Swanshurst's Spelling Bee

Swanshurst School held its first whole-school Spelling Bee on Thursday, 13th February 2025. The event, organised by Ms Z Robbins, Mr J Rooke, and Mr C Baker, brought together students, staff, and families for an evening celebrating language and literacy.

More than 70 students took part in weekly heats leading up to the final. Nine finalists competed on stage, showcasing their spelling skills under pressure. The finalists were Ruba M (9E), Aisha A (11S), Safiya A (9E), Nazmin A (9T), Leen K (8N), Asheen A (7W), Hajar O (8N), Zoya K (10E), and Eimear A-H (7N). The competition followed four challenging rounds, with words selected from the 2024 Forbes National Spelling List.

In the opening rounds, each finalist attempted to spell ten words. A buzzer round followed, where students had to be the first to respond correctly. After three rounds, Ruba (9E) and Nazmin (9T) emerged as the top two finalists. In the final round, they tackled ten words from the exclusive Queen Bee list, revealed just 24 hours before the event. Both finalists spelled every word correctly, leading to a sudden death round.

Ruba secured victory with 37 points, ahead of Nazmin with 29 points, earning the title of Queen Bee for 2024-25. Her name will be engraved on a shield displayed in school. Ms R Dyson, Assistant Headteacher, presented medals to all finalists, while Mr M Dunn, Headteacher, awarded certificates and spelling bee pin badges to all participants.

A video with highlights from the event will soon be available on the school’s YouTube channel and photos uploaded to our new Instagram page. Congratulations to all students who took part!