History for Tralee school as they claim first county debating title
TRALEE EDUCATE TOGETHER SCHOOL WIN CONCERN DEBATE COUNTY FINAL AGAINST DEBATE VETERANS AND SERIAL WINNERS, ARDFERT NS; IT IS THE SCHOOL’S FIRST DEBATING TITLE
DAYS like these have been a long time coming for those involved in all things debating at Tralee Educate Together after the school’s fifth and sixth class pupils achieved a little bit of history for the school in claiming their first Concern Debate County Final win.
The saying goes that to be the best, you have to beat the best and that is exactly what the Tralee Educate Together pupils did, beating serial winners and veterans of the debating world, Ardfert NS.
Mary Brosnan, principal of Tralee Educate Together, spoke to The Kerryman this week after their big win and she said that she, along with all involved, were over the moon with the result.
“We are delighted that it’s the first time we’ve got the win. We’ve been involved in debating for seven or eight years now but this was our first time winning the County Final so we finally have gotten over the hump. It’s a big moment for us, a watershed moment really,” she said.
The motion/topic that the schools had to debate on in the final was ‘Sports always bring communities together’ and Mary explained that you are not given a choice on what side of the argument you get to choose so they were chosen to argue against this motion while Ardfert were arguing in favour of it.
“We had to oppose that motion so we argued that sports doesn’t always bring communities together. We went global with the topic too. It’s sponsored by Concern Worldwide so the topics are always of global interest as well as of course as being local,” Mary continued.
“These debates are just amazing because the standard is off the charts. These are just primary school kids but they argue these big motions like they are wise beyond their years. Their research skills are fantastic and that’s not just us, that is something common across all the schools that participate. I mean, Ardfert NS are brilliant and have been over the years so we were happy to beat a team that has been a serial winner,” she continued.
As for how the kids themselves are feeling, Mary said that they are over the moon that all of their hard work has well and truly paid off.
Finally, Mary said that the Education Support Centre who organised the event deserve special praise as well as teacher Deirdre Clifford who Mary said has been the “one driving the debating effort in the school.”