New Zealand Schools’ Debating

There’s been a range of articles in regional and national newspapers following Nationals.

The Manawatu Standard did a profile on new NZ Team member Aric Shakur – click here to read it.

The Otago Daily Times also profiled the new NZ Team Captain, Kieran Bunn. Click here for that.

A small article on p 2 of the Dominion Post the day after the final:

And finally a small article in The Press, also the day after the final.

Here are the full list of results from Nationals 2010. Click here for a full report.

Winners: Wellington Black
James Gavey (Scots College)
Thomas Mitchell (Wellington College)
Duncan McLachlan (Wellington College)
Coaches: Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna and Stephen Whittington

Runners-Up: Auckland Blue
Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School)
Jessica Storey (St Cuthbert’s College)
Frederick Thursfield (King’s College)
Coaches: Stephanie Thompson and Glenn Riddell

Highly Commended speakers:
Olivia Hall (St Cuthbert’s College)
Jessica Storey (St Cuthbert’s College)
Cameron Price (Napier Boys’ High School)

Rosemary Dixon Cup for the Most Promising Speaker:
Kimberley Savill (Nayland College)

2010 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team:
Kieran Bunn (Logan Park High School)
Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School)
Duncan McLachlan (Wellington College)
Aric Shakur (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Sophie Boot (Christchurch Girls’ High School)

Russell McVeagh Cup for the Best Speaker at the 2010 National Championships:
Kieran Bunn

Andrew Stockley Cup for the Captain of the 2010 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team:
Kieran Bunn

And some photos (courtesy of the Office of the Governor-General)

And an article about the best speaker in the Otago Daily Times is here.

Press release just issued

NZ’s top student debaters to confront alcohol law reform
 
Thirty six of New Zealand’s top secondary school debaters will gather in Wellington this weekend for the National Finals of the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools Debating Championships, hosted by Victoria University of Wellington.
 
Teams from Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury, Otago-Southland, Hawke’s Bay, Northland, Central North Island, Waikato and Nelson-Marlborough will take part in five preliminary rounds of debates over the weekend at Victoria University of Wellington’s Law School.
 
Students will only find out the topic and what side they are to argue one hour before the debate.
 
The Grand Final between the top two teams at the Championships will take place in the Legislative Council Chamber at Parliament on Monday 9 August at 10am, hosted by Hon Peter Dunne, and attended by the Governor-General.
 
The motion for the Grand Final is the highly topical “That we should ban all forms of alcohol advertising”
 
The New Zealand Drug Foundation and Alcohol Advisory Council are partnering with the Championships this year and the topic reflects their support of well-informed debate about drug issues in New Zealand.
 
Christopher Bishop, the President of the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council which organises the tournament, said that the final topic should make for a great debate in a highly appropriate setting.
 
“The Law Commission’s report on alcohol use in New Zealand has kick-started a debate about our drinking culture and it will be fascinating to see what arguments New Zealand’s brightest young minds make for and against the motion”, he said.
 
Wellington are the defending champions.
 
The best five speakers at the tournament will be named as members of the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team and represent New Zealand at an international tournament in early 2011.
 
The Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships have been held annually since 1988 and are recognised as the country’s most prestigious school debating competition.
 
Members of the public and media are invited to watch the debating action at the Victoria University Law School this weekend. A full timetable of when and where the rounds are on can be found at www.debating.org.nz.
 
For more information, please contact the President of the Council, Christopher Bishop, on 027 683 8993 or president@debating.org.nz

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.

Photos taken during the national finals of the 2009 Russell McVeagh NZ Schools’ Debating Championships (August 7-10) are now available online.

If you would like to receive high resolution electronic copies of any of these photos please request these from Christopher Foulkes by email. If you would like a hard copy of these photos, these can be purchased from Stephen A’Court, Stephen A’Court Photography, phone 04 381 0304 or 027 446 0077 or email photo.boy@clear.net.nz

Here’s a link to a great article in the Dominion Post on Wednesday 12 August about the three Wellingtonians named in the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team at Nationals.

The article is also available on Stuff here.

Wellington Black defeated Wellington Gold in the Grand Final this morning, in an unanimous decision.

Here are the full list of results from Nationals 2009.

Winners: Wellington Black
Carlos Bowkett
Maria English
Jodie O’Neil

Runners-Up: Wellington Gold
Nick Cross
Julia Wells
Jasmin Moran

Highly Commended speakers:
Tom O’Brien (Canterbury Black)
Jodie O’Neil (Wellington Black)
Kurt Purdon (Otago/Southland)

Rosemary Dixon Cup for the Most Promising Speaker at the 2009 National Championships:
Cameron Price (Hawke’s Bay)

Reserves to the NZ Schools Debating Team:
Corinne Marti (Northland)
Rory Nolan (Auckland Blue)

2009 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team:
Maria English (Wellington Black)
Nick Cross (Wellington Gold)
Josh Baxter (Auckland Blue)
Aria Newfield (Auckland White)
Jasmin Moran (Wellington Gold)

Russell McVeagh Cup for the Best Speaker at the 2009 National Championships:
Maria English

Andrew Stockley Cup for the Captain of the 2009 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team:
Maria English