Debating

Junior debating team report

During term 3 a team of year 7 debaters Samara, Hannah, Lucy and Nefeli competed in a three round debating competition hosted at Ivanhoe Grammar School. Our first time there we had someone run through the structure of a debate and teach us some tips for each speaker. We prepared for our first debate in which the topic was that we should ban smoking and vaping in public places, we were on the affirmative team and we won against Ivanhoe Girls Grammar, the members debating in this where: Nefeli as first speaker, Lucy as second speaker and Samara as third speaker. The next debate topic was that the school spectacular is a waste of money, we were negative and won against year eights from Ivanhoe Grammar the people competing in this debate were: Lucy as first speaker, Hannah as second and Samara as third. For the last debate thee topic was that we should cap the salary of sports personnel in which we were negative we unfortunately lost against Ivanhoe Grammar, the members competing in this debate where: Nefeli as first speaker, Hannah as second speaker and Lucy as third. Overall this was an amazing experience and introduction to debating. I would highly recommend that you should join if you are interested.

~Samara Year 7

Grade 6 Public Speaking Competition

This year we were able to hold the Grade 6 Public Speaking competition face-to-face in the school library for the first time in three years. And it proved to be a highlight of the year again. We had finalists representing six primary schools including; Alphington Primary, Bell Primary, Carlton North Primary, Fairfield Primary, Fitzroy North Primary and Northcote Primary. The topic was ‘Moving the Goalposts’ and as ever the speakers were inventive and each had their own individual take. There were discussions about gender discrimination, the importance of community and social media and body image. Our judges were the Year 9 debating team Edie Simpson, Noah Healey and Esther Maticevski-Shumack and Alex Wright, from Year 8, was the timekeeper. It was a great opportunity for our Year 9 debaters to go through a process of selecting place-getters. They did so with great clarity as they shared their feedback with the speakers. The place-getters for this year were as followers:

1st Ella Wright (Bell Primary)

2nd Finn Simpson-Henry (Northcote Primary)

3rd Monet Atallah (Carlton North Primary)

~Martin Ramsay and Grant Tucker