Ashburton College win “The Press” 2008
‘The Press’ Canterbury Regional Debating Championships were held on Saturday 29 March and Sunday 30 March at St Bede’s College with twenty teams from eighteen schools from Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru and the West Coast competing in the tournament. This year the speech times were increased to 7-8 minutes and points of information were introduced. These new challenges were met enthusiastically by all the students and they preformed exceptionally well.
In Rounds 1 and 2 the teams debated both sides of the motion “This House believes that the return of traditional lands is better for indigenous people than economic compensation”. In Round 3, the teams were given one hour to prepare the motion “This house would remove all government funding for the arts”. In Round 4, teams debated whether the United Nations had failed.
On the Sunday morning the teams debated whether social networking sites should be restricted to over 18s after which the semi-finalists were announced. St Bede’s College, Ashburton College, Papanui High School, and Rangi Ruru Girls’ School made it through to the semi finals where they debated the motion “This House believes the War on Terror has been counter productive”. St Bede’s College defeated Rangi Ruru while Ashburton College beat Papanui High School.
The Grand Final was held at the Provincial Council Chambers to a near capacity audience. The Grand Final topic “This House would allow individuals to sell their organs”, reflected the Bioethics Council’s continued support of the Championships as the Council’s Regional Partner. In a close debate Ashburton College (affirming) defeated St Bede’s College in a 2-1 decision. The winning team comprised James Chapman, Stephanie Lovelock and Scott Summerfield.
A number of awards were given out after the tournament. Highly Commended awards were given to Tim Bain (Shirley Boys’ High School) and Mark Bradley (Timaru Boys’ High School). The Most Promising Speaker of the Championships was Callum Galbreath (Shirley Boys’ High School), with Shirley Boys’ High School being named as the Most Promising School.
The six members of ‘The Press’ Canterbury Schools’ Debating squad were also named:
Simon Inder (St Bede’s College)
Josh Toohey (St Thomas of Canterbury College)
Sean Maskill (St Bede’s College)
Patrick Carroll (St Andrew’s College)
Jayne O’Connell (Villa Maria College)
Scott Summerfield (Ashburton College)
Claire Martin (St Margaret’s College) was named as a reserve.
A Development squad of promising speakers was also named: Callum Galbreath (Shirley Boys’ High School), Hannah Fallow (Christchurch Girls’ High School), and Jonothan Price (St Andrew’s College).
The best speaker of the Championships was Simon Inder (St Bede’s College).
Thank you to St Bede’s for hosting the Championships, and to all of the adjudicators who gave up their time: Jeremy Johnson, Julia Whitehead, Sarah Keast, Richard Flanagan, Hamish Silverwood, Erin Jackson, Hayden Ryan, Ben Lawless, Dave Turner, Nicky Alley, Jeremy Bell-Connell, and Vincent Jagers. Special thanks also to Christopher Bishop and Stephen Whittington who came down from Wellington to adjudicate. We would also like to thank “The Press” who have been sponsoring the competition since 1969.
Rose Austen
2008 Convenor