunteered their time to receive adjudication training from the DAV and then teamed up to run training session and adjudicate and offer feedback after each round of debates.

This was our first year running such a competition, which allowed us to provide opportunities to vastly increased numbers of students from each school to learn about and experience debating in a fun, encouraging and friendly environment. We would like to extend our thanks to Avila for being so supportive of the competition, and to all of our senior debaters who volunteered to help out their younger peers as both mentors and adjudicators. Finally, congratulations are due to all the Year 7 and 8 students involved for embracing the competition and making it such a success.

Student Reflections…

I really enjoyed the debating competition against Avila. It was a great opportunity to test our debating skills against another school and to learn from each other. I was particularly impressed by the level of preparation and research that both teams had put into their arguments. I learned a lot from the competition. I learned how to better structure my arguments, how to respond to arguments in rebuttals, and how to work effectively as part of a team, working with some people I hadn’t worked with previously. I am grateful for the opportunity to have participated in the debating competition. It was a valuable experience that helped me to develop my debating skills further. I would definitely recommend this opportunity to all students. It was great fun!

Kean P, Year 8

While I have done public speaking before, this was my first interschool debating competition, and it was an overall amazing experience. Getting to work with my peers in my team and help each other throughout the whole process was something that will stick with me for a long time. From planning to practising, to just cheering each other on the actual day, the energy stayed throughout the whole competition. Not only did I learn from my peers but also my oppositions at Avila. Lastly, I want to say a HUGE thank you to Mr McDonald, for all the prepping to the period 6s, he has been there each step of the way. Thank you and go Huntingtower!

Kishaya S, Year 8

The Avila Debates were an amazing experience. As year sevens, we gained a surprising amount of knowledge and skills from the three debates and most of all had heaps of fun. We learnt more about our neighboring school Avila College and It was nice to form relationships so we can recognise some friendly faces in the future. This 3v3 debating competition has inspired us to sign up to more debating competitions and improve our skills. As a team, we have improved greatly in our public speaking throughout this experience and feel so privileged to have participated. We believe that this was a great first experience for a middle school 3v3 debate and will help us as we progress through our debating journey in the future.

Maria F, Saisha M, Ira R, Dora Z and Alisha W, Year 7.

Mr Matthew McDonald

Director of Student Communication and Engagement

2024 Leaders