Unser Debatteteam Sarah White,Eileen Larkin,Greta Paulauskaite,Leanne Brennan .

The two teams: Presentation school and St Peter's

In November 2014 we entered the all-Ireland German Debating competition.

The competition is in its 19th year and offers students the opportunity to use and expand their German language skills and develop confidence, team work and debating skills. In 1999 the competition was awarded the European Label for Innovative Language learning and Teaching. It is sponsored by Siemens Ireland Ltd and organised by the Goethe Institute.

In the first round we were pitted against our neighbours, the boys from St.Peter’s and had to debate the motion “ TY ist eine Zeitverschwendung “ TY is a waste of time. We were against the motion. With the help, guidance and support of our classmates in 6A5 (who provided us with lots of ideas ) and our assistant Frau Schürmann, we prepared ourselves for a lively debate ! This motion certainly appealed to all of us with some excellent ideas ,arguments and research displayed on both sides during the debate.

The judges were Ms.Sinnott ( German teacher from CBS ) and Frau Moody ( native German speaker )

We were winners on the day after a close-fought battle indeed.

We were then given a bye in the second round and went straight into third round. The motion was “ Gleichgeschlechtliche Schulen sind unzeitgemäß”   ( same sex schools are outdated)

This time we had to travel to Carlow to Gaelcolaiste Chealarlach.  The motion this time was “  An irischen Schulen ist zu viel Wert auf Sport gelegt “( there is too much value placed on sport in irish schools ). We were against the motion.

Once again great research, arguments and language skills were displayed by all involved. However this time we were pipped at the post and our competitors came out on top. We were disappointed but also relieved as we were thinking ahead to our Mocks !

We would like to sincerely thank our classmates, our teachers Frau Schürmann and Frau Killackey without whose help and support ,we could never have managed this. We hope this experience has prepared us well for our LC oral in German and indeed for any interviews or presentations in the future. We have gained so much confidence and learned essential communication skills.
Sarah,Leanne,Greta and Eileen.

The great supporters from 6A5 and Frau Schürmann