Wednesday night saw our 2nd round of debates for the Coomera Alliance Debating Competition. This week we had a total of 5 teams from Year 4 - 6 debate against Coomera Springs and Ormeau. We even had three students step in at the last minute to go up against our Year 4 team to replace a team that was unable to make the competition.

Our Year 4’s argued against the topic that ‘Electronics are spoiling our social life’. For Wyatt, Tiarna, Alyssa and Amber this was their first ever debate and they maintained that electronics haven't spoilt our social lives, merely changed it.

This year we have 2 Team B Year 5 teams which is testament to the depth of debating talent we have at Coomera Rivers. The topic, 'It is better to be smart than wealthy,' saw Kalen, Kai and Abbey's team agreeing with the statement while Harry, Talia, Ava and Jasmeet's team disagreed. In the end, both teams walked away with a win which goes to show, the strength of your argument and the way in which you deliver it, is the key to persuading an audience that your opinion is correct.

Our Year 6 team tackled the topic, ‘That beauty contests should be banned,” and they agreed wholeheartedly. Georgina, Isabella L, Isabella W and Layla questioned who are we to decide what makes a person beautiful? It appears, the adjudicators agreed with them and it was another win for Coomera Rivers.

Special mention must go to three students who stepped in a week before the competition. Unfortunately we had one school who were unable to make it to the Year 4 debate and rather than a team missing the opportunity to participate, we had Jasper, Christian and Hannah from Year 5 band together to form a team. Their willingness to step in when they knew they couldn't technically 'win' this debate was praiseworthy. And they didn't just 'step-in' they certainly 'stepped up' by putting in a mammoth effort and providing their opposition with a very robust debate.

While Coomera Rivers currently remains undefeated in this competition, winning it is not our purpose. It’s wonderful to see our students joining with our neighbouring schools in a friendly competition and learning from each other. We look forward to seeing how the next round plays out in Week 6 when our Team A’s come back to battle it out for a place in the grand final.