Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee gets set for its big 5th birthday bash
With more than 200,000 registered students, the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee turns five in Term 3 when the fun, online Kids News comp opens. Meet our champions and TRY THE BEE
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READING LEVEL: GREEN
The world was still reeling from the global Covid pandemic when the nation’s top young spellers first buzzed into the hive for the first Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee back in 2021. Four years of competition, more than 210,000 registered students and 11 national champions later, the 2025 Bee is fast approaching its July 21 launch. What better way to celebrate its big 5th birthday bash than by catching up with Australia’s junior spelling stars?
TRY THE BEE
Sydney’s Evan Luc-Tran was just 13 when he won the Years 7-8 category of the inaugural competition, run by run by News Corp Australia’s free classroom news site Kids News. Now soon to become the hive’s first school leaver, the Year 12 student fondly recalls his spelling success as “an amazing opportunity”.
“Who doesn’t want to meet the Prime Minister or have a cool title like ‘national champion’ on their resume*?” Evan says. “It’s also really fun. You learn so much without even realising it, and no matter how far you get, it’s an experience that stays with you.”
Evan’s next goal? Acing his final year exams.
“The HSC is my main focus these days,” he says, although the keen actor balances his studies with performing and multiple sports, including “working towards a black belt in karate.”
Evan’s fellow 2021 champions both hailed from Victoria. The first ever Years 3-4 winner, Arielle Wong, now in year 8, was “overjoyed” by the HarperCollins book pack part of her prize, while Theekshitha Karthik, aged 12 when she won the Years 5-6 crown, is now her school’s publications captain and says the Bee had a profound impact on her life.
“Everything was new to me and my family – the rush of news channels and interviews, publications of me on school pages, but more than that, I felt that I was actually worthwhile at doing something,” the 15-year-old says.
The Education State also produced the Bee’s only back-to-back champion to date: Melbourne’s Zachary Cheng, who took out the 2022 Red level category as a year 7 student and again in 2023 while in year 8.
Now in year 10, Zach says skills from the Bee – including hard work and perseverance – remain helpful.
“I also learned how to stay calm under pressure, which has helped in many tests and exams,” he says.
When Perth’s Samuel Wright was crowned the Years 3-4 winner in 2023, he discovered he “really enjoyed being on TV” and “hopes to do more with that someday.”
When Samuel won, he had the 2022 Years 5-6 level champion Ozi Egesi cheering him on from the very same primary school. In a further stroke of s-er-e-n-d-i-p-i-t-y, Ozi then went on to start high school with fellow Bee alum Abigail Koh, who had denied the defending champion a consecutive Years 5-6 win in 2023.
As well as “trying not to end up in the line at the canteen for too long just to buy potato wedges,” Abigail, 13, still keeps in touch with members of the hive’s hall of fame.
“I still catch up with Spelling Bee winners and runners-up, just to see what’s going on,” she says.
For his part, Ozi says he’s since “participated in several academic competitions such as the Imaging Cup Junior, Tournament of Towns, Tournament of Minds, and the Western Australian Junior Olympiads.”
With both super spellers now in year 8 at Perth Modern, the free, online Term 3 competition is Ozi and Abigail’s last eligible year to try to do it all again.
As well they might, since WA has consistently punched above its weight, boasting four of the 11 national champions – the most of any state. Signing up in 2022 “on a whim,” that year’s Green level winner Joanne Lee proudly flew the WA flag in Canberra with Ozi and says winning “felt a bit surreal.”
Now in year 7, Joanne says she has “participated in more English-related things” since her success and is “also getting more active and joining in on some sports.”
Each Bee produces its own surprises and last year was no exception. 2024 was a year of firsts, with a record 70,557 students registered by a record number of teachers at a record number of schools nationwide. Queensland’s Jillian Strong (Years 5-6) and the ACT’s Echo Feng (Years 3-4) also became their respective state and territory’s first ever national champions.
Now in year 4, Echo says not fearing mistakes was her biggest lesson.
“I’ve become more confident in what I’m doing, and more patient for those very challenging activities,” Echo says. “I don’t fear to lose”.
For Jillian, meeting the Prime Minister in Canberra was the highlight.
“I still love reading and spelling,” the avid Percy Jackson fan says.
Reigning Years 7-8 champion Aditya Paul proved that hard work and determination pay off. Now 13, Aditya has entered every year, moving through the Green and Orange categories as both a state and national finalist before finally claiming the Red level crown as a year 7 scholarship student.
“Winning last year remains one of my fondest memories,” he says, “mostly because I knew how much I’d tried.”
News Corp Australia community ambassador Penny Fowler said she was delighted by how the competition boosted individuals’ education years after participating.
“It is wonderful to see how the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee continues to grow and, for me, a highlight is meeting with our champions and the Prime Minister,” Mrs Fowler said.
“The PM’s Spelling Bee shows the power of literacy and how it can transform lives, often in very unexpected ways, through improved confidence, resilience and persistence.
“As a company we are passionate about Kids News and we were thrilled with the record number of entrants last year. I hope the incredible stories of our past champions encourage even more students and schools to enrol this year.”
ABOUT THE BEE
● The Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee is a free, online competition for students in Years 3-8, run by free classroom news site Kids News.
● Students compete at their school in three levels: Green level for Years 3-4, Orange level for Years 5-6 and Red level for Years 7-8.
● They get 30 randomly selected words from their competition level and have 25 seconds to type each answer. The students with the most correct words in the fastest time progress to finals.
● Teachers can register their students from Monday, July 21, when the school round begins.
● The school round ends on Friday, August 22. State and territory finals will be held September 1 to 5 and the national finals on September 10-11.
● The national champion in each age group wins a trip to Canberra to meet the Prime Minister, an iPad, HarperCollins book pack and a $1000 voucher for their school.
Details: kidsnews.com.au, spelling-bee.com.au
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