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Ladysmith Debating Workshop
Join the NDL’s primary school debating workshop in Ladysmith. Entry is open to students in Grades 4 to 7 and will be hosted by Monument Primary School on Wednesday, 22 May 2024 from 3:00pm to 5:30pm.
Workshop Information
We’ll give your students practical debate experience
We will introduce your students to the format and how to prepare their arguments and speeches. They will then apply their new skills in two practice debates.
- 👨👨👧👧 Team Configuration
Schools will need to sort their students into teams. Each team should have three students and a reserve. Our age divisions are: Junior Division (Grade 4-5) and Senior Division (6-7). The registration fee is R100 per speaker.
- 🎓 Staff Requirements
Schools should send one teacher for each team. No prior experience is needed – just good listening skills and a curious mind! We will guide teachers through the judging process and they will help us adjudicate.
- 🎯 Outcomes
We will help our young debaters develop confidence, communication skills and critical thinking. We will run multiple rounds of competition in the area to give students the chance to improve over time.
🌱 No experience needed
📧 Email thishin@ndl.org.za
or call 081 343 9036
Testimonials
Our programs have reached over a thousand students from 90 schools. Here’s what some of them have to say about us.
“Glenanda Primary School joined the Johannesburg South Debating League which has proven to be an extremely rewarding experience. The knowledge that the organiser, Mr T. Moodley shared was both conducive and efficacious since it had tips and tricks that helped our learners become successful. By participating in Inter-School competitions, it led them into becoming effective, budding debaters and very competitive against high profile schools. Our learners' success from this experience has made them confident and conscious of greater expectations. Mr T.Moodley portrays a great deal of knowledge and enthusiasm in what he does.”
“At the start of the season the boys were anxious as this was an all-time first for them. The warmth and safe environment offered during the debate season has grown both their confidence and ability. At the start of our term, they were all lined up outside my class (before extra murals began for the term), begging to start debate. It has been such a privilege to both work with you and the other members and then to witness the growth of my learners.”
“We were invited to take part in the NDL Maputo Championship in February 2024 which we took on as an experiment. As a trilingual school with a clear focus on academia, and little time set aside for formal debating clubs, we were unsure whether our pupils would be prepared for the challenge. However, our aim of nurturing global citizens of the future fits with the NDL spirit, and we were pleasantly surprised by how they reacted. Collaborating, analysing and performing without fear are areas that we embrace, and have seen in action among all the students from different schools taking part across the age groups during the championship. It was a deeply enriching and empowering experience that we are sure to be less hesitant about in the future!”
“My name is Dara O da silva, and I participated in the NDL Debate competition that took place in February 2024 at the Maputo International school. I am in grade 10, and this was the first time I ever participated in any kind of debate competition so it was a new experience for me. Even though I was really out of my comfort zone, it was still an amazing experience for me, and being with my friends made it better. I am now less afraid of public speaking, and realized how hard it is to talk about something you might not believe in or agree with and still sound convincing and confident. I was up against many other teams, and tried to learn with every round. I'm glad I challenged myself to participate in this competition. Now I know that I do like debating and learned so much about it. I also got the chance to practice and improve some skills like public speaking, working under pressure, making strong arguments, doing a lot of research and so much more. I would definitely do this again if I had and chance and I highly recommend it.”
“Debating has shown me that there isn't a direct answer to a problem. You have to think carefully about how you answer and how you can persuade people to believe what you say.”
“Debate has made me develop life skills (like public speaking) that I will apply to my future years. The love I have developed for debating is so immense that I will definitely continue to do debate through high school. I have made so many connections within my team but also with my opponents. I remember my first debate competition and how nervous I was but with the support from my coach, my team and my friends we managed to win! I have learnt so much from debate and I know that my debate team and coach will always have a special place in my heart.”
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