On Sunday 8 September, our two QAHS Grand Final Debating teams – Open A QHS 8 and Intermediate B QHS 4 - showcased their talent as critical thinkers with flair on the public stage, when they represented the Academy in their respective Debating divisions. The quality of the team cases presented in each Grand Final was exceptionally high with the following challenging topics being debated by our students, both teams presenting the negative case:
Intermediate B
Actions that cause significant harm to the environment should be a criminal offence.
Open A
We should do more to protect against the threat posed by Artificial Intelligence.
Our teams prepared sophisticated team cases in the limited preparation time allowed after receiving their allocated topics for the first time – Intermediate B students worked together to prepare their team's case in 1½ hours, while the Open A team's preparation time was limited to 1 hour. The three-pronged counter model that the Open A team created to frame their negative case was founded upon the premise that as an adaptive and responsive human race, we are already doing enough to mitigate and counter the threat posed by Artificial Intelligence, amidst a time of unprecedented rapid technological and social change. In each Grand Final Debate, the depth of argument and evidence provided was impressive, and is a testament to the global and critical thinking skills our students develop as they progress through the International Baccalaureate curriculum.
Once again, we congratulate our QAHS Debating teams that qualified for the Grand Final:
Intermediate B QHS 4
Schuma Kishi, Sandeep Panchumarthi, Pranav Nithish Shanmugasundaram, John Wang, Alice Yao
Open A QHS 8
Lily Cronly, Isla Kelly, Dante Pellegrino, Pravit Tandon
Although the QAHS Intermediate B and Open A Grand Finalists were narrowly defeated in extremely close debates against Rivermount College and St. Hilda's School, respectively, we congratulate them for the exceptional manner in which they argued their team's case and represented the Academy. Notably, our Intermediate B Grand Finalists had never debated prior to commencing at QAHS - I hope that they will return to represent QAHS in Debating again next year as their talents are much needed and highly valued. Our Open A Grand Final Runners-Up for two consecutive years, have debated together as a team since 2022 and Lily, Isla and Dante have each made a significant contribution in their shared role as Debating Captains in 2024. I thank them for all that they have done to work with our newest Debaters, developing the culture and success of Debating at QAHS.
Thank you to all of the parents and other members of the QAHS community who attended the Grand Final Debates to support our students. A special 'shout out' must go to Mrs Marnie Chetter, the QAHS Student Leadership Coordinator, as well as QAHS Alumni Daria Chernova and Mathilda Bester, who each received an 'Outstanding Adjudication' award for their commitment and dedication to representing QAHS as Adjudicators for the Gold Coast Debating Competition, throughout 2024. I would also like to extend my thanks to each of the parents of the 95 QAHS students who chose to represent the Academy in Debating in 2024. Your provision of transport and support of our Debaters is very much appreciated as it provides the foundation necessary for our students' growth and development as debaters, as well as for their demonstrated successes.
Congratulations, 2024 Grand Finalists on your achievements in the Gold Coast Debating Competition this year! Although we farewell and extend our best wishes to the 5 Year 12 students who represented QAHS in Debating in 2024, I look forward to the continuing participation of our current Year 10 and 11 Debaters as they progress to Years 11 and 12 respectively, in 2025, and to welcoming our new Year 10 QAHS students to our thriving Debating cohort.
Karen Mackie
Debating Coordinator