Christ’s College win Senior Press 2010
The 2010 Russell McVeagh Canterbury Schools’ Debating Regionals’ Champs were held over the weekend of the 15th & 16th May at St. Andrew’s College, with 22 teams participating.
There were five preliminary rounds with the first two rounds on the motion “This House would allow citizens to sell their vote”. The weekend also saw limited preparation debates on “That Obama did not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize”, “This House would bring back the death penalty” and that “Teachers should be paid on performance”.
The semi-finals were hotly contested, with Christ’s College debating St. Margaret’s College and Papanui High School taking on Christchurch Girls’ High, both on the topic of “That we support mining our national parks”. Christ’s College and Papanui High School emerged as the victors and faced each other in the final that evening.
Papanui High School in the Final
Michael Jones (Papanui) speakes for the affirmative in the final
“This House would refuse to negotiate with terrorists” was the motion for a highly competitive final, which took place in the Canterbury Provincial Council Chambers to an audience of about 100 people. A split panel saw Christ’s College win the debate on the negative, and thus win the Press Cup for 2010.
Christ’s College – Winners, Press Cup 2010
Papanui High School – Runners-Up, Press Cup 2010
The final was kindly attended by our patron, the Dean of University of Canterbury’s Law School, Professor Richard Scragg. We were also privileged to have members of the English Speaking Union (ESU), Canterbury debating’s sponsor, in attendance.
Overall, the weekend was a great success. The following prizes were given out:
Lions Club of Blenheim Pakeke / Christchurch North Pakeke Award for Most Promising Speaker
Billy Clemens (Papanui High School)
Lions Club, Christchurch Host Cup for Most Promising School
Linwood College
Highly Commended speakers
Ashleigh Ooi
Estelle Geach
Cassandra Rea
Canterbury Regional Schools’ Development team
Victoria Rea
Robert Cooper
Billy Clemens
Canterbury Regional Schools’ Debating Squad
Sophie Boot
Zoe Higgins
Tim Robinson
Michael Jones
Perry Carter
Alex Kendall
Canterbury Speaking Union Trophy for Best Speaker
Sophie Boot
Erin Jackson
Convenor, Canterbury Regional Schools’ Debating Champs 2010