School level debating
Our Schools Competition, which involves over 250 schools and more than 10,000 debaters, has been running since 1956. We also run a Juniour Secondary Program targeted at Year 7 and 8 students, a British Parliamentary Debating Competition, primary school debates, and competitions in regional Victoria.
British Parliamentary (BP) debating involves many of the same skills as 3-on-3 debating, but also has some important differences. The basics of BP are outlined below:
Structure of a BP Debate:
4 Teams (two affirmative, two negative).
Each team has two speakers
Speaking times are 5-6 minutes.
Points of Information (Questions of your opposition - see the section dedicated to Points of Information) may be given between the 1st and 5th minutes.
Speaking order:
1st speaker of 1st Aff
1st speaker 1st Neg team
2nd speaker 1st Aff team
2nd speaker 1st Neg team
1st speaker 2nd Aff team
1st speaker 2nd Neg team
2nd speaker 2nd Aff team
2nd speaker 2nd Neg team
Click one of the links to the left to learn more about the specifics of BP debating. The draws for the inaugural DAV British Parliamentary program (being held at Melbroune High School) on Saturday 14th October will be displayed on this website later this week. All BP debates are secret topics, and teams will be given 30 minutes of preparation time.
