Chess and debating at John Colet School

There are several extra things we do at John Colet, some of which are well known to the participants; but others in the school community may not be fully aware of them. Our chess program is one of these. A very high proportion of students play chess each week and the teacher Miro, and co-ordinator, Heather B, perform prodigies to keep the very successful show on the road. This year three of our five teams won their competitions, including our Championship team winning the Manly-Warringah Zone. They will now play off against the winners of the Upper North Shore, Lower North Shore, Ryde and Central Coast zones to decide the winner of the Sydney North District. Regardless of winning or losing however, the children benefit from the mental training, the power of concentration and all the other manifold advantages to playing chess. The school has also been part of the Forest District Debating Competition for many years. There are four other local schools in this competition. Sixth class does some preliminary training and practice in term one, and then a team of eight or so students is formed. There are four preliminary debates and a final between the two top teams. Some of the topics this year were: Contact sports do more good than harm; everyone should play a musical instrument; and new is best. We didn t make the final this year, but the confidence, research skills and team work which debating inculcates, are prize enough.