Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee’s big milestone as 2025 challenge open
Anthony Albanese launched the fifth annual Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee with the help of Rockdale Public School students. Get your child’s free activity poster for class and home HERE.
National
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The significant a-n-n-i-v-e-r-s-a-r-y on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s mind during his Rockdale Public School visit had nothing to do with his forthcoming wedding.
Officially launching the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee’s milestone fifth year, the man himself said 2024’s record 70,557 student registrations promised that this year’s fun national spelling challenge would be “the biggest and best yet”.
Mobbed at recess after meeting some of the southern Sydney school’s top spellers, the PM said the Bee – run by free classroom news site Kids News – was especially timely for young Australians amid the current technological revolution.
“More than ever, your generation has to contend with technology that tries to tell you what to say as well as how to say it,” he said. “This spelling bee is a way to build the comprehension and communication skills to speak for yourself.
“It’s also a great way to boost your memory, a strength that will hold you in good stead right through life.”
With registrations and the school round open from 9am AEST tomorrow, Mr Albanese invited all students across years 3-8 to take part.
“If you’re reading this, I hope you have a crack at the 2025 Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee,” he said. “I wish you all the very best and I look forward to meeting the winners later in the year.”
Rockdale PS principal Amy Ha said students and staff “were all super excited” to host their VIP visitor for the launch, adding that literacy was “the foundation of all learning and vital to student success”.
“Spelling has been undermined by texting and social media, so it is imperative that we, as educators, encourage students to develop strong spelling skills to ensure success in all areas of literacy,” Ms Ha said.
Entering her students for the first time, Ms Ha said: “The Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee competition is a great way to motivate students to have a go and be part of the fun.”
Registrations and the national school round open tomorrow at spelling-bee.com.au
ABOUT THE BEE
● The Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee is a free, online competition for students in Years 3-8.
● 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 July 21 when the school round begins.
● The school round ends on August 22. State and territory finals will be held September 1-5 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
Originally published as Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee’s big milestone as 2025 challenge open