These were just two words on the list in the Premier’s Spelling Bee Competition which was completed by four children from The Rock Central School. 

They were among 4000 pupils who were selected to participate in the regional section of the Premier’s Spelling Bee. Using an internet link to the interactive whiteboard in the classroom the children were able to ask for definitions and sentences to describe the word they were attempting to spell.

Jed Manning, 8, was the youngest pupil at The Rock in the spelling bee and he said it was “harder than he thought.”

Mr Manning said two of the words on the list were Cuba and pearl. He said it was difficult to prepare for the event because the words came as a surprise. 

Fellow pupil at The Rock Central School, Isaiah Monteleone, Year 6, was participating in the spelling bee for the third time. He had hopes of progressing through to more rounds. 

Tameeka Aveyard, also Year 6, said the spelling bee competition was very similar to what people might have seen on television.

The video-conference regional attracted schools including:

This year a record 170,000 students enrolled in the spelling bee. The 2018 state final will be held in Sydney at the ABC headquarters on Friday, November, 2.