New Zealand Schools’ Debating

Below is the timetable for Nationals 2010! If you are in Wellington next weekend, feel free to come and watch.

Friday 06 August

6:00 pm            Opening of the New Zealand Finals. Briefing for all teams.

6:30 pm            Limited preparation debate

Saturday 07 August

8:00 am            Breakfast at Rutherford House, Victoria University of Wellington, corner     of  Lambton Quay and Bunny S

8:30 am            Topic for Round 1 announced (one hour preparation).

           Theme: Privatisation

9:30 am            Round 1

11:00 am           Morning tea.

11:30 am           Topic for Round 2 announced (one hour preparation).

                        Theme: The European Union

12:30 pm           Round 2

1:45 pm            Lunch

2:30 pm            Topic for Round 3 announced (one hour preparation).

3:30 pm            Round 3

5:00 pm            Return to Ibis Hotel.

7:00 pm            Quiz and pizza night for competitors at Rutherford House.

9:30 pm            Competitors return to Ibis Hotel.

Sunday 08 August

8:30 am            Breakfast

9:00 am            Topic for Round 4 announced (one hour preparation).

10:00 am          Round 4

11:30 am           Lunch

12:30 pm          Topic for Round 5 announced (one hour preparation).

1:30 pm            Round 5.

3:00 pm            Semi-finalists announced, topic for semi-finals announced (one hour preparation).

4:00 pm            Semi-finals.

5:30 pm            Briefing for all teams. Sides for the Grand Final announced.

7:15 pm            Formal Dinner at Zibbibo Restaurant.

Monday 09 August

8.45am             Official photographs of all teams on the front steps of Parliament

10:00 am          GRAND FINAL at Legislative Council Chamber, Parliament Buildings.

11:30 am           Presentation of prizes.

12:00 pm          Morning Tea in the Grand Hall

The Council has appointed Joe Connell as this year’s Nationals Chief Adjudicator.

Joe is a highly experienced schools debating coach and adjudicator. He won the National Champs in 2002 as a member of the CNI Team and coached the CNI Team in 2006 and 2007. He has adjudicated at the Wellington, CNI and Hawke’s Bay Regional tournaments for a number of years and was a highly successful university debater who has been the best speaker at all three major NZ tournaments.

The Council has also appointed Christopher Bishop and Gareth Richards to join Joe as part of the Motions Committee for this year’s tournament.

Christopher is the President of the Schools’ Debating Council and has served on the Nationals Motions Committee for a number of years. He recently adjudicated at the World Schools’ Debating Championships for New Zealand.

Gareth is a former executive officer of the Council, coach of a Wellington regional team, and competitor at Nationals for CNI in 2001. He has adjudicated at numerous regional tournaments in New Zealand as well as at the World University and Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships.

The New Zealand Schools Debating Council has now opened applications for the following positions for the National Finals of the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships:

• Chief Adjudicator of the National Finals (1)
• Adjudicators of the National Finals (no set number)
• Motions Committee for the National Finals (3)

Below you will find role descriptions for each of the above three positions.
 
To apply, please send a short debating and/or adjudication CV to the President of the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council (president@debating.org.nz) by 5pm on Friday June 11. Appointments will be made early the following week.
 
Please pass this message on to all who might be interested.
 
Chief Adjudicator
 
The Chief Adjudicator heads the Motions Committee for Nationals (explained below). They also advise the Council on the appointment of adjudicators for Nationals. During the weekend the Chief Adjudicator is responsible for the allocation of adjudicators to debates (preliminary rounds, semi-finals and Grand Final) and the running of the draw. The Chief Adjudicator is also head of the panel which selects the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team.
 
The Chief Adjudicator obviously must be available to be at Nationals in Wellington from 6 to 9 August. The Council will meet the flight and accommodation costs of the Chief Adjudicator should they hail from outside Wellington.
 
