Congratulations to our very talented debating teams, especially Finn Kerby-Pinguet, Stella Bloomfield and Thora Moffat who are the regional senior champions for 2023!

Last weekend, Nayland College hosted the annual NZ Schools Regional Debating Championships. NZ Schools Debating organised the competition, and of the 18 teams competing, Nayland College had three junior teams and four senior teams taking part.

There were 4 rounds of debates. The moots were:

• Round 1: This house would prohibit the use of artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT for the creation of academic work
• Round 2: This house make all public transport free
• Round 3: This house, as NZ, would pivot away from the Chinese export market
• Round 4: This house supports the de-platforming of notable public figures (e.g. Donald Trump) by social media platforms

Nayland College are the Regional Senior Champions for 2023, winning the final against Waimea College. The moot was: This House regrets the use of referendums and Nayland were negating.

Team members:

• Thora Moffatt (Year 11)
• Finn Kerby-Pinguet (Year 11)
• Stella Bloomfield (Year 12)

'Best Speaker of the Tournament' went to Stella Bloomfield (who competed via Zoom as she is currently in Chile as part of an exchange programme).

Two of the three students selected for the regional team to compete at the NZ Secondary Schools Debating Nationals in Wellington (May 26-29) are from Nayland:

• Stella Bloomfield (Year 12)
• Finn Kerby-Pinguet (Year 11)

Reserves for the Regional Team:

• Pippa Sussex (Year 13)
• Annabel Batt (Year 12)
• Thora Moffatt (Year 11)

Selected as part of the Regional Development Squad:

• Isla Swanney (Year 13)

Well done to each of you and good luck for the nationals!