Faculty News
Debating
On Thursday night, as always, the Oakleigh Grammar debating teams were prepared, confident and excited to take on other schools in a battle of wits and words.
Elena and Nathanael became our first debaters of 2024 to “step up” - Year 10s competing in the Year 11 competition, just for the challenge! They joined Ketrina Mawal in a secret topic, with only one hour to prepare after hearing the proposition “That the Australian government should mandate a minimum quota for Australian music played on radio and music streaming platforms e.g. Spotify”. They argued strongly for the negative side on freedom of choice and the impracticalities of this model, and beat home team Wesley College by 2 points, with Elena winning the Best Speaker Award.
Year 10s Archna and Lazarus were joined by returning debater Tziovannis and their researcher Ben to make a formidable team. Also a secret topic, they prepared in an hour to debate against the proposition “That the government should make homework optional in schools”. Using the COVID lockdowns as a solid case study, they showed that those who complete homework to structured due dates and expectations generate better outcomes. They won by 3 points against Avila College, with Lazarus awarded Best Speaker, something he’s getting quite used to!
Finally, two teams of Year 9s debated at once, “That Australian government elections should be conducted online.” Oakleigh Grammar argued the negative, and had a couple of weeks notice, so they came well prepared to focus on security, privacy and anonymity concerns, the digital divide, and the potential for technical failures to replace verifiable paper trails. Ellie, Irene and Connie took on The Knox School and lost by 2 points, with rebuttal being the difference. Mary, Issam and Olivia were beaten by Wesley College by 3 points, but in a silver lining Olivia was Best Speaker despite the loss, with a very high score of 79.
Special thanks to our ever-reliable bus driver and supporter Mr Joyce, and Mr Dickinson for once again joining us to cheer on our debaters.
Leigh Gridley
Year Level Leader (Years 8 & 9), Debating Coordinator
LOTE Greek
Oakleigh Grammar students who are studying Greek have been very creative the last three weeks of Term 2! Students have become young journalists by working on “Mathitofrenia” Edition of Neos Kosmos Greek Newspaper. “Mathitofrenia” is an insert in Neos Kosmos Greek newspaper, with material produced exclusively by budding young Greek journalists studying in different Greek schools all around Australia. Students can express themselves and reflect on various issues related to Greek history and culture. “Mathitofrenia” edition started few years ago and the goal was to promote young students and their work as well as providing them a creative outlet.
Students have created some interesting projects reflecting on the topics of the “Invasion of Cyprus” and the “Olympic Games”. The Mathitofrenia edition in July will be dedicated to the Invasion of Cyprus, and the next edition, on the Olympics, will be published in August. These two themes will give an opportunity to students to delve into two very important parts of Greek history and culture and to express their views on them. Looking forward to reading our Oakleigh Grammar journalists articles!
Natasha Spanos
VCE Academic Leader LOTE
