Debating

This has been my first year as the Fort Street High School Debating Co-ordinator and it has been a fantastic experience. Before we move on to the many great achievements of our brilliant cohort I want to state that the greatest achievement of this program is the week to week participation of the students who attend after school hours every Monday. This year 63 students joined the program and all of them engaged positively with their peers and coaches throughout the year. The improvements in their ability to structure arguments, critical thinking skills and confidence in public speaking cannot be understated.

Year 12
The Year 12 team consisted of John Bivell, Alexander Coombes, Alicia Gao and Alexander Migdalias. They were a force in the Premier’s Debating Challenge (PDC), going through undefeated in the group stage, with victories over Blakehurst High School, Carringbah High School and Gymea High School. They qualified for the knock out stages of the PDC where they came up against a terrific Sydney Boys team who beat them in a razor close decision that the adjudicator said would have been better suited for the State Final at Town Hall. It was honestly the highest quality high school debate (or Presidential Election debate) that I have seen and all the members should be commended for their terrific results in their graduating year.
On a personal note, John Bivell was chosen as a member of the CHS Debating Team for 2018. Congratulations to a very talented orator.

Year 11
The Year 11 team this year consisted of the talented Ethan Koit, Finnegan Collins, Aidan Elwig-Pollock and Andrew Castley.They were defeated by Canterbury Girls and Sydney Boys in the PDC, but finished off with a great victory over Burwood Girls in their final debate. I expect good results from this team in 2019.

Year 10
The Year 10 PDC team this year have proven themselves a talented group of debaters. Jessica Yoon, Crystal Pham, Max Collingwood and Luca Charlier won the regional finals in a terrific debate against Kirawee High School on September 12. This is an unbelievable achievement. They went undefeated in the group stages against Hurlstone Park Agricultural School and defeated our very strong Year 9 team. From there they won knock out debates against Menai High School, Sydney Secondary College Balmain Campus, Rose Bay Secondary College and finally Kirawee high School. They will now go on to compete against other regional winners in an effort to win a state championship in October.

Years 8 – 9
Our junior teams are filled with very talented and dedicated young debaters. The Year 9 team consists of Danielle Villafaña, Meg Raven, Phoebe Rosser and Madeleine Griswald. The Year 8 team includes Francesca Murphy, Jack Trimmer, Lana Ilic, Emma Richard, Audrey Truong and Veronica Kwong.

Year 7
This young group of debaters have excelled in the program and improved dramatically over the course of 2018. This has seen them win their group in the PDC and advance to the knock out stages of the tournament. They have had victories over Ashfield Boys Years 7 and 8 and very close decision over our talented Year 8 team. I will keep you updated on the progress of Natalie Duong, Leonard Kelley, Dennis Yeo, Unai Martin, Matilda Gibian and Rose Kenyonas they progress in the tournament.

Mock United Nations Assembly
The Rotary Club of Australia runs a Mock United Nations Assembly (MUNA) each year. This year, the Ashfield branch invited Fort Street to represent them at this year’s debate. Our talented Year 10 students Max Collingwood, Crystal Pham and John Townsend represented the nation of Russia at the event held at Sydney Parliament House against a range of Sydney’s public and private schools. Our very own Max Collingwood won an individual award on the day as Speaker of the Day for his hilarious assertions on international politics. I concur Max, further restriction do need to be placed on the USA.

University of Sydney Women’s Debating Day
Fort Street sent two teams of Year 7 and Year 9 girls out to compete at the University of Sydney Women’s Debating Day on August 24. The 8 students – Angelica Wilson, Madeleine Griswald, Danielle Villafaña, Phoebe Rosser, Meg Raven, Abhina Shanmugapryiyan, Natalie Duong, Matilda Gibian– represented the school proudly and were able to engage with a wide-range of talented young women from a selection of Sydney’s public and private schools.

Jonathan Glover