Our Debating Wallabies course is a beginner level program.

This course assumes no particular knowledge – students are more than welcome to join the program with little (or even no) debating experience.  Everyone has to start somewhere, and there is no better time than the present.

Noting this, the program is also appropriate for students who have already completed our Speaking Camp Koalas or Speaking Camp Kangaroos holiday programs – the Debating Wallabies course looks at debating skills, which are very different to the public speaking skills (and more in depth than the debating skills) covered in both the holiday programs.  Rather than moving straight to the more advanced programs, we would recommend they hone their skills here first.

In addition, this program is also appropriate for students who have previously completed our Public Speaking Wallabies term program – debating and public speaking are very different skills, and whilst both will help develop confidence, students will definitely get plenty out of doing both programs.

That said, if your child already has formal public speaking training from another provider, they may get more out of our more advanced Debating Wombats program – please get in touch if you’d like to discuss what’s best for your child!

Over the course of the term, students will have the opportunity to:

• learn a range of introductory concepts and principles focusing on the essential elements of debating, focusing on either ‘comparative’ or ‘value’ type debating topics;
• gain lots of exposure to speaking activities, which will help them build confidence and develop good speaking habits and techniques; and
• practice their budding skills in a supportive environment, alongside peers of a similar age and ability level.

Fostering a Nurturing Class Environment

Each Debating Wallabies program starts out with the coach facilitating a welcoming class environment, and ensuring that all students are across the fundamental rules and concepts involved with debating – making sure everyone, regardless of experience, is up to speed.  The early sessions also involve a range of speaking activities that help students develop their debating skills.

Case Structure

Students will spend at least one session (but usually more) looking at case structure.  Cases are crucial in debating – without a coherant case that all team members agree on, it becomes very difficult to persuade the adjudicator of anything.

Students will learn how to define the important terms in the topic, and turn these into fair criteria that can be used to compare the points raised by the affirmative and negative teams.

Arguments & Rebuttal

Students will spend at least one session looking at argumentation, and another at rebuttal.  These are two fundamental skills in debating – one involves building up your team’s case, and the other pulling your opponents’ case down.  Students are given scaffolds and plenty of opportunities to practice these skills across the term.

Practice Debates

In addition to all the theory, students will have the opportunity to participate in multiple practice debates during the term.  Each debate will be on a different topic, and students will have the opportunity to speak in different rolls each time.

Parent Presentations

As with all our weekly programs, the term concludes with a presentation to the students’ parents.  This is a great way to help them develop the confidence to speak directly to adults, as well as being a good opportunity for them to showcase their new skills.

Our classes vary in size every term depending on how many bookings we receive – however, the maximum size of our Debating Wallabies class is around eight students with one coach.

If there aren’t any spots left, it’s usually because we’ve hit capacity, but may also be the result of a miscommunication with the coaching college – 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 program, students will go home with:

• a personal feedback sheet prepared by their coach, which goes through what they’ve improved on, and what still needs some work;
• a certificate recognising their achievements;
• a course booklet, which covers everything they’ve learned over the course of the term;
• the speech that they prepared for their parent demonstration debate; and
• a much better understanding (and hopefully improved perception) of debating!

If you’re interested in doing another term program, we generally recommend that students attend our Debating Wallabies program a few times – each term runs a slightly different program, with different approaches to the same theory and new activities, so students are very welcome to spend a multiple terms with the program.

That said, if they have completed Debating Wallabies multiple times, there is no convenient option to do it a second time, or they their coach has recommended that they move up, they would be very welcome to join one of our Debating Wombats programs.  This program changes from term to term, so students are able to participate multiple times whilst still improving their debating skills!

Alternatively, if you were looking to do an intensive holiday program, we would recommend that students give our Speaking Camp Kangaroos program a try.  This holiday workshop teaches a range of different skills, and changes from holiday to holiday, giving students the opportunities to develop their speaking skills in a range of novel circumstances, from advertising to storytelling.