We have had a busy and rewarding year competing in various public speaking and debating competitions. Over 50 students from Year 7 through to Year 12 have participated in a range of activities - the Senior DAV Debating competition, the Junior DAV Debating competition and the annual Frayne Festival. I would like to congratulate and thank our Public Speaking and Debating Captains, Aarchi K of Year 11 and Sophie B of Year 12, for all their hard work, enthusiasm and fantastic ideas.
Senior DAV Debating
In Terms 2 and 3, students from Years 9, 10, 11 and 12 debated in five rounds at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar against a range of schools in our region. While we did not make the finals, all teams won a number of debates and various OLMC students were awarded Best Speaker in several debates. Special mention must be made of Eva D, Ellie T, Aarchi K and Esther H who were named Best Speaker on more than one occasion. The Year 11 team finished at the top of the B Grade ladder but missed out on getting to the finals by one point in a ‘power paired’ final round. Thank you to Ms Rhonda Brislin and Ms Rima Cilmi for their support and assistance in preparing our students.
D Grade debaters - Anh T, Ellie T, Emilia F, Evie C, Agnese B, Eva D, Philippa M, Stephanie A-R, Claire W and Sienna V.
C Grade debaters – Livia P, Winnie Q, Alexandra K and Charlotte M
A and B Grade debaters – Liandra J, Esther H, Aarchi K, Sophie B, Katie B
Junior DAV Debating
It was fantastic to see so much interest in Junior DAV Debating this year. Over 40 students expressed interest in participating. The following students became members of the four OLMC teams: Meher R, Charlotte N, Stella W, Olivia L, Maddison H, Abbie T, Kate Y, Elina L, and Aisling T of Year 7, and Vienna D, Imelda B, Honora P, Jessica H, Harsha S, Felicity B, Dona W, Matilda G, Natalie M, Charlie R and Clara S of Year 8.
In Term 3, these students competed in three rounds of debates and participated in various training sessions at Ivanhoe Grammar. Out of the total of 12 debates that OLMC competed in, we won 9 - such an impressive achievement! The following students also were awarded Best Speaker in at least one debate: Stella W, Harsha S, Honora P, Felicity B, Jessica H, Meher R, Kate Y and Clara S.
I know that all team members will join me in thanking the four teachers who coached each of the teams - Ms Marie Spyros, Ms Helen Lachal, Ms Lefterika Verghese and Ms Rima Cilmi. Their support and guidance were invaluable.
The Frayne Festival
Twenty OLMC students travelled to Sacred Heart College in Kyneton to compete in this year’s Frayne Festival. The Frayne Festival is an important annual event that celebrates public speaking and debating skills of Mercy students from across Victoria.
Alana P and Hannah H of Year 12 competed in Public Speaking. All students were given a list of six topics to choose from. Alana chose to respond to the prompt ‘Change begins with listening’. Hannah’s speech was based on ‘History has its eyes on us’. Both speeches were very thoughtful and delivered with confidence and flair.
Aarchi K, Esther H, Katherine B, Liandra J of Year 11 and Sophie B of Year 12 were the members of the Debating team, participating in two debates over the day. All students presented great speeches that included clever rebuttals. Both teams won their first debate but in the second round were just beaten. Congratulations to all our students for a great day of debating.
A huge thank you to Ms Rhonda Brislin for her support of the debaters and the public speakers.
Our Voice Choir was made up of 14 students from Years 9 and 10. Eva D, Stephanie A, Emilia F, Lara P, Agnese B, Philippa M, Madeleine L, Claire W, Eva K, Ave T, Jiawen Q, Olivia B, Sienna M and Isabella L spent over two months preparing a performance of two poems, Breath by Maxine Beneba-Clarke and The Sunshine Kid by Harry Baker. They are to be commended on the commitment, teamwork and creativity they put into creating this fantastic contribution to the Festival. It was very exciting to be awarded second place.
All our students should be very proud of their achievements and the way they represented OLMC. Fantastic work!