Debating Festival
2019 Debating Festival -
Year 5-6 Grand Final Report
On Thursday 17th October, parents, teachers and students witnessed the
Grand Final debate: “That the legal voting age should be reduced to 16.”
The Affirmative Team -
Lemon
Darby Salter, Shaye Bowen,
Tessa Warrin and Jorjiah Moody.
The Negative Team -
The Dux
Karli Gertz-Suffern, Charlie Payne,
Lily Patrick-Oudeman and Breanna Inglis-Goodliffe
The adjudicators, Mrs Claire Kelly (NCS Principal), Miss Emma O’Keeffe (NSC Teacher) and Ms Oliver (Principal NPS) sat engrossed as speakers from both sides very passionately argued their opposing contentions, aiming to persuade the adjudicators to their point of view.
After all speakers had done their best to persuade the audience of their arguments, the Chief Adjudicator – Ms Oliver - announced that the “Lemon” (affirmative team) had taken out the grand final in a very tight competition. Many thanks to Chris Bodsworth, who competently chaired the debate.
After the debate I asked the grand final debaters to share some of the experiences they had during
the 2019 Debating Festival.
Thoughts from the Lemon…
Tessa said she had enjoyed competing in the debates. Her highlight was working in a team and learning to listen and create arguments together. Tessa loved every aspect of the debating activities!
Jorjiah said debating was definitely fun! She enjoyed practising with her team mates. Winning the Grand Final debate was her highlight. Jorjiah also liked getting feedback from the judges.
Shaye enjoyed her debating experience. She really liked speaking and explaining arguments in front of an audience. Shaye’s highlight was being third speaker and winning the Grand Final!
Darby’s highlight was speaking and sharing information during the debates. He enjoyed working with his team and winning the Grand Final was great!
Reflections from The Dux...
Karli said she enjoyed the debating experience. She learnt lots of new things and she became more confident when speaking to an audience. Her highlight was participating in the Grand Final debate.
Charlie said she learnt how to speak at a steady pace when arguing her points. She enjoyed working with her friends. Charlie’s highlight was participating in the Grand Final and getting the R/up trophy.
Breanna enjoyed learning how to write a speech with persuasive points. Breanna’s highlight was helping her team as they prepared for each of their debates. She is now feeling more confident when speaking to an audience.
Lily’s highlight was being part of the Grand Final debate. She said that debating was hard work and you had to practise a lot.
I would like to sincerely thank all the parents, friends, teachers and students who have supported
and assisted the debating students throughout this festival. It has been a pleasure to facilitate the Debating Festival again this year.
Jenny Sartoria – 2019 Debating Festival Coordinator
2019 Debating Festival
Year 3-4 Grand Final Report
On Thursday 17th October, parents, teachers and students witnessed the
Grand Final debate: “Social skills are more important than academic skills.”
The Affirmative Team -
Team Dolphin
Arianna Hope, Jazzy Broad, Ava Gundrill and Sienna Kubeil
The Negative Team -
Deadly Debaters
Noah Johnson, Matthew Koeleman, Izaac Koeleman and Liam Woolley.
The adjudicators, Ms Oliver (Principal NPS), Ms Sartoria and Ms Davis, congratulated all the debaters on the improvement in their skills, especially their rebuttal and their composure under pressure. Each speaker did a great job of explaining and arguing their point of view.
After all speakers had very capably expressed their arguments, the Chief Adjudicator – Ms Oliver -
announced that “Deadly Debaters” (negative team) had narrowly won the debate.
Many thanks to Lloyd Jetten who competently chaired the debate.
After the debate I asked the grand final debaters to share some of the experiences they had during
the 2019 Debating Festival.
Thoughts from Deadly Debaters…
Izaac said the debating experience was hard but fun! He learnt how to work as part of a team and his highlight was winning the Grand Final!
Liam said he liked being the researcher and helping his team. His highlight was winning the Grand Final!
Noah said he enjoyed working with his friends and competing in the Debating Festival. He learnt that it is extremely important to work as part of a team. Getting in the Grand Final was his highlight.
Matthew said debating was fun. He liked being part of the winning Grand Final team. Matthew learnt how to be a better speaker.
Reflections From Team Dolphin…
Sienna thought debating was a lot of fun. She enjoyed helping her team mates. She has become more confident and her highlight was being in the Grand Final
Arianna enjoyed her debating experience. A highlight was participating in the Grand Final. As researcher she liked helping and timing her team-mates speeches during practice.
Jazzy’s highlight was working with her team mates and being in the Grand Final. The debating activities were fun because she practiced her social skills.
Ava loved the Debating Festival activities. Her highlight was learning how to debate. She is now a confident second speaker!
I would like to sincerely thank all the parents, friends, teachers and students who have supported and assisted the debating students throughout this festival. It has been a pleasure to facilitate the Debating Festival again this year.
Jenny Sartoria – 2019 Debating Festival Coordinator