Pupils make beeline for spelling grand final

These are just two of the tricky words which teams of 11 and 12-year-olds from Fulford School, in York, and Hornsea School have had to spell correctly to win through to the last stage of the contest.

The two schools will be among 11 teams who have beaten off competition from more than 1,000 schools across the country to get to the final of the spelling bee which takes place next Thursday at the O2 Arena in London.

To win through to this stage the pupils have won a series of “spell-offs” and quick fire spelling tests. The contestants, who are all in their first year of secondary school, have been expected to be able spell words such as connoisseur, magnanimous and heinous during the competition.

Chloe Dolphin, a leader in English at Fulford School said: “The most difficult part of the competition for students is trying to remain calm and composed when trying to spell a difficult word in a crowd full of hundreds of people.

“The pressure students are put under is very intense but the students have dealt with it extremely well so far.”

Miss Dolphin told the Yorkshire Post that the team’s success in the competition so far had helped to raise the profile of both English and spelling within the school.

The spelling bee, run by the Times newspaper, is in its third year and Fulford School teams have previously won through to the semi-finals twice.

However this year’s team of 12 year-olds Peter Clarke, Georgina Elkington, William Penn and Jack Beeken have been able to go a step further.

They will be joined in the final by a team from Hornsea School and Language College.

Jemma Shaw, the head of Hornsea School team, said: “The boys feel elated but nervous and are looking forward to representing the school.

“They are very competitive and have been competing against each other in the build-up to the event but they also work well as a team which is why they have done so well.

“We have chosen the team who have shown the most commitment and enthusiasm.”

Hornsea’s star spellers are 12-year-olds Harry Garland, Harvey and Jack Farmer and 11-year-old Joseph Bolton who earned their places in the team by winning through internal heats which Hornsea School staged for pupils with above average spelling skills.

The competition has been praised by Education Secretary Michael Gove who has described it as the “Olympics of English.”