DEBATING matters

St Catherine’s School’s Debating and Public Speaking Program provides students with a strong foundation for success in their academic, professional, and personal lives. The Program develops skills in effective communication, critical thinking, confidence, research abilities, persuasion, conflict resolution, leadership, and networking.

DEBATING matters

Program Coordinators, Ms MaryAnne Keratiotis and Ms Merran O’Connor provide insights into the depth of opportunities available for our debating and public speaking students below.

DEBATING

A dynamic form of public speaking, debating promotes the intellectual exchange of ideas and confidence in students’ abilities to prepare, present and defend logical arguments. Students learn to think quickly and speak with spontaneity through St Catherine’s Debating Program.

Our Senior DAV Interschool Debating Program enables 10 teams of Years 9 to 12 girls to debate both prepared and secret topics against teams from other schools in the region. Coached by past students, our Senior Teams approach training sessions, and debates collaboratively to prepare and present speeches with clarity, confidence, and conviction.

The DAV Junior Secondary Debating Program caters for Years 7 and 8 students. This Program takes place in Terms 3 and 4. Our Junior Teams are supported by Year 11 mentors who help them prepare for their debates. Our Barbreck debaters also enjoy being coached and mentored by our Year 10 debaters who form the C Grade Team in the Debaters Association of Victoria (DAV) Program.

Traditional Debating is offered outside the Senior Debating season through the DAV Women’s Competition and the Deakin Law Debate, both of which attract strong debaters around the State.

MOOTING

An exciting component of the Debating and Public Speaking Program is the opportunity to participate in the Bond University National High School Mooting Competition. This Competition attracts students undertaking

DEBATING & PUBLIC SPEAKING

Legal Studies and sharpens their advocacy skills. Those interested in extending their skills beyond traditional Debating are invited to join the British Parliamentary Competition – a much more adversarial and animated style of Debating. This Competition provides students with the opportunity to develop legal arguments in response to a case study and present them in a simulated court proceeding before a panel of judges. This requires great dedication and resilience, as the students must firstly interpret previous High Court judgements and relevant legislation before applying them to the given case study.

PUBLIC SPEAKING

The ability to speak confidently in a public forum is a highly valued skill and St Catherine’s participates in several Interschool Public Speaking Competitions. Students interested in politics can now join the Robert Menzies Speech Competition. Those students interested in theatre and performance can take part in the Rotary Ainger Peck Public Speaking Award or the Festival of the Speech and Drama Teachers’ Association of Victoria, which reward personality and a strong manner in Public Speaking.

Traditional competitions offered by the Debaters’ Association of Victoria and Rostrum Voice of Youth have seen numbers almost double in the past few years. These competitions provide opportunities for students to explore both persuasive and discursive styles of Public Speaking on a whole range of topical and personal issues which assist them in developing strong personal opinions. Finally, those students who have really honed their skills over the years are encouraged to compete in the VCAA Plain English-Speaking Award, where maturity, originality and substance are the hallmark of the winners each year.

Across all aspects of St Catherine’s Debating and Public Speaking Program our students are supported by expert staff as well as Old Girls who return to Campus to coach the girls. This provides a wonderful mentoring opportunity for both our students and returning Alumnae.

Ms Mary-Anne Keratiotis

Head of English | Debating & Public Speaking Coordinator

Ms Merran O’Connor Debating & Public Speaking Coordinator