Online Debating Competition

By Maria Zammit | Posted: Thursday May 7, 2020

The debating competition has moved onto an online platform, the Aotearoa Online Schools’ Debating.

Proving that you can’t escape the debating bug once it’s bitten you, four of our seniors (Luke Geddes, Boudewijn Keenan, Liam Connolly, and Viswanath Berry) put together their own team. 

The most exciting thing about this competition is the ability to debate schools from all around New Zealand – their debates so far have been against schools from Auckland and Christchurch, something that isn’t possible in the regular debating competition. 

The debates continue to focus on topical issues, ranging from the political, such as settling refugees or alternatives to prison sentences, to popular culture, like producing children’s movies where the villain wins.

The results from the five debates that have been held are as follows:

8/4: negating team, won against Westlake Boys.

15/4: negating team, won against Macleans College Yellow.

23/4: affirming team, won against Kristin School Red.

30/4: affirming team, won against St Margaret’s College Yellow.

6/5: negating team, lost to Premier White.

Their confidence in changing to a different, online format is a testament to their debating skills. Congratulations, and good luck for the next round – the octofinals!