21 Sep 2017
Arguing (with good manners and conviction) is a skill that can be developed through debating. To be able to speak publically and use reasoning skills to deliver a point of view are skills we sometimes associate with lawyers and politicians but effective communication skills are important for all of us. MPS has taken on the challenge of giving our students the opportunity to learn and practise these skills through participation in the Premier's Debating Challenge.
As the luck of the knockout draw would have it, two MPS teams had to face off in their fourth round. The debate topic was, That children should learn at school using television and movies and not just through books. After a very close tussle of words the MPS Thistles (Millicent Beattie, Michelle Dunlop, Kailani Bartlett and Ella Coulton) defeated the MPS Prickly Pears (Gabrielle Elbourne, Charlotte Clissold, Ryan Macey and Theo Maybury). The adjudicator, Mrs Appleby spoke very positively about the quality of the children's public speaking, the logical arguments presented, their level of rebuttal and adhering to debating protocols for each of the speaker roles. We would like to thank Mrs Appleby for adjudicating and providing feedback for areas to develop in preparation for the next round. The Thistles, coached by Mr McDonald will now take on Glen Innes Public School on Thursday at Glen Innes.