The New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships for 2024 continued on 16, 17, 23 and 24 March 2024 with the final five Regional Championships for 2024.
Congratulations to the following: đ
- Mount Manganui College, winners of the Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships;
- Burnside High School, winners of the Canterbury Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships;
- James Hargest College, winners of the Mee & Henry Law Southland Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships;
- Wellington Girls College, winners of the Wellington Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships; and
- St Kentigern College, winners of the Bankside Chambers Auckland Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships.
Over 450 students competed over the course of the two weekends. The Bankside Chambers Auckland Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships was the largest competition that the New Zealand Schools' Debating Council has ever held, with a massive 53 teams competing!
Largest ever Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships
The Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships were held at Tauranga Boysâ College on Sunday 17 March with 34 teams, equalling 2023's record attendance. It was a very high quality competition and weâd like to extend a warm thanks to every school for attending, and to all of the adjudicators who judged the tournament.
Thank you very much to our sponsors, Cooney Lees Morgan, for enabling us to continue supporting talented debaters in the Bay of Plenty. Students were intrigued to hear from Corporate and Commercial Partner Campbell Izzard about the pathways between debating and law. Thanks as well to Sam Uffindell for coming to say a few words to the Bay of Plenty debaters. It was incredibly valuable for students to hear about how sharing opposing opinions leads to a healthy democracy.
Finally, thanks to Ella Mitchell and Travis Dunningham for their hard work as convenors, and to Tauranga Boysâ College for hosting us.
After three rounds of preliminary debates, on topics ranging from sporting etiquette to the best approach to achieving societal change, the two teams progressing to the finals were Mount Maunganui College and Tauranga Boysâ College.
Following an incredibly close final debate, Mount Maunganui College were announced as the winners of the Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships.
Congratulations also to Luca Ririnui (Mount Maunganui College), Ollie Farquharson (Tauranga Boysâ College), and James Bunyan (Tauranga Girlsâ College) who were selected to be a part of the Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Regional Team that will compete at the National Finals of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships in Wellington in May.
From left to right: the members of the 2024 Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty Regional Team; Cooney Lees Morgan Partner Campbell Izzard addressing the participants; Sam Uffindell MP addressing the participants.
165+ students participate in the Bankside Chambers Auckland Regional Schools' Debating Championships
The Bankside Chambers Auckland Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships were held at St. Cuthbertâs College on 23 and 24 March 2024, with 53 teams attending from 24 schools, the highest for any regional competition in the history of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships!
It was a wonderful competition with many high quality speakers of various ages from all over the region. We would like to extend a warm thanks to every school for attending, and to all of the adjudicators who judged the tournament.
Thank you to Hon. David Seymour for coming to say a few words to the Auckland debaters about the value of debate and public speaking. It was inspirational to hear about how public speaking has been valuable throughout Davidâs career journey, from being an engineer to now being a Minister.
Thank you also to Bankside Chambers for their generous support that allowed us to grow the tournament this year, and to Robert Donohoe and Judy Fong for their hard work as convenors.
After four rounds of preliminary debates and highly competitive quarter and semifinals, the two teams in the finals were Pinehurst 1 and Saint Kentigern 1. Following an excellent and entertaining final debate, Saint Kentigern 1 were announced as the winners of the Bankside Chambers Auckland Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships.
Congratulations also to Bruce Zhang (Macleans College), Jamie Pett (Avondale College), Catherine Chen (Kristin College), Matthew Zheng (Kristin School), Alan Chen (Saint Kentigern College), and Reena Wen (Pinehurst College) who were selected to be a part of the two Bankside Chambers Auckland Regional Teams that will compete at the National Finals of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships in Wellington in May.
Left to right: St Kentigern College and Pinehurst College debating in the final; Hon David Seymour addressing the students, and the winning team from St Kentigern College.
