During the upcoming holidays, we will be offering many of our workshops both in-person and online.

For the most part, there is very little that separates our online and physical programs – both are interactive, cover the same theoretical concepts, and give students a range of opportunities to practice and develop their skills. Whilst some activities are different between the two, as some activities lend themselves better to physical or online classes, the actual learning outcomes remain the same for both classes.

Importantly, the timing of each workshop does differ:

• Our in-person workshop runs between 9:15am and 3:15pm over two days;
• Our online program runs between 9:30am and 1:30pm over three days, with a half-hour break at 11:30am.

Notably, the difference in price between each isn’t an indication of the quality of the program, or how much students will get out of the experience – both get the same amount of attention and care, and we’ve found some students develop better in an online environment.  The deviation instead is simply a result of the higher costs (such as venue hire, administrative staff and sanitation) associated with running classes face-to-face.

If you’re interested in learning more about how our online programs work, please check out the video below!

Whilst children appear to not be at particularly high risk from COVID-19, SSA places their safety (and the safety of our coaches) as our highest priority.  This emphasis on safety is the first tier of our teaching policy.

We generally consider the risk of transmission at our programs to be very unlikely.  This is for three reasons:

1. From a general perspective, whilst children are not immune, they do show substantially milder symptoms than adults, and appear to catch and transmit the virus at lower rates.
2. Despite high vaccination levels, the Government is still acting cautiously in removing restrictions – most people who catch the virus are quarantined, as are any known close contacts, which has significantly limited the spread of the virus.
3. We have put in place a range of extra protections that are reviewed continuously for best practice, and seek to keep students as safe as possible.

We have prepared our COVID-19 Action Plan, which outlines the three methods we are using to keep students safe.

Whilst you are very welcome to read the Action Plan in full, the four elements are:

1. Vaccination – all of our onsite staff are fully vaccinated, so they pose a substantially reduced risk to our students;
2. Symptom Testing – whilst we instruct all parents not to send students displaying symptoms (or awaiting test results), we will be using temperature checks and coach training to ensure that any students who show symptoms are isolated and removed from programs;
3. Limited Exposure – there are a range of steps in place to help ensure that students (and parents) socially distance, and limit the chance of spreading the virus; and
4. Enhanced Sanitation – we have adopted hand and surface cleaning regimens to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Additionally, we will also be continuing to offer online programs for the foreseeable future. This will help ensure that parents and students who are uncomfortable with physical classes have an alternative that allows them to feel safe, whilst still receiving a quality education in public speaking and debating.

Please check out our COVID-19 Action Plan here, or get in touch if you have any questions!

Our Experienced Debating workshop is an experienced level program.

Designed for students with formal coaching in debating, we recommend that students only enrol if:

• they have completed our Foundations of Debating or Debating Hummingbirds holiday program (or have previously done the Experienced Debating or Debating Hawks program, and want to improve other debating skills);
• they have attended either our Debating Parrots or Debating Pelicans term program whilst in primary school;
• has given our Practice Debates program a go during the term;
• they’ve received formal training with another provider; or
• they attend a school with a comprehensive debating training program, and competed in a number of interschool debates.

Importantly, debating and public speaking are very different skills – attending a public speaking program with us, or participating in a public speaking program at school, doesn’t really prepare students for this workshop – they would be better off giving our Foundations of Debating program a try.

If you’re not sure whether your child would be better suited for our Foundations of Debating or Experienced Debating program, please get in touch and we would be more than happy to discuss it with you!

Over the duration of the Experienced Debating program, students will:

• be given various opportunities to present in practice debates, taking on different roles each time;
• receive personal feedback from an experienced and enthusiastic coach, which can then be practiced in the following debates; and
• have exposure to a range of important concepts, that will help them develop a more holistic understanding of debating.

Given the modular nature of the Experienced Debating program, there is no strict timetable that coaches are required to follow – that said, students can generally expect to:

• participate in at least 3-4 debates over the worship, each on a different topic;
• have time set aside for personal feedback which they can implement in the following practice debate; and
• at least one theory session each day, focusing on a topic the coach believes will best benefit the group as a whole.

Students will also be exposed to a range of debating related activities.  These will help them develop their confidence and impromptu speaking skills, whilst at the same time ensuring that they have an enjoyable experience at the program!

Our classes vary in size every holiday depending on how many bookings we receive – however, the maximum size of our Experienced Debating classes is 9 students with one coach, and 16 students with two coaches.

If there aren’t any spots left, it’s usually because we’ve hit capacity – please get in touch with us and we’ll see what we can do about either opening an extra class, fitting your child into the existing class, or putting you on a waitlist in case any students pull out!

After each Experienced Debating program (which can be repeated indefinitely), students will go home with:

• a feedback sheet prepared by their coach, which outlines what they’ve improved on during the course, and what they could continue to work on in the future;
• a certificate recognising that they have completed the Experienced Debating workshop;
• a workbook containing any notes that the students wrote down during the course; and
• a more holistic understanding of debating!