Debating

Debating Report

There have recently been some very busy weeks in debating and public speaking. Well done to all the students below on some outstanding achievements!

DAV Schools Competition Round 3

The Debating season is well underway with the completion of Round 3 of the DAV Schools Competition on the 11th May. Congratulations to all of our debaters who participated in this incredibly eventful round. This round we had some quite challenging topics, with the first secret topic round of the year for all grades except for D grade. 

The secret debate topics for this round were:

• A Grade: “That we regret the rise of buy-now-pay-later services (e.g. Afterpay)”. The negative teams were faced with the difficulty of defending highly predatory pay day loans.
• B Grade: “That all businesses should go cashless by 2025”. Those who were drawn negative had to find a way to establish for this massive change in less than two years with no chance to research!
• C Grade: “That books should be free to access 10 years after publication”. This was an advised topic when all they were told was that it would be on “Science and Technology”.

A massive round of applause to all those who participated in a secret topic debate, especially C grade, as for many of the C grade debaters it was their first secret topic debate ever!

Even the D grade section, which only has prepared topics, was faced with a tough empirical debate of the topic: “That the government should prioritise funding for the arts over sports.”

Our results for Round 3 are an overall 9 wins and 6, which was particularly impressive as it showcases the quick thinking and adaptability of our debaters to succeed despite these unexpectedly challenging topics. 

Another big congratulations awarded to all our best speakers for round 3:

• Elle D (Year 9)
• Tara G (Year 9)
• Arsh M (Year 9)
• Jehan M-M (Year 9)
• Grace T (Year 9)
• Tanya Y (Year 9)
• Tharul P (Year 10)
• Liam F (Year 11)
• Daniel L (Year 11)

We cannot wait for the upcoming rounds and wish every team the best of luck!

Eleni M and Pranav C

Debating Captains

DAV Intermediate Public Speaking: State Champion

The DAV Intermediate Public Speaking competition was held recently for students in Years 9 and 10. The competition helps to develop and improve our public speaking skills over the course of many speeches. On the day, we presented one prepared speech on an issue of our choosing, and two impromptu speeches on unseen topics. It was a great learning experience for many of us and we also got to listen to other people’s speeches throughout the day.

The Huntingtower students had a variety of topics that we chose to speak on. These ranged from genetic mutation, to cancel culture and to Facebook’s issues with its human rights abuses. The last speech was presented by Olivia W (Year 10), who won the overall competition. With our two impromptu speeches, we had five minutes of preparation with the choice between two topics for each speech. As impromptu speaking was relatively new to some of us, it was a great learning opportunity as well. 

Overall, it was a really enjoyable day. Congratulations to everyone who participated, and especially to Olivia, who is the new state champion!

Helena S 

Year 9

DAV Junior Public Speaking: State Champion

This past Sunday, myself along with five other Year 7 and 8 students had the privilege to partake in the DAV Junior Public speaking competition! The event ran for a full day, involving some of the most talented students from all across the state. The competition required a persuasive speech that dissected one of multiple topics, ranging from materialism to the Australian dream, all which were explored in great detail by the contenders. As well as this, all competitors made two impromptu speeches that were created minutes before they were presented. The unlikely and intriguing topics not only pushed our creative thinking abilities, but the short time frame also forced us to utilise quick thinking and time management skills, enabling us to create the best speeches possible in the short time provided. 

Overall, the day was a massive success, and I believe I can speak for everyone when I say we were all pushed to the limits, yet created some of the most incredible speeches we have ever heard. At the end of the day, Huntingtower emerged with a victory, taking home the title once more! 

A massive thank you to everyone who participated!

Lily H 

Year 8

Congratulations to Lily on placing first in this year’s DAV Junior Public Speaking competition!

Rostrum Voice of Youth (Senior Division): State Finalist 

On Sunday the 28th of May, 9 Huntingtower students from Years 10 to 12 participated in the Easter Metropolitan region of the Rostrum Voice of Youth senior public speaking competition. 

The Rostrum Voice of Youth competition is a public speaking competition where students are given a chance to create a persuasive speech to express their views and communicate a message on a subject they care about. This year’s senior topics were ‘Rite of Passage’, ‘Voice for the Voiceless’ and ‘Shifting Gears’. Those that got into the semi-final performed their initial persuasive speeches once more before delivering an impromptu speech (with 15 minutes preparation time). 

