On Tuesday 15 February 2022 we held the debating try-outs. This was for Years 5 and 6 students who wanted to try and get into competitive debating. It was for the IPSHA debating competition. IPSHA stands for Independent Primary School Heads of Australia. They run many different competitions for various extra-curricular activities across Primary schools.

This year, Emanuel Years 5 and 6 students will combine their skills and efforts to participate with Mrs Butler as their coach and coordinator. Everyone did an excellent job at the try outs, but we could only accept six students for each team, and there were two teams in total. The students who are not in the IPSHA team will have a chance to be in the Emanuel Cup Debating Club which starts in Term 2 this year. This is an in-school club which is hosted by Mrs Wynhausen. Students will first learn the basics – speaker roles, how a debate runs, what adjudicators look out for, etc! Then they will be able to compete against other students at Emanuel in teams. 

The first IPSHA debate will be in Term 2 – Week 2. We are so excited to start debating and will have meetings every Friday in order to train, prepare and compete.This will be a great opportunity for us to sharpen our skills. The debates will be in every Week B on Fridays during and after lunch. It will be at local schools, and we will go on a school bus to get there.

It will be a fun and educational experience for us all! 

By Camilla Levine and Jessica Dworkin
Year 6 Debating Leaders 2022