Debating Report

Rostrum Voice of Youth

Huntingtower once again hosted the eastern metropolitan region of the Rostrum Voice of Youth competition. Dozens of students from schools across Melbourne came for a day of competitive public speaking. Speakers began by presenting prepared persuasive speeches to judged from the public speaking organisation Rostrum, with the top speaker from each heat progressing to a semi-final where they once again presented their prepared speeches, followed by a short notice speech on an unseen topic, with just 15 minutes to prepare.

More than fifty Huntingtower students tried out for places in the competition, with twenty students from across middle and senior schools then being chosen to represent our school. They all did extremely well on the day, presenting some outstanding speeches on a wide range of interesting and thought-provoking issues, and winning five of the nine initial heats.

Particular congratulations go out to Maria F and Ira R (Year 9) who both made it to the junior semi-finals, where Maria placed second in the eastern metropolitan region.

In the senior division, Mia P, Varun S and Dylan S (Year 10) all made it to the semi-finals of the, where Varun was runner up and Mia was the winner. We wish Mia luck as she now proceeds to compete in the Rostrum state final at the end of the term.

Monash Asia Studies Debating Competition

Over the past term, three teams of Huntingtower students have been competing in both the face-to-face and online Monash Asia Studies Debating Competitions. This highly competitive and challenging nation-wide debating competition is run by Monash University, with teams debating Modi’s impact on India, the benefits of mandating the teaching of Asian languages in schools, and evaluating China’s dominance in the renewable energy market.

All the Huntingtower teams performed outstandingly well, with only one debate lost over all nine rounds that the three teams competed in. Particular congratulations go out to our two undefeated teams: Kean P, Varun S, Shiven R, Mia P, Sahitya I and Shivika V (Year 10), and Tharul P, Sanya O, Liam J, Antara A, Aarush S and Vishal S (Year 12). Their teams finished the first stage of the tournament first on wins, and equal third on scores, just narrowly behind the top teams from St Kevin’s College and North Syndey Boy’s High School.

We wish them luck as they now go on to compete in the finals of the competition. Special congratulations also goes out to July M (Year 11), who was the third highest ranked speaker in the tournament.

Rotary Ainger Peck Award

Huntingtower students once again competed in the Rotary Ainger Peck public speaking competition. This unique public speaking competition focusses entirely on manner, with students crafting speeches that allow them to demonstrate their full skills in delivery.

Congratulations go out to Sahitya I (Year 10), who was awarded the encouragement award for her heat with a passionate speech on global warming, and Olivia W (Year 12), who placed first in her heat and proceeded all the way to the state final with a humorous and highly engaging plea to stop modernising Shakespearean plays. She performed admirably in one of the most hotly contested and high-quality finals that the awards have ever seen, and continuing a now proud five-year long tradition of Huntingtower students making it to the top levels of this competition.

Mr Matthew McDonald

Director of Student Communication & Engagement

World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships

During the last week of Term 1, we had the amazing opportunity to represent Australia by competing in the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships. The competition this year was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and consisted of four events: prepared speaking (persuasive or after dinner), interpretive reading, coordinate debating and impromptu speaking. Throughout the course of the competition, we met and engaged with like-minded students from across the world, like Canada, Lithuania, China, America, South Korea and the UAE, just to name a few!

After arriving, we spent the first day sight-seeing in Kuala Lumpur and partaking in celebrations as it was Eid-al-Fit on the 31st of March, marking the end of Ramadan. We visited the Malaysian National Mosque, the Royal Botanical Gardens and even a durian orchard for lunch (we can confirm durian is indeed the worst-smelling fruit in the world)! Throughout the trip we enjoyed Malaysia’s national dish, Nasi Lemak, which included rice cooked in coconut milk (it was as delicious as it sounds) and got to visit the famous Petronas Twin Towers.

The competition kicked off on the second day, starting off with the first preliminary round. Most days saw us waking up and heading to the buffet breakfast, where we enjoyed some delicious food with the rest of the Australian team and sometimes rehearsed our speeches. The days were packed, with briefings, events and judges feedback running from morning until evening. It was a great opportunity to hear from other students and other judges from around the world, and as the week progressed we got more and more opportunities to see the city, visiting the vibrant Petaling Street Market, the Malaysian National Gallery, a durian fruit planation, and seeing the landmarks around the city.

It was incredibly enjoyable to make new debating friends from around the world and learn their unique styles when it came to delivering speeches, like the ‘Canadian Classic’ speech structure, named rightly so because the speakers from Canada loved using lots of examples in their speeches to mark each of their specific arguments. The calibre at the competition was truly outstanding and was on a whole new level. Even after one day, I felt quite close to students on the Australian Team and all the new people I’d met because many of us cared about and spoke on similar issues. Debating truly connected us all!

Overall, this competition was unlike anything I’d ever experienced and truly the best way to start my final year of debating in Huntingtower. A huge thank you goes out to Mr McDonald, who spent much of his time and effort organising the trip and helping us prepare – it really would not be possible without him. We cannot wait to include what we’ve learnt in the debating program at Huntingtower!

Prisha R

Year 12