On Thursday 18th June at the Whitehorse Manor Junior School Hall, 16 nervous, excited finalists took to the stage for annual Year 3 Spelling Bee at the Trust. Ms Achenbach and Mrs Parker were seated ready as judges and 11 classes from across the Trust waited in anticipation to see who would triumph in this exciting contest. After the first-round of words from the year 3-word list, all contestants were still standing. Audience participation prizes gave the finalists a short interlude before they continued to amaze with their spelling knowledge in round 2. Round 3 and 4 words moved to words from the year 3 curriculum and the number of finalists lessened, the word femur being particularly tricky for some! The audience however, adults included, were in awe of the children as they correctly spelled words like ‘metamorphic’, ‘chronological’ and ‘conjunction’. Following a short dance break, the competition moved into the general knowledge spelling round and soon there were only 3 competitors left. After a very tense encounter, Violaine from Cypress School showed nerves of steel to become the 2026 Spelling Bee champion. In second and third places were Ola from Whitehorse Manor School and Kaviin from Ecclesbourne School. All 16 children were absolutely amazing and should hold their heads up high as champions from their own schools. The children watching the event were very well behaved and everyone had a very exciting morning. The aim of the Spelling Bee was to raise the profile of spelling and to do so in a fun, joyous way. I believe that both objectives were met on Thursday morning.
Thank you to everyone involved. Mrs Price.
The amazing finalists:
Atwood School – Jayden, Musa and Harrison
Brigstock – Diego, Braylen and Anastazja.
Cypress School –Violaine, Zackary and Ahmad
Ecclesbourne – Kaviin, Finlay and Amina
Whitehorse Manor Junior – Ola, Effah, Ace and Valerie
