The Senior Certificate grade final for the Rennie Cup was held at Parliament on Thursday 10 September.
The topic was: That Western media should refuse to publish images of Mohammed
Hutt International Boys’ School affirmed the motion and Wellington East Girls’ negated.
The debate was a good one. HIBS were declared the victors in a unanimous decision, winning the Rennie Cup for the first time.
Winning HIBS team with Parliamentary host and President of the WSU, Chris Bishop MP
The Junior Premier Grand Final was held at Parliament last night hosted by Chris Bishop MP, and President of the Wellington Speaking Union.
The topic was:
That we should refuse to hold major sports events in countries with poor human rights records
St Catherine’s College (Sophia Zandi, Kaira Scheck and Catharina Lee) affirmed the motion.
Wellington East Girls’ College (Ivana Emer, Isla Turner-Holmes and Isabel Holbrow) negated.
After a great and close debate, Wellington East were declared the winners in a 2-1 split decision.
Congratulations to them and their coaches Maureen MacIver and Amy Campbell.
Wellington East win the WGT Wiggs Cup – the school’s first victory of this prestigious trophy.
Thanks to judges Chris Bishop, Emma Smith and Tamara Jenkin for adjudicating.
The Premier A Grand Final for the Henning Cup was held last night at Parliament hosted by Chris Bishop MP.
The topic for the final was:
That if the technology to erase memories were invented, this House would destroy it
After a great debate, the winning team was the affirmative, Wellington High School:
Winners Wellington High School
Jack Comer-Hudson
Eddyn Perkins-Treacher
Shakked Noy
Runners-Up: Scots College
Peter McKenzie
Connor Slattery
Adam Sangster
The winner of the Suffrage Cup for Best Speaker in the Grand Final was Shakked Noy from Wellington High.
Thanks to Julia Wells who has done a great job convening the grade this year and to the judges for last night, WSU alumni Richard D’Ath, Emma Smith and Nicholas Gavey.
Judy Haulahan and Seema Singh
Terena Federico and Judy
This years Stokley Cup and Dunsheath Plate were both held at Marsden last week.
With 20 speeches over the course of the night we had a great turn out and a terrific competition. As ever, speeches were very diverse, with topics ranging from international relations, to child care and, weather we all live inside the Matrix.
The winner of the Dunsheath Plate was Seema Singh (pictured) From Sacred Heart for ‘Two Arms, Two Legs.’ Second and third place went to Sophia Pope from Kapiti College and Pheonix Dingle from St Mary’s respectively.
This years Stockley Cup was awarded to Terena Federico (pictured) from St Catherine’s College for her speech ‘Reconstructing my Father.’ Special mention goes to runners up Natalie Shackleton from Sacred Heart, Mira Karunanidhi from Queen Margaret’s College and, Sam Porta from HIBS.
Wellington Speaking Union would like to extend a big thanks to Marsden for hosting and also to Judy Houlahan for judging the competition.
We hope to see you next year!
The 2015 Wellington Speaking Union Adjudication and Coaching Workshops are coming up! These are a great opportunity for all those involved in debating around Wellington to brush up on their skills with help from very experienced debaters.
The Adjudication Workshop run by Julia Wells will be held on Monday 9th March at 7pm at Hutt Valley High School. This is open to any students, teachers or supporters who are keen to learn more about adjudicating. We would highly recommend you attend this workshop. Good adjudicators are vital to the continued success of debating around Wellington so it would be great to have you along -whether that’s for you to learn the basics or get a valuable refresher!
The Coaching Workshop will be run by Udayan Mukherjee the following week, on Monday 16th March at 7pm at St Catherine’s College. This is also open to any students, teachers or other supporters who want to pick up some coaching tips ahead of the year’s debating.
Looking forward to meeting you all soon!
On Tuesday the 23rd of September, at the Wellington City Council Chambers (101 Wakefield Street). Wellington East and Kapiti went head to head on the motion that “this house would legalise commercial surrogacy”.
In what was considered a close and excellent debate by the audience and judges alike, Wellington East managed to successfully affirm the motion and are the champions of Prem B for 2014.
Commiserations to Kapiti who narrowly lost the final after having lost only one other debate this year.
A special thanks to the judges, City council and everyone who came to watch.
Until next year!
I would like to start by congratulating both Wellington East Girls’ College and Kapiti College for winning their semi finals and making it to the grand final for 2014.
The grand final will take place on Tuesday the 23rd of September, at the Wellington City Council Chambers (101 Wakefield Street). Doors will open at 6:30pm and the debate will start at 7pm on the dot.
The motion for the final is “This house would legalise commercial surrogacy” – WEGC is affirming and Kapiti is negating.
I have seen both these teams in debates and can personally vouch that these two teams deserve to be in the final and their speakers are of a very high caliber – so it promises to be an excellent debate.
Everyone and anyone is invited to attend and I encourage as many of you to come as possible.
Also snacks will be provided (so come and get these if nothing else).
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Congratulations to St Patrick’s College on winning Premier A for 2013. This is the first time that St Patrick’s has won Premier A since 2000, and their success is testament to years of hard work by the team and their supporters.
The debate was of the highest quality, and enjoyed by adjudicators and audience alike. Thanks to all those who attended – the final continues to grow in popularity, and this keenness for debating in Wellington is truly what fosters the success of the region.
Congratulations to Wellington Girls’ College for making the final. A final congratulations to Conor English for winning the Suffrage Cup for the Best Speaker in the Grand Final.
Thanks to all the adjudicators, coaches, convenors, and teams for what has been another great year of Premier A Debating.
All are encouraged to attend the final to support their favourite team, and watch what promises to be a top-quality debate. Anyone in the Wellington region who has an interest in attending this final are welcome to attend. Please forward this invitation on to all those you believe might be interested.
For security purposes, all attendees need to submit their names to me by Monday 1 September in order to be allowed into Parliament. Please email me at [email protected] the names of attendees so that I can ensure they will have access to the final.
We look forward to seeing you all there.
The Stockley Cup and Dunsheath Plate Public Speaking competitions were held on Monday 23 June at Samuel Marsden Collegiate, with nine speakers competing in the junior section for the Dunsheath Plate, and thirteen speakers in the senior section for the Stockley Cup. The competition grows every year, with this year’s being the largest Stockley Cup and Dunsheath Plate competitions ever. This is a testament to the talent and hard work of speakers in the Wellington region
