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Gippslander collects prestigious Award

Traralgon teenager Nicholas Tam, currently in Year 12 at Scotch College, has been named as Victoria’s top schools debater in an awards ceremony hosted by the Debaters Association of Victoria.

By Scoth College - 8th November 2006 - Back to News

Nicholas has won the coveted Statewide A Grade Swannie Award for his achievements in this year’s school competition, making him the state’s top ranked debater ahead of over 10,000 other schools debaters. The award was given by the Minister for Education Services, Jacinta Allan in a ceremony on October 9 at the Sidney Myer Asia Centre at the University of Melbourne. To top off a busy week for the VCE student, on Thursday, October 12 he was runners-up to Melbourne High School in the A Grade Grand Final.

Tam has also been selected in the Victorian Schools Debating Team for two consecutive years, representing the state at the National Championships in Hobart (2005) and Darwin (2006). Each year just four high school debaters are selected for this elite team. In 2005 he also won the DAV British Parliamentary Debating Competition, and was runners-up this year.

"To win a Swannie Award is a wonderful achievement. There are a lot of excellent debaters in Victoria, and to be selected as one of the best you need to have a high level of confidence, logical reasoning and ability to think on your feet. Nicholas has excelled at the highest levels of debating" said DAV spokesperson Ari Sharp, himself a former Swannie winner.

The Swannie Awards are named in honour of Alan Swanwick, a long time member of the DAV and a pioneer of debating in Victoria. The awards have occurred for over two decades with many former winners having illustrious debating careers, representing schools, universities, Victoria, and Australia, and of course many others have experienced success in other walks of life.

The winners were chosen by the adjudicators who judge the school debates, and are based on the student’s performance in the five rounds of competition. In each debate, students are judged on matter, which is the logic and relevance of an argument; manner, which is the quality of the presentation; and method, which is the structure and responsiveness of an argument.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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