Comórtas Díospóireacht CONCERN
CONCERN Debating Competition
Scríofa ag Matthew, Rang a 6 Múinteoir Paul
For the third year in a row, Gaelscoil Riada were crowned CONCERN Debating County Champions. We won 5 debates to become the county champions of Galway. The speakers are Matthew (captain), Róna (second speaker) and Darragh (third speaker) . Of course, we couldn’t have done so without our classmates who worked hard on every motion and, our parents and guardians who supported us.
Our first motion was “Homework should be a thing of the past”. We were the proposition. For our first debate, we surveyed parents and school students, researched websites and predicted what the opposition would say. We were against Annagh Hill N.S. and were triumphed.
Our second debate was against Craughwell National School. The motion was “Getting rid of plastic pollution in our oceans is just a dream”. We thought that this debate would be more difficult than the last one. It was! Múinteoir Paul introduced us to the CONCERN video workshops. The video gave us extra information on the topic and was a big help for us to win our second debate.
The third school we debated against was Bawnmore N.S. The motion was “Electric cars are the best way for countries to reduce their emissions.” We couldn’t survey our class because only one household in our class owned an electric car. We researched the motion and concluded that public transport would be better. We did a mock debate in the classroom to help us prepare for the big day. It must have helped us because we went on to win our third debate.
Our fourth motion was “Sport always brings communities together.” We were at the county semi-finals by now and, we knew it would be harder than ever before. We did a survey on parents, watched the debating workshop video, did research on the tablets and did a mock debate in the class. Múinteoir Paul taught us about something new called active listening. It helped us to win our fourth debate against Carrabane N.S.
The county final was against Lisheenkyle N.S. “The business sector has the most important role in achieving the SDG’s in Ireland.” This was a very complicated topic because not everyone in the class knew what the SDG’s were. The SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals) are 17 global goals outlined by the UN to be completed by 2030 by all countries. In the class, we had to do a lot of researching on the motion. Researching things that could help us on the school tablets, doing a mock debate in the class, watching a debating workshop video on the motion and studying the SDG’s. It all must have paid off because we won against Lisheenkyle N.S., remained undefeated and we are now the 2024 Galway champions of primary school debating.
Don tríú bhliain as a chéile, bhuaigh Gaelscoil Riada comórtas an chontae sa gcomórtas díospóireachta CONCERN. Is iad Matthew (captaen), Róna (dara cainteoir) agus Darragh (tríú cainteoir) na daoine gur ghlac páirt sna díospóireachtaí. Ar ndóigh, ní fheadfaimis an éacht iontach seo a bhaint amach gan an obair dian go raibh déanta ag chuile dhuine sa rang agus, an tacaíocht ónár dtuismitheoirí/caomhnóirí.
An chéad díospóireacht a bhí againn ná “Homework should be a thing of the past.” Labhair muid ar son an rúin. Don chéad díospóireacht, rinneamar suirbhé lenár dtuismitheoirí agus daltaí eile sa scoil. Rinneamar taighde ar shuíomhanna idírlíne agus rinneamar tuar ar óráidí an fhoireann eile. Bhíomar i gcoinne Annagh Hill agus bhuaigh muid an chéad dhíospóireacht.
Bhí an dara díospóireacht againn, i gcoinne Craughwell.N.S. An rún a bhí ós ár gcomhair ná “Getting rid of Plastic Pollution in our oceans is just a dream.” Labhair muid ar son an rúin. Shíl muid go mbeadh an díospóireacht seo níos deacra ná an ceann deireanach. Is cinnte go raibh. Chuir Múinteoir Paul na físeáin Concern ar siúl dúinn. Tugann na físeáín eolas breise ar na hábhair agus ba mhór an chabhair dúinn an dara díospóireacht a bhuachan.
Don tríú díospóireacht, labhair muid in aghaidh Bawnmore N.S. “Electric cars are the best way for countries to reduce their emissions.” Bhí muid in aghaidh an rúin den chéad uair. Rinneamar taighde ar an rún agus cheap muid go mbeidh iompar poiblí níos fearr ná carr leictreach. Rinneamar díospóireacht bhréige sa seomra ranga chun cabhrú linn ullmhú don díospóireacht. Caithfidh gur chabhraigh sé linn, mar chuaigh muid ar aghaidh chun an díospóireacht a bhuachan.
