1997 School Magazine

@iris @rnmmar ~c~ool Jljrisbane 1997 ----JL-..--------------- Debating

On the weekend of 26th and 27th July, BGGS was invited to enter a team in the inaugural Bond University Debating Challenge which was held as a special feature of their 1997 Open Day weekend. The concept was the brain-child of BGGS old girl, Kate Eltham, who is now studying at Bond Univers ity and who is President of their Debating Society. It was, howeve r, to be a debating competition with a difference. Firstly, it was a knock-out competition, secondly, only the first debate was on a prepared topic; the remainder were all short-preps o n unadvised topics. So, it was with a sense of adventure that the BGGS team of Suzanne Black (1 lE), first speaker, Charlotte Price (11E), as our second speaker and Georgina Johnson (lU) as third speaker, headed off to the Gold Coast for a weekend of debating. Once the prepared topic 'That the UN should have a standing army'was won, our team successfully debated its wa y through the short-prep minefield of topics from specific ones 'That there should be censorship on the Internet ', to general ones 'That we shouldshock them'. They reached the Semi-final where they were defeated by Brisbane State High.

. ornents of division as the T here were many d1ssent1ous rn Debaters argued the often disputatious Girls Grarnrnar versial topics pre- . . . d f contra contentious, confhct1ve an o ten land Debating Union's sented to them in the 1997 Queens secondary schools competition. . · th ffty E:X: cornpet1t1on, e 1 - As 1996 marked the end of the AP entered in the QDU five students comprise th: eleven te:~:s to these girls, their Compet1t1on. Congratulat10ns and th d achievements in the coaches and parents for their efforts ~n tended on behalf of · 1 h ks1seX 1997 Debating season. SpeC!a t an tinuing support and the teams to Mrs Basford for her con meticulous organisation. . e (Z) Year Ten (1), Year The Year NineO), and Year Nin ar;icularlycommended Eleven (1) and Se~1or A teams mu st becfornpetition. These final for makmg the Fmal Rounds of the_ h rovided the girls with rounds were 'knock-out rounds' whJC P an additional challenge. Bl k (llE) Sarah S zanne ac , Special recognition must go to u Urbancic-Kenny (11G) Hayes (llL), Charlotte Price( 1 lE), .Ana . ls made up the Year and Elizabeth Velkovic (110) . These gi~inintheGrandFinal Eleven (1) team that argued their way to a a short preparation · h' h' they won against BGS. To ac 1eve t 1s . hey proved themselves debate in the Semi-finals and ultunatel~ t 18 6 schools . to be the best in a competition featunng .

Bo11d U11ive1·sity Debating Challe11ge Team (L-R): Suzi Black, Georginajobnson, Cbarlotte Price

It was a challenging but most enjoyable weekend compet- ing against Year Twelves and Queensland representatives. We look f01ward to competing again next year. The achievements of many of the younger debaters make the future for debating at BGGS seem very promising. In particular, the Year Eleven debaters have performed exception- ally, defining th~ debating team of Girls Grammar in 1998 as a force to be reckoned with .

ncic-Ke 11 ny, SLlzi Black,

Year 11 (1) Team (L-R): Ana Urba .· e sarah Hayes Elizabeth Velkovic, Charlotte f//C '

. . . tried out for the Queensland As mprevious years , many guls k (llE) is to be congratu- Schools' Debating Team. Suzanne Biacl . selection process and , . IT I •oftllS lated on reaching the Fma we ve f the interstate compe- . . d R rve or ultimately becommg Secon ese titian in Perth. .

BARBARA MCKAY AND KATRINA VICKERY (CO-CAPTAINS OF DEBATING)