Oratory at Cranbrook
Cranbrook Oratory is a broad church that consists of the following societies, clubs and activities:
- Competition and Social Debating
- Legal Debating (Mooting and Mock Trial)
- Model United Nations
- Public Speaking
These programmes support students in thinking critically about issues, developing the art of reasoned argument, being active listeners and expressing themselves with purpose, clarity and respect. Cranbrookians involved with one or more of these programmes for a sustained period of time consistently represent in the School’s lists of strongest academic achievers, having gained vital academic qualities in the co-curricular space that translated into the classroom.
Last year’s achievements
In 2023, Cranbrook’s oratory programmes achieved numerous successes. Some of the highlights included:
- Climbing to 14th ranking in the Independent Schools Debating Association, with 4 out of 6 teams making the final rounds,
- Runners-up in the Years 7 and 8 Eastside Debating Competition and doubling our overall number of wins to record the best tally board since joining in 2013,
- Securing 3 Cranbrookians in the CAS Representative Debating squad, all Year 11s who beat out many Year 12s across rival schools,
- One of our junior teams ranking 5th / 85 teams in their division of the International Debating Championships and all junior teams ranking in the top half of schools for that tournament,
- Placing in the Top 32 teams in the International Public Policy Written Debating Competition, building on the previous year’s Top 64 achievement,
- Earning our first win in the Rostrum Public Speaking Competition and fourth place in the prestigious Lawrence Campbell Speaking Competition,
- Securing 3 teams in both the state-wide Evatt and Negotiations Competitions, with our seniors going all the way to the Evatt Grand Final and being offered a chance to attend nationals.
While there is much to celebrate, it is important to remember that these successes – and the many personal and collective achievements not listed above – come off the back of sustained effort by students and their coaches and teachers. The energy and rigour of Cranbrook’s oratory programmes enable students to develop fundamentals, gain personalised feedback, and thrive in social and competitive environments.
The year ahead
2024 promises to be another exciting year for our programmes, which have attracted incredible numbers of students (Model UN drew an expression-of-interest list of over 100 students – a far cry from the 8 or so students who irregularly met less than 3 years ago). The desire to engage in the big issues of our time and to cultivate confidence and skill in speaking publicly is palpable, and so we look forward to continuing our growth mantra for all oratory areas.
Debating welcomes the elevation of long-standing coach Jeremiah Edagbami to the newly minted role of Head Coach, who is already delivering a dynamic and visionary agenda for further enriching our nationally and internationally experienced coaching team so they can continue to enhance the student experience. In Semester 1, we reach for another rung up the ISDA and Eastside rankings. Beyond our Friday night competition schedule, students have the opportunity to enter a range of debating skills building and competition events, with one in partnership with the University of Oxford and Cambridge already open for sign up. We are poised to enter senior debaters into the Bond University Mooting and NSW Law Society’s Mock Trial competitions, commencing our offering of this unique branch of school-based debating. For the first time, we also intend to host weekend debate gala days that will invite teams from near and far, connecting debaters with the university circuit and introducing them to a whole new level of speaking.
The significant expansion of Model UN sees us welcome our first external coach, who will support our senior students to master the nuances of diplomatic debate and negotiation and enable them to achieve their dream of making our popular weekday lunchtime sessions truly student led. In addition to encouraging students to enter the annual local, state and national competitions, we will also be participating in crisis summits for the first time. Our ever-popular Cranbrook-hosted inter-school MUN days will return with some new features, and we look forward to offering Cranbrookians opportunities to engage with fellow MUN students from overseas via video call until such time it proves viable to travel abroad (regrettably, our planned Debating and Diplomacy Tour to the USA was unable to proceed this year, though we will be pursuing fresh ventures in the near future).
Public Speaking will continue to offer students developmental support on Monday afternoons and target individuals to represent Cranbrook at major competitions. Last year’s successful resurrection of the Eastside Oratory evening will return this year and there will be other speaking events organised to provide our students with exposure to as much practical application as possible. New this year will be the introduction of a Voice and Communication curriculum, which will offer students enrolled the capability of sitting formalised exams and attaining certification in the discipline of Public Speaking. Senior student leaders are also being offered a bespoke staff-led series of workshops to better support their engagement with the student body through powerful, pointed and performative speech.
