Ravenswood is hosting the 30^th World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships (WIDPSC) from Friday 7 until Wednesday 12 April. Students in their senior years are eligible to attend if they have qualified at the national level.

Australia’s national championship (AIDPSC) was held at Canberra Girls’ Grammar School last September and students from schools in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory make up the Australian team. Students from Ravenswood who qualified are Jacqueline, Isabella and Laura, Year 12, and Hannah, Year 10.

Competitors from Australia, Botswana, Canada, China, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Morocco, Pakistan, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States of America arrive on Thursday 6 April. Teachers from these schools accompany their students and form the adjudicating panel along with teachers and alumni from Ravenswood.

The Opening Ceremony is to commence at 4.00pm with a smoking ceremony outside the Lorraine Smith Auditorium. Our guest speaker is our local member for Bradfield, the Minister for Urban Infrastructure, Paul Fletcher.

Ravenswood has been involved in WIDPSC since 2010. We have many alumni who were successful in British Parliamentary Debating, Public Speaking, Impromptu Speaking and Interpretative Reading:

2011 - Alice Zhou and Hope Williams, 2012 – Alexandra Farrell, Emma Henke, Samantha Tauber, Bridget Payne, 2013 – Alexandra Farrell, Emma Henke, Emily Leijer, 2014 – Lisa Farrell, 2015 – Lisa Farrell, 2016 – Jacqueline Farrell, Laura Lambert, 2017 – Jacqueline Farrell, Isabella Gerardi, Laura Lambert and Hannah Walsh.