Junior Premier Grade – Round One Results

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The results from round one of the Junior Premier Grade are now in.

Topic: That the ANZAC legend has been over-rated

Winners in bold below.

Queen Margaret College v Wellington College
St Catherine’s College v Wellington East Girls’ College
St Mary’s College v Wellington High School
Wellington Girls’ College v Samuel Marsden Collegeiate School
St Patrick’s College (Wellington) v Scots College
Chilton St James School v Hutt Valley High School
Tawa College v Onslow College
Taita College v Hutt International Boys’ School
St Bernard’s College v Sacred Heart College

Premier A Grade – Draw for Round Two

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Here is the draw for round two of Premier A. Affirming teams on the left, negating teams on the right. The round will take place on 5 May.

Motion: This House supports the proposed Three Strikes policy

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School v Wellington Girls’ College
Scots College v Chilton St James School
Tawa College v Hutt International Boys’ School
Queen Margaret College v Wellington College
Sacred Heart College v St Mary’s College
Hutt Valley High School v Onslow College
Paraparaumu College v Wellington East Girls’ College
Wellington High School v St Patrick’s College, Silverstream
St Orans College – BYE

Premier A Grade – Round One Results

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The first round of Premier A was held on Tuesday, on the prepared topic, “That we should celebrate Rogernomics”.

Here are the match-ups and the results, with the winning schools in bold.

Wellington Girls’ College v Sacred Heart College
St Mary’s College v Samuel Marsden Collegiate School
Onslow College v Scots College
Wellington East Girls’ College v Tawa College
St Oran’s College v Hutt Valley High School
St Patrick’s College Silverstream v Chilton St James School
Hutt International Boys’ School v Paraparaumu College
Wellington College v Wellington High School
Queen Margaret College – BYE

Coaching Workshop

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The WSU was delighted to host a workshop on coaching schools debating teams on Monday 9 March, delivered by Julia Fetherston, the current coach of the World Champs winning NZ Schools’ Debating Team, and former three-time winner of the World Champs herself.

Julia’s powerpoint slides for the workshop can be found here.

WSU Key Documents for 2009

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WSU Intercollegiate Debating Calendar 2009: contains the dates for all the rounds and other key dates.

Premier A Grade Letter and Draw: contains the letter of welcome to teams from the convenor, the draw for the grade, and topics.

Premier B Grade Letter and Draw: contains the letter of welcome to teams from the convenor, the draw for the grade, and topics.

Senior Certificate Grade Letter and Draw: contains the letter of welcome to teams from the convenor, the draw for the grade, and topics.

Junior Premier Grade Letter and Draw: contains the letter of welcome to teams from the convenor, the draw for the grade, and topics.

Junior Certificate Grade Letter and Draw: contains the letter of welcome to teams from the convenor, the draw for the grade, and topics.

Wellington debaters win World Schools Debating Champs

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Two Wellington secondary school debaters – Maria English from Samuel Marsden Collegiate and Holly Jenkins from Sacred Heart College – were part of the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools Debating Team which won the World Schools Debating Champs in Athens recently.

The Wellington Speaking Union congratulates Maria and Holly on their amazing success.

Particular congratulations to Maria who was ranked as the world’s second best student debater. That is a truly remarkable achievement!

Both Maria and Holly have been very successful in WSU Competitions over the years. Maria won the Premier A Grade in 2008 and was the co-best speaker in the final, along with the Impromptu Cup competition. Holly was a quarter-finalist in Premier A in 2008, a runner-up (to Maria) in the Impromptu Cup competition, and won the junior Impromptu Cup title in 2005 (beating Maria!).

Holly has now left school to attend Victoria University. Maria has another year at school left!

Enter Teams in 2009!

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The Wellington Speaking Union invites schools to enter teams in the intercollegiate debating grades for 2009. Below you will find links to the key information required.

The letter of invitation to schools, containing information about the organisation of the grades in 2009, the fees, how to enter, plus more, can be found here.

The WSU Calendar for 2009, containing the dates of all the rounds plus events like the adjudication workshop,  Stockley Cup, and Impromptu Cup competitions, can be found here. Please note this is a draft only at this stage. The confirmed version will be posted here on 2 March.

The WSU Entry Form can be downloaded here.

Finally the topics for round 1 of the competition can be found here.

Entries close on February 20. On March 2, all schools will receive copies of letters from grade convenors, draws for each grade (including topics and sides), supplementary information, and a confirmed copy of the calendar. Please get your entries in on time.

For more information, please contact the Intercollegiate Convenor.