Each student gave an incredible effort, with four of us passing into the semi-final stage of the competition. Huntingtower students represented four out of six of the people that passed into the semi-final stage (an absolute sweep!). Those students included Prisha R (Year 10) who gave insight into ‘sports-washing’, Sophie L (Year 10) who spoke about climate change, Keira L (Year 10) who analysed the effects of AI on our education, and futures and myself (Esha H, Year 12), speaking on the objectification of women in modern society. 

Everyone did brilliantly, and I am happy to say that I won our semi-final and will be competing in the state final on the 18th of June. 

The Rostrum competition allows students to talk about things they are passionate about, as they really value the student’s perspective. I also appreciate the way Rostrum gives you an audience to talk about things you’re passionate about, where your perspective can be seen and heard. It is also really key in developing speaking skills that will come in handy at school and later in life. 

Overall, it was a fun and rewarding day for Huntingtower, and everyone gave a wonderful effort!

Esha H 

Year 12

Rotary Ainger Peck Award: State Finalists 

Ainger Peck Public Speaking award is a yearly public speaking competition held and funded by Rotary Club Richmond. The competition consists of four heats with over thirty competitors per heat held at Melbourne Girls Grammar, followed by a state final held at Amora Riverwalk Hotel in Richmond where the top ten finalists perform their speeches to an audience of over one hundred Rotarians. 

The competition focuses on a speaker’s ability to present their arguments in an engaging manner rather than the content involved in the speech. Leading to some extremely interesting and fun speeches to be presented. This year we had three students enter the competition: Daniel L (Year 11) talking about the importance of food blogs, Chloe D (Year 11) speaking about the problem with too much choice, and myself (Michael X - Year 12) discussing the issues with young people. Both Chloe and I made the state grand final, with Chloe placing third overall. A massive well done to Chloe! 

Over the three years in which I have participated in the competition it has allowed me to forge connections with students from other schools over a lovely dinner at the finals and the wonderful members of the Rotary Club Richmond. This competition is a blast and I would greatly recommend it to any students who want to experience a different form of public speaking.

Michael X 

Year 12

Rostrum Voice of Youth (Junior Division): Semi Finalist

On Sunday 28th of May, 10 students from Years 7 to 9 competed in the Rostrum Voice of Youth Junior Division Competition for the Melbourne Metro region. Rostrum Voice of Youth is a public speaking competition. Students get to voice their views with a 5-to-6-minute prepared speech on a selected topic. There were four heats, and one person from each heat qualifies for the semi-finals, which I (Sahitya I) was lucky enough to earn a place in. In the semi-finals, in addition to the prepared speech, a 2-to-3-minute impromptu speech is required. 

Despite the nerves, Huntingtower performed admirably. Well done to everyone involved!  Rostrum is an amazing opportunity to grow and expand your public speaking skills. I had so much fun connecting with other students and listening to their speeches. I realised how many different views can be expressed on just one topic. Public speaking may seem scary at first, but it’s a confidence-booster and helps you develop skills such as thinking on your feel and overcoming your nerves. I really recommend trying it out! 

Sahitya I 

Year 8

DAV Senior Public Speaking

Last Sunday four Year 11 students, Nathan S, Nikitha S, Josiane M, and I (Nihar P), enthusiastically participated in the DAV Senior Public Speaking Competition. Each of us delivered a persuasive prepared speech on a topic we are passionate about, in addition to tackling two impromptu speaking rounds. These impromptu rounds required us to compose a 4-to-6-minute speech within a 5-minute preparation window based on given topics. 

The competition proved to be a joyful event as we listened to a range of speeches from various students, each offering unique perspectives. In particular, the feedback we received from the adjudicators on the day has provided us with invaluable tools to improve our public speaking skills in the future. A huge thank you to everyone who helped provide us with such valuable opportunities. Of course, all Huntingtower students performed their best and their hard work is undoubtedly appreciated.

Nihar P 

Year 11

Monash Asia Studies Debating Tournament

Our love for debating has been an axiom of all our lives here at Huntingtower. On the 6th of May, the four of us were lucky enough to travel to Monash University to participate in this year’s Monash Asia Studies Debating competition. Competing against schools from all over Victoria, the competition consisted of three debates on various contentious topics, concerning the countries in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The research-heavy topics on the lying flat movement in China, the Bangladesh clothing industry and West Papuan independence, required weeks of preparation and resulted in an improvement in our understanding of high-level debating. Even after the rounds were over, socialising and connecting with the other teams was a wholesome experience that was a great learning opportunity. 

Daniel L, Ethan C, Nihar P, Sanula P 

Year 11