Bayside P-12 College is the only public school to have made it to the state debating semi-finals after beating private schools with paid coaches from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
The Bayside A grade debating team of year 12 students Tim Lilley, Hue Man Dang and Ellie Camov is currently ranked fourth in Victoria, and warns its rivals that “the west is coming”.
Mr Lilley said Bayside’s next opponent will be St Leonard’s College at Brighton East.
“We’ve been up against schools that are generally from the other side of town during our finals, and generally private schools,” he said. “They were all formidable opponents in that sense, but we’ve been very proud to be representing the west and representing public schools throughout the final series of the debate.
“Often, it’s the private schools that tend to dominate,” Mr Lilley said. “We’ve actually found that there’s quite an even balance, I’d say, between public and private schools in this year’s finals competition.”
Ms Camov said it was a great feeling to be representing a public school in the semi-finals.
“Usually the private schools that we’re up against are quite elite in the sense that they have paid debating coaches and teachers, who are there to actually teach debating skills,” she said.
“We’re very lucky and fortunate to have teachers at this school who volunteer their
time and effort to make it to not just one or
two, but every single debate, and help us with their spare time – not because they’re being paid.”
The next debating semi-final will be held on October 14 against Sacre Coeur at Glen Iris.
