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NHSPA Debating Highlights 2024
NHSPA Debating Highlights 2024
2024 Stage 6 Debating State Champions
In a trailblazing achievement, our Year 12 Debating Team, consisting of Josephine Bradfield, Rafael Gonzalez, Lola Merewether, Scarlett Saunders, Emma Walker and Karys Werstak, and led by coach and coordinator Cassandra Ellis, have been awarded State Champions in the final round of the Stage 6 Premier's Debating Challenge. This is the first time since 2006 that a school without an academically selected cohort has won the competition. What a monumental achievement!
Speaking of monuments, the Hume-Barbour Trophy, larger than life, now proudly sits in the foyer of Newtown High School of the Performing Arts.
The NSW Department of Education Arts Unit details that the state debating competition “began in 1930 with the generous donation of a trophy by Miss Hume-Barbour, a descendant of Hume the explorer, after whom the Hume Highway is named. The trophy, depicting the ancient Greek orator Demosthenes, was created by the noted sculptor Rayner Hoff, who was also responsible for the Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park.”
This casket-style trophy, topped with a marble platform and bronze sculpture, is synonymous with the Premier’s Debating Challenge, inspiring and motivating students to pursue debating year after year. Missing only two years due to World War II, NHSPA is the most recent school to win this prestigious trophy and is proud to be the custodian for 2025 and perhaps beyond.
2024 Stage 4 Debating Zone Champions
Our Year 8 debaters also achieved an outstanding result this year, emerging as zone champions. Congratulations to Evangeline Lee, Eleanor Stringer, Teyu Oh, Timofey Prakhiy, Beatrix Nagy, Zoe Cogger and Luke Kelly. We hope that you return to debating at NHSPA in 2025!
Debating Workshops
In term 2, all junior and intermediate debaters attended a debating workshop run by coach Maja Vasic, a senior adjudicator and coach in the Department of Education (Premier's Debating Challenge). Maja talked about interpreting topics, debate preparation, speaker roles, structuring speeches, rebuttal and classifying arguments. The workshops were highly informative and facilitated all students in developing their skills to higher levels of sophistication.
English Extension 2 Major Works Showcase
English Extension 2 Major Works Showcase
In August, Year 12 English Extension 2 students Amy Forchert, Elodie Kliendienst, Toby Makeham, Scarlett Saunders, Eva Sutherland and Meri Tinkler-Smith presented extracts from their recently completed Major Work submissions. They also fielded questions on their creative process, influences on their work, and gave advice for their next cohort of Extension 2 students. The night was hosted by their mentor, Jack Taylor.
The night demonstrated the diversity, sophistication and skill of this years’ Extension 2 cohort, a testament to the hard work and enthusiasm they have demonstrated throughout the year.
Stop, grammar time!
Stop, grammar time!
NHSPA English Teacher Ngaire de Korte has developed a student grammar and punctuation program to make grammar fun for Newtown students. Towards the conclusion of one Year 8 English lesson each week, MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" plays, signifying the start of "Grammar Time", when students undertake a brief activity on word types, sentence structure or punctuation.
The program has been very well received, even prompting Year 8 to request “U Can’t Touch This” for the Friday bell song!
Clearly this program has had an impact! Hopefully student knowledge of grammar and punctuation is as strong as their newfound passion for 90s hip-hop.
English & Science Collaborative Machine Project
English & Science Collaborative Machine Project
A highlight of 2024 was the Year 8 Machine Expo. This was a cross-curricular endeavour, requiring students to draw on knowledge and skills from English and Science. Students designed a complex machine and created an advertising campaign to successfully market their concept to an appropriate target audience.
Well done, Year 8!
Your machines and advertising campaigns were sophisticated, effective and compelling !
NHSPA Microfiction competition
NHSPA Microfiction competition
In 2024, the NHSPA English Faculty held a microfiction competition, open to students of all ages. There were a number of impressive submissions across stages, with the SEED team nominating the following students as winners for each respective stage:
Stage 4: Leo Brasse Warhaft
Stage 5: Elizabeth Hillier
Stage 6: Meri Tinkler-Smith
The NHSPA English Faculty also nominated a winner, which went to Bea Hunter of Year 7 for her submission, entitled "The Mask", included here in full.
We encourage our students to join up and take part in the competition in 2025.
The Mask
An alien on earth. In a world that only brings confusion. Normal family, normal friends, the alien anything but normal.
Pack your bag, walk to school, make friends. Kids running, bumping, pushing. Too loud, too bright, too much.
Sit down, books out, be quiet. Rules. The alien obeys the teacher. The other kids don’t.
Kids talk to the alien. Alien nods along. Whiteboard lights up, teacher's voice booms. The alien tries to listen but can’t. Socks too tight, shoes too loose, uniform too scratchy. Confused, overwhelmed, lost. The kids don’t notice a thing. The alien is in disguise.
English Studies maritime museum excursion
English Studies maritime museum excursion
Year 12 English Studies students visited the Australian National Maritime Museum as part of the module The Way We Were, examining our fascinating maritime history to craft stories which present unique perspectives on the past. From First Nations watercraft to seeing the preserved workings of a 1960s submarine, these exhibits presented rich subjects and detail for creative writing.
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