While hosting, schools should expect to accommodate between 150 and 200 people at any given time and up to 500 people over the entire evening. The host school should be open from 5:30pm until 10pm.
Before teams and audience arrive, each room for which debates are scheduled must be set up. Tables and chairs should be placed at the front of the room sufficient for eight (8) people: three (3) Affirmative speakers, three (3) Negative speakers, the Chair and the Timekeeper. In the case of a normal round, tables and chairs for two (2) Adjudicators should be placed at the back of the room. In the case of a finals round, three separate spaces for three (3) Adjudicators should be placed at the back of the room.
Allocation Sheets released to host schools will indicate the number of rooms
required, and which debates are to be held in which room. Debates
should remain together in allocated rooms for adjudication purposes. It is important that the debates occur in the allocated rooms. If this poses an issue, please discuss it with the Chief Adjudicator.
A notice should be placed near the door to each room advising the debate(s) to be held in that room. Debating rooms should be in close proximity to each other, but reasonably well sound proofed.
Rounds involving short preparation debates require a place where topics can be issued and teams can prepare. For supervision reasons, one large space, such as a library, is preferable to many separate rooms. The preparation area should have sufficient tables and chairs for all team members. Where short preparation debates are being held in more than one division, preparation time may overlap and sufficient space needs to be provided for all teams to prepare simultaneously.
A printed programme for each visitor indicating the rooms where debates will be conducted, and containing a map clearly indicating the location of those rooms and the nearest toilets, is recommended. A folded A4 sheet is satisfactory for this purpose. The TDU provides a copy of the roster in programme format which can form the centre fold of an A4 program.
Debating teams will provide a Chair and a Timekeeper for each debate. The host school will need to provide students to act as guides.
The TDU will provide bells, stop-watches, and instructions for the Chair and Timekeeper for all debates.
Supper is to be provided by the host school. Tea, coffee and cordial and packet biscuits are sufficient. Supper should be served in a room reasonably close to the debates. It should not be the same room where teams are to prepare for short preparation debates. Supper should be available throughout the whole evening to cater not only for debaters but also for parents who wish to wait while short preparation teams prepare.