Off to the Semi's!

Thursday, 30th July 2026 at 2:20pm

Congratulations to Emma Goldstone (Yr 12), Krisha Karippail (Yr 13), and Keya Parekh (Yr 13), who competed in the Quarter-Finals of Auckland Schools' Debating Premier Advanced competition on Wednesday (29 July) and have successfully made it to the Semi-Finals!

Semi-Finals are taking place on Wednesday, 19 August, followed by the Grand Final on Wednesday, 16 September 2026.

All debates in Premier Advanced have limited preparation, with teams given only 1 hour to prepare. Speeches are 8 minutes (one bell at 1 minute, one bell at 7 minutes, two bells at 8 minutes) and Replies are 4 minutes (one bell at 3 minutes, two bells at 4 minutes).

The quarter-final moot "This house as a feminist would encourage women to reject chivalry" challenged the affirmative team to argue that feminism requires abandoning traditional chivalrous acts, with the negative team defending chivalry as compatible with or beneficial to feminist goals.

"We are currently training our junior debate team for the junior champs tournament, taking place this weekend," says Krisha, adding, "We also run our school debate club every Monday lunchtime, alongside additional coaching sessions on Thursday mornings, before school."