Meriden’s two Year 8 teams have won their respective shields at the Archdale Debating competition, while the Juniors team achieved a commendable runners-up position.
The Archdale Debating competition has been running since the 1970s and there are now 24 schools taking part in the competition, which runs from May to September each year.
This year, 37 students from Years 7 to 11 represented Meriden across eight teams in the competition. For seven-rounds, these students engaged in spirited debates against fellow schools on a variety of topics, including education, government policies, international relations and social media.
“The students’ hard work and dedication have truly shone throughout this competition,” said Ms Brittany Clark, Meriden’s Debating Coordinator. “Their impressive debating skills and remarkable growth throughout the season have been truly inspiring.”
Five out of Meriden’s eight teams qualified for the quarter-finals. Performing exceptionally well, the 8A, 8B and Juniors teams progressed to the semi-finals and continued through to the grand final. Overall, Meriden finished third in the Archdale Shield.
“Debating has improved my confidence in public speaking, collaboration skills, and has developed my ability to manage pressure and respond to challenges,” Ariana Zhang said. “The whole experience in general was memorable as it was a great learning opportunity.”
The debating teams enjoyed being challenged with interesting topics and the opportunity to engage with complex ideas.
“The topic for the final debate for the 8A team was that we should abolish formal student leadership positions in schools. We argued for the negative, asserting that vital leadership skills would not be learnt, and that informal leadership would still occur, meaning claims around equality and teamwork are unfounded,” Alice Feng said.
“A memorable moment in the season was winning the grand final, and also having an undefeated streak throughout most of the season.”
Congratulations to all the students who represented Meriden in Archdale Debating this year.
8A team: Alice Feng, Danielle Kim, Serena Li, Yumi Takusagawa
8B team: Misha Jha, Mandy Shi, Noemi Snelling, Rochelle Tao, Mia Wu, Ariana Zhang
Juniors team: Tina Dong, Isabella Jiang, Annie Li, Ashley Shu