Ba é an ceathrú rún a bhí againn ná “Sport always brings communities together.” Labhair muid ar son an rúin an t-am seo. Bhíomar i gcluiche leathcheannais an chontae faoin am seo agus, bhí a fhios againn go mbeadh sé níos deacra dul amach anois ná riamh ag an staid seo. Rinneamar suirbhé lenár dtuismitheoirí, bhreathnaíomar ar fhíseán cabhrách den díospóireacht, rinneamar taighde sa seomra ranga ar na táibléid agus rinne muid díospóireacht bhréige sa rang. Dúirt Múinteoir Pól linn faoi rud nua, ar a dtugtar “éisteacht ghníomhach.” Chabhraigh sé linn an ceathrú díospóireacht a bhuachan i gcoinne Carranbane N.S.
Bhí cluiche ceannais an chontae, an cúigiú díospoireacht, in aghaidh Lisheenkyle N.S. “The business sector has the most important role in achieving the SDG’s in Ireland.” Bhí muid in aghaidh an rúin. Rún an-chasta a bhí le plé againn mar ní raibh a fhios ag gach duine sa rang céard is brí le “SDG.” Is iad na SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals) ná 17 sprioc atá an U.N. Teastaítear go mbeadh siad déanta, timpeall an domhain roimh 2030, chun an domhain a fheabhsú. Sa rang, rinne muid taighde, díospoireacht bhréige agus d’fhéach muid ar fhíseán gearr. Bhí díospóireacht an-chomórtasach againn ach, sa deireadh, bhuaigh muid an cúigiú díospoireacht agus le sin, bhuaigh muid craobh an chontae.
The first debate of the year is in the books!Our debating team won against strong competition from Annagh Hill national school.The team were proposing the motion: “Homework should be a thing of the past.” All of our speakers spoke confidently! It was very clear on the day that they had done a lot of practice.
Everyone in Rang 6 M. Paul worked extremely hard in preparation. Between research, surveys and practising in the classroom, a lot of work was done. On the day, there was a chairperson and timekeeper who both did an excellent job.
The debating team will have another debate coming up soon and they can’t wait.
Well done everyone!
Bhí bliain iontach ag an bhfoireann díospóireachta. Bhí ocht ndíospóireacht san iomlán acu. Ar dtús, bhí orthu dul i ngleic le foirne ó chontae na Gaillimhe. D’éirigh go hiontach leo agus sa deireadh, bronnadh seaimpíní an chontae orthu! I ndiaidh sin, lean an foireann ar aghaidh go dtí an comórtas naisiúnta! Bhí díospóireachtaí againn in aghaidh scoileanna ó Ros Comáin, An Chlár agus Baile Átha Cliath. Tháinig deireadh leis an turas díospóireachta i mBaile Átha Cliath ag ceathrú ceannais na hÉireann. Chuir níos mó ná 260 scoil isteach ar an gcomórtas díospóireachta! Tá muid an-bhrodúil as an bhfoireann ar fad.
Rinne an rang ar fad go leor cleachtadh agus ullmhúchán le linn na bliana. Labhair go leor cainteoirí agus leachtóirí ón Ollscoil na Gaillimhe leis an rang. D’fhoghlaim na daltaí faoi thopaicí difriúla agus chuir siad go mór lena scileanna cainte.
The school debating team had a very successful year! They got to participate in 8 debates in total. Firstly, they had to face schools from all over the county. The team performed brilliantly and were eventually crowned County Champions! Following their county success, the team moved onto the national stages. They faced the county champions from Roscommon, Clare and Dublin. The pupils got to travel to the debates and participate in front of a crowd. Their journey came to an end in Dublin at the All-Ireland Quarter Finals. More than 260 schools participated in the nationwide competition and the team reached the last eight. An amazing achievement and we’re very proud of them!
Everyone in Múinteoir Paul’s class participated in the preparation and practise debates throughout the year. Various speakers and lecturers from the University of Galway spoke with the class. The pupils had the opportunity to learn about various topics and improved their debating skills.
Muireann, Ciara agus Aebha. Buaiteoirí an chomórtais leathcheannais díospóireachta inniu i gCo na Gaillimhe.Tá muid an-bhródúil astu! Maith thú!
Murray, Ciara and Aebha. The winners of the debating semi-final competition today in Co Galway. We are very proud of them!