Language Arts
Debating
ISDA and FED
Round 5 Week 7 Last Friday 14 March
Our FED teams attended Round 5 at Sydney Boys High School last Friday. Our ISDA debaters had home debates last Friday, with Roseville visiting. Our teams won seven out of seven debates. Well done coaches and students. Thank you to Mrs Ning Cao, Mr Kurt Schweinberger, coaches, parents, and girls for running ISDA so smoothly in my absence.
Round 6 Week 8 This Friday 21 March
Tomorrow, our FED teams will host MLC in the Upper School Common Room and surrounding rooms.
Mrs Ning Cao oversees FED on Friday evenings. Ning is a past Language Arts parent and Pymble staff member.
Our ISDA teams will travel to Shore. Parents are welcome to attend. Girls heading to Shore are to meet at Flagpole Lawn by 3.30pm. A bus will be available for ISDA girls, however tickets must have been purchased through Co-curricular Administration. Return buses will NOT be on offer and parents are required to arrange collection for their daughter(s). Girls will NOT be permitted to take public transport home, unless accompanied by an adult. Shore’s venue information and parking details have been sent out through Co-curricular Administration.
Year 7 currently on camp are still expected to attend Debating, and buses should be back in time for the bus to Shore.
Week 9 Round 7 FED and ISDA Venues for Friday 28 March
FED will travel to Sydney Girls High School next Friday. For ISDA Round 7, Pymble will visit Wenona. Please book bus tickets in advance through Co-curricular Administration and note that parents must arrange transport home following their daughter’s debate.
Round 7 is the last of the preliminary rounds. Details of final rounds will follow.
Make-Up Rounds
Friday 4 April
- Senior A, Barker v Pymble. ISDA Round 3 makeup
- Senior A and Senior B, SBHS v Pymble. FED Round 5 makeup
Friday 2 May
- Primary A and B, Barker v Pymble ISDA Round 3 makeup
- Senior B, Pymble V Roseville ISDA Round 5 online. We are affirmative.
Chinese Debating
More details have arrived and at this stage, we can only enrol Secondary students. We are looking for one team. Please email Mrs Hubbard, bhubbard@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au, ASAP if you interested.
Organisation: NSW Chinese Debating Association
Dates: Formal opening – Saturday 22 March. Competition starts – Saturday 12 April.
Form of debate: Prepared debate. One match per week – three rounds (Weeks 1 to 3) – half (Week 4) – final (Week 5)
NSDC
NSDC is Australia’s premier school debating competition and brings together the most talented young debaters from across the country, fostering excellence in critical thinking, persuasive communication and civic engagement. This year NSDC is coming to Sydney for a week in mid-May. Details and opportunities can be found on the NSDC events page.
Further Debating opportunities
- An externally run Debating camp is being offered in the April holidays. Please click here for more information and the form to enrol.
- Harvard School Australia New Zealand Debating Championship is once more open for registrations. Click here to register. Please direct any questions to competitions@speakerscornerau.com or phone on 02 8091 7946.
Public Speaking
Rostrum
Pymble hosted a Rostrum Public Speaking heat after school in the lower Kate Mason Building and the library classrooms on Wednesday 19 March. Congratulations to our Pymble Junior speakers – Sahana Shasidharan (Year 7), Lexie Wang (Year 7), and Chelsea Wang (Year 7), and our Senior speakers – Katherine Pan (Year 11), Angela Tao (Year 10), and Grace McSweeney (Year 10).
Another speaking opportunity – Soapbox
Pymble’s very own Autumn Festival will be held on Thursday 1 May from 4.30pm to 8.30pm. Language Arts will run a fun Soapbox event. Soapbox is where students get to present a three-to-four-minute, fun speech about a pet peeve. What bugs you? Here is your opportunity to present it in a funny way. Auditions will be run at lunch and after school on Tuesday 8 April. Please email Jenny Xu, Captain of Public Speaking, Jixu@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au or Mrs Hubbard to register your interest Bhubbard@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au
DELO launch
Pymble is pleased to have been involved in the planning and March 2025 launch of DELO – The Dame Enid Lyons Oratory award.
Sonia Berry, IGSA’s Executive Officer, wrote,
“I just wanted to thank you all for supporting this, our first Oratory Competition. It has taken many years of planning, and we are delighted that finally, there is a competition to rival the Lawrence Campbell Competition.”
Lawrence Campbell is the 90-year-old oratory competition run for boys attending independent boys’ school and it has been noted,
“The Lawrence Campbell Oratory is widely regarded as the most prestigious, and difficult of the New South Wales Public Speaking Competitions.
Not anymore! DELO is for the girls!
Ms Berry thanked the committee which is made up of two representatives from the NSW Department of Education, two external speaking coaches, three school speaking coaches, and herself.
The DELO final will be held in the Sydney Opera House on Wednesday 21 May.
Model United Nations (MUN)
Harvard MUN
Harvard MUN in Australia – Pymble is sending a delegation. Thank you to those girls and parents who registered interest. Registrations were completed on Friday 7 March. We look forward to receiving news about our allocated delegation. Late registrations are open if anyone would still like individual entry. Please let Mrs Hubbard know if you are attending. Click here for information.
NSW UN Youth State Conference
Those attending had a wonderful time on Friday 14 to Sunday 16 March. This is often a MUN calendar highlight.
Pymble Model UN Club (PMUN)
PMUN runs each Monday lunch in DK06. Come along. Everyone is welcome! Learn how to prepare for a MUN conference. We will hold our own Winter conference later in the year.
Mock Law
Bond Mooting – Training will commence soon.
Young Lawyers’ Justice Day at Wollongong University
Please email Amber Wang and Mrs Hubbard if interested in this opportunity. This event will be held at Wollongong University on Friday 2 May
Bronwyn Hubbard
Head of Language Arts