By Ms Melanie Hirst, Teacher

Radford College entered 14 teams in the ACT Debating Union competition for Years 7-12 this semester. An impressive total of 70 Radford students across all three age divisions participated.

Four of the Radford teams made it to the quarter-final, while two of our intermediate teams unfortunately had to battle it out against each other.

One Junior team, Radford 3 (Nara O, Dinugi WD, Sanvi Y and Rachel Y), and one intermediate team, Radford 1 (Grace A, Peter G, Methmal G, Henry H and Clementine S) progressed to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, both teams were narrowly defeated in this incredibly tough round. Nevertheless, it was a fabulous effort to reach this point in the competition.

It was so pleasing to see all of the teams grow in confidence and skills throughout the competition. The real joy of the debating program is witnessing the students’ ability to collaborate, work under time pressure and support their teammates, all while engaging in rigorous discussions about topical issues.

In addition to the ACT Debating Union (ACTDU) competition, four Radford College students (Grace A, Methmal G, Zoe S and Joanna Y) also competed in the Monash University Asian Studies Debating Competition on Sunday, 25 May. This competition drew more than 150 students from four states to compete in three online debates in a single day.

The team debated extremely well, winning their first debate and narrowly losing the next two by only one point. Grace and Methmal both received best speaker awards on the day and were ranked equal sixth in terms of best speakers of the entire competition.

Well done to all of our debaters on a strong season. Enrollments for the ACTDU Semester 2 competition are now open through the activity portal. No previous experience is necessary.

A big thank you to Miss Emily Condron, Mr Jack Davis, Mr Jack Keogh and Mr Matthew Callaghan for their committed work as coaches this season.