Language Arts
Debating
ISDA and FED
Round 6 Week 8 Last Friday 21 March
Our FED teams hosted MLC in Round 6 last Friday. Our teams won four out of eight debates. Well done coaches and students. Thank you to Mrs Ning Cao, coaches, and girls for a smooth round.
Our ISDA teams travelled to Shore where they won six from eight debates. Congratulations. Our Senior A and Year 10 teams remain undefeated. This is a commendable achievement at this high level of debating.
Round 7 Week 9 this Friday 28 March
Tomorrow, our FED teams will travel to Sydney Girls’ High. Co-curricular Administration will have forwarded venue and parking details for parents. Please ensure bus bookings have been completed. 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 Wenona. 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. Wenona’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 Vision Valley buses should be back in time for girls to catch Debating buses.
Parents are welcome to attend and please note that parents must arrange transport home following their daughter’s debate.
Round 7 is the end of FED and ISDA preliminary rounds. This will mean that some teams will not progress to finals and this week will mark the end of their season. Stay tuned for those teams progressing.
As finals can mean multiple venues, please note that no buses will run through finals and parents must be responsible for their daughter’s travel both to and from events. Carpooling is recommended.
Make-Up Rounds
Friday 4 April
- Senior A, Barker v Pymble. ISDA Round 3 makeup. Face to face at Barker. Prep commences at 5.00pm
- Senior A and Senior B, SBHS v Pymble. FED Round 5 makeup. Online from Pymble, to be confirmed.
Friday 2 May
- Primary A and B, Barker v Pymble ISDA Round 3 makeup. Face to face at Barker.
- Senior B, Pymble v Roseville ISDA Round 5 online. We are affirmative.
Chinese Debating
Thank you to Mrs Leyya Li, our team parent, who attended the opening ceremony on Saturday at The University of Sydney with her daughter. Please email Mrs Hubbard, bhubbard@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au, ASAP if you are interested in this new offering. Round 1 commences on Saturday 12 April.
Organisation: NSW Chinese Debating Association
Form of debate: Prepared debate. One match per week – three rounds (Weeks 1 to 3) – half (Week 4) – final (Week 5). Rounds will be conducted on weekends, at The University of Sydney, School of Business.
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
UN Voice of Youth, National Finalists!
Congratulations to Katherine Pan (Year 11) and Hakone Liceralde (Year 10) who have both progressed to the national finals of the UN Voice of Youth Public Speaking competition. This competition will be held on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 April. Best wishes girls and congratulations from all the Language Arts ‘family’, on your progression to the national finals.
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). All our speakers were strong, and the North Shore heats are of a very high standard. Special congratulations to Katherine and Angela who were runners up in their heats.
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.
Bravo to Jenny Xu (Year 11), our Public Speaking captain, who was the first Pymble girl to enter this competition. Her heat was last night. Results to follow.
Model United Nations (MUN)
EVATT – UN Youth
Requiring no prior debating experience, Evatt immerses young people in Years 9 to 12 to uncover the driving forces of influence that threaten to destabilise world order all while mastering the art of public speaking through negotiation. Going beyond ordinary debating, Evatt challenges delegates to think critically, problem solve carefully, and search for answers in the rapidly changing world of current affairs surrounding them.
Evatt commences in May. This is a highly valued diplomacy competition where girls work in pairs to represent a country. Pymble plans to take a bus to Cranbrook, and we ask that you register and attend through school rather than register online individually. When girls register themselves online, we cannot offer additional training should they progress, and we have a duty of care issue. Any senior girls who still wish to register themselves, should ensure this occurs on a weekend rather than a weekday, and parents, please note a teacher from Pymble will not accompany the girls to UTS.
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.
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. We have received expressions of interest for a MUN conference to be held at Castle Hill High. Please see our MUN captain, Kiki Chen (Year 10) if interested.
THIMUN – THE Hague 2026 Proposed International Tour
In January this year, Pymble Language Arts girls attended THIMUN, The Hague which was a wonderful opportunity. Having secured a highly coveted place at this Model United Nations conference, we are keen to attend again this year as membership is ongoing and we do not want to lose our place.
The proposed January 2026 Language Arts tour will be open to girls currently in Year 8, 9, 10 and 11. We are currently gaining prices on two options – a two week tour including a visit to Paris, prior to travelling on the Eurostar to the Netherlands and journeying to The Hague for the conference, or a shorter tour which just focuses on The Netherlands and the conference. If you have a preference, Mrs. Hubbard would love to hear from you ASAP!
An international MUN conference is an amazing experience. THIMUN has over 3000 students from around the globe attending. These experiences for learning and growth are valued highly in Europe and by ivy league universities. This opportunity is open, but girls must join our own PMUN club and attend regularly to apply.
Mock Law
Bond Mooting – Training will commence soon.
Young Lawyers’ Justice Day at Wollongong University on Friday 2 May
Thank you to those who have registered interest. Notes have been sent via Co-curricular Administration. The bus will leave Pymble at 7.30am and return at 5.30pm.
Bronwyn Hubbard
Head of Language Arts