Throughout semester one, fourteen SCBC students from Year 7 and Year 8 participated in the Western Australian Debating League (WADL) as part of the Gifted and Talented program. These students engaged in fun yet rigorous early morning debating training sessions, lead by Mrs Zenia Smit, as they prepared for the evening debating competitions held monthly off campus.

In these morning training sessions, students learned about the structure of debates including case constructions and the art of rebuttals. Several collaborative speaking games allowed students to practice public speaking and quick-thinking in a fun and interactive manner. The program allowed the GATE students to develop their critical thinking and improve their ability to communicate logical arguments through topics such as inheritance tax, tourism, facial recognise, fashion trends and whether the use of fines should be abolished.

Our students have done well to win in their debates against Kelmscott Senior High, Perth Modern and Aquinas College and have received clear constructive feedback from their adjudicators which will allow them to continue to improve as novice debaters. A special thanks to Mrs Zenia Smit for preparing these students so well and for making it such a fun experience.