Language Arts
Debating
Best Wishes for the National Schools’ Debating Championship (NDSC)
- Kitty He (Year 11), Captain of Debating at Pymble, NSW NSDC State team member
- Maya Garg (Year 12) 2025 Captain of the NSW NSDC team
We are so Pymble proud of these Debaters. All the best for the forthcoming National Schools’ Debating Championship from Sunday 11 to Sunday 18 May in Sydney. The National Schools Debating Championship 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. Details can be found on the NSDC events page.
NSDC Opportunities
Invitation to all – Please use the code STUDENTENTRY for free entry to the opening ceremony and showcase debate, and national final debate and closing ceremony, available through the NSDC website by clicking here. As we are hosting, we were fortunate to be granted free entry to these high-level student debates. Should students and parents wish to attend, please note that it will be as a private arrangement, not a school excursion. Keen debaters, however, should be very interested in this opportunity.
Pymble is hosting our NSW and interstate NSDC debaters on Thursday 15 May. Please email Mrs Hubbard if you are a 2025 Years 7 to 12 ISDA, Archdale, or FED finals Debater and keen to assist chair, time, or watch a 2.30pm debate.
ISDA and FED
FED
Congratulations to 8B, 8A, Senior B, and Senior A FED teams and coaches, who are through to the quarter finals this Friday 9 May. Co-curricular Administration have notified girls and parents of all venues and timings. 8B will be at MLC, 8A and Senior B will be at Barker, and Senior A will be at Trinity. To other teams who did not break, thanks for the preliminary rounds and see you again!
ISDA
Congratulations to our ISDA Senior B team who won their online make up round five debate last week.
Congratulations ISDA. Six out of our eight ISDA teams broke to Octo finals – Primary B, Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10 and Senior A. This is a significant achievement.
All Pymble ISDA breaking teams have all been allocated to the second round Octofinals, which Pymble will host in KM, on Friday 16 May (due to a clash with NSDC, Senior A may be rescheduled). Guests are welcome to watch debates.
To non-breaking teams – commiserations. Seasons can be fickle! We hope to see you back at Debating for IDC and auditions later in the year.
More Debating Opportunities
ISDA Senior B team – could you please assist in the running of Social Debating? This leadership opportunity will commence in mid-May, on a Friday, and we would love to have you assist. There are many keen debaters willing to learn these valuable skills. Please email your availability. We need your help and expertise!
Senior B and Primary A teams – Could I please have at least two volunteers per team to assist with hosting, catering, room set up, pack up, and chairing your level Octo on the evening as this is our responsibility.
ISDA Octo Final – Friday 16 May at Pymble
| Timing | Debate | School 1 | School 2 | Adjudicator |
| 5.30pm | Primary A | Redlands | Scots | Aman Mohamed |
| 5.30pm | Primary B | Pymble | Redlands | Arwyn Stone |
| 6.15pm | Year 9 | Pymble | Abbotsleigh | Aman Mohamed |
| 6.15pm | Year 8 | Pymble | Abbotsleigh | Riley Landfear |
| 6.15pm | Year 7 | Knox Grammar | Pymble | Arwyn Stone |
| 7.30pm | Senior A | Pymble | Riverview | Aman Mohamed |
| 7.30pm | Senior B | Abbotsleigh | Barker | Riley Landfear |
| 7.30pm | Year 10 | Pymble | Saint Aloysius’ | Arwyn Stone |
Transport To and From Debating Finals
As finals can mean multiple venues, please note that buses will NOT run through finals and parents must be responsible for their daughter’s travel both to and from events. Carpooling is recommended.
Parents are welcome to attend and please note that parents must arrange transport home following their daughter’s debate.
Chinese Debating – NSW Chinese Debating Association
A holiday highlight! Thank you to Mrs Leyya Li, our team parent and Tim Lan, coach. Chinese Debating ran through the recent holidays at Sydney University School of Business. Well done team! Results are in.
- Pymble was placed in the top eight teams
- Pymble were second in their pool and won two out of three debates
- Jessca Xu ranked sixth in speakers
There will be an award ceremony at Sydney University this Saturday.
Student Debating Successes – Congratulations Sophie and Athena!
Recently, Sophie Guo (Year 10) participated in the ANZ round of the Harvard World Schools Debating competition, together with two girls from Queenwood. The team qualified to go to Harvard in Boston next year for the international round as they were one of the top four teams in the competition! Sophie was awarded the fourth best in the Reply Speaker section and fifth Best Speaker overall. Around 150 participated and 51 teams were in attendance. Congratulations Sophie!
