With words such as ‘fascinate,’ ‘anemometer,’ and ‘sovereign,’ the contestants for the NSW Spelling Bee have spelled their way to the finals.
Out of 200,000 of the state’s top spellers, three Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai school students have been named the best spellers in the NSW Premier Spelling Bee Finals.
Ethan Lee (Year 4) from Hornsby South Public School, Melody Liu (Year 5) from Pymble Public School and Braydon Ni (Year 6) from St Ives North Public debuted the stage at the Q theatre, Penrith on Friday the 1st of November.
Over a 10-day period, contestants competed with more than 1,800 students in order to reach the state finals. Of these students, 303 speak a language other than English and an additional 95 identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
With enrolments into the Spelling Bee increasing by almost 10%, Arts Unit Premier Spelling Bee Support Office, Desiree Lane, is elated.
“This year we’ve had a noticeably lower number of withdrawals from the Bee, which suggests the new Zoom format we’ve implemented is making it easier for schools to participate, especially in rural and remote areas.”
With schools from all over NSW, Desiree Lane, comments on how the state is well represented. “In November we’ll have finalists travelling into Sydney from as far away as Temora, Dungowan, Griffith and Mullumbimby.”
