Debating

On Thursday 25th June, our Year 10 and 12 debating teams participated in Round 4 of the interschool debates at Coburg High School. Our teams did a fantastic job preparing and participating in the debates amidst the chaos of the final week of Term 2.  

Our C Grade team (Year 10) debated the Santa Maria College team on the Affirmative side of the topic: That parents and teachers should not use junk food (eg. pizza) and money (eg. pocket money) as rewards. It was their first completely secret topic meaning that once the topic was announced they had one hour to prepare their arguments without devices. 

Despite the nerves, they handled the pressure well by presenting compelling arguments and strong rebuttals but ultimately lost by 3 points to the opposing team. A huge shout out to Freya Griffiths (10E), Louisa Cui (10J) and April Emmett (10E). 

Our A Grade team (Year 12) were on the Negative side of the secret topic: That the

 government should limit the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) to 1 hour a week per person. Our team thrived with this challenging topic, demonstrating extensive knowledge about AI and presenting creative and considered arguments. 

Our team won against Marcellin College by a massive 4 points. A huge shout out to Sam Roberts (12J) and Alex Wright (12J) for getting best speaker!  

Our junior debaters (Year 7 and 8) participated in their first mini debate during the last week of term 2. They debated the topic: That the voting age should be lowered to 16 in Australia with the Year 7s on the Affirmative side and the Year 8s on the Negative side. The Year 8 team took out the victory, but all students did a great job and received helpful feedback from our senior student adjudicators. Congratulations to Eamonn Kearney (7D) for getting best speaker.  

If you're interested in developing your arguing and public speaking skills, please come along to M15 on Tuesday lunchtimes or chat with Ms Balis or Ms Osburn if you have any questions.