This year has been truly exceptional for the Hurstville Campus Debating team. As I reflect on our journey into the world of debating, I am filled with immense pride. For our team, this year marks the successful conclusion of two years of dedicated effort, teamwork, mutual respect and personal growth. Their commitment and perseverance have been truly inspiring.

Our debating team had an outstanding year, achieving results that surpassed our expectations. Although they came very close to winning the regional finals, the experience was an exhilarating one that they will not soon forget.

The dedication shown by our debaters has been remarkable. They consistently pushed themselves to go above and beyond, supporting each other and committing fully to their work, both in the classroom and through virtual platforms. This was a year-round effort, with each member attending rehearsals during recess and lunch without complaint, whilst demonstrating remarkable discipline and focus. The sacrifices they made throughout the season reflect their dedication to the team and I hope they take great pride in the work they’ve put in.

Despite a difficult loss in Regional Finals Round 3, our Junior team displayed remarkable resilience. They took this experience in stride, using it as an opportunity for growth. They finished the season undefeated in five debates, proudly earning the title of zone champions and regional finalists! Though their journey may have ended there, their performance was nothing short of outstanding.

As the coordinator and coach of the debating team, I am incredibly proud of each member of the Junior team. As an educator, it has been a privilege to witness their growth, both individually and as a team. I have been fortunate to share in their successes as well as the challenges they faced along the way. These young men have shown exceptional maturity, intelligence, and dedication.

Looking forward to 2025, I encourage the team to continue their commitment and passion for debating. Recess and lunchtime will again be dedicated to preparation, and I am excited to support them in further developing their skills and achieving even greater success.

As their debating coordinator and coach, I am incredibly proud of all our boys. I shared every success, as well as every disappointment. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with these intelligent, mature and outstanding young men.

To the new Senior Team of 2025, you know what I say: “ get ready to say goodbye to recess and lunchtime in 2025!”. Rehearsals are just around the corner!

Maria Papageorgiou | Debating Coordinator and Coach

GRC Hurstville Campus Debating Team Reports (Highlights)

By Jerry (Speaker 2)

Kirrawee High School:

It was the first match in the knockout round and we all knew that it was getting serious. If just one mistake was made, we would be eliminated. The debate was of high tension. The opposing team cast plenty of high-quality arguments and rebuttals. Yet, we managed to withstand the pressure and won the match applying our best efforts. This crucial win was a great start to our knockout rounds, giving us confidence to perform better in the following debates.

Endeavour Sports High School:

Endeavour Sports High School was our second match in the knockout round. The topic: That schools should have the power to read all of their students' online posts, messages and emails. Although we came out on top, Endeavour still gave us a relentless battle, pushing us to reach our highest potential. Every speaker in this debate reached the peak in their debating career. At the end of the day, this was an amazing achievement for our school.

GRC Penshurst Campus:

For the Semi Finals, we were up against GRC Penshurst Girls Campus- this debate was neck and neck. Penshurst challenged us to the extreme but, unfortunately, they were victorious in this debate ending, our unbeaten run and thus taking us out of the competition. We reflected and we will strive to do even better next year.

Summary:

Overall, our debating journey was fruitful with our team as a whole lifting each other up. We have finetuned and improved both our writing and speaking skills. Each debate had different topics, arguments with each one having unique challenges that forced us to change perspective. Additionally, over the course of our debating journey, our teamwork improved with each speaker growing accustomed and more aware of our specific roles. We are truly disappointed that our debating journey for this year came to an end. Despite losing this year, our team made it to the semifinal making us tied 3rd in the Sydney metropolitan area. Next year we hope to have more success and maybe even make it to Sydney University to compete with other schools from this state.

Junior State Finals Debating Report:

James Ruse Agricultural HS Vs Hornby HS

Venue: Teacher Federation Building

By Declan (Speaker 1)

James Ruse Side Summary

The James Ruse team focused on the negative effects of social media, highlighting issues such as addiction, misinformation and harmful content.

• Speaker 1 discussed how social media algorithms prioritise viewer retention, though her argument lacked structure.

• Speaker 2 emphasised the harmful impact of social media on mental health and the importance of real-life interactions, though some claims were exaggerated.

• Speaker 3 argued against social media filters and promoted age restrictions, though her points lacked clear examples.

Overall, the team presented strong arguments but could benefit from clearer structure and more detailed support.

Hornsby Side Summary

The Hornsby team defended social media, arguing that children would find ways around a ban and highlighting its positive aspects, such as communication and community.

• Speaker 1 focused on loopholes and body standards outside social media, though some points were weak.

• Speaker 2 countered bullying claims and argued that 13-year-olds can be responsible, but some points lacked strength.

• Speaker 3 introduced new arguments but lacked clarity and strong examples.

Overall, the team made valid points but struggled with weak examples and underdeveloped arguments.

Winner: James Ruse Agricultural High School

Thank you, Miss Papageorgiou, for this excursion. I found it enjoyable but especially informative. I felt as if I was a better debater coming away from the experience.

Best Practice: Debating Reflections

By Terry (Speaker 3 or 4)

First up, I enjoyed this excursion a lot. Watching the two best teams in the state debating is a really effective way to learn and improve. And as an audience, it is also entertaining!

How can we improve...

1) Public speaking skills

As the adjudicator mentioned, debating is also a form of public speaking so it requires fluent and clear speech, eye contact and body languages in order to convey the points better and persuade audiences. The speakers in James Ruse are a good example. We could work on this by practising more on this rather than writing and brainstorming and I believe it will be really helpful.

2) Rebuttals

It is always the main problem in our team😂And after watching the match I am truly inspired. They had priorities! They picked the points that would aggressively rebut. This can maximise the effect because we can't rebut everything with such a short prep time.

3) Weighing

We need to evaluate the importance of our points, including the range of stakeholders and how much it matters. For example, in yesterday's match. The affirmative side stated about the negatives of social media which badly affect everybody while the negative side only talked about specifics, for instance, communication, digital community etc which only affect a small group of people and don't really matter that much. That leads to a conclusion that we need to have a main point that affects a lot of people to a large extent when debating.

Overall, all speakers were amazing and I had lots of fun today. Thank you miss for taking us on this excursion!