27 September 2018
2018 has been yet another phenomenal year for debating at Saints. The program has gone from strength to strength with the 135 boys involved, instrumental in the 15th Intercol win in a row, backed up by wins in three out of five SADA competitions! Shiva Mukherjee (Year 10) also competed at the National Schools’ Debating Competition for South Australia making the Grand Final. Many students have been invited to next year’s state team trials starting 13 October.
Sunday 10 September saw one of our Senior A and Senior B teams, debate at Parliament House. Both teams entered the day propelled by outstanding seasons, with the Senior A team having only lost a debate to the other Saints Senior A team and the Senior B team being undefeated.
The Senior A team consisted of first speaker, Connor Kitching (Year 12), second speaker, Indran Mukherjee (Year 12), third speaker, Shiva Mukherjee (Year 10), timekeeper, Lucas Michaels (Year 12) with Chisomo Banzi (Year 2) in the prep room. They debated Seymour College on the negative side of the house. The topic, ‘That we should not send non-violent offenders to prison’ proved to be a difficult topic at times to grapple with, but in a debate worthy of the venue, Saints were victorious in a close 3-2 split decision. Shiva Mukherjee was awarded best speaker after securing the victory at third negative.
The Senior B team, debating on the negative side against Wilderness School also won their debate on the topic, ‘That we should bring back capital punishment.’ Oliver Cobain (Year 11) at first was awarded best speaker, however the whole team is to be commended on a brilliant undefeated season. Harrison Georgiadis (Year 11) at second and Kareem Shahin at third also had excellent debates, with Ben Norris (Year 11) providing unwavering support in the prep room.
On Sunday 23 September, our Junior debating team of Year 7s also competed in the Grand Final. In what was a close debate, the boys managed to win the argument on the affirmative on the topic, ‘That organ donation should be compulsory.’ Rohan Thiruvenkatam (Year 7) at first was awarded best speaker of the debate with a well fleshed out principled argument that provided a solid foundation for the team’s case. Josh Rai (Year 7) second speaker and Gunin Singhal (Year 7) third speaker also spoke well on the day, with Kartheek Laddipeerl (Year 7), Archie Goodson (Year 7) and William Barone (Year 7) also competing in the team throughout the season.
On behalf of the boys that competed in debating this year, we would like to thank Ms Margaret Reid and Mrs Christine Iadanza for their efforts in making the season run as smoothly as it has. We would also like to thank our respective coaches for helping us to achieve the success that would undoubtedly have been unachievable without their guidance.
Indran Mukherjee
School Captain