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Canterbury Schools' Debating Council - CSDC

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Canterbury Schools' Debating Council - CSDC

Canterbury Schools Debating Community (CSDC) is dedicated to providing debating opportunities for secondary school students in Canterbury.

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CSDC provides a wide array of debating opportunities for secondary school students in Canterbury. We run tournaments throughout the year as well as a weekly competition catering to Senior, Junior, and Novice grades. At our regional competition, we select and coach a representative team to compete at the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championship. Coaches are available to work with schools who can

request either one-off or ongoing coaching. Read more about the service we provide below and find out how CSDC can help you and your school to get the most out of debating.

08/03/2026

This weekend we had the pleasure to hosting the NZSDC Canterbury Regional Debating Tournament at the University of Canterbury, with 32 teams competing! After a compelling 6 in- rounds of debating, St Margaret’s Kakapō won the tournament in a close final against Rangi Ruru 1!

We also want to congratulate team members Orla Miller (SMC), Samuel Amaris (St Thomas), Alex Johnstone (Christs), as well as reserves Lachie Hackston (StAC) and Liam Finding (Papanui), who have been selected to represent Canterbury at the National Champion Tournament this May, and wish them all the best for their preparation.

The level of insight, skill and enthusiasm shown by all speakers at the tournament was incredible, and a huge thank you to everyone who was involved! ❤️🖤

26/05/2025

Nationals Recap

The Canterbury team had a wonderful time at Nationals 2025! While it was disappointing to miss the break on speaks, winning 4/7 debates is still an incredible accomplishment so congratulations to Sam, Kate and Orla!

In some especially exciting news, congratulations to Sam Allan for making the New Zealand team!!!! What an incredible accomplishment this is, and a testament to Sam’s immense talent and hard-work! Good luck to Sam for their preparation to attend worlds in Panama later this year.

Finally, thanks to all the judges and teams who made nationals such a special experience, and a special shoutout to Hawkes Bay for winning the comp and Wellington Gold for having a great finals performance!

Also a special thanks to the Canterbury English Speaking Union Trust for sponsoring the team, we are so grateful for their support!

25/05/2025

Day 3 recap!

In round 5, Canterbury went up against a talented Wellington Black team, affirming the motion “This house regrets the rise of parenting influencers” and took a very close loss.

Round 6 saw a rematch with Wellington Black, and this time Canterbury took the victory affirming the motion “This house would institute a Land Value Tax.”

And to finish off the tournament, for the third time of the day, we again faced off with Wellington Black, and again took a close win negating the motion “This house prefers religions that teach that the reward for devotion to your religion comes during your lifetime rather than in an afterlife.”

This left the team on four wins and in strong break contention, and while sadly we missed the break on speaks, an overall tremendous performance for Canterbury!!!! Well done to Kate, Sam and Orla for such a fantastic tournament, along with Samuel and Alex for being such fantastic reserves.

Congrats to all the breaking teams we can’t wait to watch all the tremendous teams tomorrow!

24/05/2025

Day 2 recap:

In round 2, Canterbury went up against a talented Auckland White team, and in a 2-1 split decision had a narrow loss.

Moving onto round 3, we had an excellent win in a high quality debate against a formidable Waikato team.

On the final round of the day, in another incredibly close debate, Canterbury took a loss against defending champions Otago.

Good luck to the team with a big day 3 coming up with a good chance to break!!

Also shoutout to Alex and Samuel who are unbeaten in the reserve impromptu tournament 🔥🔥🔥

The team are all very excited to participate in the quiz night tonight!!

23/05/2025

Today was the kickoff of the New Zealand Schools debating championships!

In round 1, Canterbury affirmed the motion “THP to be born in 100 years time instead of today.”

Up against a really talented Wellington Gold team, Canterbury took the win in a really close and high quality debate!

Good luck to the team as they head into day two tomorrow.

15/09/2024

Today we held the Canterbury Junior Regionals for 2024! With 16 teams involved, it was a great showcase of all the promising debaters in the Canterbury region. It was a very enjoyable day for all students involved, so congratulations to everyone who competed!

A special congratulations to the following:

🏆 Winners of Junior Regionals 2024 = St Andrews 1 (Lachie Hackston, Cicy Chen, Matthew Bluck)
🤩 Runners-up of Junior Regionals 2024 = St Margarets (Lena Abdinor, Susanna Tully, Chloe Marfell)
🎉 Semi-Finalists = StAC 2 and Hillmorton 1
🏅 Most Promising School = Shirley Boys High

Highly Commended Speaker Awards:
🔵 Cicy Chen (St Andrews 1)
🟢 Ava Heath Williams (Burnside 1)
🟡 Joel Cameron (Shirley 1)

Best Speaker, a joint award between:
🔵 Lachie Hackston (St Andrews 1)
🟢 Lena Abdinor (St Margret’s)

Thank you to all adjudicators, supporters, and staff for giving up their time to make this weekend possible!

26/05/2024

Canterbury have had a great experience at nationals 2024!

In rounds five and six, we faced off against a very strong Wellington Gold side both rounds, falling in very close debates.

In round seven we faced off Counties Manukau again, and in a really high quality debate took our third win of the tournament.

We are so proud of the team and all they have achieved this tournament, and we are so impressed with the improvements they have made this nationals.

The team can’t wait to watch all the fantastic breaking teams tomorrow and visit Parliament!

25/05/2024

End of day 2 recap!

The team started off with two very competitive debates against the very talented Hawkes Bay and Kahurangi-Marlborough teams, and narrowly lost in split decision panels.

In rounds 3 and 4 against very skilled Counties Manukau and CNI teams the Canty picked up their first two wins!

We are so proud of the team and how well they are speaking and improving their debating. They now sit at 2-2 with 2 debates left tomorrow. Good luck!

24/05/2024

Night 1 of Nationals 2024 at the Supreme Court!

Good luck to the team as they prepeared for round 1 tonight!

We will keep you updated on the teams results as the weekend goes on.

17/03/2024

This weekend we hosted the 2024 Canterbury Regionals Tournament. With over 20 teams competing, it was a hugely enjoyable weekend of debating for everybody involved.
Congratulations to Burnside High School (Thomas, Sam, and Katie) who won the finals with the motion THR the glorification of genius.
Congratulations also to the runners up, St Bede's (Liam, Thomas, and Hunter) for an amazing final.
Finally, we had our Canterbury Regional Team announced who will be going to compete in the National Tournament in Wellington later this year. Selected were Shefali (Reserve), Joni (Team), Angam (Team Captain), Sam (Team), and Liam (Reserve) - a huge achievement!
And finally, a huge congratulations and thanks to all the teams who competed across the weekend and for all the staff and families who supported them through it!
(Apologies in advance, Facebook scares me so I can only hope the pictures are in the right order)

29/05/2023

Following an absolutely heroic effort, Canterbury finishes 2023 Nationals as the second best region in the country!!
This is the best result Canterbury has achieved in 21 years and an huge achievement for the team and a testament to the talent, dedication and hard work the team has put in.

In other exciting news:
Ethan and Luke were both selected for the New Zealand Squad - Luke as a reserve and Ethan as a member of the team which will represent the country in Vietnam later in the year.

We are so thankful for all the effort that has gone into the tournament and are hugely appreciative of NZSDC for running such an fantastic tournament. We are so proud of the team and can’t wait for them to disperse all the knowledge they gained over the past 3 days back to the wider region when they get home.

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