Perse pupils buzzing after National Spelling Bee results

Three Perse pupils returned from the National Spelling Bee Final this week with some remarkable results. Yuding, Daniel and Siddharthan, all in Year 7, were among just 94 pupils nationwide to reach the final, out of 15,000 who entered this year’s competition.

The Spelling Bee is run by Routes into Languages, a university-led programme that works with schools to promote language learning. The national competition is open to Year 7 students and covers French, German and Spanish, and to get there, our pupils had already come through the regional rounds.

Perse Year 7 pupils were among the National Finalists, getting there through four rounds of competition, from classroom, to school, to regional, and then to national level.

By the final, each of them had learned 300 words in a foreign language and was ready to spell them out, under pressure, in front of hundreds of people.

Yuding took first place in the French competition, making her the French Spelling Bee National Champion. Daniel finished in the top ten for French, and Siddharthan did the same in Spanish, meaning all three pupils placed among the best in the country.

After the event, all three pupils reflected on how much they had enjoyed the experience and that it had made them even more enthusiastic about languages.

We are incredibly proud of Yuding, Daniel and Siddharthan and look forward to seeing their progress in languages. Congratulations!