Debating and Public Speaking Success to Start the Term

Debating and Public Speaking Success to Start the Term

ISDA Debating Achievements

Our Debating and Oratory students have begun the term with great determination and focus. In the ISDA competition, all eight of our teams successfully qualified for the Octo Finals, which is a significant accomplishment considering there are 32 schools competing in total.

The Octo Finals are conducted over a two-week draw. Last Friday, four of our teams competed for the chance to progress to the Quarter Finals. Our youngest debaters, the Primary A team from Year 6, achieved an outstanding victory.

  • Emma Mo
  • Florence Everitt
  • Olivia Wang
  • Erin Chen
  • Nina Bai

At the other end of the spectrum, our most senior and experienced group, the Senior A Year 12 team, secured a memorable win against their long-time rivals, Sydney Grammar, allowing them to progress to the Quarter Finals as well.

  • Harriet Hahn
  • Jordan Vo
  • Elena Sun
  • Elena Tulloch
  • Amelia Tchan

This coming Friday, the remaining four ISDA teams will have their opportunity to compete for a place in the Quarter Finals, hoping to join their peers in the next stage of the competition.

Public Speaking Award Success

Competing in the finals in a debating team requires substantial resilience, but delivering a solo performance in the Public Speaking Award Local Finals is even more demanding. On Monday, our Year 11 student, Meena Kanthathas, represented our school at Strathfield Girls High School, facing off against 15 other Senior students. Meena presented an impressive eight-minute prepared speech, followed by a three-minute impromptu speech. Her outstanding performance in both sections saw her win through to the Regional Final, which will take place in a few weeks.

While managing our ongoing competitions, we also initiated our efforts to excel in two additional debating tournaments this week: the IPSHA Primary Debating Competition, featuring four teams, and the Archdale All-Girls School Competition, consisting of twelve teams. So we are a very busy but happy group of co-curricular students as you can see in the photos.

– Andrea Rowe
Oratory Co-ordinator

Banner photo – ISDA Senior A Team and coach Brendan Waters.