Last Friday the Year 10 History debating team of Ben Adams (10/FL), Sebastian Rees (10/PR),  Sean Hatten (10/ME) (pictured above with Mr Mark Scali) and Samuel Wallace (10/MO) won the grand final of the NSW Inter-school Les Gordon History Debating Competition. The debate was held here at Newington against Loreto Normanhurst. The boys affirmed the premise that School History curricula present a politicised view of Australia’s past.

The three adjudicators awarded Newington the victory with a unanimous decision, a particularly pleasing outcome and affirmation considering that this is the first year Newington has entered this competition. The tournament has been going since the 1980s and previous winners include Baulkham Hills High (2008), The King’s School (2009), Barker College (2010) and Ravenswood (2011). This year other topics included That the Australian Identity is Dead and That the Japanese intended to invade Australia.

The quality of this debate was extremely high with both teams tussling over high order historiographical concepts such as objectivity and subjectivity in history. These four boys once again highlighted the strength of the Newington History Department. They went through the tournament undefeated winning all five of their debates on their way to the final defeating schools such as last year’s winners Ravenswood. The boys should be commended on their hard work, creativity, determination and meticulous preparation for each debate. This is truly a wonderful achievement!

Mr Mark Scali
History Department