Spelling Bee

This year’s Spelling Bee brought the Masters of English head to head in a display of skill and calm nerves such as we have not seen since the Poetry Recital!

With one of the most irregular and illogical spelling systems of any European language, if not any language in the world, the English Spelling Bee is a tough challenge for anyone. However, our pupils are developing a wide range of skills which boost their self-confidence and they entered the competition with energy and enthusiasm.

One by one, the vagaries of our language caught the competitors off-guard until the finalists stood alone. They remembered the ‚u‘ after ‚q‘, they dropped their ‚e’s when adding suffixes and recalled when an ‚f‘ sound is made by a ‚gh‘, a ‚ph‘, an ‚ff‘ or just a plain old ‚f‘. They kept their ‚i’s before their ‚e’s (except after ‚c’s, when the sounds were an ‚ee‘, obviously) and did not get caught out by ‚thoroughly‘. As for homophone traps like ‚air‘, ‚err‘ and ‚heir‘, they laughed in their faces.

Finally though, it came down to one person from each class – except for Year 6, where the competition was fiercest – who took the title for their year.

Congratulations to all who took part and stood tall in the face of the English language. To the winners, we salute your superior orthographic prowess!