Advanced Open team limit

In my letter to TICs of debating, I stated that each school may only enter one team in Advanced Open.  This is incorrect – the limit is four. 

Calendar change

The  Impromptu Cup and the PA Final/ Prizegiving were scheduled immediately before or during Term 3 exams.  We have therefore changed the dates to:

Tuesday 28 August at 6pm: Prizegiving
Saturday 18/ Sunday 19 August: Impromptu Cup

Opening evenings

Please encourage your coaches and teams to attend the opening evenings – they contain useful information as well as a demonstration debate.  Both evenings take place at the Auditorium at St Cuthbert’s College.  Go in the main gates, walk towards the large white building, turn left to go around the back of the building and through the glass doors, then walk across the atrium to the auditorium.  Please be seated by 6.30pm sharp.

- Junior Open and Senior Open Opening Evening: Monday 20 February
- Advanced Open, Premier Junior and Premier Advanced Opening Evening: Tuesday 28 Feburary

Teacher-adjudicator training evenings

All coaches of Junior Open and Senior Open teams are required to judge 2 – 3 debates per team they have entered.  As such they must also attend a teacher-adjudicator training seminar.  This also applies to teachers who have adjudicated before.  We were a little disappointed with turnout at some of the seminars last year, so please do pass this message on to your coaches. 

To make it easier for teachers to attend, we have scheduled the seminars throughout Auckland on different nights so teachers can pick a venue and day that suits them (they do not need to attend the seminar in the ASD zone in which their school is).  An ASD Committee member will explain how to adjudicate.  This will be followed by an opportunity to ask the committee member questions, and complimentary refreshments to thank the teachers for giving up their time.

- Western Zone: Wednesday 22 February, 6pm, Rutherford College in B2.  B Block is the first block you see when you enter the school.
- Central Zone: Wednesday 22 February, 6pm, Epsom Girls Grammar School Staffroom.  Park on Silver Road, walk up the main path with lawns on either side, take the first right, and there is a staircase on the left leading to the staffroom.
- Eastern Zone: Monday 27 February, 6pm, Howick College Library in G Block.  Drive past the main entrance until you reach the whale mural, turn left, go through the parking area then down the driveway to G Block.
- Southern Zone: Monday 27 February, 6pm, Tangaroa College Resource Room in E Block.  This is between E3 and E4.  Click here for a map.
- Northern Zone: Wednesday 29 February, 6pm, Westlake Boys’ High School in E12.  E12 is upstairs in E Block, and there will be signs to E Block from the main administration building.

Extra teams in Premier Junior and Premier Advanced

Several schools have suggested that they want a second team in either or both of these grades.  If you do, please enter your hypothetical second PA team in Advanced Open and your hypothetical second PJ team in Senior Open.  Then email us and a) confirm that you want an extra PA/ PJ team, and b) explain whether, if you get the second team, you want to remove one of your Senior Open or Advanced Open teams or whether those slots will be filled by other students wishing to debate.  We will email you on Monday 20 February with whether you have an extra team(s).  Unfortunately we cannot tell you beforehand as we will not know the current number of entries and hence whether the Premier grades have capacity for second teams.

Entry deadline

Remember to enter teams by Wednesday 15 February at 4pm.  Go to www.aucklandschoolsdebating.org.nz and click “Click here to register”.

Scholarships

If your school cannot afford part or all of the entry fees, email us to apply for a partial or full waiver of your fees.  Enter teams as if you will receive what you request and you can withdraw them if your request is unsuccessful. 

For $60, an experienced university debater will come and give a coaching session to your team.  If you cannot afford this, apply for a coaching scholarship and ASD will pay this for you.

Please note that there have been two changes to the ASD Calendar for 2012:

1. The Impromptu Cup is now on Saturday 18 – Sunday 19 August 2012.

2. The Premier Advanced Final and Prizegiving is now on Tuesday 28 August 2012.

The updated calendar is available by clicking on the “Calendar” menu above.

Welcome back to the Auckland Schools Debating season for 2012! By now, all Teachers in Charge of Debating should have received an entry pack by email. Hard copies are also in the post.

Please take your time to read these documents carefully. There have been some changes this year.

Entries must be received by 4pm on Wednesday 15 February 2012. If you need any assistance during the entry process, or have any questions, please contact the ASD Committee at the earliest possible time.

We look forward to seeing you all at the opening events in February.

ASD Committee

Congratulations to Mount Albert Grammar School (Rebecca Barnett, Lucy Harrison and Luke Wilson) who won the Premier Advanced grade in a packed out Centennial Theatre on 4 October 2011, defeating Auckland Grammar School (Bhavan Srikumar, Nick Orr, Howell Fu) in a high quality final.

Congratulations also to Nick Orr who was presented with the Desley Horton Trophy for the Best Speaker in the ASD Competition for 2011.

A full record of results and awards for this year will be uploaded shortly to the website.

