Premier's Debating Challenge for Years 9 and 10

This is the final of the Years 9 and 10 age division of the challenge, which was held in the at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre on Monday 11 November 2024. 316 teams entered the competition and the last 2 standing for this state final were James Ruse Agricultural High School and Hornsby Girls High School. The speaking time is 8 minutes (with a warning bell at 6 minutes) and the topic of the debate is ‘That we should ban people under 16 from using social media.’ Congratulations to both teams and to all the speakers and teachers across NSW who took part in the challenge.

1st Affirmative – 0:04:24
1st Negative – 0:13:08
2nd Affirmative – 0:22:27
2nd Negative – 0:31:18
3rd Affirmative – 0:40:35
3rd Negative – 0:49:50
Adjudication – 0:59:37

This is the final of the Years 9 and 10 age division of the challenge, which was held in the Theatre Royal in Sydney on Monday 13 November 2023. With 325 other teams eliminated the teams from North Sydney Girls High School and newcomers Lindfield Learning Village reached this final. The speaking time is 8 minutes (with a warning bell at 6 minutes) and the topic of the debate is ‘That we should exclude smokers from the public healthcare system'. Congratulations to both teams and to all the speakers and teachers across NSW who took part in 2023.

The final of the Years 9 and 10 age division of the challenge took place on Monday, November 7 2022, in the Telstra Theatre in Sydney. James Ruse Agricultural High School and Sydney Girls High School were the 2 teams that made it to the final out of a total of 284 competing teams. The speaking time for the debate was 8 minutes, with a warning bell at 6 minutes. The topic of the debate is ‘That Australia should ban cosmetic surgery.’ Congratulations to both teams and those who contributed to the competition's success in 2022.

1st affirmative – 0:03:55
1st negative – 0:11:34
2nd affirmative – 0:20:44
2nd negative – 0:29:22
3rd affirmative – 0:38:40
3rd negative – 0:47:36
Adjudication – 0:56:57

Each year the different regions across NSW select a squad of their best Years 9 and 10 debaters to represent them at these championships which are held over 3 days at the Women’s College of the University of Sydney. Each team debates five times on a series of unseen topics for which they have only one-hour of unassisted preparation time. Following those rounds and two semi-final debates, the Western Sydney region and the Sydney region made it through to this grand final. The speaking time is 8 minutes (with a warning bell at 6 minutes) and the topic of the debate is ‘That Australia should have a four-day working week.’ Congratulations to all the students on being selected to represent their region, and thanks to all the teachers who helped along the way!