James Hargest College wins Mee & Henry Law Southland Regional Schools' Debating Championships
The Mee & Henry Law Southland Schoolsâ Debating Championships were held at James Hargest College on 14 March 2024 with 25 teams from eight schools participating. It was a very high quality competition and we would like to extend a warm thank you to every school for
attending, the teachers who came and supported the students, and to all of the adjudicators who judged at the tournament.
Thanks as well to Hon Penny Simmonds MP for coming and saying a few words to the Southland debaters at the opening ceremony. Penny spoke of the value of public speaking and critical thinking skills for the studentsâ future careers. It was inspiring for the students to hear about the value of the skills that they were practising at the tournament.
We also extend our immense thanks to Mee & Henry Law for sponsoring the competition and the regional team. Their support enabled us to run such a successful tournament and grow the tournament from last year, and it was so lovely to have Mee & Henry Law Director Liz Henry join us on the day.
Finally, thank you to Lara Seaton and Alice McIntosh for their hard work as convenors.
After three rounds of preliminary debates and semi-finals, the two teams progressing to the finals were James Hargest College and Wakatipu High School. Following an entertaining final debate, James Hargest College were announced as the winners of the Mee & Henry Law Southland Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships.
Congratulations also to Roland Cameron (James Hargest College), William Paris (Southland Boys High School), Natalie Snoek (James Hargest College) who were selected to be a part of the Mee & Henry Law Southland Regional Team that will compete at the National Finals of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships in Wellington in May.
Left to right: the two teams speaking in the final; the Hon Penny Simmonds speaking to the participants; and the Mee & Henry Law Southland Regional Schools' Debating Team for 2024.
Canterbury Regional Schools' Debating Championships won by Burnside High School
The Canterbury Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships were held at the University of Canterbury over 16 and 17 March 2024, with 21 teams from 11 schools competing. It was a fantastic weekend and weâd like to give a huge thanks to the teams for attending, and to all of the adjudicators who judged the tournament. Thanks also to Ned Brougham and Thomas Kamo for their hard work as convenors.
After 5 rounds of preliminary debates, the two teams progressing to the finals were St Bedeâs College and Burnside High School. Following an impressive final debate, Burnside High School were announced as the worthy winners of the Canterbury Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships 2024!
Congratulations to everyone who took part, and particularly to Angam Vraich (Rangi Ruru Girlsâ School), Joni Lester (Rangi Ruru Girlsâ School), Sam Allan (Burnside High School) who were selected to be a part of the Canterbury Regional Team that will compete at the National Finals of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships in Wellington in May.
From left to right below: the 2024 Canterbury Regional team and the two teams that competed in the final.
Wellington Girls College wins Wellington Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships
The Wellington Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships were held at St Patrickâs College Kilbirnie on 23 and 24 March 2024, with 20 teams from around the region. It was an incredibly high quality competition and weâd like to extend a warm thanks to all the schools in attendance, and to all of the adjudicators who judged the tournament.
Thanks as well to Chris Bishop, MP for Hutt South, who came in the morning to open the Championships by speaking about the importance of debating, and his own experience as a debater, and also to Ethan Foster and Cara Homewood for their hard work as convenors.
After five rounds of preliminary debates, four teams progressed to the semi-finals, where Wellington College and Wellington Girlsâ College won their respective debates to progress to the finals. Following a spirited final debate, Wellington Girlsâ College were announced as the winners of the Wellington Regional Schoolsâ Debating Championships.
Congratulations to everyone who took part, and particularly to Theo Masseurs (Wellington College), Seb Heine-Sheldrake Scotâs College), Jaskiran Rahi (Scotâs College), Teresa Ng (Wellington Girlsâ College), Nikhil Cox (Wellington College), Kayla Wilson (KÄpiti College) who were selected to be a part of the two Wellington Regional Teams that will compete at the National Finals of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships in May.
Pictured from left to right: Wellington Black; Wellington Gold; the runners-up from Wellington College; and the winners, from Wellington Girls' College.