Throughout the year, students will receive details and sign-up forms via their school-based communications. We will also be updating our wider community through Cranbrook Connect articles like this one. Stay tuned for so much more in 2024!
Commencement of oratory programmes
The following table lists all major oratory programmes, their commencement date, year groups invited, and details about student sign-up. In all cases, it is the responsibility of students to enquire or sign-up. We do not accept sign-up by parents.
| Programme | Commences | Open to Year Groups | Student Sign-Up |
| Competition Debating | Year 7 trials are held 3.30-8.00pm Friday 2nd February Years 8-9 trials are held 8.00am-12.00pm Sunday 4th February Years 10-12 trials are held 11.00am-3.00pm Sunday 4th February All trials are held on level V4 of the Vicars Centenary Building. Trials are closed to spectators. Year 7 parents must collect their son from the Rose Bay Avenue gate at 8pm on Friday 2nd February. Students trialling on Sunday 4th February will be released at the end of their debates. Students will learn if they make a team on Monday 5th February, with first competition training on evening of Friday 9th February. | All year groups. | Year 7s have had the opportunity to sign up via house mentors and at Brook Day, held lunchtime Thursday 1st February. Students who expressed interest will receive an email. Years 8-12 students signed up end of Term 4 last year and new students were invited by house mentors to express interest. |
| Social Debating | Thursday 15th February from 3.30-5.30pm, with sessions taking place weekly on the same weekday and time. | Open to Years 7-10 students. | Students will receive an email week beginning Monday 5th February. |
| Mooting | Thursday 8th February from 3.30-5.30pm, with sessions taking place fortnightly on the same weekday and time. | Open to Years 10-12 students. | Sign-up is now closed, though students interested in joining must contact the coordinator, Mr Benjamin Smith, directly. |
| Mock Trial | Thursday 15th February from 3.30-5.30pm, with sessions taking place fortnightly on the same weekday and time. | Open to Years 9-12 students. | Sign-up is now closed, though students interested in joining must contact the coordinator, Mr Benjamin Smith, directly. |
| Model UN | Lunchtime sessions commence Wednesday 7th, Thursday 8th and Friday 9th February. These occur weekly. Students have been allocated their weekday via email. | Open to Years 8-12 students. | Sign-up is now closed and we are unable to accept newcomers this semester due to already subscribed numbers. Semester 2 sign up will come out in Term 2. |
| Public Speaking | Monday 12th February from 3.30-5.30pm, with sessions taking place weekly on the same weekday and time. | Open to all students. | Year 7s have had the opportunity to sign up via house mentors and at Brook Day, held lunchtime Thursday 1st February. Students who expressed interest will receive an email. Sign-up for Years 8-12 students is now closed, though any student interested must contact the coordinator, Mr Benjamin Smith, directly. |
| Voice and Communication | To be advised. | Initially open to Years 7-8 students, potentially Year 9. | Students and parents will receive communication about an information evening sometime during Term 1. |
Community involvement
While processes like trials are closed to spectators, we welcome parents, families and friends of students to attend most oratory events. For those wishing to attend throughout the year, we encourage you to keep an eye out for notices on Cranbrook Connect.
Earlier in this article, credit for the successes of our programmes was given to the efforts of students, coaches and teachers. It has also been the unwavering support of our wonderful community that enhances the atmosphere of numerous competition evenings and special events. We look forward to seeing familiar faces and welcoming new members to our fraternity over the coming terms.
Contact
Should you or your son have any further questions about any of Cranbrook’s oratory programmes, you are welcome to reach out to Mr Benjamin Smith at bsmith@cranbrook.nsw.edu.au. In the first instance, students should be making contact about getting involved.
Essential information and highlights for parents will be posted here on Cranbrook Connect as part of the Thursday Link. Students involved in oratory programmes will receive updates via their respective Canvas or TEAMS channels.
Benjamin Smith
Debating Coordinator