GRANT High School Year 9 students honed their debating skills with an inter-class competition recently.
Eight teams representing each of the Year 9 English classes battled it out over eight debates.
The affirmative and negative teams explored, defined and rebutted two contentious issues – “zoos do more harm than good” and “censorship of the internet is inappropriate”.
Former Grant High School teacher and debating aficionado Marg Kaethner adjudicated and provided insightful feedback.
The annual competition is integrated with a core English unit and taught as part of Grant High School’s Year 9 curriculum.
It was a tight contest with scores close all day.
Two teams emerged as victors and advanced to a grand final.
The team from Fiona Mitchell’s class comprising Caitlin Clements, Mitchell Little and Ethan Thomas faced Ms Ramzan’s team of Sienna Dougherty, Maia Naismith and Abbey Dyson.
The topic of “Australia should introduce a tax on foods that are high in sugar” had each team salivating at the chance to prove their argument to be true.
Sienna Dougherty was the first affirmative speaker, who defined the topic succinctly and set the tone for the afternoon with her animated speech.
Caitlin Clements rebutted well for the negative team and was equally convincing in establishing her own points.
Maia Naismith then spoke for the affirmative and was able to question the validity of Caitlin’s argument and presented her own points with conviction.
Mitchell Little then stepped onto the stage and supported his team well by rebutting and presenting sophisticated arguments reinforced by quality evidence.
Abbey Dyson was the third speaker for the affirmative and with minimal preparation was able to successfully rebut the negative teams arguments and emphasise the affirmative’s position.
Ethan Thomas was the last to grace the stage, with arguably the toughest speaking job and he rebutted admirably.
The affirmative team was awarded the win while the negative team was commended on its efforts.
Abbey Dyson was awarded best speaker for her outstanding presence and delivery.
