New Zealand Schools’ Debating

This afternoon Nick, Maria and Jasmin beat Estonia by 3-0, opposing the motion “This House supports compulsory physical education in schools”.

New Zealand is therefore on two wins and six from six judges.

Tomorrow morning Josh, Aria and Jasmin take on Romania, proposing “That all nations have a right to nuclear weapons”. In the afternoon the team is against the United States on an impromptu motion.

New Zealand won against Slovakia in a 3-0 decision, affirming the motion “That we should support military intervention in Somalia”. Josh, Maria and Aria debated.

The 2010 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team, along with New Zealand’s adjudicators and supporters, have arrived in Doha. The tournament kicks off tonight with a formal dinner.

Tomorrow is dedicated to adjudicator training while the teams tour Doha.

Rounds 1 and 2 are on Wednesday February 10. In R1 New Zealand are against Estonia on a prepared motion, proposing “That we should support military intervention in Somalia”. In R2 New Zealand are negating against Slovakia on an impromptu topic.

Doha is ten hours behind New Zealand. We expect round 1 will finish around 10pm New Zealand time on that day. Round 2 will finish around 4pm, which is around 2am NZ time the following day (Thursday).

The Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools Debating Team leaves on Friday for the 2010 World Schools’ Debating Champs in Doha, Qatar.

New Zealand is the reigning World Schools Debating Champions after winning the title in Athens, Greece, last February.

The team consists of Maria English (Captain, Samuel Marsden Collegiate School), Nick Cross (Scots College), Aria Newfield (St Cuthbert’s College), Josh Baxter (Auckland Grammar School) and Jasmin Moran (Chilton St James School).

The team is coached by Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna and will be accompanied by adjudicators Kevin Moar, Christopher Bishop, Claire Ryan, and Rosemary Dixon.

The draw for the tournament was released yesterday:

Round 1 (prepared): “That we should support military intervention in Somalia”
New Zealand v Slovakia

Round 2 (impromptu)
Estonia v New Zealand

Round 3 (prepared): “That every country should have the right to possess nuclear weapons”
New Zealand v Romania

Round 4 (impromptu)
United States v New Zealand

Round 5 (prepared): “That doctors should report evidence of marital abuse to the police”
United Arab Emirates v New Zealand

Round 6 (impromptu)
New Zealand v Israel

Round 7 (prepared): “That terrorist suspects should have a right to a trial in civilian courts”
Nigeria v New Zealand

Round 8 (impromptu)
New Zealand v Australia

Results of each debate will be posted here during the tournament. The first round is on Tuesday February 9.  Wednesday February 10.

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

There was a huge amount of NZSDC alumni competing and judging at the recent World Universities’ Debating Championships held in Turkey.

Two teams of all-NZSDC alumni fought their way through 388 teams and made it to the octo-finals, where they were knocked out.

• Victoria A – Stephen Whittington (Nationals 03, 04, NZ Team 04) and Polly Higbee (Nationals 03, 04, NZ Team 04) – broke 29th
• Auckland A – Ben Milsom (Nationals 03) and Stephanie Thompson (Nationals 07) – broke in 32nd place.

Congrats also go to the following Victoria teams who narrowly missed the break:

• Victoria B – Seb Templeton and Ella Edginton (Nationals 07, NZ Team 07) who finished 48th;
• Victoria C – Kathy Scott-Dowell (Nationals 05, 06, NZ Team 05, 06) and Richard D’Ath (Nationals 06, NZ Team 06) who finished 43rd.

NZSDC alumni were also active on the judging front. Current President of the Council, Christopher Bishop, judged the Grand Final of the tournament. Sayeqa Islam (Nationals 98, 99, NZ Team 98) judged the ESL Grand Final. Jonathan Orpin (Nationals 01, NZ Team 01) judged the main break semis and Jesse Wilson (Nationals 98, 99, NZ Team 98, 99) judged the ESL semi-finals. Gareth Richards (Nationals 01), also broke as a judge.

The New Zealand Development Team have finished as runners-up at the QatarDebate mini-WSDC in Doha. New Zealand lost in the Grand Final to Team Chile.

On the way to the final they defeated the United Arab Emirates affirming “This House believes we should adapt to climate change, not prevent it”, China when opposing “This House believes we should ban boxing”, the United States when affirming “That reality tv does more harm than good”, and Sudan when affirming “This House supports military intervention in Somalia”. They lost one debate – to Chile.

New Zealand also did very well on the speaker tab:

• Nick Orr was ranked 7th
• Sophie Boot was ranked 5th
• Alex Morris was ranked 2nd
• James Penn was ranked 1st!

This is an incredible achievement for a team of year 10 and 11 students (some of whom have not even attended Nationals) and bodes very well for the future of New Zealand schools debating. Well done!

EDIT: Friday, 11pm – corrected topics and added Sudan debate.

A New Zealand Development Team of 5th formers from around New Zealand is currently in Doha, Qatar for a mini-World Schools’ Debating Championships. The tournament is designed for for developing countries and those new to the World Schools format; however New Zealand was also invited to attend.

With the current New Zealand team all having exams, the Executive (with the aid of regional convenors) selected a New Zealand development team to participate in the tournament. The team is: Sophie Boot (Christchurch Girls’ High School), Tim Robinson (St Bede’s College), James Penn (Wanganui High School), Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School) and Alex Morris (Karamu High School).

The team is being coached by Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna (the current NZ team coach) and is also accompanied by NZSDC alumnus Ranald Clouston, who will be adjudicating the tournament.

The Council thanks QatarDebate for their generosity in flying the team to Qatar and hosting them for the duration of the tournament.

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.

The Council is pleased to announce the appointment of Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna to the position of Coach of the 2009 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team.

Clodagh has an outstanding record as a coach at a national level. In 2007, the Wellington team she co-coached won the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships, with all three members selected in the NZ Team. In 2008, a Wellington team she co-coached reached the Grand Final of the tournament, and in 2009 her Wellington team won the tournament again.

Clodagh is a former winner of the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships herself (in 2004) and has achieved considerable success at a university level, such as reaching the octo-finals of the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Champs and the Grand Final of the NZ Universities’ Impromptu Champs.

The Council is sure she will do an excellent job.