A clever bee

MULLUMBIMBY Public School student Aleea Thompson has been named the regional stage three winner in the 2024 NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee.

The Grade 5 student will head to Sydney in November to compete in the finals at the Q Theatre Penrith.

It is the first time Aleea, 10, has made it to the state level after previously competing in Year 3 and Year 4.

“I really enjoy participating in the Spelling Bee – when it’s down to the last three spellers battling for a win, I love how it gets to a really exciting point like a climax to a story,” she said.

“Other spelling bees I’ve been in were only in Mullumbimby Public School, so it’s much more exciting and entertaining when other schools compete as well.

“When I was competing at the regional finals I had to spell about 16 or 18 words – I got all of them right.

“The hardest ones were the unseen words because I memorised the list words.”

Aleea said the hardest word she had to spell was ‘turnstile’.

She is now looking forward to going to Sydney for the finals, after last visiting the city when she was two.

“I’m really excited for the new experience but I’m nervous as well because there are going to be heaps of other schools there,” she said.

“My family and I plan to explore Penrith while we are there and maybe go and see some landmarks.”

The Spelling Bee encourages students to improve their vocabulary and spelling and promotes literacy skills in combination with the English K-6 Syllabus.

The finals will be contested by 30 students in Grades 3 and 4 (junior) and 30 students in Grades 5 and 6 (senior).