Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s spelling bee’s school round has started this week. There are three rounds in total, all of which are digital contests. The first round lasts from July 24 to August 18, the second from August 28 to September 1, and the super final from September 6 to September 7. The competition is a free, online game for students in years 3-8. The green level is for years 3-4, the orange level for 5-6 and the red level for 7-8. Competitors get 30 words to spell, and 25 seconds to answer each question. The national champions each in each group wins a trip to meet the Prime Minister, an iPad, a HarperCollins book pack and $1,000.
Albanese hopes that a greater number than last year’s 61,000 come to the spelling bee to learn words. But the PM was defeated in 2022 when three champions—Joanne Lee, Ozi Egesi and Zachary Cheng—came to meet him. Zac was super excited about the meeting and still remembers asking the PM to spell the word magnanimous. Unlike Zac, Joanne was nervous about meeting a very important political leader. But the one that really stumped the PM was Ozi. Ozi asked him how to spell Bewusstseinslag, a German word. The PM didn’t have a clue. The PM was affable when he was defeated and gave the ruling champions a tour of his private office.
“The prime minister’s spelling bee is a fantastic way to encourage children to play with words,” says David Williams, an author. “One of my favorite parts of writing is thinking of funny ways to put different words together. If we can help children to see the joy in words, they will be more encouraged to play around with them for themselves. Reading, writing and even spelling should be fun!”
Albanese hopes that a greater number than last year’s 61,000 come to the spelling bee to learn words. But the PM was defeated in 2022 when three champions—Joanne Lee, Ozi Egesi and Zachary Cheng—came to meet him. Zac was super excited about the meeting and still remembers asking the PM to spell the word magnanimous. Unlike Zac, Joanne was nervous about meeting a very important political leader. But the one that really stumped the PM was Ozi. Ozi asked him how to spell Bewusstseinslag, a German word. The PM didn’t have a clue. The PM was affable when he was defeated and gave the ruling champions a tour of his private office.
“The prime minister’s spelling bee is a fantastic way to encourage children to play with words,” says David Williams, an author. “One of my favorite parts of writing is thinking of funny ways to put different words together. If we can help children to see the joy in words, they will be more encouraged to play around with them for themselves. Reading, writing and even spelling should be fun!”
