There are lots of difficult concepts to learn in debating, but the most difficult skill to put into practice for most students would have to be rebuttal. It isn’t hard to understand why – rebuttal is difficult to prepare during prep time, and requires students to think of responses to often unpredictable arguments without time to give them proper thought.

But this is also why it is such an important skill for students to develop – not only for debating, but also for life more generally.

Our rebuttal stream places the focus squarely on this skill – students look at cases and arguments more critically, before taking the time to formulate strategies they can use to both bring down their opposition’s arguments, whilst bolstering their own. This steam is an absolute must for any budding debater.

During the upcoming term, we will be offering all our weekly programs online while the NSW Government Lockdown continues.

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.

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. Local transmission rates are currently low, and the Government is acting very 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 three elements are:

1. 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;
2. 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
3. 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 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:

• completed at least one (but ideally multiple) terms of our Debating Wallabies program;
• previously participated in one or more of our Debating Wombats programs, and want to improve some other debating skills;
• received plenty of formal training with another provider; or
• attended 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 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:

• learn a range of introductory concepts and principles focusing on the essential elements of debating, placing a particular emphasis on rebuttal strategies;
• deploy what they have learned in at least three in-class debates across the term;
• practice different speaking roles and argue from both affirmative and negative sides of a debate; and
• learn how to work effectively in a team environment!

A Nurturing Class Environment

During the first session of the program, the coach will spend a substantial amount of time helping students feel comfortable within the class environment, as well as ensuring that all students are across the rules of debating.  These early sessions will also involve students presenting multiple times, with the view to helping them develop their practical debating skills early on.

Case Structure & Argumentation

In order to effectively rebut, students first need to understand how to construct cases an arguments – this makes them easier to both tear down (for their opposition) and defend (for their own team). Students will spend at least two sessions critically looking at these concepts before moving onto how to rebut them.

Rebuttal

Students will spend multiple sessions looking at rebuttal.  These sessions will focus on how rebuttal can be used to bring down your opposition or defend your own case, and will involve a range of activities to help students not only understand the concepts, but be able to put them into practice as well.

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 policy 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.

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:

• a feedback sheet, prepared individually for them 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 that covers everything they’ve learned throughout the program;
• the speech that they prepared for their final presentations; and
• a better understanding of debating and policy-based topics!