Adjudicators

We are also looking for adjudicators for Nationals. If you:

• are experienced at judging schools’ debates;
• can deliver articulate oral adjudications;
• command respect as an adjudicator; and
• are available to be in Wellington from Friday 6 to Monday 9 August;

Then we’d love to hear from you. Judges from outside of Wellington will have their flight and accommodation costs covered by the Council.

Motions Committee

The Motions Committee consists of the Chief Adjudicator and two other persons. The Committee decides all the motions used at Nationals.

To apply for any or all of the above positions, please send a short debating and/or adjudication CV to the President of the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council (president@debating.org.nz) by 5pm on Friday June 11. Appointments will be made early the following week.

The first of the nine Russell McVeagh Regional Schools’ Debating Championships kicks off in a couple of weeks with Nayland College hosting schools from the Nelson / Marlborough region, as well as the West Coast.

Reports, results and photos will be published here soon after the tournaments have finished, so keep checking back over the next couple of months.

All schools in New Zealand will soon be sent the 2010 New Zealand Schools Debating brochure, which invites them to enter their local Regional Schools’ Debating Champs.

See below for the dates and venue of each Regional tournament, along with the regional convenor. Please contact them for more information.

Northland – Sunday 25 April at Kerikeri High School
Contact: George Minton

Auckland – Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 May at St Kentigern College
Contact: Stephanie Thompson

Waikato – Saturday 22 May at the University of Waikato
Contact: Akif Malik

Central North Island – Sunday 16 May at St Peter’s College
Contact: Yogesh Patel

Hawke’s Bay – Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 April at Lindisfarne College
Contact: Udayan Mukherjee

Wellington – Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 May at a venue TBA
Contact: Stephen Whittington

Nelson / Marlborough – Saturday 27 March at Nayland College
Contact: Rose Austen

Canterbury – Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 May at a venue TBA
Contact: Erin Jackson

Otago / Southland – Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 May at Otago Boys’ High School
Contact: William Cheyne

At the Annual General Meeting of the NZ Schools’ Debating Council in August, a new executive was elected. The new executive took office on October 1 and comprises:

President: Christopher Bishop
Vice-President: Rosemary Moar
Treasurer: Yogesh Patel
Executive Officers: Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna and Desley Horton

Jordan Ward stepped down as Treasurer after two years in the role and Stephen Whittington stepped down after one year as an executive officer. The Council thanks them for their hard work over the past year(s) and looks forward to their continued involvement in schools debating.

• be experienced at judging debates in the World Schools format (which is what is used in New Zealand)
• be able to judge from round one of Worlds (ie, not be a trainee or shadow judge for the first few rounds due to inexperience or having recently attended the tournament);
• represent New Zealand with pride and professionalism at the tournament; and
• Have shown a past or future committment to New Zealand schools’ debating

New Zealand is considering bidding for the right to host the World Schools’ Debating Championships in February 2012. If you are interested in joining the bid team for the tournament and/or the organising committee, please get in touch with Rosy Moar at rosymoar@gmail.com

The latest edition of the NZ Schools’ Debating Council newsletter “Declined for Rudeness” is now available to download: Download Now

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, please email the president of the NZSDC: president@debating.org.nz

On Monday 11 May the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Hon John Key, hosted a reception in the Grand Hall of the New Zealand Parliament to congratulate the world champion Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team.

Update: Photos from this event are now available in the photo gallery.

The speeches from the event were videoed and you can see them by clicking here or at the bottom of this post. The Prime Minister speaks first, followed by Maria English (Captain of the NZ team), Tim Clarke (Partner at Russell McVeagh), and Christopher Bishop, the President of the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council.

Also present were the Minister of Education, Hon Anne Tolley, the Attorney-General, Hon Christopher Finlayson, the Minister of Revenue, Hon Peter Dunne, and Jacinda Ardern MP (a New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council alumna), along with proud family and friends.

Nationals will be held this year from Friday August 7 to Monday August 10.