UNSW Debating excursion

debating at St Agnes Rooty Hill

Year 9 and 10 debating teams had the unique opportunity to go the Kensington Campus of the University of New South Wales to compete in a debating tournament against a variety of local schools.

Each team member had 30 minutes to come up with a 5-7 minute speech to convince the adjudicator of their case. It was a gruelling task but one that both teams proved themselves to be capable of surmounting.

The ﬁrst debate was on the topic of "All students should be forced to complete Year 12". Both of our teams were afﬁrmative but neither team won this round.

The second debate was on the topic of "The media should not report on celebrity drug issues". Again both teams were affirmative and our Year 10 team won this round but our Year 9 team did not.

The third debate was on the topic "Mandatory voting should be abolished". Year 10 also won this round although Year 9 did not, both teams were afﬁrmative.

Although neither team made it to the ﬁnal round or won the competition, both teams learned some valuable skills. Both teams were given the opportunity to work on their improvisation skills and argument development as well as time management skills while preparing. The students thoroughly enjoyed the unique learning experience.