A prize for having the strongest opinion was a welcome reward for three students from Georges River College Peakhurst.
The school's year 9 and 10 debating team was recently successful in reaching the NSW Premier's Debating Challenge semi-finals, being narrowly defeated by Sydney Boys High School.
In the past four years, the teams at the Peakhurst campus have defeated selective schools in the community. They have built up their talent in weekly after school workshops.
This term, the school also sent two of its representatives to the Sydney Region local final of the Legacy Public Speaking Competition. One of those students is participating in the NSW state final on September 13 at Parliament House.
He is the only representative from the community from a comprehensive school to reach this stage of the competition.
The campus also this week participated in the 2019 Mental Health Public Speaking Challenge, held at St Ursula's College. The team competed against eight other schools and won first place. Teams of three students presented a nine minute speech that addressed a particular topic concerning youth and mental health issues.