From Friday 18 to Sunday 20 April, Athena Wu (Year 8) took part in the 11th Shanghai International Debate Open (SIDO) 2025, held at the Shanghai University of Economics and Finance. It was a British Parliamentary style tournament featuring 160 teams from around the world, including university and high school teams from the UK, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and Ghana. Athena received the following awards:
• U14 Grand Finalist
• 4th Best Speaker (U14 Division)
She also competed in the Harvard ANZ WSDC debate on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 April, hosted at Riverview, and received following rewards:
• 1st Best Reply Speaker
• 9th Best Overall Speaker
Congratulations girls on your success. External tournaments can be incredibly enriching, challenging students to think critically about global issues in a diverse and competitive environment and providing opportunities to make new friends.
Archdale
A preseason meeting was held this week on Tuesday 6 May in the Conde Library Studio.
Round 1 Shield and Invitational Debating begins Tuesday 13 May. Archdale Shield debating Round 1 will be at Meriden. Please book bus tickets through Co-curricular Administration. The bus is not a return bus, and parents are asked to collect their daughters from Meriden following their debates. Co-curricular Administration will send all draw details and timings.
Sydney Social Debating (SSD)
There has been keen interest in Social Debating this term and we look forward to the commencement of this competition.
Friday 16 May – Welcome to SSD coaches
Friday 23 May – Welcome to SSD Teams and Introduction to Debating
Friday 30 May – SSD Round 1
Friday 6 June – SSD Round 2
Friday 13 June – SSD Round 3
Friday 20 June – SSD Round 4
Friday 27 June – SSD Round 5
Public Speaking
Soapbox Stars
Thank you to Katherine Pan (Year 11), Grace McSweeney (Year 10), and Sahana Shasidharan (Year 7) for representing Language Arts so ably at the recent Autumn Festival. Your soapbox speeches were terrific!
DELO – Public Speaking Invitation
“A woman with a strong voice is by definition a strong woman” – Melinda French Gates.
Bravo to Jenny Xu (Year 11), our Public Speaking Captain, who is the first Pymble student to enter this inaugural competition and who has been selected as a finalist. The Dame Enid Lyons Oratory competition is the most prestigious Public Speaking competition for girls in NSW.
The DELO final will be held in the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre, on the evening of Wednesday 21 May from 6.00pm. Please be seated by 5.45pm. Admission is free, and seating is unreserved, although we would like Pymble supporters to form a block and tickets must be booked.
To book accessible seating contact Box Office on 0292507777 Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm
Guests welcome. We ask that all student supporters wear full Pymble uniform.
The presenter will be Dr Julia Baird. The Governor General will also be in attendance.
Mrs Hubbard is booking a Pymble bus to and from this evening event. If you would like to attend with the school, please email your interest and number of tickets ASAP to Mrs Hubbard BHubbard@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au. All welcome! We would love your support. Click here for more information.
Audition Feedback
While general feedback was given at a group meeting for Public Speaking auditions, we understand that many would like more specific feedback. Apologies for the wait. We are looking into using AI to assist with the distribution of specific feedback.
Rostrum Regional
Congratulations to Katherine Pan (Year 11) who is through to Rostrum regionals at Ravenswood on the evening of Thursday 15 May. We wish you all the best in both your prepared and impromptu sections Katherine.
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 travel to PLC Croydon on Tuesday 13 May, and we ask that you attend through school rather than register online. When girls register themselves online, we cannot offer additional training should they progress, and we have a duty of care issue. Any Secondary students 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. Mrs Hubbard will attend the PLC Sydney round.
Pymble Model UN Club (PMUN)
PMUN runs each Monday lunch in DK06. Come along and join us this term. Everyone is welcome! Learn how to prepare for a MUN conference. We will hold our own Winter conference on Saturday 26 July this year. We have also received expressions of interest for a MUN conference to be held at Castle Hill High. Please see our MUN captain, Kiki Chen (Year 11), if interested.
HMUN
Harvard MUN will be held at Cranbrook from Thursday 29 May to Sunday 1 June this year. Co-curricular Administration will provide further information to the twelve girls and parents who registered. All liability waivers need to be sent to Co-curricular Administration ASAP. Delegations will not be issued until all waivers are in.
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 students 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
- A shorter tour which just focuses on The Netherlands and the conference.
Thank you to those who submitted expressions of interest which closed on Monday.
Mock Law
Bond Mooting
The date for our online heat will be held on Tuesday 20 May at 2.30pm.
Young Lawyers’ Justice Day at Wollongong University Friday 2 May
Thank you to the fifteen girls who attended this event. It was a worthwhile day, and girls learnt much about the legal profession.
Mock Mediation
We have decided to open Mediation skills to more than one team. All those in Years 8 to 10 interested in Mediation will be invited to a lunchtime introductory talk. Stay tuned. This is a terrific life skill and will be a fun internal competition.his is a terrific life skill and will be a fun internal competition.
Bronwyn Hubbard
Head of Language Arts