We hope you have all enjoyed the 2011 debating season. If you have any feedback or thoughts for next year, please send us an email!

We look forward to seeing you all again in 2012.

Impromptu Cup

Entries are now closed, but if you wish to be placed on the waitlist for if teams pull out, email info@aucklandschoolsdebating.org.nz.  For those teams which are competing, the timetable is below:

8.30- Teams arrive in the auditorium
8.45-9.45- Briefing and Demo debate
10.00-11.15- Debate 1
11.30-12.45- Debate 2
12.45-1.45- Lunch
1.50-3.05- Debate 3
3.15-4.30- Debate 4

We will announce the 8 teams breaking to quarter-finals after the fourth debate on Saturday.  Those teams must be in the auditorium on the Sunday from 9am – 2pm.

Pizza will be for provided for lunch but teams must bring their own drinks/ snacks.  If you haven’t already paid, bring a cheque/ cash for $10 per team with you or make a direct deposit to account number 38 9002 0403496 00 with your school’s name as a reference.

Prizegiving and PA Final

The final of the Premier Advanced grade is between Auckland Grammar and Mount Albert Grammar. It will take place on Tuesday 4 October at 6pm in the Centennial Theatre at Auckland Grammar and will be followed by a prize giving for all grades and refreshments.  Awards will be presented to the winning teams and top ten speakers from each grade.  Students, coaches, friends, and family are all welcome.  Please park in Gate 3, although with 150 people expected, you may need to park on the road.

Congratulations to the following teams who have emerged victorious in their respective grades:

Junior Open: Auckland Grammar 1
Senior Open: Westlake Boys 1
Advanced Open: Kristin 1
Premier Junior: Westlake Boys 2

Congratulations to James Rankin, Jesse Medcalf and Jono King of Westlake Boys 2 who took out the Premier Junior title for 2011 tonight.

Westlake Boys successfully negated the motion THW give parents an additional vote on behalf of their children. The debate was of an exceptionally high quality and was very close.

Congratulations also to Jenny Cao, Catherine Tian and Kellin Wang from St Cuthbert’s 1 as runners up for 2011.

The Impromptu Cup is now on the weekend of 1st – 2nd October, with the preliminary rounds on the 1st and the Semi-Finals and Grand Final on the 2nd.  You may enter students of any year level. The deadline for entries is Friday 23rd September, but let us know if you need more time to get your team together.  Email Corinne at this address with:

- The number of teams you want (you can enter up to 3)

- The names of the speakers

- The name and email address of a teacher who will be the contact for the team

You can pay the $10 entry fee by making out a cheque to Auckland Schools Debating and giving it to your team to bring on the day, or by making a direct deposit to the following account number: 38 9002 0403496 00.  Please put your school’s name as a the reference. The entry fee covers lunch (pizza) on the Saturday.

The venue is yet to be confirmed.  For more information about the style of the tournament, click here.

The top two teams in each grade have now been determined! We are looking forward to a very exciting and close set of finals debates. We warmly encourage as many of you as possible to attend the Grand Final debates.

The first Grand Final is in the Premier Junior Grade between Westlake Boys High School 2 and St Cuthbert’s 1.

Date: Wednesday 7 September
Venue: Westlake Boys High School, in the staffroom
Time: Moot announced at 5.30. Please arrive in plenty of time for the start of the debate at 6.30.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Good luck to all finalists!

The preliminary rounds have now concluded, with the final catch up round debates having been completed.

Well done to all students who have participated in the competition this year. The Committee has been impressed with the standard of debating and the improvements shown as the year has progressed.

We have had to make a couple of changes to the calendar for the break rounds. The changes are as follows:

Advanced Open Octo-Finals are now on Tuesday 9 August 2011

Senior Open and Advanced Open Quarter-Finals are now on Saturday 13 August 2011

The calendar which can be accessed through the link above is showing the full correct and up to date calendar.

The announcement of those teams which have made it to the break rounds in each grade will be made on 2 August 2011. In the meantime, please check the results that have been entered on the website to ensure they are correct.

The preliminary rounds for ASD 2011 are drawing to a close. The details for the next rounds are below. Please check the draws to find out what session you are in.

NB: The draws for the knock-out rounds will be released on 2 August 2011.

Junior Open

The Catch Up Round is on Monday 13 June 2011. It will take place at Epsom Girls Grammar School.

All debates will be limited preparation debates.

Senior Open

The Catch Up Round is on Tuesday 14 June 2011. It will take place at Mount Roskill Grammar School.

All debates will be limited preparation debates.

Advanced Open

The Catch Up Round is on Tuesday 21 June 2011. All debates in the Catch Up Round will take place at St Cuthbert’s College.

All debates will be limited preparation debates.

Premier Junior

Round 6 will take place on Wednesday 15 June 2011 at St Peter’s as per usual.

Premier Advanced

Round 6 will take place on Wednesday 8 June at Auckland Grammar School as per usual.

Good luck for the remaining rounds!