Monday
3:45PM - 5:45PM
1st February - 29th March
5 Weeks
$495 $330
A debating program that builds on the concepts covered in Debating Wallabies, and introduces students to more complex policy based topics and case structures.
Student to Teacher Ratio 8:1Help students further develop their understanding of debating, placing a particular focus on policy-based topics.
Provide students with an in depth understanding on a range of debating concepts, from argumentation to rebuttal.
Give students a range of opportunities to participate in practice debates and receive individualised feedback.
Monday
3:45PM - 5:45PM
1st February - 29th March
5 Weeks
$495 $330
Wednesday
4:30PM - 6:30PM
3rd February - 31st March
5 Weeks
$360 $240
Wednesday
4:30PM - 6:30PM
27th January - 31st March
5 Weeks
$550 $385
Bookings for Term #1 are now OPEN!
Debating can be difficult regardless of age – but it can be particularly challenging for younger students.
Our Debating Wombats program builds on the foundations laid in Debating Wallabies, not only by helping students deepen their understanding of central concepts like argumentation and rebuttal, but also by introducing them to policy-based topics in an online setting. Rather than asking students to prove that something is already true about the world (which is the focus of value-based topics), policy-based debates require students to debate whether the world should be changed in some way.
Debating Wombats helps students understand how to develop these policy-based cases and so much more, and provides them with plenty of opportunities to practice their newfound skills in debates on a range of topics.
Whilst Debating Wombats always covers the basics concepts involved in policy debating – cases, arguments and rebuttal – the focus of the program changes every term:
Whilst it’s recommended that students give each of these streams a try, there is no particular need to start with any of them, meaning students are welcome to join at any time!
As with all our weekly programs, class sizes are kept small (a maximum of 8) so that each student can be provided with maximum support and attention, including plenty of individualised feedback from our experienced coaches.
Debating, like many sports and other activities, is won and lost as a team – whilst individual performances are important, it is the team element that really defines success in a debate.
Our Term #1 program focuses in on cases, and how debaters can work as a team to best persuade their adjudicator. Students will be stepped through the importance of burdens, which are even more complex in ‘policy’ style debates, and how they can work together to link their arguments and rebuttal to what they need to prove as a team to win a debate.
These are then tied into a range of speaking activities and debates, all with plenty of personalised feedback, to help them put these concepts into practice.
During the upcoming term, we will be offering our weekly programs 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.
Notably, the difference in price 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) associated with running classes in-person.
Should you want to learn more about our online offering, we’ve got a helpful video which goes through our Debating Wombats Online program below – stay tuned for one that explores our in-person program as well!
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:
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 three elements are:
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 Debating Wombats course is an experienced level program.
Designed for students with formal coaching in debating, we recommend that students only enrol if they have:
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 program – they would be better off giving out Debating Wallabies program a try.
In addition, whilst our Speaking Camp Koalas and Speaking Camp Kangaroos holiday programs do cover some debating skills, this is taught in the context of public speaking more generally, and would not normally be sufficient for them to be able to properly participate in our Debating Wombats program – these students would also likely be better off giving out Debating Wallabies program a go.
If you’re not sure whether your child would be better suited for our Debating Wallabies or Debating Wombats program, please get in touch and we would be more than happy to discuss it with you!
Over the course of the term, students will have the opportunity to:
Fostering a Nurturing Class Environment
At the beginning of each Debating Wombats program, the coach seeks to facilitate a welcoming class environment and ensures that all students across the elemental rules and concepts involved in debating – in short, that everyone feels accepted and up to speed, regardless of their experience. The early sessions also involve a range of speaking activities that help students develop their fundamental debating skills.
Case Structure, Argumentation + Rebuttal
Over the first couple of sessions, the students will alternate each week between covering crucial debating skills – such as argumentation and rebuttal – with practice debates. It is important to cover each of these concepts first, and ensure that everyone is across them – this helps students to feel comfortable and confident enough to express their ideas, allowing them to start concentrating on their speaking manner instead.
Burdens
From the mid-point of the term, students will take the skills they’ve covered in the first few weeks, and start linking them to burdens – the central ideas that they need to prove in order to win a debate as a team. This involves going through burden theory, and then various activities to help student practice those links, creating a much stronger association in their minds.
Practice Debates
In addition to all the theory, students will have the opportunity to participate in multiple practice debates during the term (and almost every week as the term progresses). Each debate will be on a different topic, and students will have the opportunity to speak in various roles across the term.
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.
For physical classes, we’ll make an assessment closer to the end of the term as to whether we can run presentations in person – if government restrictions still prevent parents from entering the classrooms, we’ll either film their presentations, or alternatively livestream them for parents to watch from home!
Our classes vary in size every course depending on how many bookings we receive – however, the maximum size of our Debating Wombats class is around eight students with one coach.
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!
By the end of each program, students will have:
The girls loved the camp and came away saying how much they enjoyed the activities. We’ll be back next term.
My daughter said she really enjoyed the program and would like to attend EVERY time. I think it must be an amazing program.
Of the parents we've surveyed about our online programs...
Felt their child had fun
Believed their child's confidence improved
Thought their child's speech structure improved
Said their child's manner improved