British Parliamentary Debating Competition

Co-curricular Debating is popular amongst our Senior students at Santa Maria. Recently the girls participated in the British Parliamentary Debating Competition, held at Edith Cowan University and Bob Hawke College. British Parliamentary Debating is based on the style of debate that occurs in the British Parliament.

Year 12 student Hannah Gunning explains, “British Parliamentary Debating is a four-way style of debating in which you compete in teams of two in three debates across a single day.

“The competition requires teams to participate in an impromptu debate, acting as the Government or Opposition. The issues are topical and allow for us to draw from what we have learnt in various subjects. Both sides of the argument look at the pros and cons of the proposition. Teams look at who the stakeholders are and whether or not the proposition is in line with something that could principally and practically be implemented as a means to better our society, whilst rebutting the other side’s arguments.

“Despite being challenging, the competition was really enjoyable and interesting. It was also a great opportunity to be able to discuss issues that we are passionate about with likeminded people from other schools”

We are currently awaiting results to see if any of Santa Maria’s five teams have made it to the semi-finals, which will occur in September.

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